[Freebird82]

Hi All,

For the upcoming Diwali vacations, I plan to drive down to Bhilai, Chattisgarh from Bangalore. I have planned the trip as follows:

ETD - 22nd Oct (Sat) at 5 A.M.
Route: Blr - Anantapur-Hyd-Armur-Wardha-Nagpur-Gondia-Bhilai.
Night stop at Nagpur (reaching about 11 P.M)
ETA - 23rd Oct (Sun) approx. 1 P.M

Return trip - Same route, ETD - 29th Oct(Sat) at 5 A.M and ETA - 30th Oct (reaching abt 5 P.M)
Night stop at Hyderabad (reaching about 11 P.M).

The purpose of this post is two fold:
1. Any advice on this route, any information on road conditions or any alternate routes ?
2. As of now I am the only participant in the trip. Would anyone be interested in joining ? Apart from the fun aspect, the cost of the trip would be atleast 50% to the air fare. Though yes, the time taken is much longer.

Wishing everyone a great festive season.

[hvkumar]

Why are you going via Wardha & Gondia?
The direct route is on NH7 - from Hyderabad, via Mechal, Armur, Nirmal, Adilabad, Pandharkawada, Hinganghat, Nagpur.
From Nagpur, on NH6 via Bhandara & Raj Nandgaon.

NH7 is in very bad shape after Adilabad.
No update on conditions on NH6 but some 2 months ago, roads were bad in MH side.

[anujmishra]

Originally Posted by Freebird82

ETD - 22nd Oct (Sat) at 5 A.M.
Route: Blr - Anantapur-Hyd-Armur-Wardha-Nagpur-Gondia-Bhilai.
Night stop at Nagpur (reaching about 11 P.M)
ETA - 23rd Oct (Sun) approx. 1 P.M

Where Wardha and Gondia will come in route? There is direct straight route to Nagpur. If you do not spend too much time in breakfast/lunch/dinner/tea you can reach Nagpur by 9 - 10 PM with moderate driving. Make sure fill your car with eatables. It will save your lots of time.

I have not spotted good hotels en-route. Even, if it is there, it will come when you are not in need.

From Nagpur you have to take Bhandara road.

Expect rough roads between Hyderabad and Nagpur. This will kill more time.

[Freebird82]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Why are you going via Wardha & Gondia?
The direct route is on NH7 - from Hyderabad, via Mechal, Armur, Nirmal, Adilabad, Pandharkawada, Hinganghat, Nagpur.
From Nagpur, on NH6 via Bhandara & Raj Nandgaon.

NH7 is in very bad shape after Adilabad.
No update on conditions on NH6 but some 2 months ago, roads were bad in MH side.

Originally Posted by anujmishra

Where Wardha and Gondia will come in route? There is direct straight route to Nagpur. If you do not spend too much time in breakfast/lunch/dinner/tea you can reach Nagpur by 9 - 10 PM with moderate driving. Make sure fill your car with eatables. It will save your lots of time.

I have not spotted good hotels en-route. Even, if it is there, it will come when you are not in need.

From Nagpur you have to take Bhandara road.

Expect rough roads between Hyderabad and Nagpur. This will kill more time.

Thanks guys. I checked on some map website and it showed Wardha on the way. Gondia was a bad assumption on my side. Will take the route as suggested by you.

In case I dont get a co-passenger, is driving the distance alone a good idea ? I have done some decently long trips but none alone, yet.

[Rudra Sen]

Mods note: Thread moved to right section.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by Freebird82

In case I dont get a co-passenger, is driving the distance alone a good idea ? I have done some decently long trips but none alone, yet.

There are no safety issues anywhere on this route. Truck traffic is high on NH6 from Nagpur onwards.

[MrinalSinha]

I am typing this from Bhilai, did HYD-Bhilai just last Saturday. I do HYD- Bhilai quite frequently. Almost every other month. As already mentioned, you dont have to go to Wardha and Gondia. You will be through Nagpur - Bhandara - Dongargarh - Rajnandgaon and Bhilai. The last two trips have taken me 13 Hours to do. I cover most of the distance by 10-11 AM. post that time it is gets tough to cover the distance.
i did this trip alone few times last year. The best I did was 11 hours which I did starting 9 PM from Hyd.
Another pain area is crossing NGP. This time, it took me 1 hr 15 mins to cross NGP.
About the road, NH7 post Adilabad to MH border (35KM) is in bad shape. You will spend around 1- 1.5 hrs on this stretch. From NGP the road is single lane for quite a distance.

It takes 4 Hours to reach Bhilai, once you are through NGP.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by MrinalSinha

I am typing this from Bhilai, did HYD-Bhilai just last Saturday. I do HYD- Bhilai quite frequently. Almost every other month. As already mentioned, you dont have to go to Wardha and Gondia. You will be through Nagpur - Bhandara - Dongargarh - Rajnandgaon and Bhilai. The last two trips have taken me 13 Hours to do. I cover most of the distance by 10-11 AM. post that time it is gets tough to cover the distance.
i did this trip alone few times last year. The best I did was 11 hours which I did starting 9 PM from Hyd.
Another pain area is crossing NGP. This time, it took me 1 hr 15 mins to cross NGP.
About the road, NH7 post Adilabad to MH border (35KM) is in bad shape. You will spend around 1- 1.5 hrs on this stretch. From NGP the road is single lane for quite a distance.

It takes 4 Hours to reach Bhilai, once you are through NGP.

How good is the road condition on NH6 from Nagpur to MH border and inside CG?
Is the 4-laning work complete in both sides?
And do you take the Ring Road inside Nagpur city from NH7 (south) to NH6 (east)?

[MrinalSinha]

The 4-laning is mostly complete as you approach Nagpur. After pandharkadwa (i hope I am spelling it right), the village at MH-AP border, the 4 lane is mostly done with intermittent non-existence.
From Nagpur the road is filled with shallow pot holes, as they have been for long time now. They were repairing the potholes. The road surface is not smooth. You can maintain decent speed on these roads, provided the traffic allows you to do so. You get very good roads at NH7. After Bhandara, the NH6 looks like NH7, very good roads, with few KM of single lane roads. NH6 passes through many villages where there is lot of 2-wheeler and pedestrian traffic on the wrong side of the divider. You keep on driving in slow speed even though the roads are good.

Yes I take the ring road

[ms001]

Its quite a long journey to do solo.
It is always helpful to have a co-passenger for such long drives.
Which car will you be taking for this trip?

OT: Lakhan ??

[mayankjha1806]

You from Bhilai and i am sure you would be aware of the risks in driving on Nagpur Bhilai sector at night, the crazy bus traffic in this sector can cause problems. Would recommend Nagpur-Bhilai to be done at day time.

I guess Gondia came in picture because you are used to going by train . Basically you pass through Deori which has a turn if you wish to go towards Gondia but in this case you wouldn't need that.

[Freebird82]

Originally Posted by ms001

Its quite a long journey to do solo.
It is always helpful to have a co-passenger for such long drives.
Which car will you be taking for this trip?

OT: Lakhan ??

I thought so too, more to reduce the boredom.

OT: Yup, check pm.

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

You from Bhilai and i am sure you would be aware of the risks in driving on Nagpur Bhilai sector at night, the crazy bus traffic in this sector can cause problems. Would recommend Nagpur-Bhilai to be done at day time.

I guess Gondia came in picture because you are used to going by train . Basically you pass through Deori which has a turn if you wish to go towards Gondia but in this case you wouldn't need that.

Yeah Mayank, did Bhilai-Ngp by road quite some time back. And the Gondia assumption is bang on

Originally Posted by MrinalSinha

I am typing this from Bhilai, did HYD-Bhilai just last Saturday. I do HYD- Bhilai quite frequently. Almost every other month. As already mentioned, you dont have to go to Wardha and Gondia. You will be through Nagpur - Bhandara - Dongargarh - Rajnandgaon and Bhilai. The last two trips have taken me 13 Hours to do. I cover most of the distance by 10-11 AM. post that time it is gets tough to cover the distance.
i did this trip alone few times last year. The best I did was 11 hours which I did starting 9 PM from Hyd.
Another pain area is crossing NGP. This time, it took me 1 hr 15 mins to cross NGP.
About the road, NH7 post Adilabad to MH border (35KM) is in bad shape. You will spend around 1- 1.5 hrs on this stretch. From NGP the road is single lane for quite a distance.

It takes 4 Hours to reach Bhilai, once you are through NGP.

Originally Posted by MrinalSinha

The 4-laning is mostly complete as you approach Nagpur. After pandharkadwa (i hope I am spelling it right), the village at MH-AP border, the 4 lane is mostly done with intermittent non-existence.
From Nagpur the road is filled with shallow pot holes, as they have been for long time now. They were repairing the potholes. The road surface is not smooth. You can maintain decent speed on these roads, provided the traffic allows you to do so. You get very good roads at NH7. After Bhandara, the NH6 looks like NH7, very good roads, with few KM of single lane roads. NH6 passes through many villages where there is lot of 2-wheeler and pedestrian traffic on the wrong side of the divider. You keep on driving in slow speed even though the roads are good.

Yes I take the ring road

Thanks guys, will keep the pointers in mind.

[vnabhi]

A friend of mine drove down to Bhilai from Hyd in August on his i-20 to bring his mother to Hyderabad.

He took around 12 hours either way. Road conditions were bad near the AP-Maha border, but not something that cannot be managed.

[MrinalSinha]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

You from Bhilai and i am sure you would be aware of the risks in driving on Nagpur Bhilai sector at night, the crazy bus traffic in this sector can cause problems. Would recommend Nagpur-Bhilai to be done at day time.

I guess Gondia came in picture because you are used to going by train . Basically you pass through Deori which has a turn if you wish to go towards Gondia but in this case you wouldn't need that.

I have done that once under lights in march this year. It was little tight till you cross bhandara. Post that, due to the 4-laning, it is not that big a problem.

[MDe]

@Freebird : Looking at the Lakhan comment, if I guess it right, are you the one with the Black Verna and a pulsar?