[PetrolRider]

Planning to do Pune - Ahmedabad - Pune on Holi weekend. Plan is to depart Pune on 8th March 5 am and return from Ahmedabad on 11th March.

If the regulars can help me out on few queries:

1. Do I need to put yellow tape on my car's head lamp?
2. My car is a 2018 model, hence as per MH ruling, I would not need HSRP. Do I get challan / harassment for not having HSRP in Ahmedabad / Gujarat?
3. Would I get parking in famous touristic places or is it better to park my car at hotel and take an Uber?
4. Some good hand loom shopping places in Ahmedabad, if possible some stores apart from the bargain market.
5. I will be having 2 complete days with me, so what should I visit considering that would interest my 8 year old :-)
6. Good authentic and hygienic Gujarati Thali place in Ahmedabad
7. Planning to break the return journey possibly at Surat. Would it be feasible to do Ahmadabad 9 AM departure - statue of unity - Surat comfortably?
8. Any nice place to break for night in Surat

Sorry for so many questions, reason being I know I will be getting answers to all (power of team-bhp)

[pcpranav]

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

Planning to do Pune - Ahmedabad - Pune on Holi weekend. Plan is to depart Pune on 8th March 5 am and return from Ahmedabad on 11th March.
.....

I would try to answer :

1) Do I need to put yellow tape on my car's head lamp?

No, do not bother. I frequently travel to GJ, and nobody bothers. As per best of my knowledge, this rule is no more applicable. (And sure one can expect other state vehicle to keep applying sticker when entering GJ, junk it).

2) My car is a 2018 model, hence as per MH ruling, I would not need HSRP. Do I get challan / harassment for not having HSRP in Ahmedabad / Gujarat?

Do not bother. There are few stops where they would try to stop other state vehicle (similar scene in many other states too) to extract money on some pretext. Just ignore or don’t budge.

3) Would I get parking in famous touristic places or is it better to park my car at hotel and take an Uber?

Many of places do have parking places. Also depends on feasibility & your plan of day.

4) Some good hand loom shopping places in Ahmedabad, if possible some stores apart from the bargain market.

Sorry, no idea.

5) I will be having 2 complete days with me, so what should I visit considering that would interest my 8 year old :-)

There are few nice game zones for kids, select one per your area.

Science City could be explored : https://goo.gl/maps/mHmX7hHDMCMdNVKC8
For auto lovers, visit “Auto World Vintage Car Museum : https://goo.gl/maps/TrShVBYbkN9sAj2N6
For history & architecture, visit “Adalaj Step-Well” : https://goo.gl/maps/CmbYzp6Nyi4K1xrM6

Few hours drive away from Ahmedabad options are :
a) Dinosaur Fossil Park : https://goo.gl/maps/ZFzrbsfEY9H2mDHA9

History & Architecture :
b) Rani Ki Vav, Patan https://goo.gl/maps/qgx7iz8zxAezvHy88
c) Sun Temple, Modhera https://goo.gl/maps/4UGcRHgbLbHynvyo9
d) Champaner - Pavagadh Archaeological Park https://goo.gl/maps/hQNBA35x2Ueutpam6


6) Good authentic and hygienic Gujarati Thali place in Ahmedabad

Budget & good ones are (200 to 400 per thali) : Gordhan Thal, Pakwan, Marutinandan, Sasuji and many more

Some premium ones (1200 to 1600 per thali) : Agashiye, Vishala

Gujarat has several cuisines, one of famous is Kathiyawadi (refers to Saurashtra sector of GJ). Do have a try, I had liked few outlets of "Shree Khodiyar Kathiyawadi Dhaba - Taste of Bharuch" franchisee.

Talking of food, do try a dish “Umbadiyu” – its spicy marinated vegetables smoked in earthen pots. Around Valsad you will find many stalls, I have been regular at my favourite Babubhai Umbadiyu stall https://goo.gl/maps/qp2TvaRnYTwMGuvN7


7) Planning to break the return journey possibly at Surat. Would it be feasible to do Ahmadabad 9 AM departure - statue of unity - Surat comfortably?

Start bit early – to beat the traffic, and avoid peak afternoon heat at SoU site. Next to the SoU site are other attractions like Sardar Sarovar Dam site, Flower park etc, can be done quickly.


8) Any nice place to break for night in Surat
While coming out after SoU visit, take the Rajpipla - Rajpardi - Jhagadiya and exit at Ankleshwar on main highway, then continue on NH48. This stretch would be bit rough. (However, do not take the inner SH roads from SoU, that will be even rough and very long.)
Select hotel on highway, because Surat city is quite inside.
Else I would suggest drive further towards Valsad or Vapi to get decent hotels on highway itself. From here next day drive to Pune would be comfortable.

hope this helps.

[ACMerchant]

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

Planning to do Pune - Ahmedabad - Pune on Holi weekend. Plan is to depart Pune on 8th March 5 am and return from Ahmedabad on 11th March.

1.Do I need to put yellow tape on my car's head lamp?
No the rule is not applicable so no need.
2.My car is a 2018 model, hence as per MH ruling, I would not need HSRP. Do I get challan / harassment for not having HSRP in Ahmedabad / Gujarat?
Yes and better if you can get HSRP plates as you still have time left.
3.Planning to break the return journey possibly at Surat. Would it be feasible to do Ahmadabad 9 AM departure - statue of unity - Surat comfortably?
Ahmedabad to Surat is @ 5 hrs by road and if you want to do SOU then from Vadodara take the route via Dabhoi-Dharmpuri-Chanwada-Tilkawada-Devaliya-Garudeshwar(SOU) rather than come to Bharuch then to Garudeshwar (SOU). Also better to book in advance if you want to do SOU as just seeing the Statue and Laser Show will be late evening. For SOU you need about two days. So plan accordingly.
4.Any nice place to break for night in Surat.
If just for night halt then would suggest you leave Ahmedabad by early morning and reach Mumbai by evening with bio/food breaks rather than break journey.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

Some good hand loom shopping places in Ahmedabad

You can look at the Law Garden area. There is a National Handloom corporation building apart from the street market.

[ts75]

Did Mumbai - Ahmedabad on 31.03.2023. Left South Mumbai at 5:50 pm. There was heavy traffic and continuous traffic jam from airport flyover onwards till may be for another 10-15 kms (past Andheri, Jogeshwari, Goregaon for sure). By the time it was 9 pm, we had just covered 40 kms. We had to take a break after leaving Mumbai and it was 10:40 pm when we resumed with still about 485 kms for destination. Thankfully, the journey was continuous and uneventful after that with absolutely no hiccup. Passed Surat Kamrej at around 1:50 am. Observed traffic jam on the opposite lane somewhere past Surat. Reached past Vadodara Karjan at 3:00 am and Vastrapur Ahmedabad at 5:10 am. It took 11 hours 20 minutes. If one were to exclude the time lost in Mumbai, the travel time was pretty decent.

Started back on 02.04.2023 at 4:30 pm. Halted at Tigmon Mall, touted to be the largest chocolate mall in India. Decent place and veg snacks are also available. Started from there at 9:15 pm. Reached home at 3 am. There was a huge traffic jam near Kim Surat. After some time, the google maps rerouted through the villages, which I took a calculated bet. It led me past the jam and rejoined on the NH few kms down. I noticed the jam on opposite side also. The issue with this jam was that vehicles moved in bulk and then there was total non-movement for few minutes. Maybe some diversion / repairing. My guess is that I would have lost further 45 minutes had I continued to remain on NH. Not sure though. Rest of the journey was uneventful. Total journey time was 10 hours 30 minutes. Break time was around 1 hour 30 minutes. Around 30 minutes was lost in jam.

There are few diversions on the route where overpasses are being constructed but clear signage is visible.

[Dieseltuned]

I was on NH 48 again this weekend. Did a Mumbai - Bharuch round trip. The NH 48 is Gujarat is going through some major repairs/carpetting work due to which you will find some traffic backlogs near Vapi and between Surat and Bharuch.

If any body is travelling towards Bharuch my recommendation is to leave the NH after the tapi bridge and take the Sayan - Olpad - Hansot - Ankleshwar - Golden bridge - Bharuch route and rejoin the NH at Bharuch. This will ad about 30 odd kms but will save you from getting stuck from atleast 2 jams, one at Kim and one at Panoli.

[Dieseltuned]

Cross posting from the other thread :

Hi all,

A small update for whoever is planning to drive down to Gujarat via NH48.

It pains me to say this (being a regular user of this road) but the highway is in absolute shambles.

I drove down from Vadodara to Mumbai yesterday and it took us whopping 12 hours to cover this stretch, we started from vadodara at 2:00 PM and reached my home in Borivali at 01:30 AM in the night. This includes 2 very quick breaks (15-20 mins each) for food and refreshments for the family.

The highway has multiple diversions at Panoli, Navsari, Vapi and obviously the omnipresent snarls at Ghodbunder. The ghodbunder stretch is so bad at the moment that ISRO might come over and test their moon landing craft here.

The road has developed unaccountable potholes on all lanes and these are not minor inconviniences but major axle breakers and tyre busters. I counted atleast 8 cars halted to change their tyres in this stretch.

The situation at Navsari (around the area where bullet train work is ongoing) that we had to take a detour through a couple of internal village roads in pitch darkness.

So, my genuine advice is to AVOID this road till they fix it and if the travel is unavoidable then please use THE TRAIN.

P.S : The VandeBharat does this in 4 hours flat, if you can grab a seat

Regards
Diesel
______

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by Dieseltuned

So, my genuine advice is to AVOID this road till they fix it and if the travel is unavoidable then please use THE TRAIN.

A month back I was plain lucky I did Shirdi-Amadavad via Peint-Valsad-Surat-Baroda-NE1-Amadavad. The only jam was at the Tapi river bridge. Rest was a breeze.

[sinharishi]

Originally Posted by Dieseltuned

So, my genuine advice is to AVOID this road till they fix it and if the travel is unavoidable then please use THE TRAIN.

Thank you for the update. 12 hours is too much, this is what usually takes us to reach Mumbai from Udaipur. Do you think the roads will be better in the last week of August? If not, I will have to re-plan the journey via Indore, which means entering Mumbai from Thane and taking GB road to Kandivali.

[Dieseltuned]

Originally Posted by sinharishi

Thank you for the update. 12 hours is too much, this is what usually takes us to reach Mumbai from Udaipur. Do you think the roads will be better in the last week of August? If not, I will have to re-plan the journey via Indore, which means entering Mumbai from Thane and taking GB road to Kandivali.

Fingers crossed. I sincerely hope they pick up fixing the road once the rains subside a bit. If the alternate route is longer but in better condition than it is advisable to take the alternate route.

Regards
Diesel

[Dieseltuned]

The media seems to have taken note of the apathy on NH 48. This artice in Gujarati daily newspaper says that there was an 18 km long traffic snarl near Bharuch.

https://www.gujaratimidday.com/news/...bharuch-199743


High time the government moves to fix this critical piece of road.

Regards
Diesel

[sahil624]

Hi all, is there any update of the roads getting fixed? I have to travel from Mumbai to Vadodara tomorrow morning. Is there anyone who has traveled on this road during past one week?

Some advise would be really helpful.

[omar]

Originally Posted by sahil624

Hi all, is there any update of the roads getting fixed? I have to travel from Mumbai to Vadodara tomorrow morning. Is there anyone who has traveled on this road during past one week?

Some advise would be really helpful.

My brother traveled to Ahmedabad, and back, last week. He mentioned:

Very poor road quality - unexpected potholes - specially uptil GJ border

And if it's raining - then potholes become invisible. if you have to go - avoid night time driving.

[Dieseltuned]

Originally Posted by sahil624

Hi all, is there any update of the roads getting fixed? I have to travel from Mumbai to Vadodara tomorrow morning. Is there anyone who has traveled on this road during past one week?

Some advise would be really helpful.

Please do not drive at night. Should consider atleast 8 - 9 hours to cover this stretch considering the bad patches and traffic jams in GJ around Bharuch/Ankleshwar. Please do post your update when you get back, will definetly help other travellers. I have another trip to Vadodara next Thursday, but I have booked the train this time. Vande Bharat / Shatabdi gets me to vadodara in 4 / 4.5 hours flat with no driving stress, leaves me fresh for a whole days of work.

Regards
Diesel

[sinharishi]

Any latest update on NH48 condition between Vadodra and Mumbai?