[livetodrive]

Hi,

Almost after one year I am driving to Hydrebad again tomorrow. Last time I took the Shirwal -> Phaltan -> Pandharpur -> Solapur route. This time I am planning to start early (5am) and take Solapur highway route.

Would like to know if there are any recommended restaurants on this route for breakfast and lunch.

Thanks.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by livetodrive

Hi,

Almost after one year I am driving to Hydrebad again tomorrow. Last time I took the Shirwal -> Phaltan -> Pandharpur -> Solapur route. This time I am planning to start early (5am) and take Solapur highway route.

Would like to know if there are any recommended restaurants on this route for breakfast and lunch.

Thanks.

Nothing has come up till May(the usual suspects at solapur still exist-have just got a tad dirtier) and I dont have any hopes of seeing anything coming up any time in the future either!

[livetodrive]

Hi,

Completed 1230 KM drive to Hydrebad and back to Pune on Sunday. I started on Thursday 6am, reached Hyde at 6PM. This includes a breakfast and lunch break. Carried home made food by wife which reduced the travel time by an hour for sure. While coming back, started on Sunday morning 10:30 and reached home at 11 PM including a lunch, dinner and evening tea break.

My friend warned me on Wednesday evening to avoid Solapur road since Palkhi procession will be leading to Pandharpur through that route. Since I planned to start early morning, I ignored his advice and paid for it. After crossing Hadapsar, police told me that Solapur highway is closed till 10am and I have to take the Saswad - Baramati - Indapur route. Since Ranjit has vouched for this route many times in this thread, I immediately turned my car and followed this route. Its really a nice road with almost no traffic and good roads. After reaching Saswad, we saw hundreds of pilgrims getting ready for the Palkhi procession and we crossed our fingers thinking whether we will get stuck in this route too. But after few KMs, the crowd became less and we could drive smoothly till Indapur. In Baramati I had to pay toll twice, one for entering and another for exiting the city . Other than that, its a nice drive to reach Indapur from Pune. Thanks to Ranjit for suggesting this route many times in the thread.

From Indapur to Solapur there are still diversions and a rail gate where we had to wait for some time. After Solapur till Umerga road condition is good. I reached Umerga around 2-2:30 PM. But after Umerga road condition has detoriated. The complete stretch from Humnabad to Zaheerabad till almost Pathancheru is worst now. I well remember, last year while coming back from Hydrebad, I drove to Solapur in just 3-4 hours. But this is impossible now. Its better to drive slowly and carefully since there are huge potholes in this stretch which are deep enough to damage your car.

Well, I was heading towards Kondapur and this time my relatives who stay in Hydrebad suggested me to take the ORR from Pathancheru to Gachibowli. The 20 KM stretch was awesome. My DZire could reach 140 KMPH with ease and also the toll was comparatively less, just 20 bucks.

While coming back, I was confused whether to drive back through the same route. I changed my mind and enquired in the first toll booth before Indapur about the road condition till Pune. They gave a green signal and I covered 150KM from Indapur to Pune in 3 hours amidst heavy rains.

Thanks.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by livetodrive

In Baramati I had to pay toll twice, one for entering and another for exiting the city .

That is always a scam.In reality,the toll has to be paid only once.You need to preserve the 1st ticket and show it at the exit,but the toll guys never tell you about it and act as if you need to pay again-as usual typical toll con job.I always preserve the toll and show it at the second toll and go away.Problem is there are no clear signboards indicating it either.I knew about it thanks to AshishPallod who told me about it.

Originally Posted by livetodrive

the ORR from Pathancheru to Gachibowli.

The ORR is global standards and its so easy to get to different parts of Hyd now.The ORR runs all along the periphery of the entire city now.

[21Archer84]

Did Pune - Hyderabad the other day.

Started at 5:00AM from Jagtap Diary and reached home @Balanagar sharp 3:00PM. Couple of bio breaks and stop for breakfast ~20min. Road condition till Solapur is pretty good except for few locations with diversions still in place. We managed decent speed to reach the outskirts of Solapur in 4hrs.
The baddest of the stretches was in Karnataka where we lost most of our time. Huge craters is all you'll encounter for most of the part(~40kms was good ). I won't recommend night driving on this stretch, especially in a small car. Most of the road condition in AP was in decent shape.
Once, the Solapur stretch is completely done and KA govt. has some plans to relay the roads, we can easily plan for a 8hr drive with a couple of breaks.

[annaraya]

I'm planning to drive from Pune to Hyd tomorrow and am planning to leave by 5 am.

@21Archer84, How long did it take at the railway gate after Tembhurni?

Thanks

[21Archer84]

Originally Posted by annaraya

@21Archer84, How long did it take at the railway gate after Tembhurni?

Thanks

Sorry annaraya, I haven't been following this thread due to work. I hope you had a trouble free journey to Hyderabad. Please share your experience.

Luckily for us, we had to stop for roughly 2mins at the Railway Crossing.

[ranjitp1]

Does anybody have the latest update on Sangareddy-Solapur stretch of NH9 after the rains.Last heard a month back,the road was pathetic and deeply craetered.Does anybody know if any patchwork has been done on this stretch?Thanks

[akpd0659]

Anyone travelled recently on Hyderabad - Pune entire stretch? A Wikipedia posting says Solapur to Pune is amazing 4 lane stretch while Zaheerabad - Humnabad almost no road exists. Any feedback welcome.

[ranjitnair77]

I did a Hyderabad to Pune drive on the 12th of October. Started from Gachibowli at 6:30 am and reached Shivajinagar by 4:30pm. I took the NH 9 all the way and didn't stop for food at all (knowing fully well that there are no options for decent food on the NH9). Budget for a 11 hour journey of you intend to stop for food.

The condition of the road from Hyderabad to Zaheerabad is pretty bad with the worst stretches near Sadashivpet. There are massive potholes around Sadashivpet that can cause considerable damage to your car if you are not careful. My co-passenger had to get down and guide me through a few patches to avoid underbody hits. Driving along this stretch at night is out of the question.

The sections beyond Zaheerabad are slighty better. Once you cross over to Karnataka, things worsen again. There is a 20km, pothole strewn section close to Humnabad before where you need to be very careful.

Once you cross over into Maharashtra, things get much better. There is a rough section near the Naldurg fort but but nothing that you cannot manage with careful driving. The Solapur bypass is mostly complete so passing through that section is a breeze. Watch out for vehicles driving on the wrong side of the divided road around Solapur.

The Solapur to Pune sector is very good and the four-laning is almost complete. There are incomplete sections at Mohol and near the Tembhurni railway crossing. These are very manageable. The dreaded Tembhurni crossing took 2 minutes. They have improved the narrow section of the road so that possibility of a jam there has reduced (although you can't completely rule it out). The Tembhurni bypass is not complete but manageable. The Indapur bypass is complete and the drive all the way to Bhigwan is terrific.

There is a 10 km stretch between Bhigwan and Pune that is still not four landed and slightly rough but very manageable with no visible congestion point.

All things considered, the Pune-Solapur section is not a problem. I did this section in 3.5 hours at moderate speeds. I don't think it is necessary to take the Solapur-Pandharpur route now if you are travelling at the right time of the day.

The Solapur-Hyderabad section on the other hand is not nice at all. The sections in Karnataka and the Zaheerabad-Sadashipet sections are just plain horrible. I highly recommend that you do that drive during the day.

I'll also repeat what I've said before on this thread. The best route from Hyderabad to Pune is from Shamshabad to Lohegaon .

[ranjitp1]

NH9 between Hyd and Solapur is plain horrible.It is carpet bombed.Tried an alternate route and it was excellent roads all the way except for a small section of 18kms which was gravelled and looks like a case of neglect by the respective state govts because of the fact that the road falls at the border.

The route is as follows:
Pune-Solapur(dont take the flyover at solapur,take the upper ramp and cut across the road and climb down towards ur right)-Shivaji Chowk-Samrat Chowk-Pani Tanki Chowk-Left Turn-Akkalkot Road-Akkalkot-Wagdari-Hiroli-Aland-Gulbarga-Sedam-Ripponpalli-Ravulapally-Kodangal-Parigi-Manneguda-Chevella-Moinabad-ORR-Nanal Nagar X Roads-Langar Houz X Roads-Mehdipatnam

https://maps.google.co.in/maps?saddr...via=3&t=m&z=14

Roads are tolled and maintained by KSRDC between Hiroli(KA MH border) and Ripponpally and roads beyond are also very well maintained.Overall an excellent alternative to the regula NH9.Distance is exactly the same (310 odd kms).Travel time is reduced drastically,almost by 2hours to 3.5 to 4hrs.Eating options are also better.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

The route is as follows:
Pune-Solapur(dont take the flyover at solapur,take the upper ramp and cut across the road and climb down towards ur right)-Shivaji Chowk-Samrat Chowk-Pani Tanki Chowk-Left Turn-Akkalkot Road-Akkalkot-Wagdari-Hiroli-Aland-Gulbarga-Sedam-Ripponpalli-Ravulapally-Kodangal-Parigi-Manneguda-Chevella-Moinabad-ORR-Nanal Nagar X Roads-Langar Houz X Roads-Mehdipatnam

OT

Other than Gulbarga, I did not know one name of the places you mentioned!
Then got hang of the route when I saw the same in Google ! Great find sir!

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by ampere

OT

Other than Gulbarga, I did not know one name of the places you mentioned!
Then got hang of the route when I saw the same in Google ! Great find sir!

The famous Vasavadatta Cement Plant is also on this road at Sedam in KA.Its one of this kind.its massive and worth a sight and is a spectacle at night with the lights turned on.Can be seen from miles away

http://www.vasavadattacement.com/aboutus.htm

[Bigzero]

Thanks for the update, ranjitp1! This is very very useful. As I indicated in the Mum-Hyd thread, am contemplating a drive to Hyd, and this might just make the decision easier!!

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by Bigzero

Thanks for the update, ranjitp1! This is very very useful. As I indicated in the Mum-Hyd thread, am contemplating a drive to Hyd, and this might just make the decision easier!!

Dont even think of NH9!and with the kind of rains that have been lashing the areas in the past 24hours,it can only go worse