[jits_1998]

Hi Guys,

As some of you would know from my previous threads and my blog that I am planning a road trip around India on golden quadrangle.

I have seen a big thread on non-stop journeys, but could not find something for a multi-stop journey that I am planning to take.

The things that I would like to have pointers to are:
1) how to keep cost to minimal,
2) how long would be a good distance to travel so that I last all of 20-25 days
3) Where to or where not to fuel (city/highway), for both petrol and diesel as I haven't yet decided on which car will I take.
4) Anything else ... ?

Thanks.

[mobike008]

Jits, your plan to traverse the entire breadth of GQ seems to be an exciting plan. If you plan for a multi-stop trip, then the cost cannot be kept to a minimal. I am assuming you will be driving during the day and would be staying in a hotel during night, so the question of keeping the cost to the minimum goes out of the window. Only way, i can think of is taking a diesel car.

Some tips that i can think of :-

a) Make a detailed plan based on the shortest route from one destination to another
b) Make sure to carry enough cash with you as most fuel pumps on highways don't accept cards
c) If you plan to drive only during days, you can easily cover between 600km-800km each day. A little lesser if you want the drive to be enjoyable and not as if your on race day.
d) Tank up only at reputed pumps or pumps that looks busy. Stay away from deserted fuel stations
e) Carry all basic necessities like spare tyre, torch, knife, rope, additional light bulbs, water container etc
f) Dont forget to carry a camera and click lots of pictures and do maintain a log book. It will make your trip even more cherish able when you chance upon grey hairs in future.
g) Finally stay alert and keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

a. To save money, sleep in the car. Park the vehicle in some busy fuel pump and sleep. Sleeping in fuel pumps / road side is not always safe though. Next day morning, tank up, check air, oil and water and go!!!

b. For good fuel, look out for co-co outlets. No clue about how to identify them though.

c. For route info and plan, check this site itself. Ping hvkumar and others who have travelled like this. I know hvkumar will happily share his logs, which contain details of distances and places where he has fuelled up. Look up the travelouges on this site for experiences from others who have done this.

d. Have a good route plan. There are indications of how much you can cover on most sectors on this site itself. (eg:- B'lore Chennai in X hours, B'lore - Pune in Y hours, etc). Make sure you have a good route map + the route plan in writing. Have the intersections, junctions, etc. marked on the map and make sure you follow them on the plan. Tick / mark each landmark on the route plan as you drive on.

e. If enough info about any sector is not available on the web, start a thread here. There will be people willing to help you / give feed back.

[hvkumar]

Jitendra,

I too have a plan for the entire GQ in one go, planned for later this year, but mine will be a little extreme, wanting to do it in nrecord time like say, Bomba-Delhi in 1 day, Delhi-Calcutta non-stop, and so on. Hoping to do it in 5-6 days.

Do plan your trip well. Dont stay in large towns. India has plenty of budget hotels which offer you a decent room, clean toilet and safe parking. Plan your drives on NH2 (Delhi-Calcutta) carefully beacuse of nigh safety problems. I have done all the ;legs of GQ except Delhi-Calcutta (onl till Agra, and after Dhanbad/Govindpur). And have all log books. Don do it during rainy season. Best time is during the next 2 months and in Oct-Nov.

I don't know how fast you drive, but you can do the following drives:
Hyderabad-Bangalore-Belgaum-Pune-Bombay-Ahmedabad-Udaipur-Jaipur-Delhi-Agra-Kanpur-Allahabad-Varanasi-Durgapur-Calcutta-Bhubaneswar-Vizag-Vijaywada-Madras-Bangalore-Hyderbad.

That way, you can cover the entire GQ.

[jits_1998]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

a. To save money, sleep in the car. Park the vehicle in some busy fuel pump and sleep. Sleeping in fuel pumps / road side is not always safe though. Next day morning, tank up, check air, oil and water and go!!!

I would loose all the money if someone kidnaps me in Bihar . I am actually planning to stay in hotels around station, something like we have outside New Delhi station, paharganj side.

[hvkumar]

Ideally, look out for hotels near large cities. For instance, I would not stay in Delhi when I am coming on NH8 from Jaipur siude - I would chose a place like Behror in Rajathan which is 100 kms before DElhi, and has a good RTDC hotel where rooms are great and cheap.

[jits_1998]

Heyi Kumar,

someone in another of my threads told me that you have done this trip more than once. Is it really true

Cheers!

[vkochar]

Check out the ACI magazine a few months back. They did the whole GQ road trip on a Corrolla non stop. Its quite informative and provides good maps and fuel stops.

You have not mentioned what Car you are going to do this in ( I assume Alto as it says thats what you own in your signature)

Many people do the GQ run in 10 days or so. 20 - 25 days as you have planned will give you plenty of time to stop and sightsee at important places.

I think a daily run of 400 - 500 kms is good enough with a few days stops at a no. of places depending on where you want to stop.

[jits_1998]

Originally Posted by vkochar

Check out the ACI magazine a few months back. They did the whole GQ road trip on a Corrolla non stop.

Yeah I am aware, the stats are there on my blog, posting here:

[FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]Total distance : 5979 kms
Toll cost: Rs. 2212
Fuel stops: 21
states covered: 13
Total Fuel: 670 lts
Total Time: 88 hours
Avg speeds: 50 to 83 kmph
[/SIZE][/FONT]

Originally Posted by vkochar

Its quite informative and provides good maps and fuel stops.

I am looking for that magazine, the stats were sent to me by a friend.

Originally Posted by vkochar

You have not mentioned what Car you are going to do this in ( I assume Alto as it says thats what you own in your signature)
Many people do the GQ run in 10 days or so. 20 - 25 days as you have planned will give you plenty of time to stop and sightsee at important places.

Which car is still being discussed, I am a slow driver, so people are recomending Innova.

Originally Posted by vkochar

I think a daily run of 400 - 500 kms is good enough with a few days stops at a no. of places depending on where you want to stop.

Ideally I would like to see all the major 60 cities that are on the route, but might skip the ones I have already seen like Bangalore, mumbai etc.

[jits_1998]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

I too have a plan for the entire GQ in one go, planned for later this year, but mine will be a little extreme, wanting to do it in nrecord time like say, Bomba-Delhi in 1 day, Delhi-Calcutta non-stop, and so on. Hoping to do it in 5-6 days.

Okay. Do you have your experiences blogged somewhere :-). Would be interesting. I plan to do it slowest in the world .

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Do plan your trip well. Dont stay in large towns. India has plenty of budget hotels which offer you a decent room, clean toilet and safe parking. Plan your drives on NH2 (Delhi-Calcutta) carefully beacuse of nigh safety problems. I have done all the ;legs of GQ except Delhi-Calcutta (onl till Agra, and after Dhanbad/Govindpur). And have all log books. Don do it during rainy season. Best time is during the next 2 months and in Oct-Nov.

Planning for next Feb-Mar. I took rain, summer and winter(north) into consideration.

Originally Posted by hvkumar

I don't know how fast you drive, but you can do the following drives:
Hyderabad-Bangalore-Belgaum-Pune-Bombay-Ahmedabad-Udaipur-Jaipur-Delhi-Agra-Kanpur-Allahabad-Varanasi-Durgapur-Calcutta-Bhubaneswar-Vizag-Vijaywada-Madras-Bangalore-Hyderbad.

That way, you can cover the entire GQ.

Lets see. My intention is to see whats coming up outside of these cities rather than inside. 6 years in Hyd I have seen how we are creating a mess inside, now am curious about outskirts of cities

Cheers!

[jits_1998]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

d. Have a good route plan. There are indications of how much you can cover on most sectors on this site itself. (eg:- B'lore Chennai in X hours, B'lore - Pune in Y hours, etc). Make sure you have a good route map + the route plan in writing. Have the intersections, junctions, etc. marked on the map and make sure you follow them on the plan. Tick / mark each landmark on the route plan as you drive on.

I am planning to a GPS + a map tool with me. That should save me from going what say..?

Collecting so much data sounds scarry :-|.

[DKG]

In November 2006 I did 4500 kms in 11 days in an Alto. Never drove at night, average speed 80-100 kmph, fueled only at Reliance pumps, decent washroom facilities, never once felt tired

[hvkumar]

I have done Bombay-Delhi several times and mos of the routes that you will do during your proposed trip, and will be happy to share my detailed log books. Never write travelogues. The all-GQ trip is being planned. I also have GPS points of many trips.

[ashthedivx]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

I have done Bombay-Delhi several times and mos of the routes that you will do during your proposed trip, and will be happy to share my detailed log books. Never write travelogues. The all-GQ trip is being planned. I also have GPS points of many trips.

Kumar, Care to share the GPS points. It will be helpful.

[hvkumar]

Not in any web-link, but can share with you the Google Map format file if you send me your email id. But data is a bit disorganised, been editing to make it more coherent.