[DSJ]

Originally Posted by quasimodo

Hi,
We are travelling this Saturday. Booked a well recommended pet friendly stay in Udaipur at Anandam- A luxury resort. Not really on the highway but a slight bit of luxury after a long drive doesn't hurt. Our next stop is in Baroda where we booked an airbnb, very close to the highway. Goes by the name of MeaRoh homestay. It's very basic. Will write about the experience after the trip

Thank you for your response. Will look forward to hearing from you once you are back in Bombay, on :
A. the route and condition of the roads
B. your experience / recommendation on the places you've mentioned, where you've booked your accommodation.

Safe travels.

[quasimodo]

So completed the journey in a comfortable manner over 3 days (26th Aug to 29th Aug). Here are the details-
1. We started from our home in GK-1, Delhi at 6:30 AM.

Puppy nicely cuddled on the back-seat hammock, supported by a pillow fortress

How much i miss the greenery of South Delhi!

Took the road via Gurgaon to hit the DME. Being early in the morning, it took us around 30 minutes to reach the DME. Once on DME, you really start to feel the need for a car like m340i. Regular humble cars like mine feel supremely underpowered.


We stopped once at the DME at one of the pitstops. Having been to one of these previously, the food is nothing worth writing about. Hence, this time- we packed our food and coffee canisters. However, what's amazing is the sheer size of these pitstops. Apart from space for fuel pumps, eateries and office space, the back-yard has space for a park too. Puppy got to answer nature's call in one of these abandoned parks.


The DME ended somewhere before Tonk (Chimanpura). The stretch from 30 mins after the end of DME starts to get hilly with a flavorful peppering of potholes for about 10-15 mins. Nothing too bad but is in sharp contrast with the standards of DME. Lorry crowd in this road doesn't help either.


NH27 after that however is again a breeze with very little lorry load. Beautiful to drive.


Approaching Udaipur- our first stop


At Udaipur, we stayed at Anandam resort. It's a small detour from the highway into a verdant off-road trail. Short and doable with any car. It's cut off from the hustle of the city and offers a tranquil vibe. It's also surrounded by forest hills on all sides. The rooms and amenities are excellent. The only downside is they don't have a bar for a little night time tipple. Some of photos of the resort-



Puppy learning a bit of pool


The next day, we started for our next stop- Vadodara! Since today's journey was not as long as the first day, we took it easy and started at around noon.
At the RJ-GJ border, the GJ police had to stop and harass us (DL vehicle). They opened the boot and saw a black-label carton and their eye lit up expecting the flow of INR coming in. Unfortunately for them- we were not carrying any and the carton just had some household stuff!
Unfortunately though- they went through our whole car including puppy's hammock in search of a drop of alcohol et al.
But gosh- this harassment needs to stop. We don't even intend (want) to reside in GJ.

The road to Vadodara is OK. Although the road has no potholes, there are sudden joints which can be pretty brutal at high speeds. Also- trucks! Boy- were there trucks or what! The drive felt like a brick game navigating these big boys who have no discipline, can be found on the fast lane and change lanes without indicators. This was a pretty alert driving experience for us and not super fun. The only fun part was the Ahmedabad to Vadodara expressway which reminded us of the DME in some sense- even though the ADE has way more traffic.

Localization of KFC, only in Gujarat!

Finally, we reached Vadodara, had dinner at this brilliant pizza and gellateria called 0265! They have the best burgers and gelatos in town and are pet friendly. Dhaval who runs the restaurant is an incredible guy.
In Baroda, we stayed at this humble Airbnb which is right on the highway after you cross the city. Goes by the name of MeaRoh homestay. Nothing too fancy and decent if you just want to spend the night there with your pet.

The road from Baroda to Mumbai was uneventful. The road is littered with trucks and is very similar to the experience between Baroda and Mumbai. However, we didn't face any terrible traffic or jams. Not even a single traffic jam! We made multiple pit stops for chai and refreshments but reached Mumbai on time. And just like that- we created a core memory and a happy trip!

[quasimodo]

Originally Posted by DSJ

Thank you for your response. Will look forward to hearing from you once you are back in Bombay, on :
A. the route and condition of the roads
B. your experience / recommendation on the places you've mentioned, where you've booked your accommodation.

Safe travels.

Hope you find the above travelogue useful. Would be curious to know about any deviations to this route. Delhi-Mumbai with pet can soon become a regular route for me.

[DSJ]

Originally Posted by quasimodo

Hope you find the above travelogue useful. Would be curious to know about any deviations to this route. Delhi-Mumbai with pet can soon become a regular route for me.

Thanks so much for taking the time to post all the details. This definitely helps and I will now start planning our trip.

How did you manage for food for your pup ? Are the hotels (where you stayed) able to provide food for pets ? One could cook at the Air BNB ofcourse.

Once again, thanks for your time on this.

[quasimodo]

Originally Posted by DSJ

Thanks so much for taking the time to post all the details. This definitely helps and I will now start planning our trip.

How did you manage for food for your pup ? Are the hotels (where you stayed) able to provide food for pets ? One could cook at the Air BNB ofcourse.

Once again, thanks for your time on this.

We have invested in a cooler box with dry ice packs (you can get these on swiggy ice cream orders or generally in the market). These are great and keep things frozen for 10-12 hours drive. Since we feed him only meat and veggies- we tend to carry meat and chopped veggies during such trips. This time around though- since we were moving from Delhi to BOM, the cooler box got accidentally packed and sent via the packers and movers. So- got his meals from anandam but that costed a bomb and wouldn't recommend, if you can help it. For the second night of course, we stopped at Baroda and sourced the meat from Alkapuri before making it in the BnB. Hope this helps!

[sinharishi]

NCR-Mumbai/Pune-NCR Route Update:

Route: G.Noida-EPE-DME-Jaipur Ring Road-NH48-Bhilwara-Rajsamand-Nathdwara-Udaipur-Himmatnagar-Ahmedabad Ring Road-NE1-Vadodra Bypass-Baruch-Vapi-Mumbai.

Day-1 (7th Sept):

• Started from G.Noida at 630am. We took EPE and then entered Delhi-Mumbai e-way. EPE quality has degraded over the years and needs to be repaired. DME was smooth, took Jaipur exit and then via Dausa to Jaipur Ring Rod. Jaipur rind Road connects the Jaipur-Agra highway with NH48. Took our first halt at Choudary Dhaba @ NH48.
  
• Took Bhilwara-Rajasmand-Nathdwara route and checked-in at The Marutinandan Grand (TMG). G.Noida to Nathdwara with 1 long break and 1 refuel break took us 9 hours.
  
• 8-laned: DME. 6-laned: EPE, NH48 (till Bhilwara), 4-laned: Jaipur Ring Road, Bhilwara-Nathdwara.
  
• We got 2 rooms for 8K with breakfast for 4 adults. TMG has been our default choice for Nathdwara over the years.

Day-2 and Day-3 (8th-9th Sept):

• Checked-out from the hotel at 830am. We took the route to Ahmedabad highway via Udaipur city (big mistake). Should have taken the bypass instead, even though it is 2-laned for a few KMs. By The time we exited Udaipur city it was past 10am! Took the 6-laned highway to Ahmedabad, it was the best part of the trip. Mountains, 6-laned, curved, straights! Stopped at Himmatnagar for 45mins for tea and snacks. Crossed Ahmedabad around 2pm, took NE-1 to NH48. Next stop was at our usual place Jagdish @ Vadodara Bypass.
  
• After an hour break resumed towards Mumbai. The no of trucks on this road is just mind boggling. It started raining heavily. With very slow progress, traffic jams, couple of bad stretches - we reached VAPI at 630pm. Checked-in @ Regenta Central which is bang on the highway. With heavy rains and LED headlights and in anticipation of bad road conditions in MH we decided to call it a day!
  
• Left from VAPI at 7am and was home by 10am (Dahisar-E). Horrible roads once you enter MH. Still I would consider 3 hrs with 20mins traffic at fountain a good time.
  
• We paid 4.5K for 2 rooms inc Dinner at Regenta Central.
  
• 6-laned: Udaipur-Ahmedabad, Vadodara Bypass-Surat, Surat to Mumbai. In between there is a few kms of stretch which is 4-alned. 4-laned: Nathdwara-Udaipur, NE-1 (although I saw many people using shoulder to overtake).

Return Journey - Day1 (20th Sept):

• Left from Kandivali-E at 5:30am. Heavy rains accompanied us till Navsari. Stopped at Sugar and Spice (opp. Balaji factory) @ Valsad. Highly recommended, they have uplifted the place with clean toilets now. Stopped at McCafe @ Baruch and then straight at Ahmedabad Ring road. Drove non-stop till Udaipur. Door to Door we took 11.5 hrs. Checked-in at Zade Mount View.
  
• 6-laned: Mumbai-Surat, Surat-NE1, Ahmedabad-Udaipur. 4-laned: NE-1.
  
• Got 2 rooms in Zade Mount View for 3.4K inc dinner.

Day-2(21st Sept):

• Started from our hotel at 630am. All was good till Bhilwara, my Father wanted to try the Google suggested route to NE-4 (DME). We turned right from Bhilwara towards NH52. 2-laned broken roads till you join NH-52. Yo also need to cough up toll on the pathetic SH! Once you jon NH-52, it is smooth all the way till NH23 then 2-laned highway to NE-4. The 2-laned is very broad, reminded me of Jaipur-Bikaner Highway.
  
• Once onto NE-4, it was a quick drive till home. We did door to door in 9 hrs flat with 2 breaks, one @ Deoli for breakfast and one @ DME for Lunch.
  
• 8-laned: DME. 6-laned: Only a few KMs of Bhilwara Bypass. 4-laned: Udaipur-Bhilwara, Deoli-NH23. 2-laned: NH23 and SH from Bhilwara to NH52.

Some random pictures.

DME - The first half of the stretch (north bound) has potholes, all lanes except the right most lane had water accumulated which says a lot about road surface. The second half however was flat!





DME entry from NH23



Jagdish snacks @ Vadodara



Himmatnagar halt



Jaipur Ring Road



Infamous Fountain Jam



One more from Jagdish, this has been our usual place to halt since 2016



SH connecting NH48 to NH52

[DSJ]

Originally Posted by quasimodo

We have invested in a cooler box with dry ice packs (you can get these on swiggy ice cream orders or generally in the market). These are great and keep things frozen for 10-12 hours drive. Since we feed him only meat and veggies- we tend to carry meat and chopped veggies during such trips. This time around though- since we were moving from Delhi to BOM, the cooler box got accidentally packed and sent via the packers and movers. So- got his meals from anandam but that costed a bomb and wouldn't recommend, if you can help it. For the second night of course, we stopped at Baroda and sourced the meat from Alkapuri before making it in the BnB. Hope this helps!

Thanks once again... so our little lion cub (Golden Retriever aged 3 years) also eats home cooked food, and so we use this option of the cooler box too - the drill is the same - we try and source the chicken and cook it with the veggies+rice wherever possible.

[SanjayChouhan]

Am planning to drive down from Mumbai to Delhi somewhere next week.

What is the recommended route, in view of the weather and the condition of roads - Udaipur or Indore?

Also, can anyone give an update of the state of roads in Gujarat? Keep hearing of flooding and all.

Thank you.

[quasimodo]

Originally Posted by SanjayChouhan

Am planning to drive down from Mumbai to Delhi somewhere next week.

What is the recommended route, in view of the weather and the condition of roads - Udaipur or Indore?

Also, can anyone give an update of the state of roads in Gujarat? Keep hearing of flooding and all.

Thank you.

Sanjay- you can read my review of DEL to BOM done 1 month back. I guess you can take the same route for BOM to DEL. Also- There were zero flooding cases, if that helps.

[sinharishi]

Originally Posted by sinharishi

NCR-Mumbai/Pune-NCR Route Update:

Originally Posted by SanjayChouhan

Am planning to drive down from Mumbai to Delhi somewhere next week.

What is the recommended route, in view of the weather and the condition of roads - Udaipur or Indore?

Also, can anyone give an update of the state of roads in Gujarat? Keep hearing of flooding and all.

Thank you.

Like literally 2 posts above you have the latest update.

[SanjayChouhan]

I HAVE read Quasimodo’s post, bro. I am worried since there is recent news that large parts of Gujarat have been flooded due to that publicity stunt with the dam.

I wanted to check if the Vadodara route is still safe and viable, even after the rains and flooding.

[sinharishi]

No flooding anywhere, do READ my update. I did Mumbai-Delhi on 20-21st Sept.

[rajorshiroy84]

Read this news report of the Delhi-Vadodara section of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway being inaugurated by PM Modi in the first week of October. However, Google Maps does not (yet) show the route. Any idea if this route is operational?

The news report can be accessed at https://www.livemint.com/news/india/...575272789.html

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by rajorshiroy84

Read this news report of the Delhi-Vadodara section of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway being inaugurated by PM Modi in the first week of October. However, Google Maps does not (yet) show the route. Any idea if this route is operational?

The news report can be accessed at https://www.livemint.com/news/india/...575272789.html

It’s not operational. Coming from Delhi, the expressway ends at Lalsot for now, just like before. Work is continuing in the further sections. The “inauguration” seems to be just an election related stunt.

[amitayu]

Recently drove from Delhi to jaipur via the Delhi Mumbai Expressway.

Some Observations:

1) It is best to have the last stop ar Sohna before embarking on the Expressway, even though it technically starts few Kms before Sohna. We had breakfast at Om Sweets at Sohna and took a very short and easy connector to get on the expressway.

2) This expressway is way different from the YEW. Firstly, the terrain is undulating unline YEW which is FLAT. Secondly, two many curves and twists. While YEW allows you to it high speeds flat on, this requires safe handling, especially when taking a dip on te road given you car will tend to gain speed and momentum. Always keep a keen eye on the speedo for your own good.

3) The road surface has undulations, and there are already patchworks! It is very disconcerting when you hit these undulations at such high speeds. There were few nervous moments when I was compelled to reduce speed.

4) Barring these few issues, it is a straight uniterupted drive for hours in triple digit speed. The driver in me loved it, the passengers were not too happy wit the lack of restrooms or wayside amneties. Be well prepared especially if you have kids with you. Even a basic bio-break is a challenge on his road.