[Karvel]

Originally Posted by swunkjyn

@paragsachania, I owe a Big Thanks to you and also to the other members of this thread as the

Bangalore > Hyderabad > Nagpur > Seoni > Jhansi > Gwalior > Agra > NOIDA > Delhi > Chandigarh and then Nahan (Central India).

Drove non-stop without any sleep for 36 hours and covered 2100 Kms from Bangalore to Agra. Had to take a halt at Agra Hyatt (Parents and in-laws forced for it), I still had the stamina to drive till Chandigarh. Then next day reached Nahan. All in the all the roads were good and loved the Bangalore to Hyderabad, then road in Madhya Pradesh were Superb and Yamuna Express is just another level. I did this trip alone in an Alto K10.

Nahan > Chandigarh > Jaipur > Udaipur > Ahmedabad > Surat > Mumbai > Pune and then Bangalore.

Wow. That's one heck of a drive!. 36 hrs non stop. For 2100 kms. Hope you do take sufficient break on the return journey. Body reacts differently at unexpected times, and driving solo adds to the risk.

[swunkjyn]

Originally Posted by Karvel

Wow. That's one heck of a drive!. 36 hrs non stop. For 2100 kms. Hope you do take sufficient break on the return journey. Body reacts differently at unexpected times, and driving solo adds to the risk.

Indeed I did take break but this 36 Hours drive was without any sleep. I never felt sleepy at night driving and during the day loved the view when crossing Andhra, Maharashtra and MP. First 940 Kms were non stop without taking any long break, just would stretch after driving for every 150 Kms to 180 Kms. Plus there were some sections or stretches so beautiful that I would slow down the car to about 50 km just to enjoy the view.

Attaching few pictures, the first three are from MP. There was a detour that they were suggesting from Pench (MP) and at the end of that it, there is a reservoir for a DAM, it was amazing. Plus I took this shot somewhere in the early morning, maybe before 7.30AM. It was an amazing site to watch, MP has a great treasure of Forests and the Highway road was freshly laid too. The last picture is of the Yamuna Expressway.

[WanderinNomad]

Originally Posted by swunkjyn

Indeed I did take break but this 36 Hours drive was without any sleep. I never felt sleepy at night driving and during the day loved the view when crossing Andhra, Maharashtra and MP. First 940 Kms were non stop without taking any long break, just would stretch after driving for every 150 Kms to 180 Kms. Plus there were some sections or stretches so beautiful that I would slow down the car to about 50 km just to enjoy the view.

Attaching few pictures, the first three are from MP. There was a detour that they were suggesting from Pench (MP) and at the end of that it, there is a reservoir for a DAM, it was amazing. Plus I took this shot somewhere in the early morning, maybe before 7.30AM. It was an amazing site to watch, MP has a great treasure of Forests and the Highway road was freshly laid too. The last picture is of the Yamuna Expressway.

Wow 36 hours at one go !! I also took the same route in January but stopped at nagpur, jhansi and finally reached dehradun ( my destination ). The roads were excellent except the UP section and my 15 year old Honda City equally reliable. Just wish that I had installed CNG back then which I have installed in March.

[manjubp]

Originally Posted by swunkjyn

Indeed I did take break but this 36 Hours drive was without any sleep.

Dear friend,
This is a recipe for disaster. We have seen multiple accident due to attention deficiency, triggered by lack of sleep. Even if someone is more blessed, he needs to negotiate obstacles and dangers on the Indian roads needs 100% alertness.

[swunkjyn]

Originally Posted by WanderinNomad

Wow 36 hours at one go !! I also took the same route in January but stopped at nagpur, jhansi and finally reached dehradun ( my destination ). The roads were excellent except the UP section and my 15 year old Honda City equally reliable. Just wish that I had installed CNG back then which I have installed in March.

The Roads were good overall but not around Nagpur or from Nagpur to MP. Moreover, there were certain places that I blindly followed Google Maps and it cost me lot of time. I was being routes to Hyderbad City and suddenly before going straight I luckily happened the see the billboard for Nehru Outer Ring Road. Glad that I took it, I ended up saying some 22Kms or 23Kms. Then in Gwalior, Jhansi and Delhi again got fooled by GoogleMaps and instead me giving the outer ring road I had to travel from within these cities during Peak Traffic. So there were couple of mistakes that I did -

1. Not having a Fastag costed me more than 3 hours, there were places where I waited for over 30 minutes. This was because the cash lane would also have trucks. I can recall an incident where an attendant at such a toll booth gave me an exception because there were over 30 trucks in front of me. This was somewhere between Nagpur and MP, I guess it was a border toll (newly made that too).
2. Following Google-Maps with full Faith, always have some doubts. This also cost me atleast 2 hours to 3 hours extra.
3. I started late from Bangalore, around 8 AM, so till 10AM I had only covered 9 Kms, heavy traffic.

So all in all, I can say in good-spirit that my drive-time should be close to 27 hours to 28 hours and covering 2100 Kms but with relaxed driving. My suggestion for anyone wanting to make this trip is to be cautious while driving in MP. The cattle will be sitting, running and jumping across the National Highway. Then since you cross the village so for them it is their Lawn to what we call as the NH44. People coming by Car, Bike, Truck, Bicycle from the wrong lane is common in MP and UP.

Originally Posted by manjubp

Dear friend,
This is a recipe for disaster. We have seen multiple accident due to attention deficiency, triggered by lack of sleep. Even if someone is more blessed, he needs to negotiate obstacles and dangers on the Indian roads needs 100% alertness.

Dear Friend, Thank you for showing your concern and I agree with you but as I have mentioned above, I drive in a relaxed manner and never rush. And that would also depend on the Road+Traffic+The Car I am driving in.
I actually started the journey a day late as the previous day I was sleeping all through out the day. I have taken almost 16 hours to 17 hours of sleep the day before so had enough rest and then working with IT for over 12 years has made me accustomed to working at night so falling asleep was out of question due to my Biological Clock being set to work at nights. And I have already shared the danger. I had anticipated the dangers, as a fellow member had posted to be watchful when driving in MP.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by swunkjyn

Drove non-stop without any sleep for 36 hours and covered 2100 Kms from Bangalore to Agra. Had to take a halt at Agra Hyatt (Parents and in-laws forced for it), I still had the stamina to drive till Chandigarh. Then next day reached Nahan.

I would not suggest such long continuous drives without rest. Our body gives very clear signals about fatigue setting in. And we should not over ride it. In fact the planning itself should include the rest hours.

[swunkjyn]

Originally Posted by ampere

I would not suggest such long continuous drives without rest. Our body gives very clear signals about fatigue setting in. And we should not over ride it. In fact the planning itself should include the rest hours.

Point noted, I intend to come back to Bangalore and planning to do it in 2 parts at-least. I am still thinking on which route to take, the only downside of the Central India route is the lack of local Hotels or Dhaba's.

[mukeshgoel]

Guys, which route is suggested for Gurgaon (Sohna Road) to Agra?

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by mukeshgoel

Guys, which route is suggested for Gurgaon (Sohna Road) to Agra?

Via Taj expressway is a better option but if you are leaving very early, can take the older Palwal route too. It’s complete and will be better in case you are heading towards Gwalior and beyond. Take the exit somewhere before Agra, there’s prominent mark for the bypass.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by swunkjyn

the only downside of the Central India route is the lack of local Hotels or Dhaba's.

The following list should come in handy. Tried and tested by few including myself.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

From Bangalore to Dehradun via Ghazibad, the following was recommended to both of my friends and they used quite a few of the POIs referred below. Almost all of these are in Bangalore-Delhi corridor. Perhaps it can help next time. And yes, I agree that this route has less options to stop but with proper planning one very well can manage.

Bluemoon

Café Coffee Day, Gooty

Food Pyramid

Sony Family Restaurant

Goel Fuel Station

Malgudi Restaurant

Reliance Fuel Station

Gayatri Family Dhaba/Restaurant

Hotel Mayur

MPTDC, Highway Treat, Rookad

Royal Herigate Garden, Seoni

IOCL Fuel Station

Jalsa Garden Restaurant

Jaltarang Family Restaurant

Satyam Restaurant, Rajakhedi

BPCL Fuel Station

Six Seasons Restaurant, Jhansi

Meadows Grand, Gajraula

Masala Darbar, Bazpur

[swunkjyn]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

The following list should come in handy. Tried and tested by few including myself.

Thank you Parag, our initial post did help me a lot. I am still contemplating taking the West Coast for drive back to Bangalore but then have to cross Maharashtra and don't know how it is now. They would be asking for a -ve report I guess.

[WanderinNomad]

Originally Posted by swunkjyn

.......... So there were couple of mistakes that I did -

1. Not having a Fastag costed me more than 3 hours, there were places where I waited for over 30 minutes. This was because the cash lane would also have trucks. I can recall an incident where an attendant at such a toll booth gave me an exception because there were over 30 trucks in front of me. This was somewhere between Nagpur and MP, I guess it was a border toll (newly made that too).
2. Following Google-Maps with full Faith, always have some doubts. This also cost me atleast 2 hours to 3 hours extra.
3. I started late from Bangalore, around 8 AM, so till 10AM I had only covered 9 Kms, heavy traffic......

.

Oops those are some blunders which would have made the journey really tiring !
I followed the following-

• 1 searched for the route on teambhp

• 2 made a small map on a piece of paper which said something like this-

bengaluru-
Hyderabad ORR-
mansar--
nagpur
seoni-
jhansi-
gwalior bypass-
Agra inner ring road-
eastern peripheral highway-
gang nahar-
khatauli
chutmalpur
dehradun

• 3 I used to put only the next destination on google map, and once I was about 20km from my destination I used to change the destination to the next one. Basically forcing google to follow your pre planned route. Never rely on google map completely for long distance drives, you will always regret it.

The route I took was amazing throughout ( including MP ) through pench national park. The only issue came in UP where some politician caused a traffic jam on highway, somewhere near Morena, for 3 hours.

[swunkjyn]

Originally Posted by WanderinNomad

Oops those are some blunders which would have made the journey really tiring !
I followed the following-
.......

Like I posted in this thread, I do intend to come back to Bangalore from Nahan but this time will learn from my mistakes so that the unwanted instances do not cause any distraction or loss of time. I also chose the same route as yours because going by Chindwara was not suggested. Just a week or two ago, someone had done that route and shared the condition of the Road, which was not good.

With COVID restrictions back in MP and Maharashtra, I need to keep an eye on what the new norms will be. Because this time I do plan to take a rest somewhere in MP or Nagpur and then Karnataka State Border Police will check for my travel history too. I was thinking of driving during last week of March but I may have to rethink this plan. Maybe end of April or mid May. Only downside is that it will be Hot all through out with Summers at its Peak.

[mukeshgoel]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Via Taj expressway is a better option but if you are leaving very early, can take the older Palwal route too. It’s complete and will be better in case you are heading towards Gwalior and beyond. Take the exit somewhere before Agra, there’s prominent mark for the bypass.

I went via old route (highlighted blue in the pic posted by me) and came back through Taj expressway (till Palwal/Aligarh exit). It was not early morning both times. Both took almost same time. Old route is also good with no bad roads but some (manageable) traffic.

The advantage of Taj expressway is that I could use cruise control for more than 100 kms with minimal inputs.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by mukeshgoel

came back through Taj expressway (till Palwal/Aligarh exit).

How’s the road between this exit and Sohna/ Gurgaon.