Team-BHP - Pune - Indore : Route Queries

Quote:

Originally Posted by VT-RNS (Post 5200742)

Hey Crow,
This is very true. Tough to find a good place with good washrooms on this stretch.
However, in this post of Mumbai-Bhopal thread I mention that for lunch, we found The Rajhans Hotel @ Julwania (just before you reach Julwania town when driving towards Indore). It looked like a relatively new place in July/Aug when I visited. Good washrooms, big place (ventilation & open space helps) and good food (Not spectacular but does the job well).
Here is the google map link: https://goo.gl/maps/2LJDuohfSRFrzoDc9

Hello RD18,

I do believe Dhule is a better choice than Malegaon for a rest stop. Distance wise as well as hotel options. From my own experience on this stretch, and having once stayed in Dhule for couple of days, I have two hotels kept handy as back-up.
Hotel JP Kyriad by OTHPL (Hotel Jhankar Palace) & Hotel Residency Park.
For restaurant, I find The Orchid to be one of the best ones on this stretch (barring Nasik options), and its located opposite to Hotel Residency Park and walking distance to Hotel Jhankar Palace.
All of these 3 places are on the highway, so you don't have to enter the city at all.

A good rest point while driving to Indore from Dhule can be the Rajhans hotel I have referred to Crow above, as well as the Panchwati Restaurant (NH 52, Kakadda) few kms after you cross Narmada river.

Hope this helps :)

Cheers!

Quote:

Originally Posted by INJAXN (Post 5649906)

Hi Guys,

I am planning to go to Indore early November, and route we are thinking of taking is:
Kharadi , Pune -> Sangamner -> Malegaon -> Dhule -> Indore.

We want to take a night halt in between somewhere in between, Thinking of Malegaon or Dhule, Please suggest good hotels for night stay at these 2 places.

You may refer to above post for hotel options. Also, you should read through the thread for any other questions.

Do share your experience later on to keep this thread engaging.

We did a Pune-Nashik-Indore-Bhopal and Bhopal-Nagpur-Sinnar-Pune trip for Diwali in my 2019 4th gen Honda City VX Petrol with self, spouse and two kids (< 3 y.o, both strapped to child car seats for most of the trip).

We left on a Friday evening around 530 PM with an intention to reach out hotel in Nashik around 10 PM for a late dinner and sleep but a thunderstorm struck Pune just as we pulled out from the home parking. For almost 30 min during the early part of our journey, we deliberated cancelling the entire trip, such was the intensity of rain and wind through the small ghat on Alandi road. We made slow progress following the lights of a 5-series in front and once had the rear wheels slip off the tarmac and the car slid dangerously. This was followed by a terrible jam at Chakan, which consumed another 30 min. This meant an adhoc stop at a Dhaba to get the kids to eat something before we reached the hotel in Nashik at 11:15 PM. Crashed after a quick snack and change, but the elder kid refused to sleep till almost 2 PM courtesy the small naps she took along the first leg.

This meant we had a somewhat late breakfast and departure from Nashik only at 10:15 PM. As has been mentioned by many people before, the rumblers between Nashik and Dhule and all they way till the MP border are a joy-killer. And since these aren’t ‘Paint’ rumblers but actual speed-breakers (sometimes 10 in a single instance), we crawled through these which are found almost every 5 km if not less. We did not face any speed checks, but mostly stuck to the speed limits. Roads on the MP side are surfaced better but traffic is almost the same. This meant we hit the Indore bypass only around 5 PM and another 45 odd minutes to cross it and hit the Indore-Bhopal road which is good to drive on but one has to be wary of crossing vehicles and the occasional canine. We reached Bhopal around 945 PM after making up time on the road.

After this experience, we chose to opt for an alternative road on the return and left around 2 PM from Bhopal for Nagpur via Betul. While the stretch between Bhopal and Betul is still partly under construction, less traffic meant we could still maintain an average speed of 50 kmph. The stretch between Betul and Nagpur is a joy to drive on, the tarmac is asphalt smooth and there are very few arrow straights. This meant an engaging drive and the chance to make the best of the sedan’s handling. Moreover, I had noticed a slight shudder on the steering during my first leg and had the balancing and alignment done in Bhopal - this was a wise decision as I found out on the Samruddhi Mahamarg later.

After a night in Nagpur, we hit the Samruddhi Mahamarg around 1140 AM after topping up the fuel tank and some emergency supplies (reading the cautionary stories of long intervals between fuel pumps / rest stops on the new expressway). I’m not a fan of concrete roads which highlights the poorer aspects of the Honda’s suspension and NVH. While most of the surfacing is as best as concrete can get, the hard thuds at expansion joints are something to watch out for while coasting on this highway. Moreover, just before getting on one of the many overpasses / bridges, the leveling between the concrete highway section and the tar top section isn’t great which meant the sleeping rear seat passengers often got rude jolts. The switch to MRF Perfinzas 185/55/R16 just 5 months ago proved to be a blessing for the grip levels. It didn't help the rear seat comfort much and the road noise did still crept in, especially on the Samruddhi's concrete top. However, one can just put the cruise on 115 kmph and drive on for hours and hours. Frequent pit stops and an underwhelming snack break for lunch meant we only reached the Sinnar exit at 545 PM. We finally reached home around 1030 PM to watch India beat NewZealand in the CWC23 semis. We did consider exiting the Samruddhi from Aurangabad but the horrors we’ve read on Nagar road to enter Pune kept us away from exercising this option. Probably, that would’ve gotten us back earlier since it entails a saving in total distance.

All in all, it was about 825 km on the first leg and around 1075 km on the return. Summarizing the halts and drive times below:

Pune (Koregaon Park) to Nashik - 6 hours including a 40 min break for dinner.
Nashik to Bhopal - 10 hours including a 60 min break for lunch, 20 min tea-break and 1-2 small 5-10 min breaks. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express, opting for the assurance of a known hotel brand over a local hotel in Sinner.
Bhopal to Nagpur - 6 hours including a 30 min break for tea and 1 small 10 min break. We stayed at a well-reviewed and new hotel (The Seven Hotel in Dharampeth) which was comfortable but they charges us incorrectly for an extra child mattress.
Nagpur to Pune - 11 hours including a 45 min break for snacks as lunch, a 30 min break for evening snacks and a couple of 10 min pit stops.