[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by Gaurav Verma

1. Good eating joins onthe way

With a 4am departure from BOM,I'd suggest you carry something to eat with you,because none of the joints would be open,the earliest open place you would find are the dhabas just outside Solapur.With a 4am departure,you should be in Solapur by 11am.

Originally Posted by Gaurav Verma

Places on the way that we can visit

No places of any interest,except for the Naldurg Fort after Solapur.If you are driving via Baramati,then you have the Narayanpur Balaji Temple,Saswad temple,Morgaon temple,Jejuri Temple.

Originally Posted by Gaurav Verma

What are heavy traffic patches

Pune-Solapur is dense traffic section,especially between Indapur & Solapur.One would imagine as if the whole of the country's truck traffic is on this section.

Originally Posted by Gaurav Verma

Is this route safe to travel during night

No safety issues,however with the present road widening on,I wouldnt reccomend night drives.

Originally Posted by Gaurav Verma

Any thing specific that we need to take care off

After Pune till you reach Hyd,none of the petrol pumps accept credit cards.In case you need to stay the night,then Solapur is the only option.Please carry your original vehicle documents & license as you are likely to be stopped by the notorious Solapur traffic cops.

Originally Posted by Gaurav Verma

Any possibility to avoid Pune city?

With a 4am departure from Vashi,you dont have to bother about avoiding Pune city as the city would be sleeping at that point of time(around 6am).If you do need to bypass Pune while coming back,then take a left after Indapur Bus Stand and go via Baramati-Jejuri-Saswad-Narayanpur-NH4-Katraj-Pune-Bom Bypass-MPEW.Regards conditions of this stretch,I'd suggest you pm Ashish as he is the best person to comment on this.

[Ravveendrra]

Originally Posted by Gaurav Verma

I would be traveling to Hydrabad from Mumbai on coming Saturday morning.
We would be leaving from Navi Mumbai by around 4am. As you have done this stretch recently, please suggest following:

1. Which route you have taken - NH9
2. What time you left Mumbai and by when did you reached HYD
3. Good eating joins onthe way
4. How is road condition
5. Places on the way that we can visit
6. What are heavy traffic patches
7. Is this route safe to travel during night
8. Any thing specific that we need to take care off

Any possibility to avoid Pune city?

There is but one route to take to get to Hyd from Bom. Take the expressway to Pune, leave the Bangalore Rd at Pune and head to Solapur (look for the signs in Pune city). Once you are on the Solapur rd. it is straight ahead for Hyderabad.

There is no dearth of eating joints on the way. Lonavala & Pune has several on the road. Thereafter there are several dhabhas dotting the way. Just before Solapur, on your right you will find a "BK garden", that is a good place to eat. Another joint is a Noor Dhabha & its neighbour near about 170 km before Hyderabad. You will find them on the left as you head to Hyd.

The best place to fill in fuel on this route is the BPCL Company owned bunk at Temburni which is about 80 Km short of Solapur. The fuel quality is good and yes, they do take cards.

When I did the bit between Pune & Hyderabad last month, the effects of the monsoon were just beggining to show, the road was not yet rutted but the smoothness was gone. The bit between Hadapsar & Indapur is a pain to drive because of the 4 laning work in progress.

Traffic is quite heavy all the way and 24/7.

The road is safe to travel at any time of the day / night i.e. no robberies etc. reported. Traffic of course is never too safe on Indian singel carriageway highways.

I have done the NH 9 bit from Hyd to Pune at least 3 times in 2010 and have found the condition of the surface changes every time. I guess the surface is now pock-marked with pot holes and rutted by now due to the rains.

On most of my drives I was able to maintain a moving average of about 70 kmph with an overall average a shade over 60 kmph. The drive from Hyderabad to Bombay took me about 10 hours (22.00 to 08.00) Bombay to Hyd took me about 11 hours (17.00 to 04.00) . The drive between Pune & Hyderabad takes me about 9 hours overall with the actual driving time being about 8 hrs.

For further information see the thread "Mumbai-Hyderabad"

Another post by me on a "meets thread" is:

"Driving from Hyd to Lonavala with dep fixed for early evening the best place would be the Dhabha right next to Noor.

extract from my Palio Buying thread (Fiat Palio GTX 1.6 acquired 2nd hand) :

"stopped soon thereafter for lunch at a 'Deluxe Dhaba" a haunt for truckers, which is right next to a 'Hotel Noor' which seems to be favoured by the car guys. I trust the truckers choice of Dhabas and love the simple, rustic fare that truckers dhabas serve up. Bhakri + curd (for dipping the Bhakri) + anda burji washed down with a few thumps up hit the right spot on that unbelievably hot day."

The Noor and Deluxe will be on your left as you head toward Bombay.

2. If you leave a little later the BP bunk just outside Zaheerabad is a good bet.

3. About 80 Km after Solapur you will come across a BP "Company Owned Bunk" on your left at a place called Temburni. Trust me this is the best bunk you can get between Mumbai and Hyd. Has ample parking and a lot of truck, car etc. traffic 24/7 so is safe for a power nap. Diagonally opposite this bunk is a Dhabha which is open till the wee hours. The food is excellent. Look for it to your right about 100m before the first entrance into the bunk.

4. If you are crossing Pune between midnight and 6.30 a.m. drive straight through Hadapsar till you get to AFMC on your left and the Pune Race Course on your right (RWITC). Turn right, drive through Pune Camp and head for the University (Ganeshkhind Rd.) pass Shivaji Nagar and the Univ. and look for signs leading you to the expressway. This is the shortest route and will not have Pune's infamous traffic at that hour.

5. One of the best biryani I have had in my life was in Lonavala. Driving to Bombay along the old road, pass the turn that leads into the town (bus stand etc.) and about 200 m later there is an Irani rest. on your left with a dining room on the 1st floor overlooking the road. IIRC he had a bar too. Finger licking good biryani."

Drive safe,

Cheers,

[MX6]

Here's an easy way to get off NH4 and get on to NH9

Take the exit at Baner from NH4. It is a straight road all the way till University road.
Turn right on University road and proceed towards pune station.
Do not take the left near Sancheti hospital. Instead go straight.
You'll get on the small bridge besides the railway bridge across the river. Go straight on that to Ambedkar wellesly road.
Go straight till you reach the Ambedkar statue and take a right turn on MG road.
Go to the end of MG road and turn left on to Pune Solapur highway.
Keep straight on that road till you cross the race course on your left and AFMC on the right. There will be a circle at Fatima nagar where you go straight and another 240 odd kms should take you to solapur!

[gajadonga]

Thank you MX6 that was a good update on crossing Pune.I Always had problem in crossing Pune when travelling towards Mumbai.

[Bigzero]

I did a Hyd-Pune-Hyd drive last weekend, and here is some information from the trip:

First Leg:

• Started from Secunderabad at 5.20 am
• Patancheru - 5.53 am
• Zaheerabad - 7.15 am
• Homnabad - 8.00 am
• Umerga - 8.56 am
• Naldurg - 9.42 am
• Solapur BP start - 10.22 am
• Shetfal - 11.48 am
• Tembhurni ( Hotel Atithi just before Tembhurni town ) - 12.15 pm

• Total Distance - 375 km
• Time taken - app 7 hours
• Avg speed - 54 kph

Notes: Leisurely driving, with occasional bursts of 100 kph, fairly heavy truck traffic all along, required a lot of slow progress behind trucks.
Road condition - good, but once you cross AP, the surface quality deteriorates. Slow progress through towns on the way, esp in Mah, with a lot of activity along the road ( market day? )
Heavy traffic after Naldurg all through to Tembhurni
Includes One 10 min break for breakfast ( I had packed b/f with me ) and one 5 min bio+stretching break.

Second Leg -

• Started from Tembhurni at 12:50 (35 min lunch break)
• Indapur - 1:27 pm
• Bhigwan - 2:18 pm
• Hadapsar - 4:15 pm

• Distance - 157 km
• Time taken: 3 hrs 25 min
• Avg speed - 44 kph

Note: Traffic - Heavy all through
Driving - again very defensive, no aggressive overtaking, rarely went above 80-90. Mostly cruising behind trucks as there was no option to overtake most of the time, without taking some risk
A long stretch had practically no shoulder because of 4-laning, broken surface, trucks jostling for space.
Road surface ok to not so great throughout.
A 15 min break on the way.

Overall : start 5.20, end 4.15, thats close to 11 hours.

The return journey was faster primarily because the truck traffic was considerably less. I started at 6 am and reached Patancheru at 3.20 pm before being caught in Hyd traffic. This was with a 25 min breakfast stop at Tembhurni and 35 min lunch break at Noor Dhaba near Homnabad. I also maintained higher speeds.

The Hyd-Pune run was on a Sunday. Perhaps there are more trucks on the road on Sundays/weekends??

Hope this update helps.

[noopster]

Folks, planning a trip to Solapur to attend a wedding. The wedding's on a Monday and don't want to take unnecessary leave, so the plan is probably leave Sunday early afternoon, reach Sunday evening & check in, attend wedding on Monday, stay over and take off very early on Tuesday morning to reach office by around 10 or so.

Google maps says drive time is 3h47min along NH9. Doable?

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by noopster

Folks, planning a trip to Solapur to attend a wedding. The wedding's on a Monday and don't want to take unnecessary leave, so the plan is probably leave Sunday early afternoon, reach Sunday evening & check in, attend wedding on Monday, stay over and take off very early on Tuesday morning to reach office by around 10 or so.

Google maps says drive time is 3h47min along NH9. Doable?

3.5 hours defi not doable.It would take you around 5.5hours at any given point of time in any kind of car.

Reasons: 4 laning/Bad quality of roads and potholed and heavy and dense truck traffic.Budget for an overall avg speed of 50kph.

[noopster]

Thanks ranjitp1. Maybe driving back in the night is a better idea, but I prefer daytime driving somehow. Let's see.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by noopster

Google maps says drive time is 3h47min along NH9. Doable?

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

3.5 hours defi not doable.It would take you around 5.5hours at any given point of time in any kind of car.
Reasons: 4 laning/Bad quality of roads and potholed and heavy and dense truck traffic.Budget for an overall avg speed of 50kph.

Originally Posted by noopster

Thanks ranjitp1. Maybe driving back in the night is a better idea, but I prefer daytime driving somehow. Let's see.

Google baba ki jai ho!!!

Pune-solapur in 4 hours!!!!

Now a days, keep six hours for this journey.
There is lot of sugarcane cart traffic.
Avoid night journey or avoid driving after sunset on this stretch.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by noopster

Thanks ranjitp1. Maybe driving back in the night is a better idea, but I prefer daytime driving somehow. Let's see.

Like Ashish said,night drive is definitely ruled out on this stretch,the diversions are poorly marked and there is absolutely no road shoulder.Do it in the day time,but dont set targets,that way the drive would be fine.

[Dicky_GT]

Hey Guys,
Will be doing the Mumbai - Tuljapur stretch tomorrow and leaving mumbai by 7 am in the morning. Pretty simple plan mumbai to pune via the expressway and then the nh9 all the way to solapur and then the tuljapur. Any heads up or piece of advice from those who have done the stretch recently. Recommendation for a good place to eat.
Also hoping that can finish this stretch in around 9 to 10 hours which i think is pretty much possible.

[noopster]

It's raining cats and dogs in Pune right now. Please be careful.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by Dicky_GT

Hey Guys,
Will be doing the Mumbai - Tuljapur stretch tomorrow and leaving mumbai by 7 am in the morning. Pretty simple plan mumbai to pune via the expressway and then the nh9 all the way to solapur and then the tuljapur. Any heads up or piece of advice from those who have done the stretch recently. Recommendation for a good place to eat.
Also hoping that can finish this stretch in around 9 to 10 hours which i think is pretty much possible.

7am means you would be in Pune by 9am and it would take you an hour to get out of Pune at Hadapsar.You should be able to exit Pune by 1030,and in Solapur by 4-430pm.Unfortunately no places to eat till you reach Solapur,so either carry lunch with you or else be prepared for a late lunch on the Solapur bypass.

Solapur to Tuljapur should be done in around 1-1.5hours(latest).Look out for diversions between Pune & Solapur,if it rains,roads can get quite messy with the widening work.Safe driving.

[Dicky_GT]

Originally Posted by noopster

It's raining cats and dogs in Pune right now. Please be careful.

Thats actually good news coz one of my bigger worries was the heat, just did the mumbai- dapoli run and trust me the heat was a real killer. will be going at a very average speed.

@ranjitp1: Thanks a lot ranjitp1, probably will hault in pune somewhere to pick up lunch. This is going to be the longest one way i will be driving have done in excess of 350 kms in a day but none of them were one way.

[Maverick79]

Me too, planning for a trip to Hyd on this 7th.
Hope the road conditions, especially the 4 lanning is completed till Sholapur.
Any recent visitors, pls let me know.

I will be driving with my family( In laws) and planning to take a small 'dhraamick' break at Pandharpur and then move ahead to Hyd.

Planning to start early. Atleast at 5.00am from Pune. Pls suggest.