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I'm planning for a Road Trip in November 2010.

I've promotionals in the following places & my travelling Itinerary would be through these places :

Bhopal - Nagpur - Hyderabad - Kurnool - Ongole - Chennai - Hosur - Madurai - Idduki - Pathnamthitta - Tiruvalla - Kottayam - Cochin - Angamally - Thrissur - Kozhikode - Manipal - Hubli - Belgaum - Sawantawadi - Mumbai/Pune - Nashik - Dhule - Indore - Bhopal :eek:

please: help me chart, prepare, travel

1. Advice me on the road conditions on all the sections. :Frustrati

2. Is it advisable to travel from Sawantwadi through Bhiwandi (Mumbai) to Nashik?

or

Should I stick to my original plans of going from Sawanthwadi through Pune to Nashik? Is NH-17 good & better than NH-4?

3. Please suggest to me routes & availability of Gas on the way.

I'm planning to strecth my Wagon-R to the limits for this trip. Its a Duo. Will it afford such a long trip?

rl:

Quite a tour plan!
Current road conditions will change by the time you travel since roads would have been relaid after the monsoons. Almost all roads should be good by then. Presently, the bad roads sections are in Kerala and Karnataka coast (NH47 and NH17).

From Sawantwadi, you can travel either way to Nashik, via Bombay/Bhiwandi or Pune. Maybe you should stick to NH17 all the way to Bombay and go via Bhiwandi to Nashik.

NH4 is definitely very fast, but then NH50 from Pune to Nashik is not great.

LPG? There are very few LPG pumps on many of the sectors.

Wagon R will do fine.

A little more of detailing on each sector:

Bhopal - Obaidullagunj-Itarsi-Betul-Nagpur
Conventional 2-laned highway, normally good. Facilities trucking type decent.

Nagpur- Pandharkawada-Adilabad-Nirmal-Dichipalli-Medchal-Hyderabad
Lovely NH7 4-laned and fast except for some incomplete sections in the MH-AP border.

Hyderabad - Kurnool - Atmakur-Doranala-Markapur-Ongole
Upto Kurnool, it is NH7 and superfast, but from there, expect moderate to bad roads till Ongole. The better route would have been to go via Suriapet, but since you have to touch Kurnool, you have no other choice.

Ongole - Nellore-Gudur-Chennai
Superfast NH5 all the way

Chennai - Kanchipuram-Vellore-Ambur-Krishnagiri-Hosur
Lovely NH4/NH46/NN7, all superfast and good.

Hosur - Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri-Toppur-Salem-Namakkal-Karur-Dindigul-Madurai
Even better, NH7 is 4-laned and superfast

Madurai - Theni-Cumbum-Kumili-Puliyanmala-Kattapana-Painavu/Idduki-Kulamavu-Muttom Erattupetta-Kanjirapalli -Ranni - Pathnamthitta - Chengannur-Tiruvalla - Changanaserry-Kottayam - Vaikom-Cochin
Twisty mountain roads, but condition will be excellent. Congested corridor after Kanjirapalli.

Cochin - Aluva-Angamally - Chalakudy-Thrissur - Kunnamkulam-Edapal-Kozhikode
NH47 till Trissur good, but very congested, then NH17 from KUnnamkulam, which is good.

Kozhikode-Mahe-Kannur-Kasargod-Mangalore-Udupi - Manipal
NH17 all the way. Terribly congested till Kannur. Bad road conditions presently, may not improve between Kasargod and Mangalore. Heavy traffic between Mangalore & Udupi.

Manipal - Udupi-Kundapura-Bhatkal-HOnavar-Kumta-Ankola-Yellapura-Hubli
NH17 till Ankola presently in bad condition, but expect improvement by Nov. NH63 from Ankola excellent, but mountain road.

Hubli - Belgaum - Chandgad-Amboli -Sawantawadi
Excellent 4-laned NH4 till Belgaum, after which it is decent roads, with steep mountain descent after Amboli.

Sawantwadi - Kankavli-Rajapur-Hathkamba-Chiplun-Khed-Mahad-Mangaon-Pen-Panvel-Mumbai
Lovely NH17, but mountain roads most of the way, you will love this route.
If you want to be faster, then take Sawantwadi-Amboli-Ajra-Nippani-KOlhapur-Karad-Satara-Pune-Nashik

Bombay - Nashik
Bombay-Kasara-Igatpuri-Nashik
or Pune-Chakan-Narayangaon-Sangamaner-Sinnar-Nashik
The Bombay-Nashik road is a lovely 4-laner, the Pune-Nashik road is 2-laned.

Nashik - PImpalgaon-Malegaon-Dhule - Sendhwa-Damnod-Indore - Bhopal
LOvely 4-laner till Dhulia. After that narrow roads till Damnod after which it is a superfast 4-laner all the way to Bhopal.

Some time back there only few country wide drives I could read about.
I see that, becoming order of the day! Way to go!

HVK has spoken! So no need to say anything more.

Question:
What is the reason for drive? If its travel, I can see, quite some changes can be done for visiting places.

Dear HVK- man you are genius on Indians roads-jokes apart I strongly recommend that some proper authority in the highways acknowledge your knowledge and seek your advice. I again repeat my previous statement that it will be an honour to meet you. Anytime you come to Bangalore give a shout I will be there. I have done my bit of driving (All three cars I've had and possessed have touched 1 lakh each-present is on 87000) but you are the ultimate. Its great having an expert like you to give us such sound advice.

Regards,

Col J H Mayne

Sir, thanks a great deal. That is merely the product of last 26 years driving around! My pleasure anytime to meet you too, you have lots of anecdotes to tell us about your various postings in some of the most god-forsaken places in India.

HVK Sir, I found the roads in Thrissur districts to be excellent condition. Expect some narrow roads & diversions between the Angamaly-Chalakudy stretch due to road constructions, with sparse traffic.

This is the update as of day before yesterday.

clap: Thanx HVK for the detailed info. Its so valuable. You are really a Master of Roads !!

Recently I travelled on this section ... the roads from Itarsi to Betul is one of the worst with potholed filled roads ...

__________

clap: Thanx Amp. for the quote.

My travel is basically Mystic in nature. I visit lots of places for giving Spiritual guidance.

__________

clap: Thanx aargee for the update. It would be very helpful.

Hopefully, they will patch up the Betul-Itarsi section by the time you travel. Last year too, around this time, it was in bad shape but after the rains, it was restored to good condition.

In that case what HVK said is perfect for a point-to-point travel.
Thats exactly what you need.

But I heard in this forum that the roads in Malappuram and Palakkad districts - around Perinthalmanna, Pandikkad, Wandoor, Pattambi, etc - to be in bad condition thanks to heavy rains. That will be bad for those travelling from Trissur to Mysore via Nilambur.

Yes Sir, that is quite right; all the places that you've mentioned from Perinthalmanna to Pattambi are more than worse. Here's one for your reference. Pls see the 3rd pic - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/2055158-post.html

Wow! how much can rain play spoil sport! That same road I had take before monsoon and it was pretty decent. I wont say it was smooth, but with Kerala's "packing density" of people and establishments, I could do easily do 60-80 on that stretch.