[issigonis]

>>>
ranjitp1,

Your travelogue or excel will be much appreciated. I intend doing Bombay-Barmer-Jaisalmer-Bikaner-Jodhpur-Bombay in February next year.

Regards, (on)* drive safe

* VVS's on drives are a revelation

[ranjitp1]

The travelogue should be up by tonight!Shall send you the link.

[Judemayne]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Yes there is a direct route from AMD to Jaisalmer,I did that route a couple of weeks back.AMD-Mehsana-Palanpur-Disa-Tharad-NH15-Sanchore-Barmer-Jaisalmer.Approx 10hrs of drive,excellent road,not a soul on the road except for the occasional truck or camel.But amazing landscape.

Thanks a ton ranjitp1 -will be doing this trip early --11 after the Beti's shaadi in Dec. Then the old girl and I are free birds to travel a small percentage of the routes HVK, Long Drive Lover and the rest of the greats of BHP. I salute you all for sharing the vastness of knowledge of our highways. I have over how many lakh kms under my belt but never looked at my long drives the way you guys do. I have posted in Rajasthan twice and operated in the deserts for months together. This trip will be the drive of our lives after we complete the Gangtok adventure.

Regards,
Col J H Mayne

[ranjitp1]

The TL is in progress here :

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...than-m800.html

Lovely Jude,looking forward to hearing your experiences,just cant wait,the way people like me look at it and experienced people like you look at it is entirely different.Love to see the way you look at places

Originally Posted by anainar

Am curious about Bhavnagar. That is like going in a U and then turning backup towards Mt.Abu. Is that a famous place? Things to be seen or you have some work there?
Your plan looks very doable. In fact you can thrown in a day at Jaisalmer instead of Mumbai. Enjoy the trip.

Thanks, anainar, for kind wishes.

As hvkumar explained the significance of Palitana, I don't want to repeat it.

Halting at Mumbai is just to take rest and break the journey. I would definitely try to squeeze in Jaisalmer!

[anainar]

Originally Posted by Judemayne

Thanks a ton ranjitp1 -will be doing this trip early --11 after the Beti's shaadi in Dec. Then the old girl and I are free birds to travel This trip will be the drive of our lives after we complete the Gangtok adventure.

Regards,
Col J H Mayne

Lovely Colonel. It should be an exhilarating feeling. Having seen the world and still wanting to see them in a different perspective. We all hope we live long and healthy enough to experience it, but who knows! Atleast we can live through yours today! Please do share your experiences here.

You might want to check this travelogue as well from another road warrior, from Baroda, but will give you some insights.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ur-baroda.html

Have a fun filled and enjoyable trip.

Nainar

[Judemayne]

You might want to check this travelogue as well from another road warrior, from Baroda, but will give you some insights.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ur-baroda.html

Have a fun filled and enjoyable trip.

Nainar[/quote]
Thank you so much for the link-Lightinin95's log was gripping and pics made Rajasthan leap out with its captivating beauty. I will share my experiences of my travels in the Far East (The 7 sisters as its popularly known), J & K, from the Northern border of Punjab till Barmer in Rajasthan. In the mid 70s and 80's carrying a camera was a luxury as the food on our backs got cumbersome so traded with the locals for their fish and rice-the yummiest grub when your stomach is touching your back bone.

I have further fine-tuned my itinerary [attachment] as advised by the well-wishers by including Jaisalmer [2 days - I hope, my Fiat Linea would drive through the desert roads] and dropping Mumbai. I shall start reserving for accommodation in a few days.

[hvkumar]

Day 4 is going to be tough. IT takes at least 2-3 hours to climb up the Palitana hills one way, so expect to spent 3/4th of a day - assuming you leave very early, 5 am - for the climb up. But I don't undersatnd why you want to come to Ahmedabad. You can come and stay in Rajkot and go to Mt Abu via Bambanbhore, Maliya, Samakhyari, Radhanpur, Palanpur and Abu Road.

Day 15 from Agra to Udaipur is going to be a long driving day too, you will have no time left for any sightseeing in Udaipur.

Spent that extra day (Day 16) in Udaipur, then drive non-stop to Pune, no need to halt in A'bad unless you plan to spent the whole of Day 16 in Udaipur and leave for A;bad in the evening.

If you have taken these distances from GM, I suggest you publish here the routes that it suggests - invariably, the wrong routes, so that we can also review and comment on the best route to take.

[ranjitp1]

Agree with HVK,day4 is going to be a long day and there is no point going to AMD.

Also I see you are staying at two different places in J'mer.I would suggest that you do Sam staying in J'mer.Sam is going to be extremely crowded as the season has set in.Moomal to Sam will not take more than 40minutes of drive.Best time to enjoy Sam,leave Moomal around 530am,reach Sam at 6,enjoy the sunrise,do the camel rides,dune bashing etc.Crowds are less and haggling with the camel handlers is also less stressful in the morning!It also saves you the hassle of unpacking & packing at two different hotels in a span of less than 24hours.With Moomal stay the second day once you are back from Sam around 9,you are free to explore the town,the fort,bada bagh etc.If you have it in you then a drive to Tanot is worth it.It would be the highlight of your entire trip!

With a one night halt in Jodhpur it might be a little tough,because Mehrangarh Fort will easily take around 3hours to see at the minimum,then you have the Jaswant Thada next to it and the must not miss Umaid Bhawan Palace,not much to see there but definitely a photo-op.J'mer to JDP would take you around 4-5hours.

You have slated your Taj visit for a Friday,you will have to change that as the Taj is closed on Fridays.Stay an extra night in Jodhpur,then you would end up at the Taj on a Saturday!

You dont have any time in Udaipur,that has to be reworked.You need 2 nights in Udaipur to enjoy the lake and the palaces.

Dont stay in AMD on the return leg,instead stay in Surat and the next day do,Surat-Pune in one stretch.

My travelogue on the same route that you are about to take: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...than-m800.html

PS:It is still being written!

[issigonis]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

I have further fine-tuned my itinerary [attachment] as advised by the well-wishers by including Jaisalmer [2 days - I hope, my Fiat Linea would drive through the desert roads] and dropping Mumbai. I shall start reserving for accommodation in a few days.

>>>

J.Ravi,

Can you please re-attach the itinerary as a plain excel file. I am unable to save it as an excel, by opening it I find garbage. Thank you.

Regards

[hvkumar]

issigonis, I have uploaded the file in Old Excel format (Ravi had used Office 2008).

Originally Posted by hvkumar

If you have taken these distances from GM, I suggest you publish here the routes that it suggests - invariably, the wrong routes, so that we can also review and comment on the best route to take.

Thanks a lot, hvkumar. Now, my modified schedule incorporates the routes I propose to take as per GM. Kindly see this and advise.

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

You have slated your Taj visit for a Friday,you will have to change that as the Taj is closed on Fridays.

Oops. I totally forgot this. Thanks, Ranjit, for reminding me. Now, my new schedule provides for stay at Agra on Wednesday. Your views are welcome.

Originally Posted by issigonis

Can you please re-attach the itinerary as a plain excel file. I am unable to save it as an excel, by opening it I find garbage. Thank you.

HV Kumar was kind enough to upload in the old Excel format. The same file I downloaded and modified. Hope, this file opens.

[ranjitp1]

* Delhi-Jaisalmer is a very very long tiring drive,instead stopover at Bikaner and leave next day morning to Jaisalmer via the Deshnoke temple(if you have it in you to see rats all over!I did not have it in me!!)

*Why do you want to stay at RTDC Moomal?You could directly check into Sam Dhani and explore Jaisalmer from there.It is just a 30minute drive from Sam to J'mer town.Second day,evening it would be worth a drive to Tanot and back.You could leave around 4 and be back by 8.There is an arati at 6pm.

*You only have half a day in Jodhpur,it is going to be tight.M'garh fort closes at 5pm which means you will have to get in atleast by 2pm,then no time for J-Thada and Umaid Bhawan!

*Day 18 is going to be tough as well.Surat to Ghodbunber would take you around 6-7hours,1.5 hours to circumnavigate BOM,then from MPEW to Belgaum would take you another 9-10hours,considering that you are driving again next day,this could be tough.You may want to consider Surat-Pune.Pune-Hubli.Hubli-Blore.

[issigonis]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

issigonis, I have uploaded the file in Old Excel format (Ravi had used Office 2008).

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hvk,

Thank you.

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

HV Kumar was kind enough to upload in the old Excel format. The same file I downloaded and modified. Hope, this file opens.

>>>

J.Ravi,

Yes, the file can be read - thank you.
In the matter of RTDC Kajri in Udaipur, I had a slightly bad experience when we visited Udaipur in February 2010 so would advocate caution.

We had stayed in another hotel (Hotel Rajdarshan near the Fateh Sagar Lake on Pannadai Road, which is a good but expensive hotel, but that's another story), and had stopped for lunch at Kajri. The next day three of my fellow travellers were down with food poisoning (seemed they got infected due to the poor quality of drinking water in the Kajri restaurant) which spoiled our subsequent sightseeing in Mount Abu. I escaped because I did not drink water there.

Not to frighten you. The hygiene of the waiter serving us was also, to put it mildly questionable. On the other hand our lunch at RTDC Panna in Chittaurgarh was excellent and terrific value for money.

Regards, drive safe