[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by tigerranch

McDonald as their receipts are authorized by the IBA, Also they accept credit cards and the service is fast

All the best!

Just a point on Mcdie-Not many of the outlets accept credit cards(no machines at some places and some places they do not want to swipe),they have the usual stories of machine not working,minimum bill amount etc,especially peak hours,one can forget about the cards,they just will not accept them.

[Surprise]

1500 kms per day for continuous 4 days in a bike on a solo ride

--

D1/2: Bombay (early morning)-Delhi (evening)-Kanpur-Allahabad (morning)-Varanasi-Calcutta (late afternoon) - first stop for 2 hour nap

D2/3/4: Calcutta (evening)-Bhubaneswar-Vizag (early morning)-Vijaywada-Madras (early evening)-Bangalore (late evening)-Bombay (morning).

Even reading these lines makes me tired , but helps to draw inspiration for the trips that is within our capacity
-----

adv wishes for both of you to get that achieved.

PS: Take care of humans/cyclist crossing the roads at will..couple of days back have witnessed a cyclist getting into the highway in split second to be thrown out of NH by a car

[aargee]

Originally Posted by Surprise

1500 kms per day for continuous 4 days in a bike on a solo ride

Right, but you also need to see his ride; its a Fazer 600 one of a great engineered motorcycle. Doing 140 in FZ6 will be much much different & altogether a different experience. Most importantly, there will be a good control even at those speeds.

Originally Posted by Surprise

Even reading these lines makes me tired , but helps to draw inspiration for the trips that is within our capacity

very true; its not the vehicle or the road that dries up the energy; its the people & their attitude on the road that gets sick

[tigerranch]

Mod Note : Please use the EDIT or MULTI-QUOTE buttons instead of typing one post after another!

Originally Posted by hvkumar

tigerranch, I think the current GQ record is 88 hours but that is relay driving, not solo.

I had contemplated doing it in less than that driving solo, and the way I had planned was as follows:

D1/2: Bombay (early morning)-Delhi (evening)-Kanpur-Allahabad (morning)-Varanasi-Calcutta (late afternoon) - first stop for 2 hour nap

D2/3/4: Calcutta (evening)-Bhubaneswar-Vizag (early morning)-Vijaywada-Madras (early evening)-Bangalore (late evening)-Bombay (morning).

The basic hypotheseses behind this plan were:
- Early morning start from Bombay always gets you best results
- Traffic on Jaipur-DElhi can be messy but till then, road is superfast
- The entire HR/UP stretch is a pleasure to drive in at night, no pedestrian and miscellaneous traffic
- The so-called unsafe stretches of BR/JH by day, approaching Calcutta before peak hour traffic between Durgapur and Calcutta. First and only break in Calcutta after approximately 35-40 hours of non-stop driving
- Little messy to do the under-construction OR roads by night, but they are OK to do so
- Crossing Madras before peak hour traffic in the evening, and bypassing Bangalore after peak hour traffic

Kumar

I yes you right, but solo i could see 102 hours on google

Will be riding on the 9th or 10th of november.

Cheers

Originally Posted by aargee

Right, but you also need to see his ride; its a Fazer 600 one of a great engineered motorcycle. Doing 140 in FZ6 will be much much different & altogether a different experience. Most importantly, there will be a good control even at those speeds.



very true; its not the vehicle or the road that dries up the energy; its the people & their attitude on the road that gets sick

Aargee

Surprise I will Thanx mate

[aargee]

@TRanch sir - so how does the plan look like? Could you put a rough draft for us to have a look pls? That way it also helps us have an idea as when you'll be touching Chennai. There's another guy from Delhi who's running on GQ almost the same time, but much slower pace than you're doing. I was watching the weather for him in Chennai during that time & its all of scattered TStorms.

So you may want to be prepared to face the rains too.

Source - 10 Day Weather Forecast for Chennai, India - weather.com

[Harshavarthan]

Hi, I am planning a drive to Ladakh starting May 28th from Ramnad (Tamilnadu). I am also considering to cover most of the GQ during the same trip. Here is my rough itinerary. I drive an i20 and usually maintain speeds of 100-120km/h in 4L roads and I will be solo during the entire GQ drive.



May 28th – Ramnad (Tamilnadu)5 am – Bangalore Electronic City 12.30pm – Tumkur – Chitradurga – Davanagere – Hubli – Belgaum - Kolhapur 9pm (Check-in @ Hotel Opal) (1075 kms@75km/h – 14.30 hrs+1.30hrs = 16 hrs)



May 29th – Kolhapur 5.30 am – Pune 8.30am – Mumbai 11.30am –Surat 4.15pm – Vadodara 6.15pm – Ahmedabad 7.30pm– Himatnagar 9.30pm (Check-in @ Hotel Landmark)(950 kms@70km/h – 14 hrs+2hrs = 16hrs)


May 30th – Himatnagar 10.30am – Udaipur 1pm – Chittorgarh – Ajmer - Kishangarh 5.30pm – Jaipur 7.30 pm - Gurgaon 2 pm (friends house)(860 Kms@65km/h – 13.30hrs+2hrs = 15.30 hrs)


Is this itinerary realistic? And I also need suggestions regarding restaurants in these roads for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Breaks.


From Delhi I will be heading to Ladakh and will be back again in Delhi on 17th June. So will rest for a day and then start again on 19th morning.


June 19 – ?

June 20 - ?

June 21 - ?


I can spare 3-4 days for the return stretch from Delhi to Chennai via Kolkatta. A visit to Chilika Lake is definitely a must to do during my drive. Any other places of interest which is close to GQ other than Temples?


Can experts suggest me an itinerary for my return stretch? HVK, your inputs please .

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Harshavarthan

May 28th – Ramnad (Tamilnadu)5 am – Bangalore Electronic City 12.30pm – Tumkur – Chitradurga – Davanagere – Hubli – Belgaum - Kolhapur 9pm (Check-in @ Hotel Opal) (1075 kms@75km/h – 14.30 hrs+1.30hrs = 16 hrs)

Harsh,

Would you be the solo driver? If yes, would it not be a bit aggressive?
I don't know much about sustained long drives. (Only HVK can comment).

Some other notes:
- Tumkur-Chitradurga has many diversions on 4-lane due to 6-lane conversion
- NICE road has no bunk so good to plan re-fueling aspects as wells. Sometimes I see some bunk have only petrol while some have only diesel.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by Harshavarthan

Hi, I am planning a drive to Ladakh starting May 28th from Ramnad (Tamilnadu). I am also considering to cover most of the GQ during the same trip. Here is my rough itinerary. I drive an i20 and usually maintain speeds of 100-120km/h in 4L roads and I will be solo during the entire GQ drive.



May 28th – Ramnad (Tamilnadu)5 am – Bangalore Electronic City 12.30pm – Tumkur – Chitradurga – Davanagere – Hubli – Belgaum - Kolhapur 9pm (Check-in @ Hotel Opal) (1075 kms@75km/h – 14.30 hrs+1.30hrs = 16 hrs)



May 29th – Kolhapur 5.30 am – Pune 8.30am – Mumbai 11.30am –Surat 4.15pm – Vadodara 6.15pm – Ahmedabad 7.30pm– Himatnagar 9.30pm (Check-in @ Hotel Landmark)(950 kms@70km/h – 14 hrs+2hrs = 16hrs)


May 30th – Himatnagar 10.30am – Udaipur 1pm – Chittorgarh – Ajmer - Kishangarh 5.30pm – Jaipur 7.30 pm - Gurgaon 2 pm (friends house)(860 Kms@65km/h – 13.30hrs+2hrs = 15.30 hrs)


Is this itinerary realistic? And I also need suggestions regarding restaurants in these roads for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Breaks.


From Delhi I will be heading to Ladakh and will be back again in Delhi on 17th June. So will rest for a day and then start again on 19th morning.


June 19 – ?

June 20 - ?

June 21 - ?


I can spare 3-4 days for the return stretch from Delhi to Chennai via Kolkatta. A visit to Chilika Lake is definitely a must to do during my drive. Any other places of interest which is close to GQ other than Temples?


Can experts suggest me an itinerary for my return stretch? HVK, your inputs please .

First 2 days are fast-paced, realistic & perfect. But leave Himmatnagar at 400 am or so to reach Jaipur before 2-3 pm so as to beat the heavy evening traffic towards Delhi. The way you have planned, you will get clobbered by truck traffic & get badly delayed reaching Delhi. Jaipur-Delhi sector is hell after 5 pm. Budget for 14-15 hrs drive from Himmatnagar if you leave late, at least 2 hours less if you leave early. The stop-go traffic on NH8 between Jaipur & Delhi can be very very frustrating, long traffic jams, endless waiting in jams, etc. Please reconsider & plan early departure from Himmatnagar

Jun 19: Delhi-Varanasi/Bodh Gaya
Jun 20: Varanasi/Bodh Gaya-Calcutta-Baleshwar/Bhubaneswar
Jun 21: Bhubaneswar-Vijaywada/Madras
These 3 days are going to be very aggressive, so I think you want to reconsider the pace. In case you want to just see Chilka Lake, you can drop in at Bhalugaon which is on NH5 itself south of Bhubaneswar

[veerameti]

Bumping up this thread as I did not find a similar thread, also not sure if tigerranch completed the GQ ride. Anyways, I am planning of riding the GQ route end of this month, I have 16 days holiday leave starting Saturday Dec 20th and office starts on Jan 5th 2015 .

I have a 2000 model Bullet Machismo and will be riding solo starting from Bengaluru and going clockwise. Request TBHP members familiar with GQ route to advise on planning my route.

Regards,
VeeraMeti

[sephiroth]

Friends,

Me and a friend of mine (non bhpian) are planning to cover the Golden Quadrilateral (with a few diversions) through 17 days, starting mid Jan 2016. We plan to accomplish this in my recently acquired Polo GT TDI.

We have had an inclination to do this for a little over a year, but either:

• budget constraints
• lack of a reliable car (a 2010 Alto LXI is now my second car, but was my only one when this idea was conceived)
• lack of holidays at work

prevented it from becoming anything more than a plan.
We also missed out on a potential 3rd companion due to this.
But come Jan, everything is in place for us to go ahead with this.

Our general idea is to cover all our route during daytime, avoiding night drives altogether. As a consequence we intend to do 500-600 kms a day, starting early and halting by dusk. We have a couple of days buffer in the event that all doesn't go to plan.
Also, the two of us studying in a national college has helped us in having friends around the country, thus not having to spend much on accommodation on our stopovers, bar a couple of places.

We would like to know anything we might have overlooked in our planning / alternate routes / any other suggestions. Our planned itinerary is as follows:

Day 01: Thane-Ahmedabad (~515km)
Thane-Vapi - (NH8)
Vapi-Vadodara - (NH8)
Vadodara-Ahmedabad - (NH1)

Day 02: Ahmedabad-Jaipur (~680km)
Unclear on the best route to cover this.
a) via Palanpur-Pali-Ajmer (NH14 - NH8)
b) via Udaipur-Chittorgarh-Ajmer (NH8 - NH79 - NH8)
Please advice on best road + fastest route. We have no intention of site seeing along the way

Day 03: Jaipur-Delhi (~261km)
Jaipur-Delhi - via NH8
Have quite a few people to catch up with here and hence the short leg.

Day 04: Delhi-Agra (~210km)
Will be staying closer to Faridabad and will take the Taj expressway to AgraPlan local sight-seeing in Agra & Fatehpur Sikri.

Day 05: Agra-Lucknow (~366km)
Although Kanpur makes a logical stop, we really want to sample the Lucknow food only heard of until now.
Unclear on the best route to cover this. Please advice.
a) Agra-Etawah-Kannauj-Lucknow - (AH1 - NH91A - NH91)
b) Agra-Etawah-Kanpur(bypass)-Lucknow - (AH1 - NH25)

Day 06: Lucknow-Gaya (~573km)
Lucknow-Soraon - (NH24B)
Soraon-Aurangabad-Gaya - (NH2)

Day 07: Gaya-Kolkata (~481km)
Gaya-Durgapur-Kolkata - (NH2)

Day 08: Stopover at Kolkata
My companion on the trip has his home at Kolkata.
Hope to have a day off with home cooked food.
Might re-consider if we run behind schedule due to any unforeseen reasons.

Day 09: Kolkata-Bhubaneshwar (~442km)
Kolkata-Kharagpur - (AH45)
Kharagpur-Jaleshwar_Balasore - (NH60)
Balasore-Bhubaneshwar - (NH5)

Day 10: Bhubaneshwar-Vishakapatnam (~441km)
Bhubaneshwar-Bramhapur-Srikakulam-Vishakapatnam - (NH5)

Day 11: Vishakapatnam-Vijaywada (~338km)
Vishakapatnam-Rajahmundry-Eluru-Vijaywada - (NH5)

Day 12: Vijaywada-Chennai (~453km)
Vijaywada-Ongole-Nellore-Chennai - (NH5)

Day 13: Chennai-Puduchery (~154km)
Unclear on the route to take.
Not in a real hurry.
If the East Coast route offers picturesque sights and is not completely bad, then would opt for it over the suggested NH45 till Tindivanam and then NH66 to Puduchery. Please advice.

Day 14: Puduchery-Bangalore (~379km)
Puduchery-Tindivanam - (NH66)
Tindivanam-Arcot - (SH5)
Arcot-Krishnagiri - (NH46)
Krishnagiri-Hosur-Bangalore - (NH7)

Day 15: Bangalore-Gokarna (~518km)
Bangalore-Tumakuru-Chitradurga-Devanagere(bypass)-Bankapur - (NH4)
Bankapur-Yellapur - (SH6)
Yellapur-Gokarna - (NH63)

Day 16: Stay over at Gokarna
Local sight-seeing.

Day 17: Gokarna-Pune (~579km)
My co-passenger is working in Pune and will end the trip there. If all goes to plan, we will reach Pune on a friday evening.
Gokarna-Kalghatgi - (NH63)
Kalghatgi-Dharwad(bypass)-Belgaum-Kolhapur-Satara-Pune - (NH4)

Day 18: Pune-Thane (~154km)
Toughest leg of them all. I'll have to do these 150 kms or so solo on a road I take only once every other weekend.
Pune-Thane (Mumbai-Pune Expy)


Total trip distance (~6500km)
Detours from GQ - Lucknow, Puduchery, Gokarna

Please advice on any shortcomings/oversights in planning this.
Also info on reliable company-owned, company-operated petrol pumps throughout would be much appreciated. I'd prefer HPCL pumps if possible.
Another question I had is, do we need any special permits etc for any leg of this journey?

Also, since I do know this will come up, having stayed for a few years up north, I am aware of the foggy conditions this time of the year. But it is unfortunately something of a compromise since I don't think we can come up with any other dates in the near future.

Hoping to hear on valuable inputs.

TIA
Kaushik

[sgiitk]

Day 5: Use AH1/NH25 using the route through the ganga Barrage (see joybhowmiks thread where he puts the route suggested by me). Much quicker and better that the official route through NH2 onto NH25.

Also, given what I have heard about roads in Laluland Days 6 and 7 may be tough. Also, you may consider backtracking to Kanpur and taking NH2 from there towards Allahabad and on to Bihar. Remember Lucknow-Kanpur is only 100km.

[FuelInjector]

Day13: are you planning to be in chennai/pondy for the whole 2 night? if covering distance is your key, you might want to proceed further and cover few more kms on that day. would help you spend more time in Gokarna later on.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by sephiroth

[*]lack of a reliable car (a 2010 Alto LXI is now my second car, but was my only one when this idea was conceived)

You are telling that the Alto Lxi is not a reliable car for this endeavor? If so, you may want to read this travelogue of mine here:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...gonr-f10d.html

This was in a 2006 WagonR Lxi that had already clocked 165,000 Kms when we started this GQ and in one sector we drove 1750 kms continuously in 31.5 Hours with usual food/refuel/bio breaks in Hot summer of May!

Our general idea is to cover all our route during daytime, avoiding night drives altogether. As a consequence we intend to do 500-600 kms a day, starting early and halting by dusk. We have a couple of days buffer in the event that all doesn't go to plan.

This is a wonderful idea and a sensible one. Gives a lot of time and less tiring as the intent would be to not just drive (Like we did) but to cover some POIs enroute or deviating a bit here and there.

Selectively commenting on your itinerary:

Day 02: Ahmedabad-Jaipur (~680km)
Unclear on the best route to cover this.

Your plan is to do the GQ. If so, you should do Ahmedabad - Himmatnagar - Udaipur - Chittorgarh - Kishangarh - Jaipur.

a) via Palanpur-Pali-Ajmer (NH14 - NH8)
b) via Udaipur-Chittorgarh-Ajmer (NH8 - NH79 - NH8)

The route via Palanpura - Pali to hit Ajmer will have some beautiful stretches while the second option will have lots of traffic.

Rest of the plan looks just about perfect.

Also info on reliable company-owned, company-operated petrol pumps throughout would be much appreciated. I'd prefer HPCL pumps if possible.

You may not have much choice when it comes to certain sectors but there is no dearth for fueling options all along this route. Also the fact that you will hardly do 500-600 Per Day makes it all the more easy as you will also cover this during the day. Plenty of COCOs all along.

Of this whole stretch, Kolkota - Kharagpur - Bhubaneshwar and then Bhubaneshwar - Vizag may have lesser stations in comparison.

Another question I had is, do we need any special permits etc for any leg of this journey?

- None that I have ever come across. Just carry all original papers including latest service bills and emission test certificates. Also ensure that you follow the local traffic when crossing borders between states (Specially BR-WB, WB-OR, OR-AP) as they are well versed with short-cuts and taking the wrong side (as allowed by the authorities here) else you will get stuck between trucks waiting to get permits.

Lastly, go through a lot of threads here in the Tlog sections where many have done GQ.

[lucifer1881]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

...

Also, given what I have heard about roads in Laluland Days 6 and 7 may be tough. Also, you may consider backtracking to Kanpur and taking NH2 from there towards Allahabad and on to Bihar. Remember Lucknow-Kanpur is only 100km.

Roads in Laluland are good. I was there in September-October.

That said, GT road or NH2 makes infinitely more sense from Kanpur to Bodh Gaya. Bodh Gaya is just off the GT road (20 odd km, around 30min drive), and you will find good hotels there without having to enter the city at all. There is no need to go to Gaya.

Alternately, you can stay at Hotel Vaishnavi Heights at Aurangabad. This is right on the GT Road. It will be on your right as you drive from Kanpur towards Kolkata. You will save at least an hour each way.

Caution: GT Road is one of the most dangerous roads in this country. It is a dual carriageway, yes. But the tarmac is old and worn. The traffic is intense and flows both ways on both carriages. You will be lucky to average 60-65 kmph on this road. I suggest you keep the speeds around 80-90 while cruising and target an average speed of 55-60kmph for safety. Leave from Lucknow very early (say 5am) and you should be in Bodh Gaya by 6pm.

Cardinal Rule: In the states of UP, BR, and WB you are advised to limit your driving to daylight hours strictly.

[adi_gt]

Originally Posted by sephiroth

Friends,
Day 04: Delhi-Agra (~210km)
Will be staying closer to Faridabad and will take the Taj expressway to AgraPlan local sight-seeing in Agra & Fatehpur Sikri.

Just one suggestion : If you are staying in Faridabad and starting early morning than you can also take NH2 straight to Agra.The only bottlenecks which I see can be getting out of Faridbad which anyways will be there if you try to reach YEW. I would suggest you to start at 5am and reach Agra before 8am via KOSI-Mathura Bypass-Khandari Crossing-Bhagwan Talkies flyover-Water works Choraha -Jamuna Kinara Road- Victoria Park Circle-Tazmahal parking.