[hvkumar]

log Book Of Hvk Scorpio, Pathankot-kishangarh

[hvkumar]

Map of the Kishangarh bypass, with intersections for NH8 (Jaipur-Ajmer road) & NH79 (Jaipur-Bhilwara-Chittorgarh-Udaipur road)

SH 7 to NH 79A - Google Maps

[hvkumar]

Kishangarh is one of my favourite destinations, since I keep recommending it as an overnight stay point to many on the Bombay-Delhi route, since those who leave early and drive fast can reach this place the same day. And if you are going north of Delhi - like Amritsar or Shimla, you could reach your destination the next day.

Hotel Panagad used to be on my list, but lately this hotel has deteriorated in quality of its food & board, and is no more VFM.

For those with a generous budget, there are some expensive hotels too in Kishangarh, but you will find none on the NH79 (from Udaipur) or NH8 (towards Jaipur).

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

We reached Kishangarh at 845 pm, having covered around 400 kms comfortably in a little over 5 hours without touching any super speeds.

I couldn't help asking this again. What is your definition of normal speed and super speed? I wouldn't be able to cover 400 kms in 5+ hrs even with my super speed. Whenever I drive fast (read 100+), I get severe headache after couple of hrs. and then I have to reduce the speed to about 60+ for rest of journey nullifying all the time I have gained in those super speed hrs.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by shipnil

I couldn't help asking this again. What is your definition of normal speed and super speed? I wouldn't be able to cover 400 kms in 5+ hrs even with my super speed. Whenever I drive fast (read 100+), I get severe headache after couple of hrs. and then I have to reduce the speed to about 60+ for rest of journey nullifying all the time I have gained in those super speed hrs.

What I mean by super speeds is not high speeds but ability to comfortably cruise along - even though you may be at 80 kmph or so - consistently without need to slow down due to traffic or village roads.

BTW, your problem with head aches could be because of dehydration, not speeds, so you must consider increasing your water intake or add electrals to your water to regain body salts.

[KSM-Vtec]

Sep 3, 2011, Pathankot - Hanumangarh, 430 kms


After a memorable reunion in the night and a good long sleep we had to hit the highways for a long long run back home. Unfortunately all good things have to come to an end and so was our exciting Himalayan expedition. But was was in front of us was an exciting high speed 1900kms highway run till home.

How do we do it? What route do we take? How many days will it take? How do me make it even more exciting? Are there any places to visit on the way back home? Will we have enough time and stamina to visit more places?

All these questions were coming to my mind but then all of us decided to take it as it comes. By now the Scorpio and Bolero had left and the Alto and Discovery Bolero was parked. We did not want to disturb the sleep of Team B for obvious reasons. So at about 830AM we hit the road and decided to skip Amritsar and head towards Jalandhar as most locals told us that the traffic levels would be lower towards that side and the road condition was equally good.

So our plan was to do this....a little different but promising...



.....And then somehow catchup or wait for rest of the team and regroup at Hanumangarh or some place where our route would merge and then go on further from there.

So we exit Pathankot and take NH 1A towards Jalandhar rather than taking NH 15 towards Amritsar. This was a very different day, we were not with the entire team :-( and were were not in the hills :-( it was a late start and then we came across a McDonalds instead of a small shop selling Maggie, Omelets and parathas. To be honest as far as the food is concerned it was a welcome change and soon after the trafficy start in Pathankot city we stopped at McDs for breakfast. Luckily it was on the outskirts and hence became a quick stop for us.

The roads were amazing and we reached Jalandhar city in less than 3hours from the start including breakfast. Navigating Jalandhar (Bypass) was not difficult but was a little too much for us after the Nil traffic days we had spent in the Himalayas.

We move on and head towards Moga on NH 71 which again was in good condition apart from very few sections near the smaller towns on the way.

Next on the target was Bathinda via SH 16A and then NH 15. This again was a smooth ride and we were in touch with rest of the team on the phone and we were tracking each other constantly on Google Latitude.

After crossing Bathinda the we decided to stop for Lunch in one of the real Punjabi Dhabas and have a good heavy lunch. The heat had caught up but hunger took the front seat and finally we got out of the comfortable AC in the Swifts to eat some spicy punjabi food.

After we finished lunch we checked on rest of the teams progress, HVK was much ahead of us and catching up with him was not a possibility till he would stop for the day or may be a power nap. So we called BolBolero as he had taken an alternate route and was also closing into Hanumangarh. We decided that we will meet at the Hanumangarh junction where the Abohar and Bathinda roads meet.

It was around 630PM when we finally met at that junction. All the sub-A teams had been driving on their own since the morning and finally the Bolero & Swift group met again. We had a chilled out chai and refueling stop and left Hanumangarh together at 7PM.

Next target was Kishangarh....over 400 kms away....

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by KSM-Vtec

[b]Sep 3, 2011, Pathankot - Hanumangarh, 430 kms


It was around 630PM when we finally met at that junction. All the sub-A teams had been driving on their own since the morning and finally the Bolero & Swift group met again. We had a chilled out chai and refueling stop and left Hanumangarh together at 7PM.

Next target was Kishangarh....over 400 kms away....

At 700 pm, we were just 100 kms short of Kishangarh!

And alas, we did not find even one good dhaaba selling even lassis

[wins2807]

"Hats off" to all of you who made this possible.By now lot of people would be wanting to know when and where is the next expedition heading and am one among them.

[codelust]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

What I mean by super speeds is not high speeds but ability to comfortably cruise along - even though you may be at 80 kmph or so - consistently without need to slow down due to traffic or village roads.

It also depends on driving style. I prefer to maintain a steady 80-90 on most stretches and around 105 on perfectly clear roads. The trick on Indian highways is to maintain that average over extended periods of time. You'll often find people zipping along at 130-140 in stretches, but only handful of people can maintain those speeds without getting into trouble over drives that span anything for 7-8 hours. Most of the guys who do the 130-140 speeds often slow down later. It is literally a case of the hare and the tortoise on our highways.

Oh yes, this is another reason why I prefer exiting or entering big cities in the middle or the night or early morning. My philosophy is to cover maximum distance at the maximum speed possible which can be done using the minimum possible effort.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by codelust

It also depends on driving style. I prefer to maintain a steady 80-90 on most stretches and around 105 on perfectly clear roads. The trick on Indian highways is to maintain that average over extended periods of time. You'll often find people zipping along at 130-140 in stretches, but only handful of people can maintain those speeds without getting into trouble over drives that span anything for 7-8 hours. Most of the guys who do the 130-140 speeds often slow down later. It is literally a case of the hare and the tortoise on our highways.

Oh yes, this is another reason why I prefer exiting or entering big cities in the middle or the night or early morning. My philosophy is to cover maximum distance at the maximum speed possible which can be done using the minimum possible effort.

Precisely! I rarely go at very high speeds for any considerable length of time, but I out beat others because I simply do not stop for breaks, other than refuelling, during my long cross-country highway drives.

[KSM-Vtec]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

At 700 pm, we were just 100 kms short of Kishangarh!

And alas, we did not find even one good dhaaba selling even lassis

Originally Posted by hvkumar

....I simply do not stop for breaks, other than refuelling, during my long cross-country highway drives.

Yes that is precisely what we did during the run from Mumbai to Rampur but this time around we were ahead of schedule and decided to take it easy and stop a few times for food and chai.

Also when we started from home we had a lot of home food which lasted till we reached the Himalayas, on the way back we were not in the mood eat any more packed food since we were nearing the end of the trip and wanted to make the most of it. Good food is anyways mans weakness....

Till 7PM that day we had already spent almost 2 1/2 to 3 hours on halts for food and chai..lol

[Harbir]

I know the achievements of this group was hatchbacks and two wheel drives, but i did mention that i favor a proper 4x4.

This is what i just picked up for my adventures up there. No doubt mine will not be as heroic as those had by the Bombay Swifts!

[KSM-Vtec]

Originally Posted by Harbir

I know the achievements of this group was hatchbacks and two wheel drives, but i did mention that i favor a proper 4x4.

This is what i just picked up for my adventures up there. No doubt mine will not be as heroic as those had by the Bombay Swifts!

Congratulations Harbir!!!

Its a very good choice and i am sure you will do more than justice to it.

As i have said earlier, for solo trips one should have a self sufficient or if i should say unstoppable vehicle so that the uncertain times dont create stress which destroy the joy of the journey and the destination.

Some day i would also love to have a vehicle which is self sufficient and capable of letting me camp out without depending on the facilities available. But for the security issues in this country.

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by Harbir

All legitimate questions. I'll have to come up with good answers to all of them because the alternative is indeed to go dashing between places that can provide accomodation and thats precisely what I am hoping to not do.

I'll explore this further and share what I learn and experience. Thanks!

I have been using the 2 seconds tents from Decathlon, a french sports company. They have tents and sleeping bags for different temperatures and usage. With their kits, one can set up a tent (and make it ready for stay e.g. by putting sheets, sleeping bags) and start brewing tea/coffee in < 5 mins.

I have a tent, a sleeping bag and a couple of bed sheets permanently stashed at the back of my Fortuner. Does't take up space, and gives a lot of flexibility. Setting up and having fun a tent - in a picturesque spot (say a grassy knoll overlooking a stream) - can be good fun especially for kids. One can also get those small camp chairs and a folding table, and have a proper chill-out time or do a night stay (if one is properly equipped for cold).

A SUV gives a lot of flexibility in terms of carrying stuff. Only issue is safety - need to make sure that there are no elephants around (other animals are fine) or the locality is not unsafe.

[KSM-Vtec]

Sep 3, 2011, Hanumangarh - Kishangarh, 440 kms

So we left Hanumangarh at 7PM when HVK was just 100kms away from Kishangarh and we were 440kms. It was dark already and the next leg of 440kms was going to be a two lane highway. As per the feedback from HVK the road was a pleasure to drive on. He also told us about the all in one INR 195 toll ticket which we bought and were all set to do a nonstop run till dinner.

Yes there were a few small towns on the way people and cattle walking back home after a long day at work. There were also the old men of the towns chilling by the highway at the local shops, sitting around the lanterns, chatting and looking at the vehicles passing by.

These obstructions were there because we were passing these small towns at the wrong time of the day. Yes they did slow us down a little but surly not to make a significant difference because the straights between the towns more than compensated with the low traffic levels and good road quality.

So around 200kms later at about 10PM we stopped at a very very small dhaba for dinner. They had only a standard meal available which looked like a decent option considering that we had not seen many dhabas on the way and it was really late by the interior RJ standards.

It looked like this was one of the very few places that had a TV and many locals had gathered around for a 90's hindi movie on a 21" box TV. Relishing the hot freshly cooked food, a local sweet stored in the glass jar at the counter followed by a hot chai we were back on the road one hour later around 11PM....not wanting to miss the movie we had started liking.

As we moved ahead we were hit by heavy rain and our windshield started fogging. We tried all possible combinations with the AC/Heater to defog the screen but nothing worked. YP found some covered spot under a bridge and got out of the car to wipe the screen from outside. We moved ahead and a few kms later it got worst. We realized that we had used the wrong cloth to wipe the screen. It was a cloth which had some engine oil in it and hence driving in the heavy rain was becoming impossible due to almost zero visibility. We followed the Bolero tail lights very slowly till we found another spot where we could stop.

GB gave us a sachet of shampoo, we had some newspaper and with the help of these we cleaned the windscreen really well but lost another 15mins. It was a welcome break but unfortunately there was no chaiwala around, we were out on the road for over 15 hours and the rain and windscreen issue started slowing us down which was getting irritating. We were under 100kms from Kishangarh now.

We went on and the rain stopped after some time, we crossed Kuchaman City and came across the few junctions and carefully navigated our way towards Kishangarh ensuring that we dont take any wrong road.



Finally we reached the above spot and since we are not HVK we got taken aback by the massive road/flyover construction happening there and got into the wrong road. We realized our mistake soon and turned back towards the correct direction. It was around 0130AM on 4th September when we reached Kishangarh.

So what next??

HVK was in hotel Panghat and had told us that we was planning to leave really early say around 2-3AM so that he can make it to Mumbai early evening....

GB(BolBolero) & SS wanted to take some rest and had decided to takeover the hotel room from HVK since he would be leaving anytime soon anyways....

So what do we (YP, KP, AP & me) do now? do we stay back in Panghat with GB & SS or do we move ahead and stop to take some rest whenever we feel sleepy?

May be we could pull on till Udaipur which was far, another 325kms away stay back there, get some sleep, do some sightseeing and then head for Mumbai later in the evening on 4th Sept.

It was also a good chance to make some lead on HVK ....so it was an obvious unanimous decision.....saying bye bye to GB & SS at around 2AM we moved on....

Originally Posted by KSM-Vtec

Sep 3, 2011, Pathankot - Hanumangarh, 430 kms


After a memorable reunion in the night and a good long sleep we had to hit the highways for a long long run back home. Unfortunately all good things have to come to an end and so was our exciting Himalayan expedition. But was was in front of us was an exciting high speed 1900kms highway run till home.

How do we do it? What route do we take? How many days will it take? How do me make it even more exciting? Are there any places to visit on the way back home? Will we have enough time and stamina to visit more places?

All these questions were coming to my mind but then all of us decided to take it as it comes. By now the Scorpio and Bolero had left and the Alto and Discovery Bolero was parked. We did not want to disturb the sleep of Team B for obvious reasons. So at about 830AM we hit the road and decided to skip Amritsar and head towards Jalandhar as most locals told us that the traffic levels would be lower towards that side and the road condition was equally good.

So our plan was to do this....a little different but promising...

Attachment 932901

.....And then somehow catchup or wait for rest of the team and regroup at Hanumangarh or some place where our route would merge and then go on further from there.

So we exit Pathankot and take NH 1A towards Jalandhar rather than taking NH 15 towards Amritsar. This was a very different day, we were not with the entire team :-( and were were not in the hills :-( it was a late start and then we came across a McDonalds instead of a small shop selling Maggie, Omelets and parathas. To be honest as far as the food is concerned it was a welcome change and soon after the trafficy start in Pathankot city we stopped at McDs for breakfast. Luckily it was on the outskirts and hence became a quick stop for us.

The roads were amazing and we reached Jalandhar city in less than 3hours from the start including breakfast. Navigating Jalandhar (Bypass) was not difficult but was a little too much for us after the Nil traffic days we had spent in the Himalayas.

We move on and head towards Moga on NH 71 which again was in good condition apart from very few sections near the smaller towns on the way.

Next on the target was Bathinda via SH 16A and then NH 15. This again was a smooth ride and we were in touch with rest of the team on the phone and we were tracking each other constantly on Google Latitude.

After crossing Bathinda the we decided to stop for Lunch in one of the real Punjabi Dhabas and have a good heavy lunch. The heat had caught up but hunger took the front seat and finally we got out of the comfortable AC in the Swifts to eat some spicy punjabi food.

After we finished lunch we checked on rest of the teams progress, HVK was much ahead of us and catching up with him was not a possibility till he would stop for the day or may be a power nap. So we called BolBolero as he had taken an alternate route and was also closing into Hanumangarh. We decided that we will meet at the Hanumangarh junction where the Abohar and Bathinda roads meet.

It was around 630PM when we finally met at that junction. All the sub-A teams had been driving on their own since the morning and finally the Bolero & Swift group met again. We had a chilled out chai and refueling stop and left Hanumangarh together at 7PM.

Next target was Kishangarh....over 400 kms away....