[ACS]

Parag Bhai, Excellent and comprehensive GQ package!! As usual, you have left no stones unturned. A superb guide for all GQ aspirants. Pictures are well fitted and self explanatory. Keep it up and going.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Jignesh

my parents were feeling very comfortable at end of the day when we reached Rajkot.

Whenever my Mother sits in in my relative's Ford Figo, she always complains of low seating position & problem in getting in & getting out.

We have faced similar problem in the Honda City on 2 occasions when I drove to Pune from Bangalore and back. Apart from the lower seating what matters is the ease in getting in and out, especially when you take that break after 3 hours. This is exactly where older travelers will realize if its painful to get out of the car after sitting for so long.

This is the USP of tallboys and the taller seating position. The SX4 also comes very close to this experience.

Originally Posted by anandjha

Rated 5 stars. Wish we had stars beyond 5.

Now only one frontier you and your car needs to conquer - Leh. I am sure you'll take her there before you retire her.

Thank you Anand! Leh is DEFINITELY on mind and may happen this calendar year itself if things work out as planned. More than that, Leh will happen after crossing 2L kms in the ODO which will be icing on the cake for me.

On retirement, I am sure it may never happen till its fit and till I take care of her (eer...its a Tallboy, so HIM), though I am certainly adding another car (Diesel) in my garage soon.

Originally Posted by lloydofcochin

Parag,

Considering the distances that you drive and with our Leh trip in the anvil maybe you should think about a DIY for an addl Fuel Tank like the one's for Volvos where they have 2/3 tanks

I wish I could explore options for such DIYs but isn't the range of 450-500 kms standard for more the other Petrol cars? For instance, the Ford Fiesta or the SX4 Petrol I drove for super long distance had a range of 450-500 only.

Originally Posted by ampere

I have this paranoia that I would be running out of fuel on the highway !
So the instant the fuel level goes below 50% I start to get to uneasy and needless say I get desperate to tank up before it goes to one thirds!

The only time I was really stranded was when I could not even reach Hubli on a tank full and almost ran out some where near Haveri/Bankapur. Learnt a good lesson that day. Even my paranoia was outclassed that day thanks to heat, and higher speeds on the 4-lane.

My worst experience was doing Bangalore-Pune at night for the first time way back in 2006 and there was not a single fuel station open from Belgaum all the way till Nippani. Somehow we managed to refill sooner at IOCL Swagath just before the Border.

Second experience was when driving down to Bangalore (from Pune of course) and I made the biggest mistake of not filling it up before Dharwad thinking that I will fill somewhere near Haveri or Ranebennur. I continued to drive and never found a single fuel station open all the way till Davanagere (I had already driven 500 kms now since my filling at Khedshivpur toll.

I entered Davanagere town, inquired about a fuel stations and they said all of them open at 6am. So, I park my car near the Bus stand from 5:15am till 6:00am and refill at IOCL and continue to drive to Bangalore.

Of course, during these occasions, it was just me and my father in the car as I usually don't drive with family and kid at nights.

After this, whenever I am doing an all night drive on this circuit, I always fill up near Dharwad High Court Bench (2 BPCL COCOs facing each other).

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

You were pretty lucky to find a COCO which was still operating.

It can be very irritating when you are driving to save the last drop of fuel .

I once went up Mullayanagiri in my Linea with an almost empty tank (did not notice it on the way up). I noticed the empty tank almost near Seetalayyana matha and range in MID was blank there. Immediately turned back and drove downhill to Chikmagalur in neutral.

Tell me about it. I was delighted when the manager at the fuel station said that COCOs were operating and there is one closer to where we were.

The last 80 kms of the drive trying to conserve fuel and driving in 55-60 kmph speeds was absolutely testing everyone's patience!!

And yeah, I remember very very well about how one can actually drive all the way from Seethalayanagiri till Kaimara by just rolling the vehicle (In neutral of course). While in college, we used to roll our bikes from the View Point further ahead of the Kemmanugundi-Mullayanagiri fork till Kaimara

Originally Posted by Rajesh1968

Nightmares of Ankleshwar/ Bharuch are fresh, though did not get stuck nor the Jaipur Delhi as it was Vijay Dashami.

Thanks Rajesh. In fact, irrespective of the time I drive to Gujarat these days, I follow the golden rule of taking the Golden Bridge via Ankleshwar town till Bharuch and joining back NH8 at the end of Bharuch bypass. I have been following this ever since I am driving into Gujarat since 2011.

Originally Posted by NMS

Very Well Narrated Parag !! *Rating the Travelogue a Well Deserved 5 Stars*
The detailed instructions would help many out here.

Quick Question: How did you distribute the 31.5 Hours of Driving? As in could you elaborate a bit more on the frequency and durations of breaks that you guys took.

Thank you NMS!!

As you can read from my Day 3 updates, we had never planned this 31.5 hours drive. It just happened owing to many circumstances.
And we did not distribute the drive as I was the single driver who did the whole GQ. My father never drove (as he doesn't drive) and my cousin was too new to Highway driving then.

Originally Posted by MX6

Next time there would be role reversal. When I embark on the GQ, you need to take me to some nice Benne dosa joint on outskirts of Bengaluru.

Thanks MX6! It goes without saying that we will do a role reversal when you do the GQ. In fact, you can deviate a bit from the GQ after Bangalore for some excellent Thatte idlies on NH48 this time.

Originally Posted by ACS

Parag Bhai, Excellent and comprehensive GQ package!! As usual, you have left no stones unturned. A superb guide for all GQ aspirants. Pictures are well fitted and self explanatory. Keep it up and going.

Thanks Amith! I am sure you would like the rest of the travelogue that I am updating shortly.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

My worst experience was doing Bangalore-Pune at night for the first time way back in 2006 and there was not a single fuel station open from Belgaum all the way till Nippani. Somehow we managed to refill sooner at IOCL Swagath just before the Border.

I thought I could make it to Hub;i with a tankful, so that I could fill up at bypass entrance (MRPL). But just could not make by a huge margin, thanks to heat (AC on in full blast) and faster speeds.

[paragsachania]

VIST TO THE TAJ MAHAL (and Beyond):
Since we made the crucial decision to skip settling in Delhi, we continue our journey to Agra passing New Delhi, Okhla, Faridabad and Mathura to reach the Taj.....


Once we got onto the Gurgaon-Delhi expressway, traffic eased up and we gained pace. We had just refilled at Haryana border and had also taken a tea break when we refilled and since the pace started to build up, the mood was all set to drive non-stop till Agra.

The Yamuna Expressway was not yet officially open and hence our only resort was to take the NH2 for Agra.

It was still dark even when we hit NH2 after crossing Delhi towards Agra:


We may have entered the state of Uttar Pradesh between 5:45-5:50am from what my Google latitude history remembers.


It was a good decision to do Delhi-Agra in wee hours as we avoided so much of traffic which would have delayed us big time if we had stopped anywhere before.

After Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi we (and my Tallboy) were entering the 7th State of Uttar Pradesh on the morning of the 4th day of the drive!


NH2 was mostly empty at this hour of the day:


Plenty of Dhabas and "Family" Restaurants all the way:


The condition of road was good and nothing to complain about. The only irritating part was that we were passing miscellaneous towns and villages which were waking up for converting the GQ into a Market!



Our destination for the day will be beyond Kanpur for sure:


And then we were Welcomed into the City of Taj:


The directions to reach the 7th Wonder were well marked:



One of those Railway bridges from the British era?


We finally reach the Taj:


We park the car at the designated parking lot. We are thronged by men who will ferry us till the main complex in their electric tricycle. We were in no mood to walk and hence decide to hop on and reach the complex in less than 3 minutes.

The magnificent complex:


And then we enter to catch a glimpse of the 7th Wonder of the World - The Taj Mahal. For all three of us, it was the first time we were seeing the Taj and it was a superb experience and a delightful break after driving so long!




We all decided unanimously that we will not walk all the way to the Taj Mahal and rather capture some snaps for memory and move ahead with our planned journey along the GQ.

This was not a Tourist drive and we didn't regret at all as there is always next time.

The customary pose.

(We haven't changed since we last took off from Mehsana yesterday at 11am and its already 21 Hours (8am) of continuous drive!)



A few more from the complex:



We spent good time at the Taj complex where we also brushed and freshened ourselves to get ready for the remaining leg of the journey.

After spending nearly 90 minutes at the Taj, we continue towards Kanpur and Varanasi:

Breakfast pending

(The last leg of the 31.5 hours of drive.....Continues)

[laluks]

Why does this remind me of Garfield





PS: Picture sourced from the net.

[KALSANKRPAI]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

[i] 'Its better late than never' !!So finally after closely an year, I manage to write this travelogue about one of the

Parag, at the outset I would like to heartily congratulate you for presenting such a fine and beautiful travelouge for which a lot many bhpians might have waited for so long. The writeup is not only very comprehensive but also illustrative with all the facts and figures I do not think anything more you could have added. Please keep contributing such posts. Your passion for long drive is great

[Wireless]

While I was going through your mind boggling travelogue, wifey came asking about what I was doing. I told her that I was reading about a 6K KM drive. She wondered, was it a month long journey.
When i told her that it was a 7 day journey undertaken for the sole purpose to covering the GQ with average of 1000KM per day with approx. 1750 KM nonstop, Her jaw dropped and hit the floor.
The expression changed from puzzlement to disbelief. I smugly watched & remembered an ad which says "men will be men".

Hats off to you guys for taking this endeavour, and making my day in a other way too

[ampere]

Bypassing Agra if on NH2 is a big big pain nowadays. Esp. from Sikandra to Bhagwan Theater to Water Works/Rambagh area. I was there for some time in that city and in those days the road was pretty much free. Nowadys lines and lines of truck lie all over the place. Its good that the Yamuna E-Way has opened up. And also its very very good that it joins the NH2 way beyond Agra. In fact its cuts the Agra-Aligarh NH a good 8-10 km beyond Rambagh. Also is there an exit for this NH? (I dont think there is one. But wanted to confirm)

Coming to NH2, in spite of it being 4-lane, you dont even get the feeling that you are driving on the highway. So much of infrastructure and concrete around this road, you never feel you have come out of town! Agra (Rambagh area) to Ashram signal in Delhi should be about 200km. On a busy day it can easily take anywhere close to 5 hours ! The same distance on BLR-Salem we cover in 2. So much for density of existence (population/infrastructure etc) around these locations on NH2.

[Sheel]

Thanks for sharing this wonderful log with as much details & pics as one can.

I know you are a veteran at doing long distances, but how come carrying a jerry can of fuel in 10-20 liters escaped you?

And if my distances are over 500kms, I try to get a refill every 300-400kms.

Waiting for the next set...

[symphony_civi]

Parag Sir, hats off to you. Your way of writing and depicting details makes viewers wanting for more. I'm waiting for the next part, hope it comes soon.

You have inspired me to take up long long drives just for the sake of driving and enjoying life. All the best for the Leh-Ladakh & drives to back-waters of J&K this year.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by KALSANKRPAI

Parag, at the outset I would like to heartily congratulate you for presenting such a fine and beautiful travelouge for which a lot many bhpians might have waited for so long. The writeup is not only very comprehensive but also illustrative with all the facts and figures I do not think anything more you could have added. Please keep contributing such posts. Your passion for long drive is great

Thank you KALSANKRPAI! I am hoping that the rest of the travelogue also retains the interest levels .

Originally Posted by Wireless

Hats off to you guys for taking this endeavour, and making my day in a other way too

Thanks Wireless!

Originally Posted by ampere

Bypassing Agra if on NH2 is a big big pain nowadays. Esp. from Sikandra to Bhagwan Theater to Water Works/Rambagh area. I was there for some time in that city and in those days the road was pretty much free. Nowadys lines and lines of truck lie all over the place. Its good that the Yamuna E-Way has opened up. And also its very very good that it joins the NH2 way beyond Agra. In fact its cuts the Agra-Aligarh NH a good 8-10 km beyond Rambagh. Also is there an exit for this NH? (I dont think there is one. But wanted to confirm)

Coming to NH2, in spite of it being 4-lane, you dont even get the feeling that you are driving on the highway. So much of infrastructure and concrete around this road, you never feel you have come out of town! Agra (Rambagh area) to Ashram signal in Delhi should be about 200km. On a busy day it can easily take anywhere close to 5 hours ! The same distance on BLR-Salem we cover in 2. So much for density of existence (population/infrastructure etc) around these locations on NH2.

Agree every word Amp! Not only in terms of population but more for so much of infrastructure and activities along the corridor that this section of NH2 is so busy. We were definitely lucky to have escaped this (Imagine so much traffic after driving for almost 24 hours!) by taking the decision to pass Delhi, Visit Agra and continue further. I am glad it worked in our favor that day.

Originally Posted by Sheel

.

I know you are a veteran at doing long distances, but how come carrying a jerry can or fuel in 10-20 liters escaped you?

Thanks sheel! In fact I have never carried a jerry can for all my previous drives as it either restricted to known highways of a tankful was good enough to return back as well.

However, during the GQ, the main reason we didn't carry the jerry can was due to the fact that we would be on the corridor where finding a fuel station would not be a difficult task in most of the sectors. Secondly, if not for the strike that fateful day, we would have refilled as planned somewhere near a town in RJ where we saw a deserted IOCL.

Originally Posted by symphony_civi

Parag Sir, hats off to you. Your way of writing and depicting details makes viewers wanting for more. I'm waiting for the next part, hope it comes soon.

You have inspired me to take up long long drives just for the sake of driving and enjoying life. All the best for the Leh-Ladakh & drives to back-waters of J&K this year.

Thanks Ankit. The rest of the journey's travelogue is in the making and will be published soon

[AbrahamSimpson]

You have mentioned that "The best road surface was between Asansol and Kolkata" . I don't think so. Between Asansol & Panagarh the road surface is not good.

[paragsachania]

(This is the last leg of our 1750kms drive that ended in the evening at Varanasi)

Around 9am we start from Agra towards Varanasi. We haven't had Breakfast as we wanted to escape the traffic that had started building up on NH2 and decided to stop elsewhere ahead.

Traffic after Agra was getting better (Less vehicles now) and our pace started to increase. I was informed by HVK that Gunjan Resort before Etawah could be a wonderful option for some tight breakfast as well as refueling since it also housed a BPCL COCO.


We stop for Breakfast at Gunjan Resorts. We order Puri Bhaaji with sumptuous onions to beat the heat. The curry was excellent with the right blend of tadka that each one of us ended up ordering 2 plates for ourselves and treated with some fitting Kadak chai in the end. Since we had breakfast around 10:30am till brim of our throats, we were more or less good for skipping an early lunch for sure.

Since this place had a BPCL attached, we also filled the tummy of the Tallboy who was hungry (since the last breakfast of 25.64 Liters in Haryana border). This time, till auto-cut off, 21.7 liters of fuel went it and we are good for another 450 kms that may take us all the way to Varanasi, our final destination for the day!

We also buy at least 10 liters of cold water good to last for the rest of the day and continue our drive.

It starts getting hotter as we can see fully covered faces on 2 wheelers to avoid sunstroke.


The road conditions were excellent beyond Etawah and traffic was nothing that I would complain about except for some unruly and illogical private vehicles who may have learnt how to honk for no reason before learning to drive.

Empty roads all the way on a Hot day!


Sand lorry drivers/owners are a universal class of road users. They always breakdown on the fast lane and you always see them overloaded.

Look at that tanker parked on left that leaves very little room for heavy vehicles between the 2 trucks to maneuver!


We are nearing Kanpur bypass and my father insists that we pull over somewhere and try to take a power nap. Though I wasn't sleepy, I give it an honest thought and pull over after the elevated Kanpur Bypass around 2pm.

I roll up all the windows, turn the AC On and try my best to sleep bending the backrest down and keeping the pillow above my forehead/eyes. The car's AC is working really hard to cool the interiors as I could see no wind (no leaves were moving below the tree we parked) and the compressor was ON forever without cutting off. Realizing that it wasn't a good idea to trouble the AC then, I turn the engine off and roll down the windows a bit and try to sleep.

My cousin gets down to sip A soft drink from a shop where we had parked and captures this:



We may have spent around 30-40 minutes trying to sleep but we were literally unable to even keep our eyelids closed for more than 3 minutes owing to hot conditions outside. AC in full blast may have not really brought the temperature down.

We all wash our faces, sip soft-drinks and start the drive again.

Yours truly, in action after a failed attempt to sleep.


Around 4:15pm, we are on Allahabad bypass. I was briefed by HVK that this was newly open and was spectacular. Indeed it turned out to be as we drove along one of the longest bypasses in India.

The complete bypass was concretized with excellent signage at strategic locations.

Nevertheless, Good roads in our country means good number of accidents


The road was a treat to drive with minimal traffic and we belted with some excellent average speeds.

Some more snaps of the Allahabad bypass:



Time for some immature photoshopping


Check out the signage(s). Very legibly painted in Hindi and English. Leaves little chance to get lost actually:





The most irritating section was after crossing Allahabad bypass all the way till Varanasi with all types of miscellaneous traffic:

• Pedestrians crossing the road at will
• Petty Business by the road side blocking almost a lane
• Cyclists surprising us by popping that front wheel out from the median while crossing the road
• Wannabe supermen wanting to save the world (and some fuel) driving on wrong side

As we began nearing Varanasi, we noticed that the buildings alongside the highway wore a distinct and naked look.

Almost all of the buildings had no plastering done for the outer wall.


(Can somebody tell me the reason?)

Just look at the activity bang on the GQ!


(^^Somewhere here my Dad got down and bought some fresh cucumbers that we relished too)

We passed by a lot of signage indicating the mythological connection with Varanasi


Another 63 kms to go before we all hit the bed for that marathon sleep to complement the marathon drive!


Though we were hinted by HVK about hotels available to stay nearing Varanasi, we may have easily missed it for whatsoever reasons and hence entered the city.

Finally, We were welcomed into the Holy city of Varanasi


We exited the GQ into the City of Varanasi around 6pm and we witnessed the maximum number of cyclists (may be on their way back home?). For a while, it almost looked like we were witnessing a cycle Marathon with hundreds of them flocking the road in one go every 100 meters. Traffic was messy to say the least and becoming more and more annoying, especially when we knew that we have reached our destination and its only finding a place to settle down.

Concluding shots taken in Varanasi before checking in to the Hotel:



We didn't visually get appealed by hotels in certain areas on roads we passed that we ended up getting completely inside the heart of the city near the cantonment area just when my cousin spots a hotel http://hoteljanhviinternational.com/.

I am too lazy to get out and enquire and I let him do the job. He goes inside, checks the room and comes out running to tell me that its good enough and I insisted that we will need AC rooms for some excellent sleep.

With whatever skills he had after that long drive, he manages to strike a deal for 2400 INR all inclusive for 3 occupants including complimentary breakfast.

We check-in around 6:30pm, give ourselves a shower, order some snacks in the room itself and hit the bed as early as 7:30pm.

After informing our family members, we keep the phone in silent mode to have a seamless sleep with absolutely no plans to wake up early next morning.

Here comes the end of our longest drive:

A drive that we never planned will last so long. A drive that had so many adventures and unplanned plans. A drive that made us see the Taj Mahal for the first time though we never had this in itinerary.A drive that rested the endurance levels of all we humans and the machine that did an excellent job without any hesitation.

(The next leg, Day 5 - Varanasi-Kharagpur continues....)

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by AbrahamSimpson

You have mentioned that "The best road surface was between Asansol and Kolkata" . I don't think so. Between Asansol & Panagarh the road surface is not good.

I may not be accurate in guessing the exact sector but I think more precisely it was the Durgapur expressway after Bardhaman. This section had the maximum no of sand lorries in both the lanes as I very well remember my windshield taking a beating with so much wet sand thrown from these trucks. It was the sole reason that I had to resort to some aggressive driving to overtake these trucks and avoid further damage to the windshield.

The road surface here was excellent as we zig-zagged between lanes at ease and in control. All three of us realized that after Kishangarh expressway, this one was the best surface of asphalt.

(More to come on that in my next leg)

[lloydofcochin]

Excellent account Parag. Keep it rolling enjoying every bit of it!

You were lucky to see the Taj but I haven't' been lucky so far. At least 10 visits to nearby Delhi and 8 of them passing via Agra in Train but the Taj has still eluded me. It is not that I haven't tried though - Almost 10yrs back even the Tickets were booked from Delhi but my friend fell ill :(

31 hours on the road without sleep can be done only if you love driving and men become supermen when you are obsessed with something where everything else except your objective will go in to oblivion