[ampere]

No adjectives needed Parag! Almost one quarter of the drive is like a courtyard for you! Two drives up and down: And you have already done the GQ !
Great details as others mentioned. More than your driving skills, hats off to how you maintain the car!

[narsi_6989]

Fantastic start to the log Parag . The start makes me feel that there are lot more information to flow from you which will help aspiring travellers like me. A big thumbs to your tallboy for completing this trip with ~160k on the odo. Your ride looks real awesome mate . Kudos to your dad for accompanying and assisting you throughout the trip.

Subscribed and rated a well deserved 5*.

PS: I have few doubts which I will get it cleared from you. Will PM you after I consolidate all my doubts.

[Lukeskywalker]

Great start, and the attention to detail is amazing, I'm sure this will help all of us planning for long drives, way to go Parag, this is one thread where I will not get bored and move on , am rating it 5* straight away.

[paragsachania]

Day 2 - Pune - Mehsana (728 Kms)
Date - 6th May 2012
Start - 10:20 Hours
End - 00:00 Hours

Carbon footprints for Day2 (May 6th):


Note: Since we reached Mehsana home around 12 midnight, the History of May 6th and 7th also shows our route beyond Mehsana

Having reached Pune late previous night and the fact that none of us would want to compromise on sleep, next morning we wake up late and start from Pune (Sinhagad Road) at 10:20 am. The Plan for the day was to meet MX6 over lunch in Vashi (Mumbai) and then proceed towards Ahmedabad and call it a day.

Soon after we start, we hit the expressway after passing the Katraj-Dehu Road bypass and stop to refuel near Lonavala at the usual HPCL COCO. This is our second refill since we started which should be good for another 450-500 kms depending on the drive and traffic.

The Mumbai-Pune expressway on a sunny Sunday morning (almost noon):



Lunch at BTC, Sanpada:

http://www.bhagattarachand.com/website/index.html

We manage to reach Vashi in less than 2 hours with and then call MX6. We actually get lost finding BTC, Sanpada (A famous veg Restaurant) as there is more than one in close proximity to each other.

A few more calls and directions from MX6 and we finally manage to meet near the restaurant. Few minutes of waiting (It was a Sunday afternoon), and we finally settle on our table. MX6 didn't go wrong in ordering Bhindi Masala and rotis with that unavoidable Butter milk that we relished in that hot summer!!

Thanks MX6 for such wonderful lunch and the taste of it still lingers whenever we see Bhindi on the Menu.

After the lunch, we finally proceed towards Thane via Belapur Road-Airoli Bridge - Eastern Expressway - Thane - Ghodbunder Road to reach NH8.

A few shots taken while crossing Mumbai/Thane:

Ghorbunder Road:


The Ertiga which was too new in the market then caught our eye:


Accident nearing Ghodbunder Chowk:



This one was epic:

While refueling after Dharwad on Day1, we spotted a few B9Rs heading towards Pune. Upon overtaking them, we realized they were being driven to Gurgaon as we could see "Haryana Roadways Gurgaon" written on its side.

We overtake almost 6 of these Red Monsters and reach Pune. Next morning when we start from Pune, we spot these buses resting at a Restaurant soon before the Pune bypass ends.

We reach Mumbai, have lunch and then continue towards NH8 only to find the convoy of these B9Rs again on Ghodbunder Road.

We again meet these same buses at Udaipur on Day 3 and at Haryana Border on early Day 4

My Tallboy along with these B9Rs met each other at least 4 times since Dharwad all the way till Gurgaon even though we took a different route after Ahmedabad.

The Red monster:


Finally on NH8 after turning right at Ghodbunder:


The roads after Mumbai all the way till Vadodara is 6 lanes and compared to my previous drive to Gujarat in Oct 2011, all the bridges till Vapi were completely done that never delayed us anywhere all the way till our final destination for the day.

Still exiting Mumbai/Virar:


The Manor Ghat:


Catching up, with another Tallboy:


Its never right to remain on right, mate!


Towards Vapi


Charoti Toll Plaza



The closing shot for the day on NE1 - Vadodara-Ahmedabad Expressway:


On the way, we had made plans to deviate the GQ after Ahmedabad and not proceed towards Himmatnagar and instead, drive to Mehsana and touch the GQ back at Udaipur via Palanpur and Abu Road.

Drive on NH8 was fantastic Post Sunday noon with minimal traffic till we approached Surat. Then it is all messy with too much miscellaneous traffic all the way till Vadorara. As usual, to avoid the Ankleshwar Bridge jams, we get inside Ankleshwar town and take the Golden Bridge, enter Bharuch and join back NH8 on Bharuch Bypass.

With that heavy lunch at BTC, none of us were really hungry at all and were mostly on water in that scorching heat. However, the car could not survive like us and was suggesting us via the Fuel indicator needle that it was thirsty.

We pull over into an IOC outlet just before Vadodara (knowing that NE1 is not a good idea to Refuel due to presence of just one Reliance outlet). We only have Tea at a restaurant adjacent to the pump and continue our journey.

The idea was to meet one of our close relatives here as we had never driven before. After a call, we meet together near Kalol (Ahmedabad) and dine at one of the restaurants beside the L&T tolled Highway.

Post dinner, we head towards Mehsana and settle for the day at Lynch village in Saffronny Resorts where they stay.

(Day 3 continues....)

[Jignesh]

Hello Parag,

Congrats on completing this wonderful drive. Has your WagonR touch the magical 2,00,000 figure by now?

The travelogues like this only boosts my confidence in Maruti WagonR. Yours is definitely a iconic vehicle, which you have maintained very well over the years.

As other mentioned, the details you have given in first two posts are really useful to others. waiting for further details & log of 31 hour drive.

It has been almost one year since this drive - so where is the next trip?

Thanks,

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by ampere

No adjectives needed Parag! Almost one quarter of the drive is like a courtyard for you! Two drives up and down: And you have already done the GQ !
Great details as others mentioned. More than your driving skills, hats off to how you maintain the car!

Thanks Amp! In fact over the last 2 years I have driven to Gujarat four times that I had this wish to drive "beyond" Gujarat and GQ was the platform to reach as many states as possible with absolutely no sight seeing in mind.

On car, I am yet to make a statement that there was a "Breakdown" for any of our journeys taken up over the past. It has been fantastically reliable and at the same time got minute attention from me in every sense.

Originally Posted by narsi_6989

Fantastic start to the log Parag . The start makes me feel that there are lot more information to flow from you which will help aspiring travellers like me. A big thumbs to your tallboy for completing this trip with ~160k on the odo. Your ride looks real awesome mate . Kudos to your dad for accompanying and assisting you throughout the trip.

Subscribed and rated a well deserved 5*.

PS: I have few doubts which I will get it cleared from you. Will PM you after I consolidate all my doubts.

Thank you narsi. As you can see, I am already done with Day 2 of my Travelogue and drafting Day 3 (and 4) since this was the longest drive that lasted for 31 hours and spanned 1750 kms!

Originally Posted by Lukeskywalker

Great start, and the attention to detail is amazing, I'm sure this will help all of us planning for long drives, way to go Parag, this is one thread where I will not get bored and move on , am rating it 5* straight away.

Thanks Srihari. It was pending from my side and for almost a year. Gathered some "courage" to start writing before losing interest and here I am trying to narrate in my own words and pictorially a drive that has been most memorable to me so far.

With the events that take place in the next few days, I am sure it is going to get interesting for sure.

Originally Posted by Jignesh

Hello Parag,

Congrats on completing this wonderful drive. Has your WagonR touch the magical 2,00,000 figure by now?

The travelogues like this only boosts my confidence in Maruti WagonR. Yours is definitely a iconic vehicle, which you have maintained very well over the years.

As other mentioned, the details you have given in first two posts are really useful to others. waiting for further details & log of 31 hour drive.

It has been almost one year since this drive - so where is the next trip?

Thanks,

Thanks Jignesh. As you know Its been almost one year since I drove on the Golden Quadrilateral, I have another 4000 kms till I reach the 2L kms mark and with drives to Pune/Mumbai planned in May and my usual office commute of 64 kms in a day, I am sure It will reach the magical number in less than 45 days as per my calculation.

Regarding the next trip, there are many thoughts in mind - Another trip to Gujarat and Rajasthan with family or Leh/Ladakh are 2 distinct plans cooking up in my mind. Not sure which one will happen this year though.

That 31 hours drive is the next part in my travelogue and you will know why it happened when we had never planned for it at all.

[Ford5]

Lovely travelogue. Would like to know if the tall boy felt underpowered anytime or did you have to maintain higher speeds unlike most times.


BTW isn't that the Chevrolet captiva and not the Ertiga in the pic?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Ford5

Lovely travelogue. Would like to know if the tall boy felt underpowered anytime or did you have to maintain higher speeds unlike most times.

Not really at all! I have this habit of driving with the AC on all the times so the car (and the ECU) has learnt well to be able to manage 3 digit speeds most of the times under load (I really dont want to invite a debate here on what speeds I manage on this even today for obvious reasons). It is actually effortless to maintain 100kmph mark with a load of 3 passengers and luggage if the car's vital components are well maintained - Air Filter, Spark Plugs, Cleaner Injectors and Fuel, Healthy clutch, Properly tightened AC/Alternator belt (a loose belt will put unwanted and additional load to the engine to drive the Alternator and other components).

In fact, I have been driving this mostly on highways and have always got a very decent average Kmph from all the drives by maintaining just 90-110kmph speeds.

Of course, you don't really want to start a comparo of the characteristics of a light Tallboy to that of some European heavyweights. I never throw a corner nor try to drive faster on curves for saner reasons.

BTW isn't that the Chevrolet captiva and not the Ertiga in the pic?

You got me there. It IS the Captiva and I realized it when I zoomed into the Picture. But I was somehow sure that this was the Ertiga that we occupants in the car started to talk about as soon as we got onto Ghodbunder road from Thane and spotted one ahead of us.

[navrddy]

Really Amazing Travelogue. Really U have Guts to attempt on Wagon R (That too >1.6 L Kms Run). That shows u have really maintained your vehicle well., and hats off to you and maruti for producing such reliable vehicle. I Hoped, maybe thicker Sheet-metal should have been used in building waggy, would definetely give more confidence to driver.

I feel, Waggy is comfortable vehicle when compared to other tall boys, especially for elder persons (>55).

Certainly, it has limits (Speeds <120) for highway driving, respecting its size and shape.

Somehow, i feel new Gen Wagon R (K10) is missing its 4th Cylinder, when compared to F10D, and new K10 Vehicle shape is not attractive when compared to older Gens Waggy.

[vnabhi]

Fantastic TL and mind-blowing details! And that too, on a Waggie!

You've taken my confidence levels several notches up with your narration. Please keep it coming, we are eager to know the rest of the story.

I'm not sure what you've done to the throttle position, but I find it very tiring to keep my foot on it for more than half an hour. I do remember you posted something about it elsewhere, but I'm curious to know.

[PatienceWins]

Great travelogue! Your attention to detail is amazing.

The list of items is useful.

My respect to your father for covering such long distances.

I cannot believe that you have done this in a wagonR that has covered so many miles. It gives me confidence to keep my Getz for a long time. It has not even clocked 1/3rd of your vehicle.

I am amazed on how you drive so much continuously. If you can post some tips on how you keep fatigue away, your eating habits, sleep etc, that would be useful.

i am glued to this thread.

[paragsachania]

Day 3 to Day 4 - Mehsana - Varanasi City
Date - 7th -8th May 2012
Start - 11:00 Hours (7th May)
End - 18:30 Hours (8th May)
Total distance covered - 1750 kms
Total time taken - 31.5 Hours
Total driving time - 26 Hours
Total break time - 5.5 Hours
---------------------------------------------------

I often open Google-Latitude on my Laptop to glance at what we did last year on these 2 particular days without even planning for it!


Details of the Detour from GQ:


Our planned route was to reach Himmatnagar and continue on the GQ till Udaipur and Beyond (Planned route)

Since we stayed for the 3rd night at Mehsana after getting off the GQ Ahmedabad onward, we decided to touch the GQ only at Udaipur by taking the Palanpur-Mt Abu Road (Route finally taken)

As you can see, the difference was around 80-100 kms more than the planned route.

We wake up at ease, freshen up, load the luggage back into the car and get an offer from my relative to utilize the infrastructure to give the car a pressure wash if required before we start.

A clean looking and a freshly washed car to drive is all I wanted now and without wasting a minute, I and my cousin quickly give the Tallboy a much needed wash.


A close up shot!


Finally, we manage to capture ourselves at Mehsana not knowing that we will spend the next 31.5 hours on the road!

L>R - My father, Yours Truly and My relative who stays at Mehsana (Linch)


Extreme left - Another hero and a wonderful companion of our drive, My cousin Brother, Nishant.

And that long journey begins.....

We start off around 11am from the resort where we stayed which is around 10 kms before Mehsana town and as soon as we get onto the Service lane (doing so till the next toll booth ensures I need not pay for the journey again that I paid last night and didn't exit the other gate), we spot this casualty.


Nearing Mehsana town:


A good feeling to spot a truck from TN, closer to home:


Further to Palanpur, the road is a fantastic 4 lane corridor all the way till you reach Udaipur passing Abu Road through some very scenic sections and perhaps the most secluded highway of our entire drive.






Now we begin to see the Aravalis surrounding the beautiful roads.



We must be in Rajasthan now...


The road was absolutely fantastic and devoid of any traffic in that hot sun. The temperature was easily around 46 Degrees with the AC on full blast.


We haven't refilled as yet since our last stop before Vadodara and we may now have to look for a fuel station before our range of 100 kms gets over.

Notice the fuel gauge needle just around the quarter mark?


Thinking that we should soon spot a Fuel station near some small town, we continue to drive passing through some of the most scenic sections of the highway.


Another 97 kms for Udaipur and we may have fuel to drive around 50 kms more!!


We ask this toll booth operator as to where is the nearest fuel station for which he replied "Kareeban pachaas kilometer aage hai" (Around 50 kms ahead)


I now continue to drive very cautiously with the least throttle input and only wherever required. I cannot afford to turn the AC off at any cost due to the extremely hot weather conditions outside.

Even under such a tense situation, we were treated with some amazing roads ahead!







After an easy 25-30 kilometers of drive, we finally manage to spot a few vehicles ahead whom we thought was wiser to ask about the fuel station


We overtake this biker and request him to stop. We ask him about the nearest fuel station:


The sensational suspense for the day:

His reply : Aaj poore Rajasthan me kahee pe bhi Petrol nahi mileaga. Aaj Petrol station walo ki Strike hai

(today you wont get fuel in whole of Rajasthan as the dealers are on strike)

Its only 2 hours since we started for day 3 and have driven less than 250 kms!

We look at each other's faces helplessly due to 2 reasons:

1. We may run out of Petrol completely even if we plan to reach Udaipur
2. Even if we manage till Udaipur what do we do for the whole day that goes wasted?

(How we deal with the ordeal.......Continued)

[girishglg]

Hey Parag, this is as best as it can get in terms of TBHP standards of great travelogues with not only documenting the road trip primarily but topping it all is the list of recommended accessories that one should carry.

This will be a Bible and a great reference point to many of us for any of the future road trips that one would embark on.

Coming specifically to the current break in narration, its a good learning to add a jerry can to the list of must haves with spare fuel for panic situations. This must have been addressed in reality in your posts round the corner but just trying to break some suspense

Come on now put in your next set soon as we are all waiting here

BTW some really (and that Ertiga is actually looks like a Captiva)

[Mohan Mathew A]

hey parag

It is really amazing that you drove for 7 days and over 6000km and what i like most is the fact that it was just meant to be a drive for the love of driving with no other objectives. amazing dude.. really amazing. i did a 1500km trip through kerala and TN a couple of weeks back and your feat is wanting me to do something similar soon. truly great and i think lot has been said about the way you take care and no wonder there were no breakdowns. i really beleive that if you take care of your car, it will in return care of you and will not let you down. my swift has never let me down over the past 7 years. Waiting for the rest of the travalogue

[paragsachania]

We were now in big trouble with fuel level absolutely low. From many drives on highways and cities taken up in the past, never did the needle go to such lowest level and hence it started to become a major cause for concern.


The highway was still devoid of much traffic and sun was soaring hot. What if the car stalls and how do we even manage to get fuel on a day when the dealers were on strike. So many such questions hit all our heads for the next few minutes.

AC off, Economy Mode on (Booster mode in Economy!!):

Udaipur was easily 25-30 kms away since we learnt about the strike. I cannot anymore make an assessment of how many more kilometers the car can go in whatever manner we drive!

We Turn off the AC and roll down. Hot air blows on our face and inside the car. We realize this was typical Rajasthan summer now. I drive maintaining around 55-65 kmph so that it is not too slow that I need to press the throttle more when the next climb on that road comes. We continue for the next 15-20 kms.


Fingers crossed now on whether the car will reach some Major junction (as seen on Googlemaps) and eventually we reach a junction.

Thank god!! I don't care now if the car stalls. At least I can see some Rickshaws and vehicles on the busy intersection whom I can hitch a ride.

Right next to the junction is a BPCL outlet. I drive into the outlet and find the place deserted with no attenders and trucks parked. The main office was open with some people inside. Clear indication was they were indeed on strike today!

I thought I must share my part of the story and check if he can 'help' me with a full tank with a premium. He declines in a gentlemanly manner but shares some "Good news".

-Only Petroleum dealers are on strike, however COCO outlets are functional-

The next question was obvious - Please tell me where is the nearest COCO bunk and he offers to write the address and pass that paper to me and its written in neat Hindi - Eklinpura Chauraha (Eklingpura Intersection)

He tells us how to reach there by giving certain amount of directions and we could manage to grasp as much as possible and learn from him that it is around 6-7 kilometers away from that point.

We come out, get back into the car and start towards Eklingpura via Udaipur Bypass. We keep asking 2-3 gentlemen manning a few Automobile showrooms on the bypass and they all ask us to continue further.

We are virtually out of the risk now of getting stranded in a barren area even if the car stopped.

My father gets down at a nearby intersection to confirm the address and a man driving a MH-16 Xylo tells us that he is also heading towards the same COCO Outlet and if we could wait for 10 minutes, we can tail him as he knows the place.

God Almighty was kind:

We patiently wait and soon realize that the almighty has shown some mercy on us as we could see thick dark clouds forming in the sky.In the melee, we all had forgotten that we had not taken lunch today and it was almost 3pm.

The Xylo friend manages to take us right to the COCO outlet that had so many trucks in queue wanting to refill. I am still not confident when will my turn come!

My Dad gets down again, spots the manager and shares our concern who quickly creates a gap between 2 trucks by pausing the moving queue and we begin to refill. Thank you Sardarji for acknowledging our concern and helping us in a timely manner!!


The car's tank gobbled up a whopping 35.03 Liters of Petrol indicating that the car was perhaps running on the last few drops of fuel. WagonR's fuel tank capacity is 35 liters in all. Another 1-2 kilometers and I am sure we would have got stranded.

We paid him 2400 INR @ 68.51 Rs per liter, thanked him (and our stars) and continued heading out of Udaipur towards Bhilwara.

What a day to remember


(Rest of the journey continues....)