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“Beauty is and always will be blue skies and open highway.” 
The last trip had been in Feb-2014 to Jaipur & Chittorgarh which gave my travel lusty soul some contentment :) . But the 'khujaal' started again in a few weeks and started looking for destination to drive to:D . I live in Bhopal , Hindustan ka Dil , but then there is not much to explore nearby . My first preference for any drives is family . asked my sister about her leaves and she said she can manage for only about 4-5 days . Fine ! Agra - Khajuraho - Orchha it is !
A few days later I happen to stumble upon a pic on the internet , There was a small tea shop , nothing fancy , but then the subtle name-board caught my attention , it said - Last Indian Tea Shop ! Man , I want to go there .
Called up Sis again and asked her If she can manage for a few more days so that we can drive upto Mana . sis - Few more days ? no chance , I think I can not even take those 5 days off too . hectic time . pending reports .. etc etc . I lost track when she said she cannot manage those extra days . My mind was already pondering on if I want to drive alone or should I take someone with me . Talked to friends about my plan . some thought I was crazy ( Yeah , driving to far off places is not so common here ). But two of them agreed to Join me . 11 June was Finalized as the date on 9th June . But could leave only on 12th because of some personal work .
so ,
this travelogue or rather photologue is about 3000 kms roadtrip to the last Indian Village -Mana , to Have tea at the last Indian tea Shop !
Day 1 - Bhopal to Haldwani
Distance - 914 kms
Time Taken - 16 Hours
Route - Bhopal - Sanchi - Vidisha - Bina - Malthon - Jhansi - Gwalior - Agra - Aligarh - Moradabad - Rudrapur - Haldwani .
the plan was to hit the highway at 4 AM , but was able to sleep only by 1 am ( anxiety got better of me) and got delayed and left by 5 . it was a perfect morning to drive . It had drizzled last light , next to zero traffic on road .
we did good speed upto sanchi where road expansion work for about 7 kms slowed us down . it was a perfect drive after sanchi upto malthon where we joined the North - South corridor .
After joining the North -South Corridor
At Jhansi .. crossed the flyover and took left below the next to proceed to gwalior . took a tea break immediately after crossing jhansi .
reaching and crossing gwalior was a breeze due to the recently constructed jhansi - gwalior section and delightful gwalior by-pass .
somewhere after cossing gwalior , proceeding to Agra
Turnoff before Agra toward Jaipur and Delhi .. is that the By-pass ?
Entering Agra City
We had a filling luch at Agra and proceed to Aligarh
You had your fill , what about me ? asked the swifty .. stopped at the next bunk to tank her up !
That is the YEW cutting over the Aligarh Highway .. will come for U babe ,, soon !
The Aligarh Highway
It started to Drizzle ! :)
Drizzling Rainfall ... and kullad waali chai made on wood flame ! sheer pleasures of life !
Barrage on Ganga
just a couple of more Kms of drive left for the day
The stead after Day 1 drive on rain soaked Highways :)
Day 2 - Haldwani - Nainital - Haldwani
Distance covered - 108 kms
Time taken - it was a relaxed drive up n down Nainital . approx would be 1 hr 30 mins one way .
Swifty got its much deserved wash and we left haldwani by 9:30
exiting haldwani towards the hills . excited . first time driving on the hills
started the climb
Maal Road - Nainital
Khurpa Taal - changes color of the water according to climate/ time of the day
China Peak view point
Mango shaped Naini Lake
Naini Lake
Boating
Reminiscence of the Past ! a British era movie hall
clouds started acting up !
local market , You can buy a variety of candles here
HRC ?:Shockked: :D
coming downhill from Nainital
How did your Swift perform, in terms of fuel efficiency? The roads seem to be nice and smooth, hence fatigue levels would be minimal. Right?
I am still to understand whether the tea from the last Indian tea shop @ Mana was worth the travel?:D
The next time you wish to have a cup of tea after some adventure, try
this. lol:
Quote:
Originally Posted by S2!!!
(Post 3478593)
How did your Swift perform, in terms of fuel efficiency? The roads seem to be nice and smooth, hence fatigue levels would be minimal. Right?
I am still to understand whether the tea from the last Indian tea shop @ Mana was worth the travel?:D
The next time you wish to have a cup of tea after some adventure, try this. lol:
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swift returned a mileage of 18-19kmpl over this trip which is quite decent I believe .
ahh .. the tea at the last Indian tea shop is an element of surprise ... wait for it to unfold :)
having a cup of tea here would be a heck of an adventure buddy .. itaa bhi toofani nahi karna :Shockked:
Quote:
Originally Posted by lone_driver
(Post 3478348)
this travelogue or rather photologue is about 3000 kms roadtrip to the last Indian Village -Mana , to Have tea at the last Indian tea Shop !
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It sounds really crazy that travelling about 3000kms just to visit last Indian village to have a cup of tea. I agree people do have such round the bend aim to achieve things, may be others might think this weird.
Even I had one similar wish to go to the place where river Cauvery (scared river of Karnataka) joins the sea as I wanted to complete the cycle of going all the major places where the river flows right from birth place of Cauvery i.e. TalaCauvery till it joins the sea and I completed it recently :D.
Cauvery splits into 3 paths and joins the sea at different places Kaveripattanam, Pichavaram and poompuhar.
Quote:
Originally Posted by S2!!!
(Post 3478593)
...
The next time you wish to have a cup of tea after some adventure, try this. lol:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lone_driver
(Post 3478655)
...
having a cup of tea here would be a heck of an adventure buddy .. itaa
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As lone_driver said - thats too toofani, but this itself may be good inspiration to motivate many!
Start off ... ppl will join!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Karthik Gullu
(Post 3478658)
It sounds really crazy that travelling about 3000kms just to visit last Indian village to have a cup of tea. I agree people do have such round the bend aim to achieve things, may be others might think this weird.
Even I had one similar wish to go to the place where river Cauvery (scared river of Karnataka) joins the sea as I wanted to complete the cycle of going all the major places where the river flows right from birth place of Cauvery i.e. TalaCauvery till it joins the sea and I completed it recently :D.
Cauvery splits into 3 paths and joins the sea at different places Kaveripattanam, Pichavaram and poompuhar.
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woha ! thats the kind of madness only a handful will understand :thumbs up
Day 3 - Haldwani - Bhimtal - Ranikhet - Karnaprayag
Distance - 264 kms
time - 10 hours
The driving on the mountains part is yet to begin - says my Pahadi friend !
What we experienced yesterday driving up and down Nainital was just a trailer of what was in store for me on the upward journey .
Twists , Turns , Curves , Hairpin Curves , Bends , Narrow roads , Steep incline , Steep descend , Going Uphill and coming downhill ( i think I went up and down atleast 6 mountains that day stupid: ) and sometimes when you feel you have seen it all then all of the above comes together combined with broken roads :Shockked:
for a regular guy who is used to drive on four lanes and six lanes , this was a heck of an experience !!
there were rare occasions when I could hold the steering wheel straight for more that 3-4 seconds .
At Golf Course , Ranikhet
Now that's what I call a Restaurant with a VIEW !
Confluence of Alaknanda and Pindari rivers at Karnaprayag .
sunset !
Karnaprayag at Night !
Nice to see another bhpian from Bhopal.
Agra - Aligarh - Moradabad road condition looks to be good. Some time back it was hell.
Nice log in the making. Did you attempt Mana Pass also ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by columbus
(Post 3478799)
Nice to see another bhpian from Bhopal.
Agra - Aligarh - Moradabad road condition looks to be good. Some time back it was hell.
Nice log in the making. Did you attempt Mana Pass also ?
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great to see you too columbus :)
yes, agra - aligarh -moradabad - rudrapur road is in good condition now .
I did not know about mana pass until I read your comment .. how do we approach it ? the was a single road from badrinath to mana .. !
It was a Thrilling experience to see the Himalayas for the first time !
The Last Indian Village - Mana ! The pic which is symbolic for the complete drive !
The Final destination . The board that fascinated me and inspired me for this drive . I was soo excited to be there that I did not take any other pictures of the shop . Enjoyed a couple of hot teas , bread pakoras , maggi and bhajiyas there .
Gave me goosebumps to see this board :)
Vyas Gufa . this was where Ved Vyas sat n wrote Mahabharata !
This is the longest that I have driven till Date to have Tea ! stupid:
Good to see lone_driver! I always thought guys from our state are non-drivers, having seen my friends doing Bhopal-Indore to death and calling themselves enthusiasts leaves me with a bazzinga face:)
And that's, my friend; is on hell of a drive! I understand you as I have also done quite some solo drives but definitely not of this level. Hats off!
What I enjoy in solo drives is that the surroundings, the machine, the terrain, the weather they all talk to you. Its like (Mein aur meri car, aksar ye baatein..)
Nice TL with good pictures, @lone_driver. You've helped improve my geography a bit, as I was not aware of few of the places you visited.:D
It is good to know that you ventured for the first time onto hilly terrain. That is a different ball game together, and one gets exposed to so many tricky things. Congrats for having completed an exhilerating trip, that will kindle your memories in the years to come.
Keep posting more details.
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