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27th November 2015, 13:21
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| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 79
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| 14 days, 10 states, 4 rivers and 5000 kms of pure bliss: Bangalore to Delhi Well,this was in the works for about 3 months.What started as a casual conversation at home on the plan for Diwali morphed itself into a fantastic road trip.The trigger was my daughter who studies in Shivnadar University ,Greater Noida can not come home for this Diwali and therefore My Wife : Why not we go there? Me :Hmm,Yeah but when ?(Was worried about atrocious Bangalore Delhi airfares @ the back of my mind) Me : How long a holiday you got ? My wife : About 2 weeks I can manage. Me :Then why not we drive? My wife : Don't be crazy,(She was already worried eventually this will happen!) My younger Daughter : Will we stay in Radisson Blu?! (The previous year when we went to Delhi for leaving my elder daughter at the college,we stayed there for a week and she got some royal treatment)Let's go no ,please! So I jumped right into Team-Bhp and made a plan. ---------------------------------------- Preparation : Car : My 2007 Innova Travelers : My wife ,My younger daughter of 11 and myself.My wife does not drive on the highway's.So it is only me Got fantastic inputs and more from Hyderabad -Delhi, Bangalore-Agra and many other threads. Made bookings for Jim Corbett Safari's.Booked in Radisson Blu Ghaziabad,Mapple resort @ Corbett (Through Booking.com) and checked with Hotels at Nagpur and Sagar for possible stay's enroute. Two weeks before -Got my Windshield replaced (as the old one had many scratches) and wanted to change the tyres too that were about 35000 kms old.But Toyota guys suggested these will run for at least another 10k and don't change till then. I have sufficient music in my car's iPod,but still bought music for the road collection (brilliant BTW) and created 7 play lists each lasting about 2-3 hours ranging from Pink Floyd,Eagles,Queen,Clapton,several compilation albums and of course Ilayaraaja! By this time my family was worried apparently that the trip would happen as I later got to know from my elder daughter that my wife was confident even a week prior to the trip,that this would be cancelled! I got support from unexpected quarters-My MIL who encouraged us and actually gave us 5000 rs in freshly minted 10 rupee notes for the tolls ! The plan was to leave on 8th Nov-Sunday as my wife had some work until 7th.There was a set back.There was a bereavement @ Hyderabad on 6th and the plan was in Jeopardy.However we were allowed to visit them en-route and proceed for our journey.Thus we left on 6th to Hyderabad and proceeded from there on the 8th and the same was done in return too. So here it goes. ---------------------------------------------------------- Day 1:6th Nov The original plan was to drive to Nagpur from Bangalore on 8th-But had to leave on 6th to Hyderabad and stay until 8th and continue on wards, that turned out to be a good thing in a way So this is predominantly a ‘from Hyderabad’ travelogue. 6th November left home at Hennur road @ 12 noon drove to Puttaparthy, picked up our in law’s and drove to Hyderabad-Reached @ 830 pm after a leisurely drive. Pit stops: A1 plaza @ Gooti on the right side and further after crossing Kurnool a BPCL Ghar dhaba on the left.Pl note both have decent toilets and of course some hot tea and snacks The road is in general good and the Kurnool Jadcherla is possibly the best with all fluorescent signs guiding you through out,as we were driving this stretch after 530 pm. Please note through out this trip-It was generally dark by 545 pm. So please be prepared for that in case of driving in the winter Day 2 : 8th Nov Left Hyderabad @ 530 am. The plan was to reach Sagar(Deepali Residency) by 7 pm or so.The road condition was average at Hyd outskirts but gradually improved to become excellent in about 10-15 kms And was a bliss all the way till Adilabad,After Adilabad there is a 25 km long stretch that’s is a single carriage way-But the surface is still good.Now the Hinganghat section starts !.But it is just a single road and not pot hole ridden,except for a kilometre or so around the railway crossing. Over all manageable without sweat with around 40 kms as single road in this stretch.It was just bumpy.    Reached the Buti Borri junction –at 12 noon covering a distance of 480 kms and landed in Royal Regency for Lunch.This is a very convenient place to stop as it is just on the high way and further down in about 5 kms or so towards Nagpur you have to take the right towards Pench bypassing Nagpur From there we left after a sumptuous lunch at 115 and took the turn for Pench-g maps helps you exactly and in about 35-40 kms you enter Pench reserve forest.The drive through Pench was not all that great,with single roads for almost for about 80 kms and heavy truck traffic slowing you down considerably. So entered the 4 laned road at around 530 by which time it was already dark and had to drive until 730 pm to reach Deepali Residency at Sagar.NH-26 that you reach after negotiating Pench is fantastic all the way till Jhansi. Pitstops: The BPCL pumps after Adilabad about 5 kms before MH border.Primarily for fuel and a request use of a locked wash room,that the folks were kind enough to open for our family.And Royal regency Butiborri So covered around 430 kms in about 6 ½ hours. Deepali is again very convenient just a detour of 3 kms from NH 26 and offers alcohol and Non veg free stay. Has great lawns and play areas and a fantastic room for about Rs.2200 a night. In summary : Total time on the road 14 hrs : Total drive time ~12.5 hrs; Distance covered 910 kms Day 3 :9th November Checked out from Deepali at 8 am.Yeah, Delhi is only 650 kms should be a piece of cake.Well it was not to be.As soon as we hit the NH 26 in about 5 mins,The milestone said-Jhansi 220 kms. Clean drive till Jhansi.By about 1100 we passed Jhansi.  Beautiful NH 26 between Jhansi and Sagar  And now with Cows!This has been already posted in this thread. Drive carefully ‘Respect Cows'  Numerous small and beautiful hills in between  Integrated border check post coming up.  The integrated border check-posts are really well designed on wither side of the road by a small detour while the private vehicles drive through the straight lane. Once you bypass Jhansi –well start of trouble !   Between Jhansi and Gwalior –The road was like this for about 100 odd kms.Heavy truck traffic and a little stressful, In between there was some temple in the ghats and associated traffic hold up for a brief while.  Though scenic beauty like this helped us stay calm and focussed . In general this stretch was manageable if you are mentally prepared for a slow drive.But you need to cross a town called Dabra driving through which was like crossing KR Puram/Silk board junctions in Bangalore ! Then we reached the Gwalior by pass around 1:30 covering only 105 kms in three hours.We hence skipped any lunch like plans and lived on fruits and biscuits. Gwalior by pass was brilliant though and is about 25 kms in distance The road you exit Gwalior By pass is a bit patchy for about 5-6 kms and then we hit a old type Highway that takes you to Agra via Dholpur in Rajasthan. This stretch has no by pass’s and you need to cross all small town enroute-so a typical 90kmph drive with a coverage of around 70 kms Then we entered Agra around 245 .We were welcomed by scenes like these !    This one was rubbing its nose on the left door windshield ! We followed g Maps for reaching the so called YEW link road and in a couple of places it directed us through cantonment roads where we were not allowed to drive through. So while following g Maps be mindful of the same in Agra. We did not however face this anywhere else and it was bang on So we crossed Agra and entered YEW by 415 pm. Was disappointed to read ‘Speed Limit’ 100!! While most stretches on NH 26 was doing 120. Think its due to safety reason for the concrete paved road. YEW has around 4 amenity stations enroute. Each having rest rooms,restaurants,Nitrogen filling(Recommended for Concrete roads-as it supposedly keeps the Tyre cooler, despite increased friction).  Finally smell of food on YEW and a well-deserved rest for my trustworthy friend.   Some snaps from YEW Be wary of some driving at very high speeds. I felt safe to drive on the middle two lanes mostly the 3rd lane from left. So exited into Greater Noida by 630 and reached Shivnadar University to pick up my daughter at 7.  The girls are happy! We were booked in Radisson Blu Ghaziabad and the drive is typically 1 hour from the university via Noida expressway.Today was no exception except until Akshardham Setu,from where the hotel is about 5 kms.This 5 kms took 1:15 mins !Apparently all Delhiites visit their friends and relatives this day and presents gifts/sweets on Diwali eve.This was reported in all newspapers the next day too with traffic snarls across the city. In summary : Time on the road : 13.5 hrs Drive time : 12 hrs Distance covered 700 kms with last two kms taking up about 1 hour! Pitstops : BPCL petrol pumps enroute.No lunch stop. So as you notice this is the slowest stretch despite 190 kms on the Yamuna Express Way. Hence if you plan a two day drive to Delhi from Bangalore –The second day assuming you start from Nagpur –will be a major stretch. May take around 17 hours of drive. Alternatively Cross Nagpur and Stay at the Hotel Karan @Chhindwara ,in which case you need to skip drive through Pench and drive through Nagpur and take NH 26B to Sagar. I generally covered around 75 km/hour through this trip,if it helps ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Delhi 10th to 12th Delhi was beautiful –We visited Akshardham Temple, Connaught Place and Nearby markets, Kingdom of Dreams in Gurgaon and a few other places in Ghaziabad.  The roof is artificial lighting-KOD  Artistes @ the entrance to the Auditorium –Zangoora Musical @ KOD.The Bollywood musical was brilliant 13th and 14th Nov Jim Corbett National park @ Mapple resort This was planned in September with two safari bookings @ Bijrani Zone.As many of you know This park has five zones-Dhikala,Bijrani,Durgadevi,Jirna and Sitabani buffer zone Dhikala is considered the best for Game sighting but opens only on 15th Nov and we chose the next best Bijrani.One safari in AN and one early morning one. These days the authorities allow only 30 approved Jeeps with a guide per zone per time.Hence advance booking is necessary. We left RB Ghaziabad on 13th morning at 6 am and hit the NH24 in no time. This route is largely on well paved NH 24 for about 160 kms and then on a state high way for 80 kms.The road condition was excellent throughout. There is a CCD/McD complex enroute @ 100th KM from Ghaziabad that we reached by 830 after a leisurely drive. And reached the resort by 1045 AM.  NH24 from Ghaziabad at 7 am  Ganges River bridge enroute Jim Corbett  Pokemon !(in-front of our cottage @Mapple resort)  Monsoon Rivers inside the park We were not lucky with the big cat. Though we waited for about an hour in a spot where could hear repeated roars in the vicinity. But the park itself is so beautiful and both safari trips were fantastic, well worth the money. Returned to base on the 14th AN around 2 pm leaving at 830 am (a mistake) 14th AN and 15th whole in general relaxed and did nothing. The Return 16th Nov Left Ghaziabad at 430 am and crossed Agra before 7 am via YEW.  People cheering Hot air balloons along the banks of River Yamuna @ Agra  Don’t miss this gas station somewhere near Sagar on NH26 a great pitstop This time wanted to split the distance into equal halves and hence drove to a small town called Narsingpur via NH 26 and stayed in a basic hotel by name Atithi.This was just about OK for a night’s stay but I would recommend another 100kms drive to Chhindwara and stay at Hotel The Karan that had good reviews on Trip advisor and had signage’s all over the town. This time did not encounter much traffic in the dreaded Gwalior to Jhansi section. We were stopped by traffic cops just before Jhansi and they checked all documents. And at the end complemented us for having all documents updated ! Reached there by 530 after about 800 kms .Enroute we had packed lunch by a road side dhaba Summary: Distance 810 kms ;On road time 13 hours-Driving time 12 hours Pitstops: YEW Agra end ;@ Deepali Sagar for convenience and coffee. 17th November From Narsingpur you can drive westwards towards Pench via laknadaon or take right and drive towards Chhindwara via NH 26 B.We decided to try the NH26 B as the earlier drive via Pench through NH 7 was not that great Left Narsinghpur at 615 am (a mistake) and drove via NH 26 B via Chhindwara ,Savner to reach Nagpur by 10 am –a distance of 250 kms. NH26 B is the best single carriageway I have driven so far.Amazingly well marked and with zero traffic through a series of small hills all of which were very pretty. All towns small and big had by passes and well-marked with signage’s that were intuitive for a change I strongly recommend this route over Pench route any day.The only disadvantage was to drive through Nagpur which surprising had very smooth traffic at 930 in the morning time. g Maps all the way and it did not let us down. Drove further to Butiborri and stopped at Royal regency Buti borri for a brunch.These people here are amazing.They recognised us from the earlier trip and took special care .Had south Indian food and packed paratha’s for lunch all for 600 Rs. Left from that place around 11 30 or so and hoped to reach Hyderabad by 5 just in time to beat rush hour However we were stuck for 45 min in Hinganghat level crossing.That was opened after 30 mins with no train passing  This resulted in we entering Hyderabad by 545 or so.From Medchal and then further from Kompally the legendary Hyderabad traffic hit us and we reached home by 715 pm. Summary : Distance 750 kms ;Time on the road 13.5 hrs; Driving time 12 hours Pitstops : Butiborri Royal regency ; Adilabad BPCL Petrol pump on the right side In conclusion ,this was a fantastic family holiday a different one at that. My 2c , is always start early, 4 to 5 am is a great time to start as that helps beat the destination rush hour and makes the whole journey enjoyable. However if you are driving in December/January during peak winter your driving time may drastically reduce due to foggy conditions. So drive safe ! You end up paying a toll of 1860 Rs including 360 rs for YEW alone The home run : 19th November :Hyderabad to Bangalore This stretch by now is like a neighboring town drive and hence does not need major information. However some photo’s enroute ,where we encountered the rain for the first time and in retrospect this time from 7th Nov to 20th Nov was a great time to have been out of Bangalore as I learnt    So left Hyderabad at 430 am and reached home at 230 after a detour to Puttaparthy to drop my in law’s. A distance of 600 odd km’s   So here we are safe and sound! This trip could just not have been possible without Team-Bhpian’s inputs. So a big shout out to Team BHP and the community. Subbu Last edited by subbu567 : 27th November 2015 at 14:50. Reason: Title corrected |
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28th November 2015, 12:15
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| Team-BHP Support   | |
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2nd December 2015, 13:00
| #3 |
| BHPian Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Auckland, Chd
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| Re: 14 days, 10 states, 4 rivers and 5000 kms of pure bliss: Bangalore to Delhi Nice Subbu! Your title sums it up  Yamuna Express Way sure is a delight to drive on. |
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2nd December 2015, 21:10
| #4 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Chicagoland
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| Re: 14 days, 10 states, 4 rivers and 5000 kms of pure bliss: Bangalore to Delhi Great TL there! Could you just put up a screenshot of the route you took? Doesn't matter even if it's an approximate one. Also, looks like road conditions were good. How much was the toll for the whole trip? What kind of fuel efficiency figures were you managing? With our Innova at home, we manage 10.75-11 kmpl on highway, mainly due to engine cruising at 2700 RPM at 100 kmph and three row AC working continuously. BTW, is yours a G3? Last edited by landcruiser123 : 2nd December 2015 at 21:12. |
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3rd December 2015, 12:31
| #5 | ||
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 79
Thanked: 132 Times
| Re: 14 days, 10 states, 4 rivers and 5000 kms of pure bliss: Bangalore to Delhi Quote:
Quote:
 This was the onward route.Drove through Pench and Seoni on NH 7. But as I said before this was a single road for about 90 kms upto Seoni and had heavy truck traffic  This was the return route, with only the different portions while returning.This time we drove through NH 26B via Chhindwara, Seoner and Nagpur.This was also a single road but had very little traffic truck or otherwise. This will be my preferred route. Only disadvantage is you have to drive through Nagpur city to reach buti bori while, via Pench you by-pass Nagpur to reach buti bori, though I did not have problems in negotiating Nagpur traffic which was light. The toll we paid was Rs 1860 one way. The route was good -except between Buti borri and Seoni (onward) and between Jhansi and Gwalior.Jhansi and Gwalior was more time consuming.Details on my post above. The FE was around 11 kmph, ~450 liters for 5000 km's. Our Innova is G a step below the top end V at that time! Trust this helps. | ||
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3rd December 2015, 13:21
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3rd December 2015, 18:05
| #7 | |
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 79
Thanked: 132 Times
| Re: 14 days, 10 states, 4 rivers and 5000 kms of pure bliss: Bangalore to Delhi Quote:
Chhindwara to Bangalore is like 2.5 hrs to cross Nagpur and reach Buti bori, from there Hyderabad ORR exit is about 6 hours where from Bangalore should be about 7 hrs.It depends on how much you want to drive in one day and where exactly your landing point is in Bangalore.I stay in North and hence reaching my place is fairly easy,but if you are in South or east, your plan works best instead of a two day trip. In June '16 evening light will be to your advantage as it generally gets dark by 7 or so.But check on the rains .Hyderabad Bangalore can be done any time of the day, fairly well equipped in terms of amenities en route. Good luck and safe drive ! | |
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4th December 2015, 09:08
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| BHPian | Re: 14 days, 10 states, 4 rivers and 5000 kms of pure bliss: Bangalore to Delhi Quote:
I need to go to JP Nagar, south of Meenakshi Temple, off Bannerghatta road. I guess its call for another hour or more after touching Bangalore from Hyderabad side. Last edited by Wanderers : 4th December 2015 at 09:09. | |
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4th December 2015, 15:45
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| Senior - BHPian  | Re: 14 days, 10 states, 4 rivers and 5000 kms of pure bliss: Bangalore to Delhi Quote:
Bangalore - Adilabad - 900 KMs Pench - Sagar - Jhansi - 550 KMs Yamuna Express way - 210 KMs and around 500 KMs is 2 laned/under construction roads? Is there any work happening to convert the remaining roads to 4 lane? | |
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6th December 2015, 07:52
| #10 | |
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 79
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| Re: 14 days, 10 states, 4 rivers and 5000 kms of pure bliss: Bangalore to Delhi Quote:
Glad you liked the TL. In-fact it was due to push from your side! Now, Here are the 2 lane roads from memory. 1.Adilabad to Pandharkawda -About 40 kms and a few small stretches for about 10-15 kms, The surface is good,not much traffic -Total 55 kms 2. Hinganghat - 25 kms with around 2 kms being potholed around the railway crossing - 25 kms 3.Pench to Lakhnadon - About ~100 kms -The surface is good but heavy truck traffic almost till NH26 that comes from Jabalpur. 4. Jhansi to Gwalior ~100 kms - This is the worst stretch of all but still manageable. The initial 25 kms or so is challenging with all culverts and small bridge crossings acting like speed breakers. In this stretch you will also need to drive through some small towns Dabra, Datia etc. Then you reach Gwalior by-pass and on to the old Highway to Agra which is still 4 lane .But no so good as the ones we are used to.You will need to drive through Dholpur, a few other towns and Agra before you hit YEW. So essentially the 2 lane road is for about 270-280 kms which takes about 5 hours in total to negotiate. If you take the NH 26B instead of NH7 via Pench /Seoni, add another ~100 kms. But this is still faster due to very less truck traffic. Some stretches between Gwalior and Jhansi there was hectic construction activity. The rest is also happening but not at that much speed.In side the Pench reserve forest area I think there is a court case against 4 laning. | |
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6th December 2015, 19:14
| #11 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: 30°N 76°E
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| Re: 14 days, 10 states, 4 rivers and 5000 kms of pure bliss: Bangalore to Delhi @subbu567 Thanks for sharing a wonderfully executed cross country road trip. The photologue is excellent and it makes the narrative all the more interesting.  Virtually felt like cruising along the countryside while going through the travelogue. This TL reminded me of my maiden cross country drive from Chandigarh to Hyderabad and back which I did with my bro and a relative, in a Swift Dzire Vxi, way back in March 2014. Would share the experience through a travelogue.Regards. |
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6th July 2016, 18:26
| #12 | |
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Bangalore
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