[sreenivass]

Fabulous locations and great pics too. Add Petra and good roads to the recipe, unmatchable. My pick is the beach photo with coconut tree background.

[WhiteKnight]

Originally Posted by greatDrive

btw.. what should we do if your 2 or more tryes gets Punctured and you don't have a Puncture shop very nearby.

Now you are getting paranoid! Probablity of such an event is too less to hedge against it, unless you are on a adventure trip.
One idea is to carry a air pump, which is not very costly. If the puncture is not severe, you can fill the air using pump and drive a few Kms, then do it again. You can even try a tube change yourself, if you have the tools- trust me, it is not that difficult.

[greatDrive]

thanks theMag

Originally Posted by akroy

Thanks GreatDrive, Blr - Agra should be a nice drive...you can also give us update on NS corridor work by NHAI, I think Lakhandon - Narshinghpur (on the sagar route, NH26 i think) is in bad condition (i think some work has started) otherwise roads are decent till Agra...Well, you can give us update on that....

Its just a thought... still some good time left to plan for it as I am thinking of going there in Summers. Iwill definetly collect details and write about road conditions whenever I do this trip, but doing 1900km One way will be too much tiring specially while returning back to Bangalore. Hope I convince my wife.

[iraghava]

Lovely trip, report & pics GD!! Glad to know you had fun!

Originally Posted by greatDrive

Yes, I agree and I learnt it the hard way... Never thought that Tube can burst or get punctured on a long trip. Never had any Punctue in my Four wheelers post yr2002( for Almost 45K km). I was so frightened of thinking :what if another Trye is punctured before I get a Puncture Repair Shop.

btw.. what should we do if your 2 or more tryes gets Punctured and you don't have a Puncture shop very nearby.

My suggestion would be to get tubeless tyres, since they don't deflate immediately and keep a spare tube. One, if you're careful you'll know there's a puncture & you can fill up air in the same tyre & comfortably drive to the next town (this can last 150-200kms easily) and even if you have to change & get a second puncture you can always insert the tube into the tyre & reach the next town. Also unlike tube-type tyres if you drive on low-pressure then the tyre does not get damaged, however if you drive on zero or close to zero pressure it will get damaged. But I too think you're being paranoid here!!

[esteem_lover]

Is a puncture a tragedy ??? - hell, no. it is just a trip. get up & get going man, happens all the time.

Very nice pics though

[akroy]

Originally Posted by greatDrive

but doing 1900km One way will be too much tiring specially while returning back to Bangalore. Hope I convince my wife.

Trust me, you will not get tired in your return. I can tell you from my Kolkata trip. Generally you tend to feel tired if you start the return journey immediately in a day or two. but since you are visiting your house you will staying there atleast for a week, may be also visit your inlaws. So, atleast 10 days you will off between two long journeys (plus family members, ghar ka khana etc etc you will be recharged). You can do the return faster plus u can do a better planning.

Secondly, during the return you will be sure about the road and its conditions, you will be better prepared mentally...Only be careful in the last 100km of the journey while return, you start to feel to get home fast and take pride of the drive and tend to loose out of patience and drive fast (atleast I felt that immediately after Tirupati)...You need to be patient at that time...In that case, take 2 small breaks of 30 min...

Thirdly, convince your wife maan, its no big deal....

Abhi

[navdeep]

nice writeup..
wish I had those skills

[sbasak]

Excellent write up and wonderful photos!

You can do the return faster plus u can do a better planning

This is invariably true - if you follow same route, you'll return faster as you already know the glitches in the routes beforehand

[hvkumar]

Bhishma,

Great to read about your trip.

I always carry spare tubes in the car. The quality of tubes you get in the roadside garages is bad (often local make) - plus you may not get it. I remember even an occason (in my old Mahindra Commander) the guy fixed the wrong tube (oversized) and I had serious problems.

Remember, next time you change your tyres, grab all the old tubes and keep them in stock. I noticed that most of us don't think of this, and the tyre shops take advantage of that and recycle them back.

I also carry tyre gas inflators (you get them in any spares shop or better Big Bazaars) that can be used to refill a flat tyre. Look out for hydraulic jacks (usually Chinese or Taiwan make) that are easier to use (I carry 2, one of them the trolley type which is very easy to use), unlike the standard jack you get with the car.

And when you do plan teh Agra trip, please remember to avoid the central India route (NH7 via Hyderabad, Nagpur, Laknadon) beacuse teh Laknadon-Sagar-Khansi route is terrible although work is going on - better to take the Bombay-Jaipur-Agra route.

[greatDrive]

Originally Posted by akroy

Thirdly, convince your wife maan, its no big deal....
Abhi

It is a Big deal if she has an excuse of managing a 2yr old for the whole journey, But I will give it a try.

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Great to read about your trip.

Thanks Kumar

Originally Posted by hvkumar

I always carry spare tubes in the car. The quality of tubes you get in the roadside garages is bad (often local make) - plus you may not get it. I remember even an occason (in my old Mahindra Commander) the guy fixed the wrong tube (oversized) and I had serious problems.

Shopkeeper also tried to giving R13 assuming It is same size as Palio, but some how I checked before taking it and insisted on R14.

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Remember, next time you change your tyres, grab all the old tubes and keep them in stock. I noticed that most of us don't think of this, and the tyre shops take advantage of that and recycle them back.

Yes I took the tube as it was new and just ahad 2 adjacent punctures, Will give it for repair and keep it as spare.

Originally Posted by hvkumar

And when you do plan teh Agra trip, please remember to avoid the central India route (NH7 via Hyderabad, Nagpur, Laknadon) beacuse teh Laknadon-Sagar-Khansi route is terrible although work is going on - better to take the Bombay-Jaipur-Agra route.

Don't you think that this trip taking GQ will be almost 400-500 km more than taking NS corridor.
btw .. How is the state of NS corridor, Is it 4 laned Highway with a divider? Is there a chance that work will be completed by this summers?

[rkg]

visit NHAI::Welcome to NHAI for the latest status on NS corridor

[akroy]

Originally Posted by greatDrive

How is the state of NS corridor, Is it 4 laned Highway with a divider? Is there a chance that work will be completed by this summers?

No Chance!! Probably work has just started. It might take another year if provided they have no other operational or political issues...

Abhi

[akroy]

GreatDrive, forgot to add...pls go thru the following link (you can get some nice feedback about both the routes although a year old but still helpful):

Delhi Trip

Abhi

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by akroy

GreatDrive, forgot to add...pls go thru the following link (you can get some nice feedback about both the routes although a year old but still helpful):

Delhi Trip

Abhi

I can see nothing has changed in the Laknadon-Sagar route in the last 4 years (when I last went through). I must add that this route is not the safest of routes and one is cautioned to avoid it after dark. I remember my own trip when I took 6 hours to cover less than 150 kms from Sagar to Laknadon, rattling along endlessly, interpersed with only a few good stretches in and around Narasingpur.

Sagar-Lalitpur (UP) is also bad, after which road becomes good all the way to Jhansi. Jhansi-Gwalior is also OK. Thereafter, it is double road all the way to Agra on NH3.

[s0uljah]

@greatdrive, interesting writeup and good pictures. Guess you definately had some "quality family time" too

Oh and regarding the tragedy bit, man you had me worried!! It part and parcel of having to own a vehicle buddy!! Hehe.