[silverado]

Its midnight and there is no traffic on road, no music playing, complete silence inside car. Was just me, the car and beautiful roads of MP.
This must be what meditation must feel like since i was in a zone, one of those moments in life, which you cherish for a long time.

This is a story of 6 friends who embarked on a 2000 km road trip for a wedding.Crazier the plan, exciting it sounds but to actually do it and look back at those moments feels great.

If you love driving like most us do, we are constantly on a lookout for that reason/opportunity to get on road.Therefore, the destination/purpose does not really matter when all you enjoy is company of your friends and a good drive.

One of our office colleague from Chhindwara was getting married, he invited us for his wedding.

This was the trigger, while sipping tea one day we casually started a discussion and WhatsApp group to know if we can actually make it to his wedding.When you dont have family with you, dynamics of the trip change quite a lot and you can be bit careless with planning as well.

To be frank, we did check multiple options - Train/ Bus Flight, but the timing/cost etc was not matching up to our expectations.
It had to be a road trip since Driving was never a concern, with 4 people in group who simply love to drive.

There were 6 of us - Yours truly - Ashish,Prasad,Nitin,Sumeet,Paritosh and Mahendra.I was sure in 2 months’ time someone or other would cancel the trip since it was a long trip.Simply going for wedding so far didnt sound very exciting or practical, so we decided to take a detour to one of the Tiger Sanctuaries en-route.

Melghat was an easy option since it was near Amravati, but Tadoba sounded more exciting.So after a lot of discussion, agreements/disagreements and almost giving up on trip we decided to go to Tadoba.

We had 3 cars on offer 1) Hexa 2) Ecosport 3) Baleno, it had to be Hexa since there were 6 of us.Even with 5 our luggage was way too much for either Baleno/Ecosport to handle.

Moreover, on such a long haul you need the best car on offer, so Prasad's 2 year old HEXA XE was going to be our ride.

Driving down to Amravati/ Nagpur from Pune is not very popular and people mostly prefer to travel overnight by buses.
Hence getting first hand info about road condition was not easy, got a single but very precise reply on one of our thread.

Midway during this phase, we found Safari booking challenging, our entire Trip hinged on Safari booking.

We had almost cancelled our trip, when we found Aditi.
She is our office colleague from Nagpur who gave our planning a lot of direction.She advised us to book MTDC Tadoba and also took care of our safari booking - Thank you so much

Safari booking done, we personally visited MTDC office near Pune railway station and booked 2 Standard AC rooms.

Finally the day had arrived and surprisingly the count was still 6 ( no one had yet cancelled the trip ).
It was very unbelievable, even after 2 months we had 6 guys still ON for 4 day long road trip.However, unfortunately at last moment Sumeet had to cancel his trip as his daughter was unwell.

Planned time to start from Hinjewadi was 12pm, but best plans can go awry and i got some urgent work around 11.30!

We finally started from wakad at 1.30pm, behind schedule and our destination was Amravati, which was a good 580kms away.
Roue was going to be Pune -Ahmednagar - Aurangabad - Jalna - Mehekar - Karanja - Amravati.

We had rough idea about travel time (12-14 hours ) but had heard horror stories of people reaching late beyond what google said.
However, with 5 guys, lot of chatter, little horseplay, and one beast you are least worried about reaching the destination and all you do is enjoy the journey.

I took up the last row seat, and with middle seat not sliding ( not sure if its jammed or its fixed being a XE variant), i ( my height is 5.7 ) started getting little uncomfortable after 3 hours.However ride quality of Hexa shines here, so it doesnt really matter where you are seated.

We lovingly call it 1 bhk for the bulk it has.

First halt was at Saradwadi, which is famous for Misal Houses.Both sides of highway are lined up with Misal houses.







Mahendra the foodie had suggested we stop at Sanjay Misal house, which we did at 3.30pm.Misal and bhel was amazingly tasty, it does deserve a visit purely for that.We gobbled up misal in mere 30 mins and were back on road.
Now i was now in middle row seat and the width of the car gave made 3 aside very comfortable.Backrest angle on XE in middle row is a little upright, wish it had reclining feature.

Nagar Road past Wagholi is a good road to drive.
However, road markings are poor and there are multiple crossings on highway so one needs to be vigilant.
We made steady progress and reached Aurangabad.

5 of us had never been to Amravati/ Nagpur /MP so the excitement to see new places was very much there.
After a brief tea break we started from Aurangabad ( was already 8pm by then ).We stopped for dinner at some dhaba post jalna.It was very windy and chilly outside.

Roads had been good until now, but just after Mehekar started bad sections.
Being day 1 spirits were really high ( no pun intended ) so bad roads didn’t affect us much.

It was here that our car was the real Hero. With 235 section tyres and 70-aspect sidewall it could take worst of roads in its stride easily.
Unexpected potholes were not a concern since 2.2 ton beast could smother it without fuss.

Roads improved after Karanja and we finally reached Amravati at 4am, way beyond what we had planned!

Amravati stay was at Paritosh's place and we enjoyed hearty breakfast at his place thanks to his dad.I liked Amravati city, it’s a nice little city with good roads and lots and lots of Educational institutes.

It was time to move on to Nagpur.Amravati to Nagpur is a 4 lane well paved fast highway.Everyone was excited to get a taste of famous Saoji food.After a some searching we finally made it to Sujal Saoji.







Frankly speaking, it was too hot to handle, NOT recommended if you dont eat spicy on regular basis.Saoji is a preparation type and not a hotel chain as i had thought earlier.

Nagpur has transformed in to a modern city, with impressive Metro architecture and excellent roads throughout.Area around Haldiram has a very good vibe and seems to be a shopper’s delight. Wish we had more time to explore.Saoji done, we started for Tadoba.

It was my turn on the wheel, the moment, which I looked forward to since, i was going to drive a Big Suv for first time.

If you drive Hatcback on regular basis, any SUV/MUV would intimidate you.
Hexa/Safari and their dimensions have always intimidated me.

However, surprisingly i was at ease after 5 mins, and here i was driving this 2.2 ton beast on Nagpur city roads.Front seats are humongous and cushioning is perfect for long drives.
View from seats is good, except for A pillar (Which i didn’t have any issue since i also drive Nano regularly).
Windscreen is low set and you sit high up so you tower above most of the traffic.

Once past Nagpur, open roads gave me the chance to explore its power.
We were constantly doing 100-110 on this stretch and you have to literally lift your foot from pedal several times.

Hexa doesn’t mask speeds as well as Creta, this is my personal opinion one of the reasons being you sit very high up in Hexa.
Creta @ 140 feels like its doing 100-110 unless you look at speedo in shock!

Hexa XE is 150bhp/320 Nm does 100kph @ 1900-2000rpm which is so sweet. I am not sure how different is the Turbo lag compared to higher variants, which are 156bhp/400Nm.Turbo lag is something you need to get used to if you drive petrol cars, and you need to time your gearing once you cross speed breakers.

There were moments when just after a speed breaker you literally have to wait for turbo to kick in (Approx. 1700 rpm ).
There is no point pinning the pedal down since beast takes its time to wake up and once the Turbo starts spooling it pulls like a train.
Such is the pulling force that you have to back up.

Did not know Hexa XE also has all round discs! Braking is awesome for such a heavy car.I am not going to sing praises about ride quality since that is a HEXA trait, which we all expect.

Coming from Baleno, handling was also a surprise for me; i was able to carry good speeds on bends and even on tight Tadoba roads.Body roll is well controlled and controls are light and smooth for such a bulky car.

Road from Nappur to Tadoba is well-maintained Toll road.
Take a left at Temburda and you are 50kms from tadoba gate.
This a Narrow but well maintained road and you are inside Tadoba buffer zone.

There were Tiger crossing signage at couple of spots before resort.
Surprisingly there is a MSRTC bus, which runs until MTDC from Chandrapur 3 times a day!

All said and done we reached MTDC tadoba by 8pm.
Tadoba MTDC is a well-maintained family friendly property with good service.
MTDC Tadoba is located inside Core area, and if lucky, you can get a tiger sighting just outside MTDC.Food is also very good and that makes your stay enjoyable.





It was time to sleep, since next day was going to be the most anticipated day of our trip.I was restless the entire night since the excitement to go on Tiger Safari was very high.

We woke up early and stood in queue around 5.45am.
We got the first gypsy allotted to us and we were past Moharli Gate precisely at 6.30am.All the Gypsy's in Tadoba are well maintained and they run on Petrol (In Gujrat - Gir they are not so well maintained and run on CNG )

In Tadoba mobile photography is not allowed.
As soon as you sit in gypsy all mobiles must be deposited in a box.






Our guide was very knowledgeable and driver took lot of effort.
In Tadoba they have a Bolero Camper which drives inside the forest off beaten paths to track tigers.

They relay information to gypsy drives on probable route a tiger might take.
Communication within drivers is good. People in Tadoba do take effort for sighting and this has made it famous.

My colleague who visited a week ago told us that they track tigers based on 1-week data, which tells them probable location.
They are well versed with Tiger routine and crossing points.

We saw Deer, Sambar, Bison, Flamingos, Kingfisher, Peacock, Owl, Fox.
Roads inside forest safari area are well maintained.We ended up at a waterhole, and waited for nearly 1 hour.







There were Sambar around that water hole and we could sense from their behavior that Tiger was nearby.
There were 15-20 gypsy's crammed near that waterhole, but Tiger did not show up.

Such was the anticipation that it was little disappointing not to see Tiger.
There are all kinds of people in Safari and it made for interesting observation while we were waiting for Tiger.

People who have got up early were merrily sleeping, there were kids asking for food and moms happily feeding them.
Then there were serious types who were scanning entire area with lot of intensity.

There are 6-7 gates, but all gypsy's converge at similar points inside Safari so really does not matter where you start safari.Gypsy's are marked as per the Gate they come from and these codes are displayed at the back.

As per our guide only 20% forest is accessible inside core area, which holds only 7-10 tigers.Until 2008 entire forest was accessible, but due to nuisance created by unruly visitors Tadoba Safari was going to be closed completely.
Nevertheless, Supreme Court decided 20% should be made available to visitors.

As per guide, sightings were not an issue pre-2008 and they could easily spot multiple tigers in one safari.

However, Tigers are all around Tadoba, in fact there are more Tigers outside Core area in buffer zone.
People loved Safari so much that had we got booking for Afternoon Safari, they were deliberating to cancel visit to Chhindwara wedding

Of course, you do not get a booking for Safari on Sunday at short notice and attendance for wedding was a must since we were so close to Chhindwara.

[silverado]

Safari done we did our breakfast and started towards Nagpur.
We spotted a Family of elephants just outside MTDC Tadoba gate playing around in Irai dam backwater, which is located just behind MTDC.




We reached Nagpur by 3.30pm,it was time to explore Haldiram and shop for Famous Santra barfi.




We now moved towards MP.Roads in MP are fantastic but are single carriageway.Just before Chhindwara is a huge Hanuman Statue which looks mighty at night under lights.

We reached Chhindwara in time before Baarat ceremony.
After some dancing in Baaraat and enjoying Marriage food, we bid good bye to our newly married friend.Initial plan was to stay in Chhindwara overnight but we decided to move towards Amravati.






It had been a long day for us with all waking up early at 5am for Safari, and it was 10.30pm at night already in Chhindwara with Amravati 220kms away.
I put up my hand to drive and i am glad i did so.

"Romancing the roads" as the title says is for this particular road.
Chhindwara to Amravati via Multai is a dream road to drive. Whoever is maintaining it deserves lot of accolades.

Well marked with reflectors all around, smooth wide tarmac road with almost nil traffic.Hexa Projectors were lighting up the reflectors and i could see very far, which was helpful.

I was driving Hexa bang in the middle of road, it was like piloting a plane on runway.Such beautiful was the road that doing 100-120 was piece of cake.

There was silence inside car and i could hear Hexa's Turbo whistling.
It was just me and the HEXA romancing as as we kept up good pace.

It was one of the most memorable drives of my lifetime. Nitin was itching to drive on that road, but i was in no mood to let go this opportunity.
It was Pure Driving Nirvana.


There was also a tight ghat section just before Amravati, which was quite narrow, but being night time it was a delight to drive with no traffic.
We reached Amravati at 1.30am ( 3 hours 15 mins for 220kms with one refueling break ).

Mahendra ( Bahubali as we lovingly call him )is good at planning things, so he declared we will sleep quickly and get up at 8am.
We will crank the "STARTER" at 9am and reach Pune well before midnight.

Please check the below pics taken at 9.45am






We finally left Amravati at 2pm after a flopped 45 mins visit to Walmart ( You need some special card to shop @ wholesale ) and good lunch at Athithi Hotel.




Roads just after Amravati take a toll on your speed and progress was slow.
In addition, the fact that we were in last day of our trip did not help, fatigue was slowly starting to set in.

We visited a place called Sindhkhed Raja, where there is a massive Jijamata Statue.We reached Aurangabad around 10.30pm and had a quick dinner break.

I once again got chance to drive Hexa at night, this time from Aurangabad to Pune.

There was some traffic on road as is expected from this highway.
Driving was not easy since there are no reflectors to help and you get tired since you are facing high beams from opposite side traffic.

Sadly, someone has broken those Beam deflectors on divider and it makes life difficult at night.Last leg of journey on Day 4, but i was still enjoying the drive past midnight. We reached PUne at 3.15am.

Hexa had made our 2060 kms road trip possible in 4 days with utmost comfort.
There were no backaches not much tiredness day after and people were able to attend office. It’s a tribute to superb ride quality of this car.

LIVE TO DRIVE is literally possible due to fantastic machines like these, Thank you TATA Motors for creating a GEM.
The entire trip was very cost effective and we spent just 6200Rs per person all-inclusive.

Breakup of our major expenses

MTDC Tadoba - 2 Standard Ac rooms: 6700
Tadoba Safari : 6500
Diesel + Toll : Approx. 9000.

[silverado]

Adding some pics from Amravati which got left out.

[Slick]

Nice Travelogue, 6200/person is fantastic value.

Is that route suitable for bikes?

- Slick

[vk007]

Wonderful write-up! Feels like a Dil Chahta Hai style trip lol. How was the FE? Did you guys use the Cruise Control option? I find it most convenient during long drives in my Harrier. How was the weather in MP?

[Mile_Breaker]

Wow! Thanks for sharing the wonderful journey. It brought back my memories from Jan 2018 which is when I visited Tadoba with my family. I stayed at Svasvara resort which is just next to the Kolara gate. The resort was awesome! I had booked 4 safaris. 2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. The gypsy drivers and the guides are all very knowledgeable and they have such keen eyes and ears. Coordination between guide and driver does matter. For us Mangesh was the guide and would recommend him. They do all that they can do to help you see the animals. Still tiger sighting is purely luck and no matter how much one searches and waits its upto the tiger whether it is going to show up or not. I got my first sight of Maya, the most famous beauty of Tadoba, on my 3rd safari when she was carrying a kill for her babies. It was mesmerizing. The second sighting was of Tara on my 4th safari.
The other highlight of your travelogue is Hexa and again I am a proud owner too. Just completed my two months of ownership of Hexa XM+. I am in all love and praise of my beast and we call our car "Boom Boom". I upgraded from swift. But till now never felt any issue with size or maneuvering. Infact because of high seating and good visibility all around I can easily slip through the narrow "gully" where with my swift I have to wait and look for car approaching from the opposite side. Posting few photos.

[silverado]

Originally Posted by Slick

Nice Travelogue, 6200/person is fantastic value.
Is that route suitable for bikes?
- Slick

If we had the 6th guy cost would have been slightly lower.
Route can be done by bikers, but there is nothing in the route to be enjoyed.
Wont do this trip by road again for sure.

Originally Posted by vk007

Wonderful write-up! Feels like a Dil Chahta Hai style trip lol. How was the FE? Did you guys use the Cruise Control option? I find it most convenient during long drives in my Harrier. How was the weather in MP?

Thanks for your appreciation.
This was HEXA XE, so no Cruise Control here.
FE was around 14 kmpl.
MP weather was around 12 deg , but felt quite cold.

Originally Posted by Mile_Breaker

Wow! Thanks for sharing the wonderful journey. It brought back my memories from Jan 2018 which is when I visited Tadoba with my family.

Wow really cool pics, thanks for sharing.Totally agree with your points related to guides.
Yes Hexa is a wonderfull car, was quite surprised when i drove it in city.