[Debasish M]

When I first heard about Shrikrishna Kulkarnis amazing 1.5 year long Padayatra from one end of India to another, it got me thinking! What if I could tweak it a bit? And how do I justify it from a professional career standpoint? There was no way I was going to hoof it!

So 45 days later, I have done one leg of it. 8750ish kms later, with my car none the worse for the wear, I completed this road marathon which took me from Bhubaneswar- Brahmapur-Hyderabad-Bengaluru-Belgaum-Mumbai-Pune-Hyderabad-Bengaluru-Hyderabad-Bengaluru-Belgaum-Pune-Mumbai-Pune-Nagpur-Bhubaneswar. The notable points being the business meetings in each location. I needed some data to justify this journey and I got it early on. I have since realised that for multi-point journeys, flights in India are not all that efficient.

Add the 1 hour pre-boarding, the trips to the airports at source and destination, occasional flight delays, the waiting for cabs on each working day in the city of your destination and mathematically road travel actually (incredibly so) is more efficient on time! Well, you do need to enjoy driving or even enjoy being a passenger!

Just as a primer :

While not all destinations given above were serviced by air, imagine that the above would need a minimum of 10 flight segments (not to mention some road/rail itineraries to boot) and given current travel time each segment would consume approximately 5 hours. That is 50 hours and more. Each day of outstation stay would have approximately 6 cab trips by Ola/Uber which would mean an avg waiting time (at least totally unproductive time where you are booking, waiting, cancelling, booking, ...heck you get the picture) of 20 min. lost per ride

That is 2 hours a day. Which equates to 92 hours over 46 days of travel.

That is already 142 hours of your life gone! And guess how much time I drove on intercity travel : Less than 125!

Now I come to the real deal! 125 hours (most of it at least) spent on yourself, ruminating about life, work, world peace, global domination, heck...I am letting myself run away with it.... well mostly a depth of clarity not experienced in this mundane life!

A slightly better appreciation of the utterly magnificent India around us. An understanding of what makes Indians tick! A journey into the nation that keeps moving ahead every day in ways unknown to us!

An introduction to the multiple hues of Indian cuisine, one gastronomic tastebud at a time, as one came to terms with Benne dosa, misal, ussal, bhakri, huran holige, to name just a measly few out of a smorgasboard of flavours, odours, textures and whatever else goes to make ones salivary glands well....salivate!

Takeaways:
1. Indian roads are nearing awesome status. There are some memorable stretches, none better than :

Dharwad- Belgaum with Raipur- Sohela nudging close. Of course as road conditions go, Vijayawada- Chennai and Hyderabad - Vijayawada are superb but the scenery in the earlier 2 segments just hits them out of the park!

2. Service conditions on Indian roads are nearing (almost ....) Western standards in most parts. Reasonably clean washrooms, amazing food facilities, even motels, et al. Yes road signages need to improve. And the speedbreakers in some parts.....someone better be accountable for that. This is woefully below par.

3. India has rocketed ahead in terms of industry, service and prosperity. Agreed I was limited to highways which see most of Indian development, but the progress made is significant! Yes, one did pass through areas of desolate poverty, but one is gladdened by the lack of frequent sightings of such!

4. 8-10 hours of solitude in a car with some silence around is the best antidote for a cluttered mind, as the mind ruthlessly peels away layers of idiocy and gives you insights that are rare to come by in the hustle bustle of life!

5. I actually saw nil I repeat ZERO road disasters in my 125 hours of driving, barring one where a scooter driver had slipped on a road and was nursing his ego more than his wounds! That is truly an amazing development, used as I was to seeing 1-2 disasters on a 200 km trip 10 years back!

It gives me great hope and I daresay more energy for my next circuit. The North, Northeast, and Northwest remain unconquered!

[GTO]

All the time, brother. All the time. Best example is Goa. We usually go from Sunday to Sunday, so that both Sundays are for the drive and we stay a full week in beautiful Goa. Many people tell me "oh, the drive takes 9 - 10 hours while the flight is just an hour". My response = the flight might be an hour, but door-to-door, flying took you 4.5 - 5 hours. More importantly, I enjoyed every km of the drive, had 2 amazing meals & some spectacular views . Not to mention, if you are 4 or 5 onboard, it's far cheaper and when in Goa, you have your own car to roam around in, making holidays so convenient.

Other places I'll drive to are Ahmedabad (great roads) & Delhi. Wanted to drive to Delhi for the Auto Expos, but the strict work schedule meant I had to fly.

[Crow]

I haven’t taken a single flight since the beginning of the pandemic. All interstate travel has happened by road and I’ve loved every single minute of the driving experience. I also get to see different landscapes and come across interesting geographical oddities. Eg: While going from Mumbai to Goa via Chorla Ghat, you start in Maharashtra, enter Karnataka, and start Chorla Ghat in KA. In the middle of the ghat you enter Maharashtra for 10 minutes (a resort is located in this place) and then exit back into Goa.

So yes, I can relate with the sentiment in the OP. Thanks for sharing.

[anandhsub]

Originally Posted by GTO

My response = the flight might be an hour, but door-to-door, flying took you 4.5 - 5 hours. More importantly, I enjoyed every km of the drive, had 2 amazing meals & some spectacular views .

It isn't just about the journey time too. It is also about that the entire schedule is planned around the flight timing.

I wouldn't call something a vacation where one can't even afford to be 15 mins late and is forced to wake up early and checkout in a rush or need to cut short an outing for a scheduled flight.

Last year just before covid hit we had a cousins get together in Pune, and I alone had to leave the night before because in wretched Bangalore I cannot catch a morning flight and still make to work in time given the airport is literally in another city. Unfortunately it was just a weekend catchup and I had no other option. A couple of days more and would have driven down.

[Amrik Singh]

Working in Dubai, I had to travel to Muscat, Oman every Week to attend Meeting and review the progress of construction work as Consultant Engineer.
What I was supposed to do :
- Reach Dubai Airport 2 Hours before Scheduled flight
- Fly to Muscat. Approx. 1 Hour Flight.
- Obtain On Arrival Visa at Muscat Airport. Another half hour.
- Request local staff for someone to drive me around or Rent a Car.
- Whatever be the unscheduled schedule, return flight would be booked for late in the evening.

What I would do :
- Start driving from home at 4:00 am and be at the Dubai-Oman border by 5;30 am, a little before the shift change of Immigration staff at 6:00 am.
- Visa within 10 minutes and continue driving for another 3 Hours.
- Be at our work site by 10:00 including breakfast break.

Meeting would start punctually at 10:00 and sometimes, if there were no major issues, I would be out of meeting in half an hour and ready for return journey. Total drive of 9 Hours and no fatigue.
Needless to say, all costs were to Company account. Even the Car was theirs for this purpose. Yes, the Pages of Passport that got stamped regularly requiring new Passport, were of my Passport. From randomly stamping at any page that would open up, the guys started stamping Visa, Exit and Arrival stamps neatly and in sequence.

[Axe77]

Wherever life circumstances permit, I try to drive / ride if I can. This is subject to work and family priorities of course. In 2019 December, we did a family holiday in Hampi with friends. One friend of mine and I rode all the way while my wife, son and two other families part flew and part Innova’d it to Hampi.

I always try to drive to Goa when feasible on family holidays. I just love the drive and the access to my car while on holiday. This is not a flight alternative but we do LOTS of short getaways in our car to places within a 200-250 km range too. This is one of the reasons I want a high quality crossover / monocoque in my garage next. I want a vehicle that can do as long distances as I’m willing with no issues and should be reasonably fun to drive too in the process.

With the new Nagpur highway coming up, I anticipate I’ll drive / ride to Nagpur at least once to meet a friend. Some day I would want to drive to Bangalore as well.

[Sudeep_Kimster]

Anyday driving is better, even if we consider it takes a bit more time.

In this time of pandemic, a flight to Bhubaneswar from Pune is INR 8K one way.
3 family members - 24K
Round Trip - 48K

In comparison if I drive 1660kms , door to door for my vehicle avg 20+ kmpl on Highways
and current diesel cost ~INR 92, My round trip costs around 15K for fuel only,
add 5K for Tolls on higher side though it is less than that, and your food rounding about INR 25K. If I add budget hotel night halts, still wont exceed 30-35K, which is a great saving of more than 10K

Another instance I did Chennai - Bhubaneswar in 19.5 hours for 1330 kms door to door, in a plucky little 2007 M800 AC, was much better than a connecting flight from Chennai - Bhubaneswar via Vizag.

[am1m]

Indian Railways!

IMHO, if you have all the time in the world, IR is the simply the best way to travel across our country. A dream 2-3 years for me would be to be able to load a light bike like the Xpulse on to trains, go across the country and use the bike to explore each region/stop. Get the real flavor of the nation. The really interesting small towns and mountain roads are not really suited to exploring by car, a bike works best.

IMHO, flying's the worst way to travel. I hate flying and all the procedures associated with it. Everything has to be pre-planned, that 2 hour trip just to reach the airport, check in 2 hours before, stand in line for security checks, airport security and airline staff acting like they're doing you a favour letting you on the plane, stay strapped down in your seat for almost the whole time, silly announcements every 10 minutes. International flights are even worse with all the visa and passport related hoopla and rude staff at most international airports. But yeah, time constraints make flights the most efficient way to go long distances.

Driving, depends on the drive I guess. Nothing beats having a vehicle at the destination, but some of the drives, especially on the GQ or expressway are really boring, straight, featureless, monotonous at high speeds.

[xway]

My formula is pretty simple and ordinary.

Car/Drive - Less than 500 kms - 6-7 hours - (not total journey but each destination)

I love driving but anything beyond 6-7 hours is a stretch. More so if you have your parents, kids and the car is full with no space left for relaxing or stretching your legs.
Ideally, car journey is best if you start early (say 4-5am) and reach the destination by 10-11 am allowing you to rest have lunch and then explore the remaining half of the day.
Another scenario is while leaving the destination you can start at 5-6 pm which gives you full day at the place and still reach your home by night 11 have dinner and have a good sleep.

Railways - Less than 1200 kms - 10-12 hours

Again this is my most preferred if the journey time is 10-12 hours. I remember catching evening trains, relaxing, enjoying dinner, having great sleep and manage to reach destination early mornings. Example journeys Bengaluru to Hyderabad catch at 5pm and reach morning 6am giving you full day on both sides and also allowing you peaceful sleep at night. Another good examples are Rajdhanis Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Kolkata etc. Even Mumbai-Goa is great by train. There are umpteen train schedules that seem to have designed around this pattern from all destinations and it works super.

Flight - Above 1200 kms -

This is best suited for long journeys even if you account for the airport times, cabs and other factors, I cannot imagine driving Trivandrum to Delhi or Mumbai to Guwahati, unless going for a road trip with multiple breaks in between. Flights take 3-5 hours at max and saves you many days. These days we do not have enough leaves which will allow us to travel at such pace that you spend days driving and also have ample time left to the destination you are visiting and back. I have done many trips Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Pune even Delhi-Bengaluru and returned back the same day after finishing office work during the day, which one cannot imagine by any other means and is invaluable.

[kiran_aithal]

My first response for any travel plans of any distance/destination is 'We should drive'. (Its a different story that more than often it is turned down due some 'technical'/'logical' reasons - 'How do you plan to drive to Europe... R u out of your mind?', etc etc)

Originally Posted by Debasish M

The notable points being the business meetings in each location.

I am little J now that you got to drive all those wonderful Kms and that too with a good, logical reason (just kidding!)

Originally Posted by Debasish M

Takeaways:
1. Indian roads are nearing awesome status. There are some memorable stretches, none better than :

Dharwad- Belgaum with Raipur- Sohela nudging close. Of course as road conditions go, Vijayawada- Chennai and Hyderabad - Vijayawada are superb but the scenery in the earlier 2 segments just hits them out of the park!

Dharwad-Belagavi is one of my favorite road and nothing beats an early morning drive on this stretch. Some of the others are across the western ghats

Originally Posted by Debasish M

4. 8-10 hours of solitude in a car with some silence around is the best antidote for a cluttered mind, as the mind ruthlessly peels away layers of idiocy and gives you insights that are rare to come by in the hustle bustle of life!

Driving all alone for long hours is different level of bliss, another level with added lounge music.

Originally Posted by Debasish M

It gives me great hope and I daresay more energy for my next circuit. The North, Northeast, and Northwest remain unconquered!

Man.... more POWER to you!
May all of us have our driving dreams come true

[hserus]

Originally Posted by am1m

Indian Railways!

IMHO, if you have all the time in the world, IR is the simply the best way to travel across our country.

I have a jinx related to the railways. On various journeys -

1. Bedbug bites on sleeper coaches

2. Sleeping in a Shatabdi and a cockroach fell on my face

3. Another shatabdi and I was setting up a new office laptop, seated in the train. A coach attendant handed the person in the seat next to me a water bottle and the top of the bottle came off when he was passing it across, pouring water onto the laptop. That was the end of a 1.5 lakh device.

No more train rides for me, ever. #notarailfan

That said, the last few months have been a series of drives across the south dealing with property re-registration issues to get my late father's ancestral house, some land etc into my mother's name. One recent trip was like Chennai - Hyderabad - Small town near Hyderabad - back to Hyderabad - Bangalore - Chennai in 6 days.

[Kosfactor]

Drive! But it should be worth it. I hate endless expressways with nothing to see or do, just flyover after flyover bypassing us over what is the real India underneath. Sometimes the comfort of your own car in the destination in itself is worth it.

I like smaller State highways instead, driving down south to the Ghats give me some hope. The ability to stop in between on the side of the road under a tree , get some tender coconut water among many other things, tea and continue.

Refreshing ice apple drink, behind it there is a paddy field leading upto a mountain.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by hserus

I have a jinx related to the railways. On various journeys -

Yikes! Bad luck, completely understandable, those incidents would have put anyone off! Fortunately for me, my experiences have been the opposite, I've only seen IR journeys improve since my childhood days. My first choice is train, unless I have work/time constraints.

[narayans80]

We haven't seen the domestic airport for the last 5 years I don't even need to convince my family, our trips are all drive trips. And these are not small rides, am talking in upwards of 800 km on the trot.

I do enjoy the V1-rotate and jet-setting from time to time, just that these short haul domestic flights don't excite me. Same with trains. These other modes are considered only when a drive trip is not possible in the available leaves.

[anandavinash]

Originally Posted by Debasish M

The notable points being the business meetings in each location.

Debasish: Thanks for this wonderful post. It has been a thought of mine since over 10 years to plan a business trip between Bengaluru & Mumbai entirely by road covering industrial belts of Dharwad, Belgaum, Goa, Pune and Mumbai. There was a passing though to extend that up to the Industrial belt of Gujarat all the way up to Rajkot. Maybe your post will now inspire me to actually go ahead and do this.