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Old 29th September 2008, 16:13   #1
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Nagpur, Shirdi & Nagpur: 23 hours

Another Saturday and another long journey in place, the only problem this time, I didn't had any camera, believed too much on my N95 and here I go with no images, the N95 battery got discharged in first 3 hour usage of GPS and the in-vehicle mobile phone charger refused to charge by mobile. No phone and no camera, the other phone I had was with my brother a fully functional phone without camera. Please excuse for having no images

We decided to go for Sai Baba darshan at Shridi, it was supposed to be a 2 day trip, start Saturday morning from Nagpur, reach late evening at Shirdi, stay there at night do the darshan in morning and start our journey back to Nagpur, we packed our bag according to this plan. The planned route was
Nagpur--Wardha--Pulgoan--Karanza--Malegaon--Mehkar--Jalna--Aurangabad--Shirdi, this was the route on which I had done Pune--Nagpur on my Yamaha R15, on day one, I bought the bike from Pune and rode back to Nagpur. The road condition was pretty good at that time, was not sure after rain what might be the condition.

Started at 6.30 from Nagpur on Nagpur-Hyderabad 4 lane National Highway, took the State Highway after ButiBori MIDC towards Wardha, the road are well laid and good for speed in access of ton, was continuously maintain speed of 110kmph, Scorpio was munching miles effortlessly, then the thought of average speed came across and started the GPS application on N95 and saw actual speed, time, odo and average speed, the average speed on this road was quite good at 85kmph, this continued till Pulgoan and then till Karanza it was in this range, we stopped for breakfast at 9 AM after Karanza the distance we covered by now was 210kms in 2.5 hours, the dabha were we stopped was a de-functional Reliance Fuel Station, which was now almost converted into a road side dhaba, ordered Aalu partha, later realized that we are the first customer for the day and it took almost 45 minute for them to get everything ready and serve us the Aalu Paratha. The test of served food was no were near to aalu paratha, any way we had our breakfast and started on our journey, I wanted to check the average speed because of the journey break, while we stopped for the breakfast it was 84kmph, I had left the app and GPS running in car, I wanted to check the impact of the break on the average speed, to my surprise the mobile was off and refused to start, I realized the battery need charging, hooked the car mobile charger and connected the phone, no go, I spent quite a few minute fiddling with it but was no go, there was nothing I and my brother could have done to get it working, but this was not what I had planned, the plan was to taking lots of picture and at the back of my mind I always had the assurance that having in vehicle mobile charger will get me going when ever required, but reality it didn't worked and now I was with no phone, no gps and no camera.

We started our onward journey at 10 AM, till now there were very less traffic on the road and the condition of road was excellent, but after Karanza there was some increase in traffic that too of bigger lorries coming from opposite side, this impacted the travelling speed, though I tried to keep the speed in range of ton, but this was not same as till karanza, after Malegoan the traffic increased and the road condition started to deteorate but still in good condition with occasional patches of bad road with big pothole in middle of road, Scorpio was still able to get these in stride and do the same speed, but the condition of road got worse as we started nearing Mehkar, the well laid tar started to disappear and instead we were seeing red gravel and pot holes. In Mehkar there was traffic Jam, after asking for the cause, we came to know some political function was going on, have to wait for 15 minute there, once the function got over traffic started flowing. Road from Mehkar till Jalna was the worst road. Once we reached Jalna, again the road was good but lot of development going on for 4 lanes till Aurangabad. Reserve fuel warning came up and we need to feed the Scorpio with it food, we have already covered 520Kms from Nagpur, the total distance after the previous tanking of diesel reads 540kms. 48 liters of diesel and we are again ready to run, after refueling we took small tea break of 15 minute, we had a continues run of 300kms and it was 1.45 PM, we started at 10AM after breakfast and were very near to Aurangabad, knowing Aurangabad traffic it was going to 15-20 minute to cross the city and it did, we crossed Aurangabad at 2.30 and after that the road milestone showed Shirdi 100KM.

The plan previously was to reach Shirdi by evening and stay there, but now I started thinking otherwise, these 100KMS from Aurangabad to Shirdi is again mixture of good, bad and ugly road, but 90% good, 5% bad and 5% ugly. We reached Shirdi at 4 PM, I discussed with my brother, let go for darshan now and then we will plan our next step. Went for Darshan, there was no rush in Mandir, no queue nothing, we were done with Darshan in 15 minute flat, spent time seeing the mandir premises, museums and then relaxing, by 5.30 I disclosed my next plan to my brother, let return instead of night stay, we are done with darshan and now no need to stay and was confident enough that if we start now we would reach Nagpur by same time we started from Nagpur.

We started from Shirdi by 6.30PM, before we started we again tried to fiddle with mobile charger but no use, I for once tried to open the mobile charger, but realized the device requires specialized screw driver or so, again dropped the idea and left it "as is". By this time the realization of skipping lunch started, to overcome this we bought fruit from road side vendor and planned to stop at any good road side Dhabi for dinner, the return journey on the same road was better with both lights on, fog lamp and headlights, the combined effect was good on the road, the road on low beam made sure that I see the potholes on the bad and ugly patch and don't put unnecessary stress on shockers and tire, I was also worried about the allow wheels in this patch, so it was good to avoid those pot holes. Reached Aurangabad and crossed it as fast as possible to stop at a dhaba for dinner, it was past 8 PM when we stopped there to have dinner, finished dinner and started from there by 9PM.
I looked at the fuel gauge and it was 1/4 empty only, looked at the distance covered after refill was 250KMS, thought of refueling later and started the onward journey, after Jalna, I calculated the distance average and felt that we need to refuel, else may get into trouble and have to stop somewhere if not able to get fuel. Bad luck started from there all the fuel station that we crossed where either closed or not operational, I dropped the speed in range of 80kmph to save fuel and get maximum average, this goes on and on now we started worrying about fuel in night, maintaining the speed of 80 I calculated no way I could reach Nagpur, the max I could travel is 300 more km before I have to stop, that would be somewhere in between Karanza and pulgoan, so the option now was either we get fuel or we stop at karanza. This made us feel bad, we at least knew few place in Shirdi and Aurangabad and it was day time in Shirdi and evening in Aurangabad, but looking at hotel or anything to stay in karanza, where we don't know the city as we crossed that through bypass in day time and in night it would tough to search for a hotel, anyway we continued our journey and at Sultanpur, we found a fuel station open and what a relief it was!! Filled the tank and now we were ready to rock again, upped the speed where ever possible in range of 100 and 110, the road was empty with occasional lorries coming from opposite side, no vehicles in my direction, but no where we felt like anything odd, every city, town that we crossed there were lots of people on road may be because of ramzan month.
Once we crossed the Karanza, I started feeling sleepy, first stop was at a toll booth and spent some time doing stretching and all and start driving again, but once this happened I have to do the same again after every 60-70 kms till I reached Nagpur, the worst was when I reached Botibori, I have to stop, because this was the time I felt like if I don't then I may fall asleep at wheel, the distance from here to Nagpur was 27kms!!, I stopped had morning tea there it was 4.45AM Sunday, started back at 5 AM and reached home at 5.30AM.

The worst part, you have to pay 7 tolls, on the complete stretch one side, I paid 14 toll in total, 5 toll booths Rs21 each and 2 toll booths you pay Rs15 each.

Total distance covered 1240KM
Total time 23hours
Vehicle: Scorpio 4x2 vlx
Route: Nagpur-Wardha-Pulgoan-Karanza-Malegoan-Mehkar-Jalna-Aurangabad-Shirdi
Road Condition: 90% good, 10% bad, worst paths: between Jalna-Mehkar-Malegoan, then some bad patch between Aurangabad-Shirdi


-Pramod
PS: Sorry no Images
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Old 30th September 2008, 13:46   #2
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Pramod,

I travelled in the same road yesterday from Raipur to Bombay, instead of the conventional Nagpur-Amaravati-Khamgaon-Nasik route.

Leaving Raipur at 3 am, Bhandara (627 am, 233 kms), Nagpur (712 am, 293 kms), Buti Bori (756, 328), Wardha (833 am, 375 kms), Deoli (853 am, 401 kms), Yavatmal (933 am, 451 kms), Darwha (1026 am, 500 kms)(first 500 kms in 7.5 hours), Karanja (1103 am, 540 kms), Malegaon (1155 am, 601 kms), Mehekar (1238 pm, 655 kms), Sultanpur (1252 pm, 666 kms), Jalna (200 pm, 747 kms), Aurangabad (305 pm, 804 kms), Ahmednaga (445 pm, 926 kms), Pune bypass-Shikarpur (627 pm, 1015 kms) (1000 kms in 15.5 hours), Pune bypass-Talegaon (753 pm, 1071 kms), Bombay-Thane (953 pm, 1195 kms).

Looks like you took the Phulgaon route to Malegaon whereas I took the Yavatmal-Deoli route. What was your distance in this sector. I seem to have been faster than you on my route (having crossed Nagpur at 730 am, reached Aurangabad at 3 pm, while you left at 630 amd and reached at 230 pm), maybe because I had no bad roads till Mehkar-Sindkhed Raja-Jalna. Road via Yavatmal is great, except that you have to cross a bit of town.
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Old 30th September 2008, 15:17   #3
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The road were not that bad, but I stopped in between for an hour for breakfast and 15-20 minute due to traffic jam and same amount of time for refueling, so effectively I lost near to 2 hours, maybe you did it non stop, anyway it would have been nice to see you if I knew you were to cross Nagpur, this would have been the first time I would have met any T-Bhp member, missed opportunity!!, any I know you may cross Nagpur sooner or later, do let me know when ever you are crossing Nagpur next time.

-Pramod

Last edited by pramods : 30th September 2008 at 15:21.
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Old 30th September 2008, 22:29   #4
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Appreciate your posting the journey and the details. I'm sure it would help some t-bhp member very soon
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Old 2nd October 2008, 11:56   #5
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Good write up.

Quote:
Originally Posted by pramods View Post
The worst part, you have to pay 7 tolls, on the complete stretch one side, I paid 14 toll in total, 5 toll booths Rs21 each and 2 toll booths you pay Rs15 each.
You did not have the round trip toll? Or were you not sure that you will not come back this this route?
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Old 2nd October 2008, 21:51   #6
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I was not sure that I would be back in 24 hour, initial plan was night stay, do darshan in morning, so didn't even bothered to figure out if there was round trip toll, but the toll are worth till the road stay good, I believe it saves almost 3-4 hours of your journey from the original Nagpur-Amravti-Akola NH, Pune, Mumbai, Shridi all should take this new wardha-jalna route.

-Pramod

Last edited by pramods : 2nd October 2008 at 21:52.
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Old 13th October 2008, 16:51   #7
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request for enroute by-pass details

Dear HV Kumar & Pramod,



We are planning to go to Nagpur from Aurangabad through the above route next week. I will be grateful if you could please help me about the by-pass at Malegaon, Karanja, Yavatmal & others - wherever available?



I have heard that there is one way from Karanja that directly touches Wardha by-pass; no need to go to Yavatmal or even Wardha city. How is the road - any idea?



Also could you please revert regarding good eateries, reliable petrol pump & A-1 plaza sort of thing for rest
 
Old 13th October 2008, 20:58   #8
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I just drove down on this route from Raipur to Bombay, and my log book of this route is in this link:

H V Kumar - Driving Log Books - KUMAR's DRIVING LOG BOOKS, Bombay to Chattisgarh via Bangalore & Hyderabad, Sep 2008

Please trace the route from Raipur to Bombay. From Nagpur, I took NH7 till Buti Bori, and then took the state highway via Wardha, Yavatmal, Karanja, Malegaon, Mehekar, Sindkhed Raja and Jalna to Aurangabad. Every turn and landmark is noted in my log book which is given in the above link. In this route, Wardha town is bypassed, but you have to go through a bit of Yavatmal.

You can also go from Malegaon directly to Wardha (skipping Yavatmal), via Phulgaon, but I do not have details of this route - it is shorter, I think Pramod took that route.

Road is bad between Jalna and Sindkhed Raja.

Facilities are very poor on thsi route. The very few eating joints I saw en route after Jalna I have noted down in my log book.

Road is being 4-laned between Aurangabad and Jalna, but rest is good 2-lane road.
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Old 13th October 2008, 22:23   #9
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I would suggest Jalna, Pulgoan the road are all marked with direction showing Nagpur so no problem getting lost anywhere, regarding eateries beware there are very few and they are near Karanja. I suggest getting few thing packed instead. The road is Aurangabad, Jalna, Mehkar, Malegoan, Karanja, Pulgoan, Wardha and Nagpur. Road condition is quite good apart from what HVK has mentioned. Drive safe.

-Pramod

Last edited by pramods : 13th October 2008 at 22:24.
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Old 4th November 2008, 15:47   #10
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latest update on Aurangabad-Nagpur via Mehekar Karanja

Hi,

firstly thanks a lot to HV Kumar & Pramod for your valuable help!!

I had been to Nagpur from Aurangabad on 22.10.08. the car was Santro.

A brief of the journey:
7.15 left home
8.05 Jalna By-pass towards Sindkhed Raja (this was a wrong decision as the 30 km bad road (road??!!) took us 45 min. to reach Sindkhed Raja)
9.00 Hault at "Moti Talav" (Moti Lake) before Sindkhed Raja. Had breakfast. Since we were team of 6 (Me, Wife, son- 5 yrs old, Younger Sister, Brother-in-Law & Niece - 6 yrs old) had a royal break-fast for 45 minutes!!
9.50 Top up the fuel tank at Indian Oil Petrol Pump at Sindhkhed Raja
10.45 crossed Mehekar
11.00 reached Dongaon. Took a break for purchasing fruits. I think it was a weekly bazar day so there were many shops & thus got nice fruits.
11.15 left dongaon
13.00 reached Karanja Lad. Since we were new to the city, we went ahead on the Pilgaon road & then came back to the "Choufuli" (Cross road). Got a nice restaurent named "Gurukripa". It's lodging & boarding place. Had nice meal.
14.00 left Karanja Lad - took the Pulgaon road.
16.45 Wardha by-passed
17.00 reached Kelzar. Took the left road to "Chouki" through the Bor Wild Life Sanctuary. Nice forest. Chouki is the place where India's only temple of the "Guru" is situated. Then via Kanholi Bara reached to Khadki at 17.30. My Brother-in-Law's parents live here in a farm house. This place is near to Butibori industrial area (may be 10 km). Refreshed & took a stroll in the fields.
18.15 started for Nagpur (around 40 km)
19.15 reached Nagpur via Butibori. Had to wait at Railway crossing for 15 min. & some 5-10 min for refuelling.

The FE was around 18.3 kmpl,as the route was new to us, so the speed varried.

The return journey was started on 02.11.08 at 5.05 (since we had enough experience of the road)
5.05 left home
6.10 top up the tank at Selu (in between, had been to 3 P.Pumps (all marked as "24 hrs service") for fuel. Nobody came out due to cold. In he meanwhile wasted some 15-20 minutes. In addition, had to wait for 15 minutes at the railway crossing.
8.40 reached Karanja Lad (50 minutes behind the schedule) via Wardha by-pass & Pulgaon by-pass. Had the break fast at a nice restaurent. 2 cars from Nagpur with Pune registration plate came shortly. (must be returning back to Pune). Left at 9.00.
10.30 reached Kenwad (30 min behind schedule again. As per schedule we should have been passing Mehekar).
11.00 crossed Mehekar. At sindkhed, took the Deulgain Raja arm. This road is much better than the Sindkhed Raja - Jalna stretch. further the places for lunch are good too.
12.30 reached Deulgaon Raja. 45 min. hault for lunch.
13.15 left for Jalna, crossed Jalna at 13.40 & reached Aurangabad at 15.05 (at home)!

The FE got was 20 kmpl.

Few observations:
1) There was much more traffic on 02.11 (sunday) as gainst on 22.10 (Wed).
2) The Pune returning "public" (this is Nagpur's word!!) was too much. Must have seen 18-20 Pune regn. plates; 4 Mumbai, 2 Jalna & 1 Aurangabad vehicles. Brother-in-Law's was Nasik vehicle.
3) Many luxury buses (some were empty) were returning from Pune in day time to go back again in the night.
4) the road will be popular shortly & vehicles would throng, as against the traditional Jalna-Chikhli-Khmgaon-Akola-Amravati road.

Thanks again for your help.
 
Old 13th January 2017, 19:14   #11
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THE Annual Ride - Che-Hyd-Nagpur - Shirdi - Chennai

Dear All,

Its that time of the year when the annual bike ride bug bites me !! Its done so this year too !!! Previously 3 rides done (post joining Team-Bhp) and hyperlinked below - This is one of the reasons why I came back to India and I plan to Ride annually till I can ! This Ride is 2 CBR 250 R's and One avenger 220 _ this is the 1st ride for the avenger mate and the other CBR fella was with me from Chennai to Bhutan !!

Ride 1 (Solo) : Chennai - Shirdi - Tirupathi - Chennai (http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...3-100-kms.html)

Ride 2 (Solo) : Chennai - Hyderabad - Shirdi - Mysore - Chennai (

Ride 3 (With Naren) : Chennai - Bhutan (http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...-day-ride.html)

The Current Ride :

The ride was in the offing for sometime and Shankar was joining us for his 1st ride _ I guess the clan is growing !! We broadly had decided that Shirdi was surely one destination - We then thought of taking the B'lore - Hubli - Pune route and finally also decided that Dandeli (Black Panther Reserve ) is a place to go to on the way back _ we looked at GOA but probably too commercial so dropped it !! The basic plan was ready and Bang - Plan killed by office - Board mtg scheduled for 17th which means pongal holidays cannot be used !! So it was rescheduled to departure on 18th Jan (A day after the MTG) - Bang Plan Killed again - We had another meeting at Nagpur for which I had to go - Big client - Big meeting !! so cancelled !!

Shankar came with the plan why Ride thru bangalore _ why not go to shirdi thru Nagpur !! Game on - plan back in action and we depart on 18th Morning - The current plan is listed below

Day 1 - 18th Jan - Chennai to Kammareddy/Nizambad ( we want to go past HYD and closer to Nagpur - If we do this good else we will rest for the night near HYD)
Day 2 - Reach Nagpur from Hyd or Nizambad
Day 3 - Working day :-( in Nagpur
Day 4 - Nagpur to Shirdi ( we are thinking AH46 and need help on the good roads - Google maps shows 3 paths - We are also thinking that the Aurangabad route should be a good one)
Day 5 - Shirdi Stay
Day 6 - Shirdi to Dandeli
Day 7 - Dandeli stay
Day 8 - Dandeli to Chennai

Dandeli is a doubtful question at this point _ I might need to be mumbai on 27th Jan and depends on that !!

Yes the Avenger might not be able to keep pace but we are willing to make that workable for the guy is very nice and accommodating guy and its our responsibility to make sure the bug bites him very year - Atleast he has the benefit of riding with people who have done rides before !!

I am seeking any help that can be provided on route from Nagpur to shirdi more so on the present road conditions etc.

Thanks,

Srini

Last edited by aah78 : 13th January 2017 at 20:36. Reason: Thread moved to Route/Travel Queries section.
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