Team-BHP - BugBlog®- A 6692.8 kms of drive bliss (Bang- Faridabad - Saharanpur-Dehradun-Bang)
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Prologue:

It all started when I bought royal enfield thunderbird in 2007, always wanted to do a solo Bike ride from Bangalore to Faridabad but soon after got married and Bike ride went in thin air (for obvious reasons).

I waited to get a car small enough for a city ride and big( Comfortable) enough for long drives, so I bought Swift ZXi in May'2008.
After that patiently waited to finish atleast 2nd free service and then take it to the Dream Run. Started Planning extensively in may itself and after lot of discussion/suggestion on Team-BHP, zeroed down on the following route.
Bangalore - Mumbai -Ahmedabad - Jaipur - Faridabad.

A 6692.8 kms of Passion, Anger, Fear, Joy, Frustation and an Achivement.

Bangalore to Faridabad

Start Date: 25th-Oct-08 Start Time - 04:30 AM
End Date: 27th-Oct-08 End Time - 04:00 PM

Day 1:

After months of planning and prepration the D day arrived. we were excited about it but were little apprehensive as we had not even started our packing and the last minute to-do list was growing on an exponential rate. As we (Me & Wifey) were down with viral from past one week so everything got accumulated for the penultimate day. situation at home was nothing less than chaotic and to add to our woes it was raining cats and dogs in Bangalore from last 48 hours.

Initially we'd thought of sleeping at 09:00 pm and starting our journey at 03:00 am, as suggested by senior bhpians (Hv Kumar, Akroy). After completing our packing and other stuff we went for sleep at around 01:30 am and i got up at 02:45 am, as wifey still hadn't recovered fully from the viral so she took little longer to get ready and we finally started our journey at 04:30 am from J.P Nagar 3rd Phase.

As it was still raining so after great difficulty we manged to load our luggage and I switched on my GPS. Driving on Bangalore roads at 04:30 am was like a dream run in itself. We touched down "Peenya" around 04:57 Am; there was not much trafffic at that point of time. Crossed Neelamangla around 05:18 am. As it was still dark so I was driving in 2 figures, after crossing Tumkur I gathered speed and managed to stay above 110 km/h. Reached chitradurga around 07:30 am. At Chitradurga it was a lovely sight to see N number of windmills on the mountains covered with clouds; my wife took some snaps of windmills. It was a breathtaking sight as the base of the mountains was covered in fog and only hilltop with windmills was visible.
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We Reached Belgaum by 01:15 pm and it was lunch time. Got a good looking setup at intersection of NH4 and SH 135. Food was OK but they took 50 minutes to serve. Also met one of my office colleagues who was going till pune with his friends in his H.City. For next 50 kms we were playing " Catch me if you can" but in safe speed limits. After sometime wifey got bored as I was not talking much and she got fed up taking all snaps, so slowed down a bit so that we can chit chat. we crossed Kolhapur at around 03:15 pm. Difference in the dresses people wore in these 2 different states was clearly visible, even the bullock cart used in these regions were very different. As I was little tired and was planning to take a little mental rest so was looking for a car which can act as a Pilot car for next 40-50 kms and then I saw a Honda Civic ( KA reg). Person at the wheel was taking calculated risks and was staying above 100km/h. After Tailing him for next 50 kms I guess he also understood that I'm tailing him and at one point of time he slowed down( for refuelling) and as I crossed him he pulled his window down and gave an acknowledging smile.
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Reached Pune at 06:00 pm; as we had planned to stay at Mumbai so we took Mumbai -Pune e.way, Had a dinner break of 1.2 hours at food plaza. Before the end of E.way we took exit to Kalamboli road. Road was not at all good but motorable. We got confused at "Majiwada" flyover in thane. Thought of caliing up Hv Kumar but GPS came to our rescue and then we took Ghodbandar road. Reached hotel Dwarka just on NH 8 and Ghodbandar road junction at 11:20 PM.

Day 2:

We started at 07:28 am from hotel and had idli sambhar at one of the Dhaba on NH8. There was a little traffic Jam which took 30 mins to pass. After that it was a smooth ride till Surat. We reached Surat arond 12:00 pm and then came the Biggest Jam of the drive. This Jam was in some Kilometeres and after wasting 4 hours and doing good amount ( 12- 15 kms) of wrong side on highway we managed to cross the jam. Reason for the jam was " Tata Safari Fell in to the Narmada river with 7 of it's passengers". Felt sorry for poor souls.
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Roads were bad around Ankleshwar, as we got delayed in jam so i was driving little in 3 digits and then it happened : there was a deviation to the left with atleast 3 feet of a dip ( Left road was lower than the right road) and Viola ! We were flying ( All four tyres in the air). It was atleast 4-5 feet jump and such was an impact of touchdown that the car bounced twice and we felt that whole under body should have got damaged. All indicator lights and wipers got switched on automatically. I pulled over to assess damage bu there was none ( Kudos to Rally Based Suspension).

We crossed Vadodra around 05:30 pm and took the E.way, had an early dinner a food plaza and refuelled at Relaince bunk. We reached Ahmedabad around 08:30 pm. Ahmedabad traffic can be described in only one word "Chaotic" and the only way to move forward is to pretend that you have not seen them and don't brake for anyone. we Reached Udaipur around 12:59 am and took NH 76 to Chittorgargh but in the night and due to GPs calculating fastest route, unknowingly we left NH 76 and took SH 15, Road was good but was empty, got little scared as no one was around and completley no lights. Reached Chittorgargh around 02:30 am. Then we took NH 79 to reach Kishangargh via Bhilwara. There was a lot of slow truck traffic carrying big boulders.

Touch down at bhilwara was around 04:40 am, at this point of time got a good dose of scolding from my wife for driving non-stop, so pulled over at petrol bunk and took 2 hrs nap. we started again at 07:15 am from Bhilwara and reached kishangargh at 09:00 am. Sun was already beating hard, felt like washing face and brushing so got off to one of the public utilities for morning rituals. It was little embarrasing to brush teeth on the highway with toothbrush in one hand and toothpaste in another with towel on shoulders, people were looking at us with suspicious eyes but on the other hand we were feeling like nomads.
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Delhi Jaipur highway was not in very good shape but was still ok. We reached Faridabad at 04:00 pm. It was such a great feeling when we pulled over at our house. This was the moment we were waiting for, the expression we saw on our parents faces could not be described in words. It was a mixed expression of joy and surprise (as they were expecting us next day by Jet flight). We both also felt that we have achieved something great.

Local travel : Faridabad, Gurgaon, Delhi, Sharanpur, Dehradun (1700 kms)

We had to visit my grandparents in saharanpur and had to visiit some relatives also in dehradun. It was a nice change to drive on thse known ghats. we covered some 1000 kms in 3 days.
Some 700 kms were covered in N number of trips to delhi and gurgaon.
Also Got my 3rd service done at Vipul Motors in Faridabad.

Faridabad to Bangalore - A relaxed Return Journey

Start Date 13-Nov-08 06:30 am
End Date 16-Nov-08 01:30 am

Day 1:

As this time parents were well aware that we have to go back by car so got strict warning of not doing more than 800 kms in a day. So we started our journey back with a heavy heart at 06:30 am. crossed Jaipur in no time and then took the road to udaipur. Roads were at their best in Rajasthan so we were doing good speed. Missed a turn and went straight in to kishangargh then asked a local policeman for direction. As we came back to highway again i started driving fast and missed one more left turn to Udaipur via toll road so had to go by the old highway. Road was good but with N number of villages and invisible speedbreakers. we manged to reach Udaipur by 07:00 pm. After searching for about 1.5 hrs we got a decent hotel and took our first night break.


Day 2: Udaipur to Mumbai

As usual we got late and started at 07:40 am. we reached ahmedabad at around 10:50 am. Traffic was as usual chaotic but soon we reached E.way and took an early lunch break of 1.5 hrs. We crossed Vadodra at 13:15 and entered the region of not so good roads with heavy traffic.
Managed to reach our hotel Express Inn (NH8 - Ghodbandar road Junction) at 09:00 pm. Hotel was really good and the rooms were of good quality. As we were tired so took the best room and retired for the night after dinner.

Day 3: Mumbai to Bangalore

View from the hotel balcony was very good so took some snaps and after tea we started the last leg of our Marathon journey at 07:40 am. Reached Mumbai- Pune Eway around 09:00 am and took 1 hour breakfast break. I was doing 3 figures and suddenly an awkward looking vehicle overtook me, on closer inspection we found out it to be a new test vehicle fully covered in cloth and it was looking like a cross breed of Innova and Scorpio. I think it's some new model coming out of Mahidra's stable.
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we Reached Pune around 11:10 am and continued out journey to kolhapur. Took a luch break after crossing the ghat section. Belgaun was crossed at 03:15 pm and reached Hubli at 05:00 pm. I was little scared to continue the journey ahead because we will be crossing ranibennur, harihar stretch after dark. But with no option left we continued our journey. Driving in the night on this part of the road was really awful with some stupid truck drivers and bullock carts coming on the wrong side. We stopped at Sira around 10:30 pm and took dinner break at kamat.

Reached home safely at 01:30 am and were feeling relieved to complete our 6692.8 kms of Marathon run.

Log Snippet:

Total Kms Covered = 6692.8 kms
Petrol = 350 ltrs (approx)
Toll Cost = Around 2600 Rs
Max Speed = 160 km/h

Day 1
Time taken for Bangalore to Mumbai = 19 hrs including 4 hrs break.

Day 2-3
Time taken from Mumbai to Faridabad = 33 hrs including 4 hrs food break, 4 hrs of Traffic Jam and 2 hrs of sleep.

Return Journey:

Day 1
Time taken for Faridabad to Udaipur = 12.5 hrs including 2 hrs food break.

Day 2
Time taken for Udaipur to Mumbai = 13.5 hrs including 2 hrs food break.

Day 3
Time taken from Mumbai to Bangalore = 18 hrs with 2.5 hrs of food break.

Some Observations:
1. Twilight is the most difficult time to drive.
2. Keep your eyes open for direction boards and never completely rely on GPS as although it will make sure you reach your destination but sometimes by unknown road, which can cause a little anxiety in the night.
3. Always Keep lots of liquid with you.(water and RedBull in my case)
4. Clean your windscreen after every 300- 500 kms.
5. Always Refuel when you have atleast 1/4 of the fuel left.
6. In Udaipur Bhilwara strecth, you will not get petrol after 11:00 pm you may get diesel.
7. Never Under eastimate the effects of sleep on yourself.


Travelbug

Was really interesting to read the log.

Btw, that HP Gas tanker accident, my god, toooo dangerous. And again couple of more accidents on the way. :( I was wondering and worrying about those and the last couple of pictures says the reason for that :Frustrati

Sorry.

Lol,the something fishy pic is really funny man!

reminds me of the days travelling to office in the mumbai local ,totally cramped up..totally helpless...and the rest u can imagine......

Nice one Travelbug, good pics too.
what is the GPS which you are using?

Abhi

Fantastic travel.

Whats your maximum non-stop distance covered in car?

Hats off to your wife being with you on such a hectic trip by car. You stand by your nickname :). Lucky that you managed the sudden slope well, thank god

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travelbug (Post 1078081)
I waited to get a car small enough for a city ride and big( Comfortable) enough for long drives, so I bought Swift ZXi in May'2008.
Log Snippet:

Total Kms Covered = 6692.8 kms
Petrol = 350 ltrs (approx)
Toll Cost = Around 2600 Rs
Max Speed = 160 km/h

How come Swift ZXi give 20 km/l average ??? :Shockked:

Also total cost only 2600 Rs. Very cost effective travel.

Anyways nice and exiting trip.

Quote:

Originally Posted by anujmishra (Post 1078319)
How come Swift ZXi give 20 km/l average ??? :Shockked:

Also total cost only 2600 Rs. Very cost effective travel.

Anyways nice and exiting trip.

He says toll cost 2600 Rs not exactly TOTAL cost
2600 Rs of toll charges is too much as far as i'm concerned

Very interesting and nice. I also want to know which GPS and Camera you used for this trip?

Quote:

Originally Posted by anujmishra (Post 1078319)
How come Swift ZXi give 20 km/l average ??? :Shockked:

Also total cost only 2600 Rs. Very cost effective travel.

Anyways nice and exiting trip.

Hi Anuj,

2600 Rs is the Toll (Tax) cost, that you have to pay on most of the highways and E.ways.

I got the average of 15km/l, Slight miscalculation (well spotted) as i forgot to include some litres of Local Travel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by harry10 (Post 1078360)
Very interesting and nice. I also want to know which GPS and Camera you used for this trip?

Hi Harry,

GPS is Mapmyindia Navigator ( Delphi), Cost 24000 Rs.
Camera is Casio 7.2 Megapixel.

Very nice travelouge Travelbug

Seems that you and your wife had a great time.

6700 kms seems unachievable for me.

You have done my 6 months commute in less than 1 month

If you got say an average of 19 kmpl-- 6700/19-- which comes to around 352 litres and in Bombay you get Petrol for 57 Rs which means --

350 * 57 = WHOOPING Rs. 19950:Shockked:

+ 2600 for toll :eek:

That is excluding your hotel, eateries, refreshments, etc.

Its very expensive buddy but all what matters is that it is worth the tremendous effort and you and your beloved enjoyed it.

Happy motoring pal./

6692 kms! You really are bitten by the bug, aren't you?:)

Btw, beautiful travelogue with nice pictures, nice captions & a nice narrative. Enjoyed reading it. Just wanted to know one thing - which camera you used?
Ranjith

@Travelbug: It was an enjoyable read. Thanks for sharing.

Bugblog? Good.

most of the candid snaps you took, I would have taken too.
We need more people like you. what more can I say?

Travelbug,
Nice travelogue. Beautiful photos with comic touch comments. I fully agree agree: with all your Observation ( though I am not sure about point 6)comments. Hope you have enjoyed too long journey.

That's a dream run ! BTW, Is there any monthly subscription for the GPS that you have?


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