Decided to do a Mumbai-Udaipur-Mumbai holiday over the New Year weekend. Did some research on the Team BHP Travelogues Forum, wrote to Ramky for some clarifications and finally decided to go for it. So, my wife and I left Andheri at 4.15 am on 31st morning in our Accent GVS Petrol.
Was at Dahisar Check Naka at 4.34 AM. Roads not very good on this stretch. There are little potholes in the middle of the road on a continuous basis. Reached Manor Toll booth at 4.58 AM. There was a lot of truck traffic on the other side, and their headlights were blinding. Since the road has potholes, was driving going slower than I would have liked to on account of poor visibility. Reach Charoti Toll booth at 5.32 AM. The roads had improved by now, and higher speeds were possible. We reached Baghwada Toll Naka at 6.22 AM.
A few kilometres out of Baghwada, there was a sharp noise from the right rear side, followed by series of thuds. I realised I had a flat and pulled over to the side with the hazard lights on. Quickly getting to work, I changed the tyre. There was the head of a bolt sticking out of the punctured tyre. I pulled it out, and it turned out to be a four inch long blunt bolt that was also quite large in diameter. I really don’t know how that got into the tyre, but I was sure by looking at the bolt that the tube was beyond repair, considering the size of the hole in the tyre. There was a puncture repair shop nearby but it was closed and there was no one around. So I drove on, and stopped at the first open puncture-repair shop we came across. Sure enough, the tube had huge tears where the bolt had gone in. The shop did not have a new tube, but sold me a used R13 tube (not 175/70) for Rs. 150. Then he recommended something called an Omni patch (Rs. 250) for the tyre. Not having any choice, I agreed and while he worked, we had chai from a shop nearby. This entire exercise cost us more than an hour. We decided to not stop for lunch and head straight on to Udaipur, since we were carrying enough snacks. So we got going once more.
The Surat-Vadodara stretch is being converted to 6 lanes and so currently is reduced to a single lane with many diversions. Overtaking is difficult. This stretch took around 4 hours. Reached the Boriach toll booth at 8.07 AM, and at 11.57 AM entered the Vadodara Toll booth on the Vadodara-Ahmedabad stretch, National Expressway 1. This is a brilliant road, but there are no fuel stops on this stretch and I wanted to tank up soon, as I would have done 500 kms by the time I exited the NE1. One observation I made was that the truckers are generally decent chaps who move over to let you pass – it is the cars and some buses that insist on hogging the right lane and not moving. This is what happened on NE1, with many cars just staying in the right lane and refusing to move. I hate honking so I initially changed lanes to overtake them, but then got annoyed as this kept happening. So then I started getting closer to them and flashing my headlights. If they still didn’t move, I honked. But this was a regular feature, one that I encountered even on the drive back.
From the NE1 Ahmedabad exit, it was the Ahmedabad Ring Road, a fuel stop and then on towards Himmatnagar. There is a small undivided single lane stretch here, but at the circle it again opens up into a well-maintained 4-lane highway. The roads were excellent from this point on and I could maintain a good speed. Passed Kathpur Toll Booth at 1.45 PM, Vantada at 2.48 PM and Paduna at 3.52 PM. We were booked at this homestay called Mountain Ridge in a village called Sisarma outside Udaipur, and the owner had asked us to take a small country road 10 kilometres before Udaipur. I took that narrow road, and after approximately 8 kms of driving on this narrow road, reached the approach road for the homestay – which was a complete dirt track, up a small hill, all the way to Mountain Ridge. After waiting for a few buffalos to let us pass, we climbed up and reached the gates at 4.30 PM. I had been on the road for 12 hours 15 minutes, of which driving time was approximately 11 hours (one puncture, and one fuel stop). Total distance so far was 770 kms.
Mountain Ridge is a homestay run by an Englishman named Piers Helsen. It is a really wonderful place, and Piers is a great host. He is extremely knowledgeable about Udaipur and its surroundings and has lots of helpful tips. The rooms are great, the food is good, the staff is very friendly and helpful and the views are great. Highly recommended (
MOUNTAIN RIDGE), but please go with the knowledge that it is a homestay, not a hotel! We had a great time here, as Piers had organised a small party for his guests on the 31st, and we got to meet some interesting people.
Udaipur and its surroundings in part II, and the return trip in Part III. With photographs of course.