22nd January 2010, 18:49
| #61 |
| BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: hyderabad
Posts: 239
Thanked: 48 Times
| Chevy_Lover, Excellent snaps....When I saw the push pull truck pic , I too was shocked thinking it was coming in opposite direction..! After I saw the next pic, I could not control my laughter..  ..It was too good...Guess, I need to check the highway routes to Udaypur (that you have taken) from Hyderabad and plan a trip soon.....  ... |
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23rd January 2010, 12:04
| #62 | |
| Senior - BHPian  | Quote:
My wife and I work as a team. If I see any good scenery, I tell her and she immediately clicks. She has a great eye for photography and she has clicked some marvellous sights en-route. I will be posting those pics as our story progresses. All these pics were clicked in manual mode, after adjusting the settings to suit each scenery and light conditions. We both have never used automatic settings, even once, during this trip. It was a time consuming affair. But for us, quality comes first!!! Coming up shortly, our journey continues and the excitement doubles! Some of the best pics are about to be revealed!! The unbelievably beautiful and colourful, the wonderful state of Rajasthan!! | |
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23rd January 2010, 15:24
| #63 |
| Senior - BHPian | Travel on NE 1... We continued our drive on the superb National Expressway 1. I had been driving for close to 650 kilometres and I thought of refilling Chevy baby. We knew that there was a Reliance pump towards the end of the expressway. We kept up a steady speed of 120 -130 kmph and reached the filling station at 2.50 pm. My speedometer showed 82,428 km and we had covered a whopping 680 kilometres since we filled up my Chevy. The diesel in Reliance pump was sold at Rs. 36.90/ litre. Chevy drank a total of 48.79 litres and the mileage worked out to 13.93 litres. I was very happy with Chevy’s performance, considering the fact that I drove at 120+ kmph whenever possible . We always drive with AC on 100 percent of the time! We took some time off to rest and freshen up. The restroom at the pump was not good or clean. There was a shortage of water too! Finally, we re-started our journey at 3.15 pm. We were aware that we would have to exit the expressway soon and slowed down. The exit towards Udaipur came up after 20 kilometres and we finally exited the expressway at 3.25 pm. We joined the road towards Sardar Patel Ring Road.  |
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23rd January 2010, 16:52
| #64 |
| Senior - BHPian | Road to Chiloda.... We reached Ramol toll plaza after travelling another 3 kilometres. We paid a toll of Rs. 18 and exited the booth at 3.35 pm. The road was superb and I maintained a steady speed of 80 - 90 kmph. I had to cut down on speed because of the hundreds of two and three wheelers on the road. There were lots of trucks too! We saw lots of livestock on the road and some were being taken for grazing! We loved the sight! It was straight out of a BBC series on rural India!  We reached Ranasan toll booth at 3.50 pm. We just had to show the toll receipt from the previous booth. We had covered a whopping 703 kilometres from Pune. I was enjoying the drive immensely and the last thing I wanted was to stop for taking rest! We did not have lunch, but made up by having lots of chocolates! We reached Ranasan circle at 3.56 pm after covering another 2 kilometres. We then took a right turn towards Chiloda. We were back on NH8 and the road became very narrow.                      We ran into a minor traffic jam caused by Oxen and were amazed seeing their horns! It was not something we had ever seen! They were so huge!!!       |
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23rd January 2010, 18:09
| #65 |
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Lucknow
Posts: 782
Thanked: 114 Times
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23rd January 2010, 18:21
| #66 |
| Team-BHP Support   | |
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23rd January 2010, 22:37
| #67 |
| Senior - BHPian | Udaipur.... Here we come! We reached Chiloda circle at 4.12 pm and the Jaipur highway was straight from there. We had covered 720 kilometres till then, but we both were very alert and decided to continue our drive. Udaipur was still 220 odd kilometres away! And we knew that the journey would become hazardous once it was dusk time. So I pumped up the accelerator and sped on the smooth tarmac. The road was a bit bumpy in some stretches, because of some substandard patchwork done earlier! Soon we reached Kathpur toll booth and paid Rs. 30 as toll and continued our drive in optimum speed! The road was fantastic and since it was four-laned, we did not face many problems in overtaking slow moving trucks. It was getting a bit dark and we did not want to waste any more time. We sped towards Udaipur and quickly passed Vantada toll booth at 5.14 pm, by paying Rs. 25. Then we passed Kherwara toll booth at 6.10 pm, by paying Rs. 20 and then the last toll plaza before Udaipur, the Paduna toll plaza was crossed at 6.44 pm by paying Rs. 35. We captured an amazing sunset en-route and we also saw a shocking scene! At least 20 people were travelling in one jeep!!! We were happy to note that we had covered an incredible 911 kilometres till then. By this time, the sun had set and it was pitch dark outside. I stepped on the accelerator and sped towards Udaipur at 110 -120 kmph. The road was super smooth and I had absolutely no trouble in keeping up the pace. The truck traffic had become very sparse by then and we enjoyed the drive immensely. Chevy was running so well and I saw no reason to slow down. We had been driving continuously since filling fuel at 3.15 pm and we had covered 245 kilometres in just 3.5 hours. I was very pumped up at the thought of reaching Udaipur before dinner time. We continued our drive and soon reached Udaipur by 7.10 pm. As soon as we entered the city, some touts began chasing us in scooters and bikes. They were showing all sorts of actions and gestures to attract my attention. I did not pay any heed to their antics and sped towards the city. As a rule, I never take any help from touts to find hotels. I know for sure that hotels increase the tariff when one goes there with touts. I will narrate one shocking incident to prove this shortly! We were inside the city and decided to check out some hotels on the way. I first went to Hotel Geetanjali, which was located at Udaiyapole. I parked Chevy baby and then, the time was 7.20 pm and Chevy’s Odometer read 82,714 kms. We had covered an unbelievable 952 kilometres. I was surprised that we were able to do it so smoothly and we thanked God from the bottom of our hearts!!! Well, I went inside the hotel and checked out their rooms. It was not up to our standard and I quickly left the hotel. They offered us the room for just Rs. 600, but still, I did not take the bait. We continued our drive shortly and soon reached Surajpole area. We ended up in Gulab Bagh road and saw some hotels. I checked out two more hotels, but they were very shoddy. At that time, a tout came and blocked us with his bike. He literally pleaded with me to go with him to check out some hotels. I asked him the current tariff and he told me that it was Rs. 2800 for Hotel Florence. I knew he was lying and just tried to avoid him. When he continued pestering me, I just told him that I could spend two days with Rs.2800! He then asked me to follow his bike and went ahead of us. I followed him for some time and saw him turning into a small side street. As a rule, I never go to any hotel without reserved, guarded parking. I do not mind spending extra money, but reserved parking is a must for me. Chevy needs to be safe at all times!!!! When I saw him turning into a small lane, I abandoned him with a wave and drove off. He came after me, but I told him that I would no longer need his services. With the tout out of the way, I drove towards Hotel Florence and parked my Chevy there and went inside to check out the rooms. The manager was a nice gentleman and he gave me a fantastic rate of Rs. 1400 with breakfast. I liked the room a lot. I told wifey about the room. We were shocked to finally understand the game played by touts. He would have easily made Rs. 1000+ as commission, if I had gone with him. I told about this to the hotel’s manager and he just told me that he would have charged me Rs. 2200 if I had gone there with the tout. We decided to check out some more hotels. There were many hotels in that lane and after checking out three more rooms, we settled on Hotel Raj Shree Palace. This hotel was very near to Hotel Garden and the Vintage car museum. This area was very peaceful and I loved it. The hotel also had reserved parking space!! Then it was time for negotiations. They showed me two rooms, one deluxe and one super deluxe. I liked the super deluxe room. It was very good. They quoted me a tariff of Rs. 1600. Know what rate I finally got it for??? Rs. 800! My wifey also liked the room. We finally had a place to stay for the next few days. I parked Chevy and switched off the engine for one final time. My Chevy’s odometer read 82,721 km and we had covered an amazing 958.9 kilometres from Pune . We said a short prayer to the Almighty and got out of our Chevy. It was biting cold outside. We quickly put on our jackets and asked the hotel’s room boy to help us with our luggage. We were finally able to check in at 8.20 pm. I paid a small advance to the hotel and went to our room, which was on the first floor and crashed on the bed. I was driving non-stop for five hours and the fatigue was just beginning to show. My eyes were aching a bit because of the high beam glare! But our tummies were wailing and we had to have dinner fast! We quickly freshened up and went to Hotel Chirag, a non-vegetarian bar attached restaurant near to our hotel. We had Soup, Tandoori Chicken and finally, Noodles and Chilly Chicken. The food tasted yummy and we thoroughly enjoyed our first meal in more than 11 hours!!! We returned back to the hotel by 11 pm after a short stroll on the streets. It was bone-chilling cold outside and the temperature was 6 degree Celsius. We always try to explore a new place on foot as far as possible. Udaipur was very beautiful, even at night and we loved what we saw! The Garden ‘Palace’ hotel was very well lit and we liked its architecture a lot! We made a mental note to take night shots of the hotel later! We finally crashed in our beds by 12 am. We were really tired, but neither of us had any body ache or sprains. Hats off to our Chevy for giving us such a comfortable journey and protecting us from the forces of nature so well! We were so happy to finally reach Udaipur and dozed off in no time! The next day was going to be super exciting!!! |
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25th January 2010, 11:14
| #68 |
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Kottayam
Posts: 588
Thanked: 8 Times
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25th January 2010, 11:42
| #69 |
| Senior - BHPian | |
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25th January 2010, 12:04
| #70 |
| BHPian  | Nice Snaps So Far. Keep up the good work. . I dont know if it is by design or chance, always a few other Taveras end up in your photos |
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25th January 2010, 12:45
| #71 | |
| Senior - BHPian | Quote:
The pics are only going to get VERY interesting! I just got a shock now, when I finally arranged my photos. I took a mind-blowing 10,015 photos during the whole trip! Well, those Taveras end up by chance, in my pics, when I overtake them! Day 2 is coming up shortly! I have 450 odd snaps! Some amazing night shots coming up! | |
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25th January 2010, 16:38
| #72 |
| Senior - BHPian | Day 2. The first glimpse of Udaipur.... Day 2 – The Pichola Lake..... We woke up only by 11 am on day two of our trip. It was very cold, the previous night and we had to use two blankets to keep ourselves warm. The hotel guys gave us a special concession and switched on the geyser for us. Usually, they shut it down by 10 am. We were a bit tired after our non-stop journey the previous day and decided to take it easy that day and relax as much as possible. I gave a quick call to HVK sir and explained about our drive and thanked him for his support and help. HVK sir was his usual cheerful self and was very happy with our progress! Later, we got ready and got out of our hotel by 1 pm. We decided to go to Pichola Lake first. We started our Chevy and I was so happy to hear his cheerful voice!!! I am happiest when I am driving my Chevy! We enquired about the route to Pichola and were soon on our way. Soon, touts began chasing us again and leading them was the person who tried to swindle me the previous night, by offering me a room in Hotel Florence, for more than twice its worth! I was really angry with him and told him very clearly to stay away from us. I also told him that I came to know about the actual rate in Hotel Florence and gave him a piece of my mind. He was embarrassed and went off in a hurry! Soon, after getting directions from some auto drivers, we reached Pichola Lake. It was truly a magnificent sight to behold!! Pichola is an artificial fresh water lake, created in the year 1362 AD, named after the nearby Picholi village. Maharana Udai Singh, mesmerized by the charm of this lake with the backdrop of beautiful green hills, built the city of Udaipur on the banks of the Pichola!! The lake was over 4 kilometres long and we were astounded by its beauty. The Lake Palace Hotel and Jag Mandir were aslo built in the lake and looked stunning. We went crazy clicking photos. What more can I say? One of the wonders of the modern world! We were so happy that we had come to Udaipur to see this marvel. We must have sat there, soaking in its beauty, for what seemed like an eternity! |
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25th January 2010, 17:18
| #73 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 1,666
Thanked: 340 Times
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25th January 2010, 17:32
| #74 | |
| Senior - BHPian | Quote:
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25th January 2010, 18:52
| #75 |
| BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: hyderabad
Posts: 239
Thanked: 48 Times
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