23rd February 2010, 14:10
| #226 |
| BHPian  | Awesome Roads there. Would be Really great driving there  The Tractor on the Wrong side? Next Pic, you seem to be on the right lane.  Diversion? |
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23rd February 2010, 14:41
| #227 | |
| Senior - BHPian  | Quote:
There was a landslide at some stetches and traffic was diverted to one lane. I got a shock when I saw the tractor and some cars coming straight at me. Then we were also diverted to the right lane as the left lane had huge rocks on it.  | |
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23rd February 2010, 14:59
| #228 | |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: City of seven islands.
Posts: 2,877
Thanked: 231 Times
| Quote:
.If you put a photo showing a tractor on the right side, driving off the highway, may be on the shoulder, keeping both the lane free and not attempting a killer u-turn, You'd have comments flowing in as to where you found such a sane driver. | |
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23rd February 2010, 15:46
| #229 | |
| Senior - BHPian | Quote:
I don't think you can find a tractor driver, who will fit your description!  | |
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23rd February 2010, 18:42
| #230 |
| Senior - BHPian | Drive to Mount Abu.... We continued our drive towards Mount Abu, keeping up good speeds. We decided to stop for lunch as the time was close to 2 pm and I was driving continuously for over two and a half hours. We passed through two tunnels en-route, which was still under construction and had no lighting inside! Even the toll plaza was under construction and did not have even a roof!        We spotted a drive-in restaurant soon and stopped, without thinking twice. As soon as we got out of our car, a small puppy came running to welcome us! He was really sweet and playful! He reminded me of a sweet dog, Scamper, my neighbour used to own, during my childhood!! I couldn’t resist playing with him! He wanted my shoes for lunch!   When we went inside, we were taken aback to see an empty restaurant with a lone waiter! Since we were famished by then, we decided to have some snacks and then carry on. We got another shock when we saw the menu. It was a vegetarian restaurant!! Guess we didn't read the board carefully! But since we were in no condition to drive further, we decided to have some snacks. We ordered some paneer pakodas and lots of potato chips and satiated our appetite.    We also had tea and stocked up on mineral water. The temperature outside was very cold, even though it was very sunny! The hotel also had a small garden and I couldn’t miss this beauty! One of the most colourful flowers in India!!!  Click on the pic, for a high resolution image! We re-started our drive, completely rejuvenated after a break of one hour. The meter read 82,893 km and we had covered 98 kilometres from Udaipur. The highway was superb and we enjoyed one of the smoothest drives we had ever experienced. We crossed the next toll plaza by paying Rs. 35, at 3.15 pm after covering 31 more kilometres. The landscape improved greatly after this plaza and there was a photo opportunity everywhere!  We filled up diesel for Rs. 500 from an HP pump, 4 kilometres after the plaza. I did not fill more, as the pump had an ancient meter and I did not want to tempt fate. I also had a gut feeling about the quality of the fuel. The road condition was amazing and I could touch the top speed of our trip, 145-146 kmph.     I could maintain that speed for just about a minute only as there were sharp turns on the road. We enjoyed the drive so much that we sped on, not thinking about the turn to Mount Abu!!! We thought that there will be huge signages everywhere! Little did we know what was in store for us! Last edited by Chevy_lover : 23rd February 2010 at 18:49. |
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24th February 2010, 10:35
| #231 |
| Senior - BHPian | Mount Abu! Here we come..... We were driving on the silky highway, waiting to see any sign of the turn to Mount Abu. When we began to see signs mentioning the distance to Abu road, we realized that we may have missed the turn. We stopped a couple on a bike and enquired about where we were supposed to turn. After getting directions from the man, we took a U-turn and drove back about 10 kilometres. Then we took a U-turn again and drove slowly waiting for the sign ‘Tartholi’ to appear. We took a right turn immediately after seeing that board and we finally saw the big, terrific signage, directing us to Mount Abu. The road was concreted, but very bumpy.   We soon reached a railway crossing after a short drive and waited for the train to arrive. We had to wait for just ten minutes and the train roared past us. There was not much traffic on that route and we were able to crossover in a few minutes.     We entered a village immediately after the crossing and encountered very congested roads for close to 10 kilometres. Our speed dropped to 10 kmph!!! There was hardly any space for two vehicles to drive past and even transport buses were using that road frequently. I had to be extremely careful to avoid getting any scratches from the bullock carts and the modified auto rickshaws zigzagging past us!   We finally reached a junction and then took a right turn towards Mount Abu. This highway was very good and we were able to cover good distance. The road was flanked by tall trees on both sides and was extremely beautiful. We enjoyed the drive tremendously and relaxed after the nerve-wracking drive through the village.   We saw an amazing sight en-route, a huge rock mountain resembling an idol of Lord Ganesha.  We reached the base of the ghats by 4.10 pm after covering 177 kilometres from Udaipur. The ghat road was very good and we were able to climb most of the trail in 3rd gear. There was not too much traffic and we enjoyed a peaceful un-interrupted drive uphill.        There were a large number of monkeys inhabiting the area! One piece of advice to travelers; it is not at all safe to stop to enjoy the view of the valley because of the very narrow road and also because of the monkey menace!! We reached the top and were greeted by a huge sign, welcoming tourists to Mount Abu. I stopped our Chevy and quickly bought entry tickets. The ticket charge was very reasonable at Rs. 10 per person and Rs. 10 for the car. We had covered 18 kilometres of ghat road in 30 minutes. The time was just 4.40 pm and we had plenty of time at our disposal. We were again chased by some touts offering rooms for just Rs. 1000/-. Since I was a veteran in finding my own accommodation, I just smiled at them.     We started our final drive immediately and reached the city centre at 4.45 pm and drove straight to Nakki lake as I was really looking forward to seeing it. The signages in the city were good and we managed to reach the lake without losing our way. The lake was at the foot of a hill and we liked our first glimpse of the lake and quickly took a U-turn and drove back uphill. The road was very narrow and it reminded me of Mahabaleshwar’s main market area.   We then decided to check out some accommodation options. Our first stop was Honey Dew Guest House, which was suggested by Commander Alok. We checked out the rooms and found it good for the tariff of Rs. 750 they quoted me. The only problem was that ‘Honey Dew’ was located a bit away from the town. We decided to explore other hotels in the town and drove down hill. We saw two hotels, Hotel Samrat and Hotel Maharaja. They had parking inside the premises. But I was sure that it would get too congested. So we did not bother to check out the rooms. We drove further downhill and reached the city centre. There was a metal replica of the world famous Eiffel Tower there. We saw Hotel Shanti on our way and checked out the room. I could negotiate a tariff of Rs. 500 all inclusive, for a huge double bedroom. I was told that during season, the tariff for those types of rooms are hiked up to Rs. 2000 per night!!!  We finally checked into the hotel at 5.45 pm. My Chevy’s odometer read 82,996 km. We had covered 201 kilometres from Udaipur. We were quite tired after the drive and decided to rest for a while.   One reality that hit us was the freezing cold temperature of Mount Abu! Udaipur was quite comfortable at 4 -5 degree Celsius. But Mount Abu was freezing cold with a temperature of just 1 or 2 degree Celsius and we were shivering like crazy! We quickly took out and wore our heavy woolens and caps and gloves. We decided to have our dinner a bit late and got out of our hotel only by 8.15 pm. We then decided to go for a short walk and went uphill towards the shopping street. I was happy that I did not stay in Hotel Samrat or Hotel Maharaja, as both their parking area was full. My decision of not staying there was proven right! ;-)   We returned back to the city centre by 9 pm and went to a Punjabi restaurant near the Eiffel tower’s replica and had a scrumptious meal. We couldn’t resist having Chicken Hyderabadi and Tikka Biriyanis and Tandoori Chicken. The food was really tasty. We finished our leisurely dinner by 10.15 pm and decided to satisfy our insatiable craving for ice-creams. We were thrilled to find out that the restaurant had a huge variety of Vadilal ice creams. We bought some Cornettos and Sundaes and enjoyed the delicacy tremendously. The weather was icy cold. But nothing beats the thrill of having ice-creams in freezing cold temperatures! We returned back to our hotel by 11 pm after purchasing some chocolates and retired for the night by 11.15 pm. We were so tired after the stroll and slept off in no time! :-) |
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24th February 2010, 11:11
| #232 |
| Team-BHP Support   | |
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24th February 2010, 11:29
| #233 | |
| Senior - BHPian | Quote:
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24th February 2010, 11:34
| #234 | |
| Team-BHP Support | Quote:
Even in those times, the RSRTC Delux and Express buses very good and punctual to be used. | |
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24th February 2010, 17:37
| #235 |
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Lucknow
Posts: 782
Thanked: 114 Times
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24th February 2010, 18:30
| #236 | |
| Senior - BHPian | Quote:
I saw some of the rooms in other hotels there. The tariff is hiked up four to five times during peak season. Longdrivelover, I am not bluffing when I say that the best is yet to come!!! I will be posting those pics shortly. It is my finest effort in action photography! Ok! No more clues! Stay glued for some amazing pics, unseen in T-BHP! I just need to catch my breath after seeing the Little Master make the first double century in ODIs!!! My hands and throat is swollen from clapping and screaming!!! Hats off to the Greatest Indian Alive! Sachin Tendulkar!!!  | |
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24th February 2010, 18:35
| #237 | |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: City of seven islands.
Posts: 2,877
Thanked: 231 Times
| Quote:
And all Longdistancedriver meant to say was your photos keep getting better and better that he's at loss of words and hence has stopped using his adjectives! | |
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24th February 2010, 23:37
| #238 |
| Senior - BHPian | |
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25th February 2010, 10:51
| #239 | |
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Lucknow
Posts: 782
Thanked: 114 Times
| Quote:
. What C_L said after that is also correct. | |
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25th February 2010, 11:23
| #240 |
| Team-BHP Support  | |
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