Team-BHP - The flying fortress : Bombay-Udwada-Udaipur-Mount Abu-Bombay
Team-BHP

Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)
-   Travelogues (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/)
-   -   The flying fortress : Bombay-Udwada-Udaipur-Mount Abu-Bombay (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/83257-flying-fortress-bombay-udwada-udaipur-mount-abu-bombay.html)

A Bombay-Udwada-Udaipur-Mount Abu-Bombay trip in a VW Jetta 1.9TDI Comfortline

I had been thinking of a long distance family trip for some time and had shortlisted Udaipur as the likely destination to travel from Bombay. One reason for selecting the VW Jetta ( aka the Flying Fortress) over other marques in its category was to travel in speed, with stability and comfort over long distances and I was determined to start as soon as my office, my wife’s office and my kid’s school allowed for a ten odd day vacation. I had done the usual Bombay-Alibagh, Bombay-Igatpuri, Bombay-Uran, Bombay-Udvada, Bombay-Triyambakeshwar-Nasik-Shirdi runs with absolute ease and comfort and was really getting excited about a longer run.
My preparations – reading team bhp travelogues & route queries, especially hvk’s logs and answers to queries, selection of hotels, finalization of the itinerary started in October last year and was over by the first week of November. I like to plan ahead- this was for a trip starting in the last week of January/first week of February 2010.

My trip looked like this : Bombay –Udwada-Udaipur-(Nathdwara-Chittorgarh-Ranakpur etc.)-Mount Abu-Bombay. We were the four of us, my wife and kid, my mother and yours truly. As always happens with planning, I got two pieces of bad news.

The first issue was that the hotel that I had finalized for Udaipur (Mountain Ridge, off Lake Pichola) was unavailable for guests during the time of our trip, i.e., from 1st till 5th February, and so I had to scramble to get alternate accommodation in the first weeks of December. This turned out to be good for us because the hotel that I finally selected proved to be good - clean, comfortable and with good meals. The downside was that it was expensive but then I had factored in the expense part, especially as this was not a backpacker’s trip, what with my mother, comfortably in her seventies, being a part of the party.

The second problem was even worse and led to my re-scheduling the trip by about a week. It is quite a story. I had been booked by the traffic police for using the mobile whilst driving (this is available in my post in t-bhp) in late November. After attending the court, I was asked to visit the RTO within the next ten odd days (to retrieve my licence I thought!); when I went there I found to my horror that I would get it back two months after the booking date. This was not disclosed by the police to me, neither during the time of the booking nor in the court. This meant that there was a definite risk if I travelled on 30th January as any delay from the RTO in giving my licence back would have meant that I would have to drive without a licence. Unacceptable.

So, taking both these factors into account I re-scheduled my trip by deferring the start by a week.

Now my itinerary looked like this :
6th February – Start from Bombay for Udwada
7th February – Stay in Udwada
8th February – From Udwada to Udaipur
9th February – Sightseeing in Udaipur
10th February – Udaipur to Nathdwara, Eklingji/Srinathji,Rajsamand & back
11th February – Udaipur to Chittorgarh & back
12th February – Udaipur to Ranakpur & Kumbhalgarh and back
13th February – Udaipur to Mount Abu
14th February – Sightseeing in Mount Abu
15th February – Mount Abu to Bombay

My preparations for the car were pretty minimal. The Jetta had done slightly less than 7000 kms in its first seven months and had proved to be utterly reliable, both in city running and in the short runs to contiguous areas like Alibagh and Shirdi. However, I asked the VW dealer (Downtown VW) to do a check; the only service related item was an engine oil top up, the rest were purchase of mud flaps and a rear window sun blind all of which I paid. I had not got sunfilm installed then as I was awaiting some new products. I reckoned I could do without sunfilm in Rajasthan in February, aided by the Jetta's powerful airconditioning.

The first service was due after 15000 kms or one year, whichever came earlier. I simply wanted to be sure that the steed was in good stead.

Thus ends my introduction. I will post on a day by day basis, with some pictures that we took. I was the sole driver, my wife was the navigator cum photographer and since this was her first stint as a navigator, the logs ( in excel) might not conform to the standards set by our very own hvk, but I am sure with each passing long distance trip, our logs will improve! I had expected my kid to support in the navigation as she normally likes to sit beside me and observe the routes and roads, but this time she chose to sit in greater comfort at the back with my mother and passed the time of day chatting. Children can be whimsical sometimes!

Do revert with your views.

There is an excellent thread by chevylover.(Pune-udaipur-mount abu-Pune)
I am sure it will be of some help to you.All the best for your trip.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SILVERWOOD (Post 1926807)
There is an excellent thread by chevylover.(Pune-udaipur-mount abu-Pune)
I am sure it will be of some help to you.All the best for your trip.

>>> Silverwood,

This is a travelogue for a trip completed in February 2010. I have found the time now to write it down!

Regards

I have attached the log (excel) and some pics that the wife took enroute.

The NH8 is a good drive, bar the heavy traffic (lorries, including multi-axled ones) and the chaotic driving ( lorries, tempos, rickshaws driving in the opposite direction to the lane traffic in order to take a short cut to the nearest intersection), abrupt lane changing by commercial vehicles and taxis (Sumos,Taveras) and impatience by most drivers in overtaking. Phew. But this is common across the nation, so its not a big deal.

We had started a little later than planned and so were slowed down at various places. I keep a light foot (like a fellow named Button) and slow down whenever I see traffic which will likely spill over onto my lane. This implies that more often than not I am not driving flat out.

Slower - perhaps. Safer - definitely so.

We stopped at Kamat's for the regulation breakfast. I stick to the idlis ( no garlic there- I dislike raw garlic) and hot coffee. The toilets are better here as compared to other places.

The Dahanu road (curiously called the Jawhar Road, Jawhar being on the other side of the NH8, opposite Dahanu) is a dream - very low traffic, fairly good surface, with some patchwork in the middle portions, undulating and twisty- just the road to cruise between 50-70 kmph.

I don't hustle the car on this road as there is always a possibility of the villagers/children/domestic animals lunging out onto your path unexpectedly. Plus I wanted my kid to look at the greenish ( its is greener during the monsoons) hills and the fields. Lovely scenery.

We stopped at Dahanu beach fore some moments before taking off for the road along the coast through Gholvad and Bordi. For me this has to the best driving road in the environs of Bombay (the other being the road to Lavasa, off Pune). The two pics of this road will hint at how pleasureable the drive can be.On the left side you have the sea, seen through trees and then there is the narrow twisty road. Normally there is hardly any traffic here, but this time there was a trundling lorry which very generously gave me room to squeeze through without scratching the right side by the thorny bushes which flank the road.

You continue on this till you reach the Maharashtra -Gujarat border, where the friendly Maharashtra police at the PCP, ask you to turn right for Sanjan and Bhilad. After the right, the road is downright bad, and the Jetta's stiff suspensions keeps the car stable at 70-90 kmph but you get to feel the ups and downs.

Sanjan has the Parsi time capsule and a monument to the landing of the Parsis from Persia (the Stambh). We took a quick dekko ( the road there was dug up and there was hardly any place to park on the side) and departed for Bhilad.

Home cooked lunch consumed at Bhilad. We turned left to re-join the NH8 and I was extremely careful as we crossed the railway level crossing ( there are a few high speed bumps here, I had grazed one during my last visit in Sept 2009), and took a detour past a PP there to enter NH8.

After that, a sharp eye was required to ensure that we didn't miss the left turn for Udwada. No problems there. Another narrow but ok road took the few kms to Udwada town.

Day 2 coming soon.
P.S. : I had renamed the pics for easy reference-ability. After uploading them here, I see the labels missing. How to get the labels back?

Quote:

Originally Posted by issigonis (Post 1926814)
>>> Silverwood,

This is a travelogue for a trip completed in February 2010. I have found the time now to write it down!

Regards

Sorry Boss.

Took this as travel query in a hurry as i was about to log out yesterday evening.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SILVERWOOD (Post 1928277)
Sorry Boss.

Took this as travel query in a hurry as i was about to log out yesterday evening.

>>> Never mind. Will upload more pics of 7th Feb soon - spent that day wandering in Udwada and going to Daman for topping the fuel tank. The atmosphere of Udwada is a pleasant change from Bombay - quiet and old worldly. Lots of old buildings with architecture of bygone days.

The Parsis had settled here and this is a temple town. Now most of the younger generation have gone - for greener pastures (jobs, business etc.) and there are the older generation who live here.

We went to the museum showcasing the history of the Parsis - had taken pics in my earlier visit in Sept 2009- will upload these as you will be able to see the time stamp. Did not take many pics this time.

Udwada is a nice place to chill out, if you are not a party animal 24 x 7!

Take care

The first fourteen pics are of 7th Feb. The road is the main road in Daman.
The rest were taken during my earlier visit. These will be in my next post.
The latter has been included to give you a flavour of the place. Hope you like them.

As mentioned in my last post, am including pics from my earlier visit ( could not take many pics this time).

Attached is the log and the pics that we took from Udwada to Udaipur.

I must mention two stretches of extremely gratifying highways : one the NE1 between Baroda to Ahmedabad and the other after approximately 30 kms Ramol TP till upto Udaipur. Very smooth surfaces, proper barricades to isolate the highway traffic from the hamlets/villages along the way, good signage, clear marking of turn offs etc.

Driving on these two stretches is a breeze and one tends to forget that you are still in India, leavng thoughts of chaotic, unruly traffic and selfish drivers far far behind!

My driving style is cautious; I reduce my speeds whenever I approach an intersection/bus stop, turn offs or see large and small vehicles ( lorries, tempos, two wheelers) as these tend to be quite unpredictable. I also flash my lights ( if it is not too bright outside) and sound the horn whenever I overtake ( never mind if the other vehicle is in the adjacent lane) just to be sure that it is aware of traffic at its elbow.

This implies that I am unable to maintain the supersonic speeds that flat out driving delivers but this is fine as I am travelling on a public road with other vehicles sharing road space.

I think I touched 140-150 at certain stretches of the NE1 and on Ahmedabad-Himmatnagar-Shamlaji-Udaipur, but due to my driving style, I did not sustain those speeds for any more than a few minutes in each instance.

That is why my average speed (excluding stops - I lost time in our stops for food and toilet!) is about 61 kmph. With greater experience of driving long distances that figure might well change.

All in all, a highly satisfying drive. The 6 speed DSG was terrific, with imperceptible gear changes. I drove the entire time in the normal mode ( not the Sport mode, nor did I use the paddle shifter) to find out as to how it felt to drive 'normally'. It felt absolutely fine:)

Regards

The remaining pics of our journey from Udwada to Udaipur.

These were taken by a Canon Digital IXUS IS in auto mode.

hi there..any excel on the udwada to udaipur journey?

Hi issigonis,

Good narration of the TL. Liked the pics too. I did the Mumbai - Udaipur stretch earlier this year and as you have mentioned, the NE1 was awesome. The roads after that towards Rajasthan were really good as well with beautiful landscape changing every few mins.

Your "flying fortress" looks awesome! The first Jetta TL I have seen here.
Some more statistics on trips please. Distances, FE, performance etc.

PS: Once a statistician always a statistician !

sami316, ampere,

Thank you for your comments. Somehow, I could not finish the entire travelogue of our Udaipur trip: we had done it as Mumbai-Udwada-Udaipur-Mount Abu-Mumbai. Besides doing Udaipur, keeping Udaipur as a base, we had done day long runs to Eklingji/Nathdwara/Haldighati, Chittaurgarh. I wanted to do Kumbhalgarh and Ranakpur too, but at that time there was a festival ( I forget which) and roadbuilding works, which combined together made the route not very reliable. So I had to drop visits to these two attractive places. Maybe some other time.

I will try to get my log out and write it down in a presentable form; pics too, although we are not very good in the photography department - pedestrian at best!

Since then, I have done a Mumbai-South Goa-Mumbai run lasting six days very recently and am planning a Mumbai -Ranikhet-Mumbai run in early October, to be followed by a Mumbai- Jodhpur-Jaisalmer-Bikaner-Barmer-Mumbai run next February, all in the flying fortress!

Let me see how soon I can untangle my log and present it here.

Vikram31,

The Udwada-Udaipur log in excel is attached above in my post.

Regards


All times are GMT +5.5. The time now is 02:02.