[Janjua]

Well, it was one of those days. Cold was crawling its way into the Northern plains and the days were starting to get murky and foggy. A thought was doing the rounds of insides of my brain for quite some time now, of driving across India in my car. Since the time I can remember, I always wanted to do something like that. Every year I made plans, but my plans never saw light of the day, either because of the family constraints or personal limitations. It was a burning desire to just go and do it.
This December, I took a decision, that I will do a cross country road trip, regardless. I applied for leave at the hospital and made a list of all things to be done. Suddenly I had so many things to do to prepare for this adventure of a lifetime.
Frankly, I wanted to do Chandigarh-Kanyakumari-Chandigarh absolutely solo. I would be lying if I say that I did not have any reservations, but my resolve and grit easily overcame any reservations that cropped up in my mind.
It was dinner time and the family was having dinner (we are a joint family). I brought up the subject of my planned road trip. To my surprise, my family was all for it!! In fact my father offered to accompany me on this road trip. I did not encounter any dissidence from anybody about my proposed drive across India. Discussion closed that night with everything being hunky dory regarding my plans.
I needed to change tyres on my Esteem and so I went to Tyre Zone, Manimajra for the same. I got Bridgestone Turanza 185/70 R13 ER-60 for my car. I was previously using Michelin 175/70 R13. I thought they were wonderful tyres and as soon as I drove the car after changing the tyres, I thought I had made a good choice. The tyres are superb.
I had to get an MP3 player in my car and so I went to Gurche Radios, Sector 17, Chandigarh and got a pioneer player fitted. It was quite wonderful.
I needed to upgrade my lights, so I went to Sector 28, Chandigarh for the same. I upgraded my lights to 90/100W. A relay coil was also installed for the upgraded lights.
Then I gave the car for servicing at my regular service station. I told Raju (old time mechanic) about my plan to drive to Kanyakumari and back and told him to check the car through and through for anything that might need rectification. Raju also advised me that I should get the car washed at least two days prior to my day of departure as sometimes washing can cause an electrical fault or something. Having done that, I was all set.
Now what did I require to take along with me on this long tour? The thread ‘A guide on Essentials of a Long Drive’ by Technocrat on the Team-BHP website came as a boon. I went and did exactly as was mentioned in the thread. To list a few things that I took along – Electric Air Pump, Extra tools, Turmeric powder, MSeal, etc.
I then bought a Map My India GPS, Zx150 Deluxe. I ordered it online and they gave me a National Motoring Atlas and a Reverse Camera along with it. I was told that this offer was only valid for online orders and not if I buy the GPS from any dealer in Chandigarh, so I bought one online.
Here is the list of some other things that I took along with me in my car –
- Pillow and a Quilt
- Sandals, shoes & chappals
- Drinking water & Big bottles for car use
- Biscuits & Coke
- Big bottle of Nescafe Coffee (My lifeline)
- CD’s
- A log book
- Bajaj rechargeable torch
- Allout (Mosquito repellant)
- Phone charger (car & wall)
- Battery charger (for the camera)
- Extra SIM card
- Hand Sanitizer
- Liquid Soap
- Towels (Hand & Bathing)
- Electric tyre pump ( Never used it, still packed)
- Medicines (Dependal-M, Loperamide, Omeprazole, Pudin Hara, Flexon, Cetrizine, etc to name a few)
- Map My India Zx150 Deluxe (Extremely useful)
- Map My India Motoring Atlas
- GPSed & MotionX on my mobile phone
-

I checked all the car papers, personal papers, Debit/Credit cards and having satisfied myself, I was all set for the D-day i.e., the 24th of December 2010.
Day 1 – Chandigarh to Udaipur.
I started at 7.40 AM, a little late than I had wanted to but was a little wary about the fog that I might encounter as soon as I left the Chandigarh Metro area. Chandigarh-Delhi route can be treacherous because of the fog in the winter months. After all the customary ‘goodbyes’ and ‘best of lucks’, I was up and running.
Thankfully I did not encounter any fog on the way at all. The road from Ambala onwards is being upgraded by the NHAI and hence there were diversions galore. Going was not slow but it was not fast either. No traffic jams though.
Traffic in Delhi was the usual. It took me about an hour to reach Dhaula Kuan via the Azadpur road and once on the Gurgaon Expressway, going was superb indeed. But this did not last long because as soon as the Expressway ended, traffic snarls started. Due to the various bottle-necks and horrendous traffic the going till Manesar (Haryana) was super slow. I stopped for refueling at Parchgaon, Haryana. Petrol was selling @ Rs 56.59 per liter.
Post Manesar, the traffic started thinning out and the going became very good indeed. The scenic NH-8 was soothing to say the least. I reached Kishangarh (Ajmer) at around 18.30 hours and stopped for fuel. Petrol at Kishangarh (Rajasthan) was selling @ Rs 59.40 per liter. I want to mention here that I was going by the Technocrat’s thread wherein it was mentioned that when on a long haul, one should refuel more often than when one is in the city. So, every time my fuel gauge showed half a tank, I usually stopped to refuel.
At the Kishangarh petrol station, I enquired regarding the route to Udaipur. I was told that there was a lot of construction going on the highway; especially near Beawar and that it would be prudent for me to take the NH-79 instead. This route goes via Bhilwara & Chittorgarh. So, I took NH-79 instead of the NH-8 to Udaipur from Kishangarh. This stretch is supposed to be one of the most scenic roads, but since I was doing this stretch at night, I can’t comment on that one.
The going was extremely good on the NH-79 till Chittorgarh and thereafter on the NH-76 till Udaipur. Other than the numerous toll plazas, there were no impediments in my super smooth cruising till Udaipur. I was hoping to cross Udaipur and halt at one of the hotels on the highway and so, I turned onto the Udaipur bypass. But lo and behold, was struck in the mother of all truck-jams. I waited for almost half an hour for things to move, but nothing happened. So, I decided to head back into Udaipur city and make a halt there. It was a very good decision indeed. It was already about 23.30 hours and I was pretty tired by now, driving for 15 hours. I stopped at the first hotel that I came across. Hotel Raghu Palace. Good hotel. Priced on the higher side, but then this was the tourist season in Udaipur and I was tired, so I was quite happy to make camp. I highly recommend this hotel for anyone visiting Udaipur. It may not be 5 Star, but was very decent indeed. Had a very good nights’ sleep and planned for an early start (7 AM) in the morning.
Day 1 statistics – Chandigarh to Udaipur. Did 916 Kms in 15 hours. Total toll paid was Rs 610 with total toll stops being 14 in number. I refueled a total of 34.07 liters of petrol at a total cost of Rs 1975.04.
Day 2 – Udaipur to Pune.
As planned, I started at 7 AM after a very good nights’ rest. Was feeling totally refreshed and on top of the world. Refueled in Udaipur city. Petrol was selling @ Rs 59.44 per liter.
The sun was still not out when I started out of Udaipur. The sights were amazing. NH-8 before sunrise on the border of Rajasthan and Gujarat was blissful. Traffic was light. Road was amazing and the weather was perfect, nippy but not very cold. I stopped to click photographs of the sunrise on the way. An interesting thing happened at the toll plaza in Padvna about 40 Kms from Udaipur. There were a couple of tourist buses full of school children, one right in front of me and the other in the lane next to me. All the children were singing a popular Hindi film song in unison. It was taking some time for the traffic to move and suddenly the atmosphere at the toll plaza changed. First one toll agent started dancing and later more joined him. The scene was fantastic and the other motorists instead of being impatient joined in to clap and egg on the people dancing. I have never seen such a thing in my life and it sure lifted my spirits to no end. Loved it. It was breakfast time and I had my life savers with me, Coffee and Britannia Bourbon biscuits. They never tasted better!
The going was super smooth and soon I reached the border of Gujarat. Now I had heard so many good things about Gujarat that I was very eager to drive through the State. But for the absolutely unexpected speed breakers right on the highway, roads were amazing. Barring one point, there were no indications or signs about the approaching speed-breakers and majority of the speed impediments were without paint too. So, if any of you guys are motoring along the stretch between Ratanpur and Himatnagar, please beware of these bumps as some of them are quite dangerous.
By the way, I decided to follow the NH-8 in Gujarat and did not go via the SH-59. NH-8 goes via Ahmedabad-Vadodara-Bharuch and onwards. Also Map My India never gave me the option of going via SH-59, so I don’t know about that route. But NH-8 was superb till about 20 Kms from Ahmadabad. I regret that I did not note down the name of the town from where the 20 Kms stretch of the narrow road started for Ahmadabad. It was not bad though; only the traffic was super slow on that stretch. The beauty about the GQ is that the Highway does not pass through the major cities at all. This is more good than bad. Good that the city traffic does not impede ones’ progress and bad because one has to take an exit into the city if one has to find a good hotel or a mechanic. It is quite different in small States like Punjab and Haryana, where there is too much population in less space and one can easily find all kinds of stuff on the highways. But, in bigger States, I found this to be a bit of a niggle.
Anyways, I soon found myself on the Ahmedabad-Vadodara Expressway. Man, it was wonderful. That road is a piece of art. Traffic was super fast, but I instead decided not to go above 100 Kms/hr as I wanted the feeling of driving on that beauty of a road to last forever!
Soon I was passing Vadodara and suddenly I was hit by a wave of nostalgia. I had spent a couple of months in Vadodara in 2007 as I was undergoing a training program there. I absolutely love the city. I so wanted to visit the Raju Omelette Center and savour the delectable egg concoctions served there, but due to the paucity of time I had to abandon all the gluttony fantasies of mine. I refueled in Surat. Petrol was selling for Rs 59.26/liter. Nearing Valsad, the nightmare started. NHAI is in the process of widening the highway from Valsad to Ghodbandar and hence there are bottlenecks galore. Frequent traffic jams especially in Virar really hampered my progress. To make matters worse, all the Indian truckers seemed to be heading towards Mumbai. I have never seen so many trucks together, ever. But it was a nice experience though.
There was a big jam at Ghodbandar traffic lights. Now, I am not conversant with the geography of the area at all and all those traffic jams plus the fact that I was blindly following the GPS, my sense of direction had gone to the dogs. So, as guided by the ‘GPS Kudi’, I followed the Western Expressway into Mumbai via Mira Bhayandar. In hindsight, I should have turned left at Ghodbandar and followed the SH-42 towards the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. It was Christmas and a holiday and I was lucky that the traffic was not too bad at all. I quite enjoyed my transit through the great city of Mumbai and from Sion I got onto the Eastern Expressway heading towards Pune. Mumbai-Pune Expressway is another work of art. Other than the Ghat section traffic was super fast. On the Ghats too, if the heavy traffic keeps to the left, traffic pace would not be bad. The drive was thoroughly enjoyable to say the least. I reached Pune at around 11 pm. I had planned to stay with my brothers’ in-laws who reside in the city. Had an exquisite mutton curry for dinner and was ready to hit the sack.
One thing I want to mention here is that before starting this journey, my greatest fear was of my bottom getting sore due to the constant sitting posture. I was pretty sure that it would be quite a handful if that happened and you know what troubled me the most, my heels! The thing is that the Esteem does not have a dead pedal to rest the left foot and the right one rests on the heel all the time due to the accelerator position. Due to this, a pressure point developed in both my heels and it became a rather painful condition. I had been driving in my shoes all this time and did not realize the extent of the problem until I removed my shoes at night in Pune while going to bed. Heels were quite sore.
Day 2 Statistics – Udaipur to Pune. Did 905 Kms in 15 hours. Total toll paid was Rs 670 and the total number of toll stops was 16. I refueled a total of 43.83 liters of petrol at a total cost of Rs 1600.69.

Day 3 Pune to Hosur.
It was quite a nippy morning in Pune the next day. I was up and early and had a hearty breakfast. Conversation on the breakfast table was excitement personified and with the goodbyes over I started for Hosur at 8.55 AM. Traffic in Pune city was light and soon I was out of the city. I did encounter very slow traffic on the Ghats, but that was expected. With trucks trying to overtake each other on steep winding roads, what can one expect? Stopped for refueling at Shivapur Khed and there I had my first bad experience.
I had almost a quarter of a tank of petrol still when I stopped to refuel at Shri Ram Petroleum station at Shivapur Khed. The guy there put 30.73 liters of petrol in the tank. Esteem can have a max of 32 liters in it. When I protested, 3 of the station workers started arguing with me in Marathi and they refused to speak Hindi. I went inside to the manager but was sternly told to be on my way and not cause trouble. With a heavy heart I thought it would be wise of me to get going. Nothing was going to come out of anything that I had to say to the cheats. My advice to fellow travelers, avoid Shri Ram Petroleum in Shivapur Khed if ever you guys are in the area.
The going was good from then on. NH-4 was superb. Soon Satara and Karad were behind me and Kohlapur was within sights. One can make out that this was a hardcore sugarcane country as the roads are riddled with tractor-trolleys laden with tons and tons of sugarcane. Also, one has to be careful about the two wheelers coming on the wrong side of the road. While overtaking I was always wary of someone coming my way on a motorcycle!
At around 13.30 hrs I reached the Maharashtra-Karnataka border toll plaza. The road from Sankeshwar to Belgaum and onwards is one of the most scenic roads I have ever been on. One can see ahead for miles and the highway is undulating and a beauty. I stopped to refuel at Belgaum. Petrol here was the most expensive during my entire trip. Petrol was selling for Rs 62.45/liter. The twin cities of Hubli-Dharwad were soon behind me. Quite a lot of up-gradation of the NH-4 is taking place along the Hubli-Chitradurga-Tumkur stretch. Also at three places there are speed-breakers bang in the middle. It was night-time by the time I was crossing this stretch and I did not see any warning signs regarding the same and they were not even painted properly. At one of these speed impediments, there was a pile up of 3 cars. The first one probably braked hard and the other two crashed behind the first one. Going by the debris on the roadside, I am pretty sure this was a regular occurrence there. NHAI probably built these on the highway for some village folk to cross over to the other side. Utter lack of planning if you ask me. Just short of Tumkur I stopped for coffee at Jai Hind hotel. It was a rather busy place and the coffee was exquisite. Soon my favourite city in India was in view. Bengaluru! I started feeling nostalgic all over again. One of the rather happy periods of my life was spent in this wonderful city and I miss it very much. But boy, Bengaluru had changed. I last visited the city in 2003 and then there were no flyovers. I could not recognize the Tumkur road at all. But I was thankful too, the traffic was very smooth. If it was not for the GPS, I would have had to ask for the directions so many times. I reached the Neelamangala toll at 22.35 hrs and took the exit that lead to Hosur road. Again the area was unrecognizable. So much of development has taken place. The road leading to Hosur is a thing of beauty. I crossed the Mysore Expressway exit and was soon traversing the Electronic City area and the skyline there was simply amazing.
Suddenly without a warning my horn starts sounding very bland, as if one of the two has stopped working. I thought I will get it rectified in Hosur. As long as one of them was working, I could carry on.
I reached Hosur around midnight. The main road was bustling with activity and I thought finding a hotel would be easy. I was really tired by now and my heels were hurting. By the way I had been driving without shoes or sandals for most part of the day as wearing footwear was not an option anymore. I stopped and started asking directions for a hotel, but was told that since it was late in the night all hotels were closed! I thought because of my lack of knowledge of Tamil, I was perhaps unable to get my point across. No luck. Dejected I drove a bit further and reached the bus stand. There I saw a couple of policemen and decided to stop and ask them. It was the right decision. A very courteous cop asked me which language I spoke. Then in very good Hindi he informed me that I was asking for the wrong place! He told me that ‘Hotel’ here meant a place to have ‘meals’ and ‘Lodge’ was what I was looking for. God bless him, he directed me to Hotel Victoria, right next to the bus stand and I was on my way. The hotel gate was locked. I honked and one gentleman came and I told him that I required a room to stay for the night and was let in. There was ample parking and I checked in. Now, Hotel Victoria is very basic. Clean rooms and a clean toilet, period. Nothing fancy at all. Rent was Rs 500/night and I was happy till I went to sleep. The thing is that the hotel is bang next to the highway and all through the night the trucks and buses kept on disturbing me with their pressure horns. I guess the hotel is not insulated noise wise and I did not have a very good sleep. But then coming in, I was very late and was grateful to even get a good clean room to sleep in.
Day 3 Statistics – Pune to Hosur. Did 883 Kms in 15 hours. Total toll paid was Rs 599 and the total number of toll stops was 16. I refueled a total of 48.63 liters at a cost of Rs 2956.40.


Day 4 – Hosur to Kanyakumari
I woke up not quite so bright but early at around 7 am. Weather was sublime. After having a quick shower, I went down to check out. People at the reception told me that it would take around 12 hours for me to reach Kanyakumari. Now I was faced with three issues. First being that I had to refuel, second being that I had to get the car horn repaired and the third being that I was famished since I had not eaten a full meal since the dinner in Pune last evening.
There is a petrol pump bang opposite Hotel Victoria. Petrol was selling for Rs 61.09/liter. That done, I asked for directions to a car electricians’ shop. It was an MAS alright, but was very dingy and bereft. I am sorry that I did not note down the name of the service station, probably because I was absolutely preoccupied. There were two ‘mechanics’ there. One aged around 17 and the other aged around 14. I told them about the horn problem and they zestfully went about their job. With my gesticulations, I tried my level best to explain that one of the horns was not working. The elder mechanic got it and started checking the fuses. Nothing there and then he dismantled the whole horn assembly. We were almost one hour through when they found out that one of the horn hinges was broken. The elder one cut the wires leading to that hinge before I could say anything. Later he fixed the wire to that broken hinge with some tape. I knew it would not last long, but since the horn was working well at the time, I was ok with it. But I was proved right, the horn did not last an hour and I was back to square one. I had to make do with one of the horns working.
I was famished. About a kilometer from the MAS was an Udipi restaurant and I stopped there to have breakfast. Food was fantastic. Idlis & dosa accompanied with superlative coffee raised my morale to no end. I started off for Kanyakumari with nothing but optimism surrounding me.
I have to say that NH-7 is the most scenic and sparsely busy highway in the whole of India. It is a treat! Barring the undulating course, characteristic of the Southern highways, the movement was the best that I had experienced before. I wish more Highways were like the NH-7 from Hosur to Kanyakumari. Dharmapuri was soon behind me and I was looking forward to crossing Salem. My former ‘Boss’ is a Principal of one of the Medical colleges in Salem. I so wanted to meet him but he was away to Bengaluru for vacations. Namakkal and Dindigul were soon behind me and I was eagerly looking forward to crossing Madurai, another one of my favourite cities. In the past I had spent quite a bit of time in Madurai for training and absolutely love the Chettinadu cuisine of the city. But alas, the NH-7 does not even touch Madurai. It passes quite a bit away from the city and one has to take an exit if one has to go into the city. I of course did not do that and continued onwards towards my main destination, Kanyakumari. Road was superb all through. Only thing is that sometime after Tirunelveli, the GPS went bonkers. Map My India probably has not uploaded the latest roads in that area and the GPS was showing that I am going practically nowhere. I was also hungry by that time and stopped for a snack. As usual I had to make do with some Gatorade and coffee mixture along with bhakri, a Maharashtrian snack. By now it was getting dark and I knew that I will reach Kanyakumari well after nightfall. Just before Kanyakumari there is an area where wind energy is being harvested to generate electricity. Hundreds of windmills can be seen in action. The view is breath taking to say the least. Just short of Kanyakumari I stopped to refuel. Petrol was selling at Rs 60.71/liter.
At long last I reached the Kanyakumari panchayat toll point and drove into the city headed towards the bus stand (to make it official). Having reached the bus stand, the next thing on my agenda was to check into a hotel. Kanyakumari was bustling with tourists as this was the peak season for tourism in the area. Map my India gave me several options for hotels but the first three I checked had no vacancy. Then I reached Hotel Singaar International and pleaded with the reception staff to accommodate me for one night. My prayers were heard and after a while a very amicable senior lady staff came to the reception, probably intrigued as to why I was travelling all the way by car to Kanyakumari and offered to accommodate me. I was delighted. The hotel was very busy and I was grateful that I got a room for the night. All this while there unknown to me there was a big group of tourists standing nearby listening to my story. The group was from Chandigarh, comprising mostly of officers and their families on LTC. They did not believe me and two of them went out to actually see my car parked in the parking lot! They were impressed with my driving prowess and I felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment of having done something that I really wanted to do for a long time.
I highly recommend Hotel Singaar International as the rooms are spacious, clean and the hotel is just a walking distance from the beach. After a shower, I strolled down to the beach. The commercialization of the beach area broke my heart. Last I visited Kanyakumari was in 1999 and the beach area was totally devoid of all the road side shops dotting the road leading to the beach. Signs of changing times perhaps. Later on I had a fantastic dinner of Kothu parantha and Chettinadu chicken, bought some coke bottles and bourbon biscuits and retired to the hotel.
Day 4 statistics – Hosur to Kanyakumari. Did 611 Kms in 10 hours. Total toll paid was Rs 302 and total number of toll stops was 7. I refueled a total of 52.03 liters of petrol at a total cost of Rs 3169.32.
The total distance covered from Chandigarh to Kanyakumari was 3315 Kms and it took me 4 days to cover the distance driving solo.
Travelogue describing the drive from Kanyakumari to Chandigarh will follow soon. Sorry if my write up was long and boring, but then I am not a professional writer!

[ALSUDA]

Janjua> really really, great achievement, hats off, very nice write up. I started reading & thought of continuing to read after busy schedule, but couldn't stop till reading is completed. Pl post about your return journey experience too.

Rgds,

[Ride_4_Fortune]

Janjua, nice write-up and pictures. It is really a great drive across our diverse country which has so many cultures and languages.

Looking forward for your next update !

[libranof1987]

Awesome!

That is one helluva drive; I admire your love for a road trip!

Was the whole trip mainly for a long (!) drive or did stop and check out cities/towns?

Did you take the same route on the way back?

Do post some more pics!

[Jaguar]

Awesome accomplishment Janjua. Could you please post the pics inline with the text and add the location details for them as well? Would make for even better reading.

[ampere]

Great achievement! Congrats. Even I was happy with Singaar. Good service, accessibility and really well maintained rooms.

[somspaple]

awesome is the word!! it was like one gripping short film congrats on the accomplishment!!

[eyedoc]

wonderfull write up kaku
was keenly following ur journey on facebook as well
regards
dimpa sandhu

[whitesquall]

Originally Posted by Janjua

Sorry if my write up was long and boring, but then I am not a professional writer!

I don't agree with you! It is a fantastic write up! I love your writing style and I salute your grit and I salute your family for letting you do it.

One suggestion though, please break your write up into small paragraphs so that it becomes earier for the members to read.

Looking forward to more of your expedition, Have a safe and enjoyable journey.

[Judemayne]

Great write up and a greater drive-when will you post the return trip?? just one question-you drove at night and stayed at places only for a nap (not a proper sleep) must have missed out on the scenic beauty of the Country side?? Anyway more pics to do the talking.

[aviorp]

Sensational! Looks like this trip, helped you in doing some upgrades to the car. On an average, 800kms/day and for 4 days in a row. That is some feat, Janjua. Waiting for more pictures.

[issigonis]

>>>

Janjua,

I am very pleased to see your thread. I had read your thread on this, your proposed drive with great interest. A solo drive is a terrific achievement for most of us because the company keeps the long distance driver alert and full of energy. I love driving solo as well.

I drove solo too, from Bombay to Ranikhet ( that is in the first half of my trip) and coincidentally started from Bombay for Udaipur on 24th Dec. I started from Udaipur for Manesar on 25th morning. We might have just crossed each other in Udaipur!

I managed to meet a fellow t-bhpian in Udaipur (Topolino) and it was absolutely ripping.

Look forward to your updates.

Regards, drive safe

[Janjua]

Originally Posted by ALSUDA

Janjua> really really, great achievement, hats off, very nice write up. I started reading & thought of continuing to read after busy schedule, but couldn't stop till reading is completed. Pl post about your return journey experience too.

Rgds,

Thanks ALSUDA. I really appreciate it. I will post the return journey blog soon. Regards.

Originally Posted by Ride_4_Fortune

Janjua, nice write-up and pictures. It is really a great drive across our diverse country which has so many cultures and languages.

Looking forward for your next update !

Thanks Ride 4 Fortune. You are right, the drive across India was an eye opener of sorts for me. Fell in love with India yet again!

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Awesome!

That is one helluva drive; I admire your love for a road trip!

Was the whole trip mainly for a long (!) drive or did stop and check out cities/towns?

Did you take the same route on the way back?

Do post some more pics!

Hi Libranof87.

I really appreciate your kind words.
The whole trip was simply about driving across the length of India. Just to experience how it felt to do so.
As such I did not check out any of the cities i passed through. Only very briefly perhaps the ones' where i stayed overnight, that too hunting for hotels.
My return route was Kanyakumai-Anantapur-Seoni-Agra-Chandigarh. I will post the blog soon.
Regards.

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Awesome accomplishment Janjua. Could you please post the pics inline with the text and add the location details for them as well? Would make for even better reading.

Hello Jaguar.

Thanks for the compliment.
While posting the blog, i tried to do as you have advised but was simply unable to post pictures at appropriate places. Also, now I am trying to edit the post but I am facing some issues there too.
Hope to straighten it out soon though.
Regards.

Originally Posted by ampere

Great achievement! Congrats. Even I was happy with Singaar. Good service, accessibility and really well maintained rooms.

Hello ampere.

Thanks for the complement.
Yes Singaar is a good place to make camp. I was very lucky to get a room that night, December being the tourist season.
Being a foodie, Singaar suited me the best because of all the good restaurants around in the area. A real treat!
Regards.

Originally Posted by somspaple

awesome is the word!! it was like one gripping short film congrats on the accomplishment!!

Hi Somspaple.

I am so glad that you liked my post. Complements like yours really boost up ones' morale. Thanks.
Regards.

Originally Posted by eyedoc

wonderfull write up kaku
was keenly following ur journey on facebook as well
regards
dimpa sandhu

Hello Doc.

Thank you for your kind words.
We should do a road-trip together soon. It would be great fun.
Regards, Kaku.

Originally Posted by whitesquall

I don't agree with you! It is a fantastic write up! I love your writing style and I salute your grit and I salute your family for letting you do it.

One suggestion though, please break your write up into small paragraphs so that it becomes earier for the members to read.

Looking forward to more of your expedition, Have a safe and enjoyable journey.

Hello Whitesquall.

It is very kind of you to write such nice things about my road-trip and the subsequent write up. I really appreciate it.
Your point is well taken Sir and in the return journey blog, I will do likewise.
Thank you very much.
Regards.

Originally Posted by Judemayne

Great write up and a greater drive-when will you post the return trip?? just one question-you drove at night and stayed at places only for a nap (not a proper sleep) must have missed out on the scenic beauty of the Country side?? Anyway more pics to do the talking.

Hello Judemayne.

Thanks for appreciating my write up. I will be posting the return journey blog soon.
I usually drove from 7 am to 11 pm. My moto was to sleep in a good hotel because I really needed the rest to continue the next day. Most of my driving was during the daylight hours, so I really did soak in the vast Indian countryside to the fullest. Ofcourse, I did not discover the cities I drove through because that was never my plan.
I will surely try and post more pictures.
Regards.

Originally Posted by aviorp

Sensational! Looks like this trip, helped you in doing some upgrades to the car. On an average, 800kms/day and for 4 days in a row. That is some feat, Janjua. Waiting for more pictures.

Hello aviorp.

Thanks for the kind words. Yes I did get new tyres, upgraded the lights and a few other things.
I will post some more pictures real soon.
Regards.

Originally Posted by issigonis

>>>

Janjua,

I am very pleased to see your thread. I had read your thread on this, your proposed drive with great interest. A solo drive is a terrific achievement for most of us because the company keeps the long distance driver alert and full of energy. I love driving solo as well.

I drove solo too, from Bombay to Ranikhet ( that is in the first half of my trip) and coincidentally started from Bombay for Udaipur on 24th Dec. I started from Udaipur for Manesar on 25th morning. We might have just crossed each other in Udaipur!

I managed to meet a fellow t-bhpian in Udaipur (Topolino) and it was absolutely ripping.

Look forward to your updates.

Regards, drive safe

Hi issigonis.

I appreciate your kindness.
Yes I remember your post when I was planning the trip and to think that we might have crossed each other somewhere in Rajasthan! Wow.
I wish we could have met en route. It would have been super.
Solo long drives are a kind of a spiritual experience for me. I have never felt more liberated, free, happy and on top of the world as when I was driving across India on those never ending roads.
How did your trip go? I am sure you had a lot of fun too.
Keep me posted.
Regards.

[Surprise]

Wow! I knew how interesting that would be to drive the whole day & just book the hotel for sleep. Break the return trip day wise & add more details. Great Achievement.

[Janjua]

Originally Posted by Surprise

Wow! I knew how interesting that would be to drive the whole day & just book the hotel for sleep. Break the return trip day wise & add more details. Great Achievement.

Hello Surprise.

Thanks. Will do as advised in the return trip write up.
Regards.