[Judemayne]

20 Feb-Stop at Amboli at 1900 hrs after 768 kms on the road-just short of the Toll Gate ahead of Surat. Rolled off next morning at 0530 hrs. Thought about the advice on BHP to enter Ankelaswar and use the Golden bridge to avoid getting stuck in a jam on the NH 8 new bridge-as it was still dark and I did not want to go in circles in the town so we stuck to the NH and crossed the Narmada in a jiffies-though there were a No. of trucks the flow was smooth-coming back cars are permitted to use the span being repaired.
Reached Vadodra bypass and went on to the Expressway-enroute wife saw the sign post for Anand-a childhood dream of seeing the Amul Dairy! So at the turn off sped on to Anand-reached the factory at 0915 hrs requested to go around but Red tapism barried our visit to the white liquid factory-"Sorry Sir, Visiting time only from 1600 hrs to 1700 hrs"-showed my KA No pleading-deaf ears.Back to express way onto Ahmedabad-onto SP road onto Limbidi on our way to Bhuj on NH 8A.
Bhuj at 1700 hrs 21 Feb- The road from Bachahua-Bhuj-77 kms-surface was rough at places but driveable. Cargo circle greeted us with an unconnected yellow water faucet pouring out water. The secrets were revealed to us at 0600 hrs on 23 Feb when we were enroute to Jaisalmer.
First day we stayed at Seven Skies-a nice place with the ambience of a 5 star-a little off the town second night at Prince Residency-please stay at Prince, a nice location. What hit me initially was the garbage strewn all over and dust getting at you. The first night there was a huge hole in the wallet with the wife packing the boot with "Bandhanies"". Next day of to the White Desert, Khavada and Mandavi. Mistake-i should have catered for one more day at Bhuj to see Narayan Sarovar-blunder of my life: a few pictures; Crago Circle, Tropic of Cancer, The White Desert, Dhordo,The artisans of Khavada, Ship Building, Wind Farms and Beach at Mandavi:-

[Judemayne]

Bhuj to Jaisalmer: 23 Feb-started from Prince Hotel, Bhuj at 0600 hrs passed Cargo Square and the mystery of the unconnected faucet was revealed!! The journey was uneventful but picturesque-pictures of wild peacocks-a wonderful sight, empty roads and sand dunes dotted with windmills. Route-Bhuj-Bhachua-Samakhalia (NH 8A)-Chitrod NH 15-Santalpur-Radhanpur-Bhabar-turned East away from the NH-a short cut pretty good-turned North for Tharad and met up with NH 15 onto Sanchor-Barmer-Jaisalmer with destination Sam Dhani-reached at 1700 hrs. Stayed the night at Payal resort-Camel safari-entertainment-dinner-breakfast watched the setting and rising sun and off to Jaisalmer at 1000 hrs on 24 Feb-stayed at Payal Hotel within the Fort-nice place-walking distance to anywhere within the Fort. A few pictures. Enroute, Sam, Tents, Setting Sun, Rising Sun, KA Ritz at Sam, camel safari-poor thing over 150 kilos, Jaisalmer Fort from our Hotel Balcony, Miniature model of the Fort:-

[verditer]

Salute to you, Colonel. This thread captures it all - the calling of the highway is irresistible. Threads like this put back the itch in me - to get there, get lost.

[Judemayne]

Originally Posted by verditer

Salute to you, Colonel. This thread captures it all - the calling of the highway is irresistible. Threads like this put back the itch in me - to get there, get lost.

A salute is always returned by one!!! Trust me this drive has instilled the "Live to Drive" in my wife-she is egging me to plan our second drive to Bhutan-November this year??
Like I have said-"we put fences around ourselves" by bringing the age factor-there is no age bar to adventure?? My department in my Company has declared that I am the "youngster"!!

[hvkumar]

How were the roads around Tharad & Sanchore - were bad sometime ago?
Ad you did not take the Barmer bypass?

[Judemayne]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

How were the roads around Tharad & Sanchore - were bad sometime ago?
Ad you did not take the Barmer bypass?

The roads around both towns were real good-except two culverts across two streams/irrigation canal enroute which sandy -50 metres on either side. Actually I used this road by mistake but it turned out to be faster and shorter-n the sense the surface was good and as per Google Map shorter- I was attaining speeds of around 120 kmphs. Tharad-Sanchor pretty good. I did not bypass Barmer as I wanted to have lunch near the Railway Station-some good memories (food wise-but otherwise lookswise??-excellent Veg food) Secondly nostalgic reasons-was deployed year in 2002 when we had issues with our neighbour?? I will give you roads that are not roads but slivers of tarmac pretending to be SHs.

[Judemayne]

25 Feb-off to Jodhpur:- we were supposed to stop at Jodhpur for the night but after seeing the Fort, going around the town the decision was haed for Udaipur. In 2002 I was deployed (when we had an issue with our friendly neighbour across the border) ahead of Baleswar from Jodhpur towards the NE side of the NH right in the Dunes. we had to go to Jodhpur atleast once a week for various tasks and then the road from Baleswar to Jodhpur was bad-on the 26 Feb 11 it was dejavu for me as the roads are still the same-surface absolutely rough. The Mehangarh Fort is awesome-I took my wife to show her the cannons-whenever I went to Jodhpur I had to see them-being a Gunner (Artillery man) cannons hold a special place for me. These cannons remind me of the Azad Paikar of Golconda, Hyderabad.
Enroute to Udaipur, about 20 kms from Jodhpur we stopped at one of the antique/handicraft shops-huge one-my wallet was empty by the the time we departed. It was about 1500 hrs-we drove to Pali took the bypass and there I made the biggest mistake on the whole journey-after a place called Ramsiya-i saw a sign Udaipur -towards the East- I took that route and after that everything went bad to worse. the first 15 kms were fine single lane but excellent surface-then there was road and no road-hide and seek for the next 90 odd kms. The locals -"aagay hai road" or "aagey hai black top"-. The route I followed from Jaisalmer was the NH 15 via Pokrhan-again nostagia flooded me because of the vicinity of the Artillery Ranges then onto NH 114 till Jodhpur. From there i took NH 65 till Pali bypass
I will append the map of the SHs I used from Ramsiya till I hit NH 8 again. A few pictures of Mehangrah Fort:

[Judemayne]

After the horrendous part journey on the State Highways/MDRs between Pali and NH 8 to Udaipur-it was real great to reach there and find a comfortable place-Hotel Asish-next to Chetak Circle-Rs 1800 per night-on the main road walking distance to the market and not very far from all places, lakes and NHs.

Three Days at Udaipur:- Its one of the more beautiful cities of India. We loved the lakes, the surroundings and the climate. 25 Feb to 0600 hrs 28 Feb was spent resting, sight seeing including Chittorgarh and tasting Rajasthani cuisine the best place being Apni Dhani-on the way to the Airport:- a few pictures:-Fatehsagar, Chetak Circle, City Palace, Apni dhani and Pichola, Chittorgarh-majestic fort that gave us both goosebumps, Vijay stamb-Gentleman I climbed right to the top and a picture of the ceiling-left behind a No.of guys and girls half my age whilst climbing up.

[Judemayne]

I am trying to post the short cut I took from Pali to Udaipur so that no one else tries making the same mistake

[roamingrao]

Colonel, have been following your travelogue from day one - its been enthralling and captivating.

Yes, as you have mentioned, driving long and far without a fixed schedule is nothing short of an incredible achievement. Congratulations !!

Originally Posted by Judemayne

I am not a story teller but....

Who says so ? your narration is up there.. hilarious ! and at best an Army Officer can do - Short and sweet !

Originally Posted by Judemayne

Traffic comes to you from 06 direction-from the four cardinal points and also from top and down-boy thank God for my wife who kept telling of the approaching paint scratchers/new car denters.

Originally Posted by Judemayne

Mistake-i should have catered for one more day at Bhuj to see Narayan Sarovar-blunder of my life

Very bad ! How did you manage to miss this ?

Originally Posted by Judemayne

Chitrod NH 15-Santalpur-Radhanpur-Bhabar-turned East away from the NH-a short cut pretty good-turned North for Tharad and met up with NH 15 onto Sanchor-Barmer-Jaisalmer with destination Sam Dhani-reached at 1700 hrs.

Colonel, could you please describe this drive of 8 / 9 hours in detail - traffic, facilities, comfort... Yes, this road would not be new to you, but how would a first timer feel on this road ?

Originally Posted by Judemayne

Udaipur

Yes, Udaipur deserves a three day stay to soak up all it offers. How was the weather in late february ?


A five star from me for not only a good travelogue but an incredible achievement ! Wishing you more and more such great drives !

[Judemayne]

Originally Posted by roamingrao

Colonel, have been following your travelogue from day one - its been enthralling and captivating.

Yes, as you have mentioned, driving long and far without a fixed schedule is nothing short of an incredible achievement. Congratulations !!


Who says so ? your narration is up there.. hilarious ! and at best an Army Officer can do - Short and sweet !





Colonel, could you please describe this drive of 8 / 9 hours in detail - traffic, facilities, comfort... Yes, this road would not be new to you, but how would a first timer feel on this road ?

Actually the drive was without incident-roads fantastic-some of the best roads till Radhanpur-here there is a slight confusion in the signposting-actually none exists at the the turn off to Jaismalmer/Barmer-like you said my instincts came into play and I took the road otherwise I would have been enroute to Ahmedabad. At Bhabar-it was not my instinct but a local's knowledge that made me turn East-after 8 kms tak the road going North towards Tharad and join the NH 15 once again. You do get a sprinkling of hotels (small dhabas) that to far and wide-carry a lot of bottled water. Sanchor had a few eat outs but if you have a weak tummy like mine avoid as you will making a No. of unschedule stops enroute to your destination


A five star from me for not only a good travelogue but an incredible achievement ! Wishing you more and more such great drives !

Thank you for remark-yes I have Bhutan in my sights-will do it in Nov this year.

When is you next one???

[Judemayne]

28 Feb -Daman of Daman and Diu Started at 0600 hrs from Udaipur and an uneventful drive till Shamlaji where i turned of onto the SH 145 to Modassa-its being converted into a 4 lane highway but too many diversion onto Godhra and then to Ring road Vadodra. There were two reasons I took this road-First to come back on a different route and see more towns. Secondly, thought that it would be shorter-second mistake-it was definitely not so in timings. I felt I would have made it in quicker time if I had to follow NH 8 and the Expressway?? Any comments?? attaching a Google map of the route:-
Normal breaks on the way with breakfast and lunch breaks we entered Daman from Udhawra-pretty bad entrance at 1600 hrs- thankfully got back on NH 8 from the Vapi side. Daman was dissappointing especially the beach-non existent-pebbles, rocks and night soil. The park was pathetic and its an Oasis of Liquor in a Desert of prohibition. The first thing the hotel guy asked me "Saab kya daroo chaheya" I had a hard time explaining to him that the hardest drink I take is a Coke. A few pics-Gate to Daman from Udhawara, Beach-pebbles and rocks, Sunset-that was good, Park bench with the sweeter half, Teen Batti cross, Entrance to Daman from Vapi. Forgot-we stayed at Hotel Silent at 50 % off-New Hotel-introductory offer-good place-fleeced us off with the food!!!

[Judemayne]

01 Mar-Daman to Pune Initially planned to have a lazy start to the first of the month-but the body clock willed otherwise. Up at 0500 hrs and could not go back to sleep-bathe (no bed tea-as we had to wake the Receptionist to give us our bill) and turned the key at 0600 hrs tanked up at the last pump of Daman at Rs 59.36 a litre. The drive on NH 8 was pleasant -Thank God the trucks were bumper to bumper on the other side of the Highway. Kept getting beaten by some Mercedes, Innovas, a BMW, Skodas but met the guys at the tolls. I may be mistaken but in a short bust of acceleration the Ritzy girl was always ahead-jokes apart-it happened about thrice especially on a climb closer to Mumbai. Getting into Pune and to my ex bosses place was a nightmare-there was not a strecth of road that did not have a turn every 50/100 yards. It took an hour and a half to traverse about 15 to 18 kms. stayed two days a Pune.
03 Mar Pune Back Home Whitefield Left Pune at 0600 hrs reached Yeswantpur junction with the ORR turning to Hebbal at 1755, 12 hrs 840 kms. From there to my garage-30 kms-1 hr and 40 minutes. total distance drove that day was 870 kms. A total of 5745.4 kms from start to finish my longest drive till date intend breaking it this Nov-Dec with a drive to NE. A few pictures-of NH 4, Boses' place and last KM reading-see you guys till my next trip- Col Jude Mayne

[Judemayne]

A Tail piece:- about 10 minutes back two of my colleagues-both may be 20+ my junior in age had come to my office to talk about my trip. One has just acquired a "Thar" and the other an "A Star". Both were amazed at the distance and the time taken. Both said that the max they will do 300 kms and that to at a push.

I feel that age is a limitation of the mind-as i said before-we build fences around our capabilities-trust me you can do the things even you thought not capable of. Just go out there and do it-"just do it".

To the Bhpians who remarked and those that read and did not-to the ones that have inspired me-the list is long and a salute to those who have assisted me on our endeavour. Till my next long trip 6000> and its T-Log-take care and happy driving.

Colonel Jude Mayne

[ranjith.rajaram]

You have proved that age is not the limit colonel. Shows how much you love to drive... Keep them burning.