[Sran]

Originally Posted by Sommos

The second route is not an option and it was not preferred during our Varanasi visit in Dec' 22. If really I can't take the first route, then I would rather prefer to travel via Jabalpur-Varanasi or via Ranchi-Hazaribagh.

Ambikapur to Aurangabad is 262 KM and I am expecting this would take araound 5 hours in my XUV700. From the maps I get that this is single lane NH like the old ones. How is the road condition and would there be heavy traffic in the route.

Bhilai to Bilaspur - 150 KM - 2.5 hours.
Bilaspur to Ambikapur - 215 KM - 3.5 hours.
Ambikapur to Aurangabad - 262 KM - 5 hours.
Aurangabad to Patna - 140 KM - 2.5 hours.

So, if I start at 02:00 AM in the morning, from Bhilai I should reach Ambikapur by 08:00 AM, have breakfast and safely reach Patna by evening say 05:00 PM.

Would that be feasible or do you see any problem in this ?

You need not worry about road conditions or safety. I would go as far as to say that travelling here in Bihar at night is much safer than many so called "safe states". I generally travel at night. Patna is open for shopping or dining till vey late. Your travelling dates coincides with lagan dates so you will find no issues regarding long empty stretches.

Aurangabad to Patna however will take no less than 4 hours, because after Arwal eastern Sone river canal makes road twisty. Garhwa and Palamu are also hilly areas so your desired speed may not be possible. Aurangabad -Patna road is wide and very good.

[thirugata]

Toll increased by 5% across the country.

[CaptBrat1845]

Hi All,

Will be doing Chennai - Vizag - Kolkata - Kalimpong - Gangtok - Darjeeling - Kolkata - Vizag - Chennai.

Dates and trip segments as below :

19th May - Depart Chennai - Arrive Vizag
20th May - At Vizag
21st May - Depart Vizag - Arrive Kolkata
22nd May - At Kolkata
23rd May - Depart Kolkata - Arrive Kalimpong
24th May - At Kalimpong
25th May - Arrive Gangtok
25th-30th May - At Gangtok (around Sikkim)
30th May - Depart Gangtok - Arrive Darjeeling
31st May - At Darjeeling
1st June - Depart Darjeeling - Arrive Kolkata
2nd June - Depart Kolkata - Arrive Vizag
3rd June - Depart Vizag - Arrive Chennai

I will be sole driver from 19th May to 21st May (Chennai to Kolkata) with My 10 yr old daughter and 5yr old Golden Retriever for company.
and will be joined by my Wife from Kolkata onwards.
The stay bookings for all these places has already been done (considering Summer vacations and lack of Pet Friendly Stays) all on AirBnB.

Queries :

1. Road Condition from

[CaptBrat1845]

a. Vizag - Kolkata (Via Bubhneshwar) - need to complete this stretch in 1 day's drive and I will be the sole driver.

b. Kolkata - Kalimpong - Also need to complete in 1 day, but will be with my wife who is also an accomplished driver.


2. Drive times for the various legs.
And any recommended places for stops for Breakfast, Lunch (and dinner - if the need be).

3. I will be driving my 2022 Tata Harrier Automatic.

[Maverick5490]

Hi Guys!

Planning a road trip to Bandhavgarh National Park in the month of May.

Driving my Ford Freestyle, 4 of us and 2 drivers.

Following is the plan:

Onward Journey:

25th May - Departure at 4 am from Thane, tentative Halt in Jabalpur with a distance of 1000 kms, seems doable due to Samruddhi Expressway.

26th May - Will be joined by 4 other friends in their car and drive onwards to Bandhavgarh which is a distance of 200 kms and an easy drive

Our main issue is the return journey.

29th May: We will be doing the morning safari and post that should be able to depart around 12 noon. Considering the peak heat and late departure, i am guessing we would not be able to drive more than 6 - 8 hours and have thought of a halt at Nagpur.

30th May : Complete the Nagpur to Thane Journey by departing early morning.

I am comfortable to drive for 8 - 10 hours with short breaks and so is the other driver.

Need assistance in the following:

1) Although its still early and the Igatpuri stretch of the SE is expected to be ready by then, need info on the rest stops and fuel stops

2) Being peak May heat, how helpful is Nitrogen in tyres, will be replacing my tyres before the trip as the car has done 55k kms as of today

3) Halt option on the return Journey, preferably close to the expressway around Nagpur.

Any other tips and suggestions are welcome.

[Risky4327]

Since I have to undertake a road journey from Jamshedpur to Begusarai and I am aware that Jamshedpur to Barhi road quality is top notch, i request the recent travellers to shed some light on road condition between Barahi and Giriyak, via Koderma. Last I travelled on this route was in 2021 and most ot the sections were under disturbed due to ongoing four laning work
I am aware that road between Giriyak and Mokama (via Barbigha and Sarmera) is in good condition.
Any input in this topic will be appreciated.

[acquillew]

Recently did Ahmedabad to Nasik/Trimbakeshwar and return. Took the less famous Charoti Naka - Jawhar - Trimbak route and was pleasantly surprised and glad that I took the road. From NH48, take the left at Charoti and continue on the Dahanu - Jawhar road till you meet NH160A. Then continue towards Jawhar and then toward Nashik. Loved the drive - the road traverses through some dense forests and also good steep ghats and twisties. Not many places to eat but the road is super scenic. I uploaded a portion of my drive - from Trimbakeshwar to Charoti Naka on YouTube. It is a fairly long video covering the ghat section and the forest. If you are driving from Ahmedabad towards nasik - I would prefer this route over the one via Saputara. Has sparse traffic too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZN9hILOKRk

[R-Six]

Originally Posted by acquillew

Recently did Ahmedabad to Nasik/Trimbakeshwar and return.

Hey acquillew!

How was the weather there? I had been toying the idea of driving to Nasik during the month end and was just in double minds considering it is still hot.

Also, how long did it take you to reach Nasik?

Drive Safe,
R-Six

[acquillew]

Originally Posted by R-Six

Hey acquillew!

How was the weather there? I had been toying the idea of driving to Nasik during the month end and was just in double minds considering it is still hot.

Also, how long did it take you to reach Nasik?

Drive Safe,
R-Six

Nasik was fairly good. High of 36 the day I was there. Low of 22. There was dew on the car in the morning. I went to Shri Trimbakeshwar Jyotirling in the evening and there was cool breeze after 5:30 - 6:00.

I also bought 10 kg mangoes - got Kesar for 60 a kg - and were they good!!

I started from my hotel in Ambad at sharp 8:00 in the morning and reached Ahmedabad at 5:15 in the evening - with a couple of breaks; one long one at Haldiram for lunch. Adrenox tells me average speed was 62 with a high of 113 on the Vadodara-Ahmedabad stretch.

When you travel TO Nasik from Ahmedabad, NH48 is undergoing some repair works between Bharuch and Surat. I got stuck at a couple of places, but could crawl the jams driving on the extreme left on the roads. High ground clearance advantage

[R-Six]

Originally Posted by acquillew

Nasik was fairly good.

Good to know!

Originally Posted by acquillew

I also bought 10 kg mangoes - got Kesar for 60 a kg - and were they good!!

Haha! We can never have enough of those! If I manage to go, I'm pretty sure my boot is going to be stocked up during the return as well.

Originally Posted by acquillew

8:00 in the morning and reached Ahmedabad at 5:15 in the evening

That's a good timeline!

Originally Posted by acquillew

NH48 is undergoing some repair works between Bharuch and Surat.

Oh yes! That has been the case for a while now. NH48 has been mess. We had driven to Daman during mid April and the scene was no different. We trusted google map suggestions for detours and were able to skip most of the bottlenecks though.

Cheers!
R-Six

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by acquillew

Recently did Ahmedabad to Nasik/Trimbakeshwar and return. Took the less famous Charoti Naka - Jawhar - Trimbak route and was pleasantly surprised and glad that I took the road.

Thanks for sharing and this is really another good alternate to hit NH48 from Nashik side, the other one being Saputara Vandsa Chikhli (intersection with NH48). We had during the monsoon drive of 2013 done Dahanu Vapi Jawahar Trimbakeshwar and then Pune to Bangalore and roads around Jawahar were totally battered during those days.

However, in Nov 2021, I took the Saputara route to reach Amdavad and was pleasantly surprised to notice that the entire route was in excellent condition including the ghats with wide open roads and twisties for some real driving fun!

If I had to discount 3 hour long break inside Baroda city meeting BHPians, It had taken me 11 hours to do Aurangabad to Amdavad then with a refuel, breakfast and lunch breaks via Saputara. Aurangabad Niphad (around Nashik) took 2 hours. So if I discount that, it is around 9 hours for Nashik to Amdavad via Saputara route too.

Needless to say, I did get stuck on Surat bypass which still hasnt improved much.

https://youtu.be/3iUKCqSY3DY

https://youtu.be/eEwT6VjTClU

[acquillew]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Thanks for sharing and this is really another good alternate to hit NH48 from Nashik side, the other one being Saputara Vandsa Chikhli (intersection with NH48). We had during the monsoon drive of 2013 done Dahanu Vapi Jawahar Trimbakeshwar and then Pune to Bangalore and roads around Jawahar were totally battered during those days.

However, in Nov 2021, I took the Saputara route to reach Amdavad and was pleasantly surprised to notice that the entire route was in excellent condition including the ghats with wide open roads and twisties for some real driving fun!

Thanks Parag. Yes, the Saputara route has been good for a few years now - the only thing that prompted me to take the Charoti route was the traffic I have faced climbing up from Waghai. On a couple of occasions I have seen heavy traffic of local cars from Surat (not driving in lanes even on blind curves). The Charoti route was a plesant surprise for me.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by acquillew

Charoti Naka - Jawhar - Trimbak route

Wow looks good. I did this in Jan 2020 from the other direction. The ghat climbing to Triambak from Jawahar was terrible.

[channelv]

Has anyone recently done Indore to Betul. Kindly share details regarding road conditions and time taken for the same.

[Hunter3077]

Good evening everyone. I am planning for a Cycle;ing ride from Kibithoo (Arunachal Pradesh) to Koteshwar (Gujarat) in last week November. It is an attempt at establishing a new Guinness World Record for Fastest Cycling Solo (Men) India East to West.
I am seeking inputs on the road conditions from Kibithoo to Tezpur. Amy inputs would be most welcome.
Thank You