[ravib]

Cross posting my Bangalore-Madras-Bangalore drive experience

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...ml#post4886296 (Bangalore - Chennai - Bangalore : Route Queries)

-Ravi

[vinair]

With the new lock down relaxation rules, thought you do not require any sort pass to cross borders. Isn't that the case?? We still need a e-pass?? Planning for a Kerala trip sometime next week, any info is greatly appreciated!

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by vinair

With the new lock down relaxation rules, thought you do not require any sort pass to cross borders. Isn't that the case?? We still need a e-pass?? Planning for a Kerala trip sometime next week, any info is greatly appreciated!

You still need to register online and will get an instant acknowledgement and that's it. It's no more an "approval needed" thing.

You can also do that registration at the check post but expect long waiting for that. So better do it online and proceed.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by vinair

With the new lock down relaxation rules, thought you do not require any sort pass to cross borders. Isn't that the case?? We still need a e-pass?? Planning for a Kerala trip sometime next week, any info is greatly appreciated!

You still need to get Transit pass for TN. However, in reality no one is checking for it, except for random checks that was mentioned in few posts earlier.
So there is a luck factor too which plays and depends on the day you travel!

-Ravi

[Artyom]

Guys planning a Bangalore to Punjab trip next week.Any precautions,suggestions from forum members or people who have made a similar trip lately.

[amods]

Originally Posted by Artyom

Guys planning a Bangalore to Punjab trip next week.Any precautions,suggestions from forum members or people who have made a similar trip lately.

I am assuming you're asking about road trip. Not specific from my experience, but few general suggestions:

1. Do not drive at late night. Start early and reach early. It will help avoid traffic and you can cover more distance in early morning.

Night driving is dangerous - mainly because of being dark(you can't see road properly and high beams from vehicles are stressful for eyes), chances of you getting sleepy, less opportunity of getting help in case you need etc.

2. Plan your night halt at premium/relatively expensive place. Mostly because it is more likely to be hygienically maintained for stay and food. Less occupation is another cause.

Same goes for food+washroom stops. Stop at good restaurants. Avoid touching surfaces as far as possible and eat in the car(takeaways) if you can.

Carry plenty of sanitizer, wipes, mask and wash your hands with soap every time you touch anything and have water/soap at disposal.

3. Get transit passes for states wherever applicable. Although I highly doubt there is checking going on anywhere in this route, but better to inquire and be prepared.

4. Carry food to cover first day of driving. Carry lots of ready to eat food/dry fruits/water.

5. Take breaks, specially when you feel sleepy. keep AC on fresh air mode to help get fresh air to keep you alert.

6. Punjab is at a long distance from Bangalore. Keep your vehicle in well maintained condition. Get it serviced at least one week back and drive it for a week to assess the condition/niggles.

7. Be sure of your driving capabilities - have you ever driven >500-600 kms in a day for 1-2 days? If yes, well and good. If not, do a test run of 200-300 kms to be sure. Highways are plain boring and city traffic towards end of your day's drives frustrates you.

8. If applicable, have a co-driver. It makes a world of difference.

[ruzbehxyz]

16.09.2020.

Now you can travel to Himachal Pradesh without epass.

The state allowed interstate movement by deciding to end the precondition from Wednesday to procure an e-pass before travelling ahead to the state.

The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur here on Tuesday.

Earlier, the Cabinet had decided to continue with the registration process till September 15 to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Now anyone, be it a resident of Himachal Pradesh or a tourist, can enter the state without the e-pass.

Earlier, the state decided to reopen temples after almost six months of closure from September 10.

Since then, the popular temples of Naina Devi in Bilaspur district, Chintpurni in Una district, Baba Balak Nath in Hamirpur district, Brajeshwari Devi, Jwalaji and Chamunda Devi in Kangra district, and Bhimakali and Hateshwari in Shimla district are witnessing the arrival of devotees.

Source: https://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/r...e-pass-2843268

[Pancham]

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

16.09.2020.

Now you can travel to Himachal Pradesh.

So does that essentially mean you don't need a COVID rest report to enter Himachal ?

[Artyom]

Originally Posted by amods

I am assuming you're asking about road trip. Not specific from my experience, but few general suggestions:

3. Get transit passes for states wherever applicable. Although I highly doubt there is checking going on anywhere in this route, but better to inquire and be prepared.

6. Punjab is at a long distance from Bangalore. Keep your vehicle in well-maintained condition. Get it serviced at least one week back and drive it for a week to assess the condition/niggles.

7. Be sure of your driving capabilities - have you ever driven >500-600 kms in a day for 1-2 days? If yes, well and good. If not, do a test run of 200-300 kms to be sure. Highways are plain boring and city traffic towards end of your day's drives frustrates you.

Appreciate your response Brother. However, I do have a few queries:-

->I got the vehicle serviced(2nd Service) in July,20. So what can i do to make sure that the vehicle is ready. The vehicle has run almost 400 km post service .Any suggestions?

->I have driven >500 Km once . This time i am planning to go from Bangalore to Hyderabad and spend the night there and then from Hyderabad to Nagpur. My wife can also drive so even if she drives 2 hours or so i can take a nap to refresh myself.

->I could not find any website to apply for any e passes so i am confused what to do.

[amods]

Originally Posted by Artyom

Appreciate your response Brother. However, I do have a few queries:-

->I got the vehicle serviced(2nd Service) in July,20. So what can i do to make sure that the vehicle is ready. The vehicle has run almost 400 km post service .Any suggestions?

If you don't see any issue, nothing to worry about. If you know how, pop the hood and check oil/coolant levels and fill the wiper fluid(water) to brim and you're good to go. Get correct air pressure before leaving.

Try getting puncture repair kit/air pump along if you can.

For e-passes, you need to check individual state websites. I think most of them have done away with passes.

You can check this group for your specific state pass related query in individual threads https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-travel-queries/

e.g. blr-hyd can be found at https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...eries-112.html (Hyderabad to Bangalore : Route Queries)

[NowNew7]

Just completed Bengaluru-Hyderabad-Adilabad-Nagpur-Chindwara-Sagar-Jhansi-Lucknow across 2 days. Took the slightly longer route due to feedback on some patches being bad on a more direct route.

Our 2019 Tata Nexon XZA+ Diesel AMT driven by self and spouse did an awesome job!

Observations:

1. No ePass or medical check up anywhere in this trip: we crossed Karnataka, Andhra, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh Borders
2. FASTag works everywhere... sometimes later than sooner, but it works
3. Private vehicle traffic on highways is highly reduced, I believe 15% of earlier; Commercial traffic is slightly lesser as well.

Caution: Lesser pressure on roads and highways has not however meant that there is a sudden outbreak of road sense, or that the road quality has magically improved. You will continue to find horrible roads and worse road users as always... Maybe even more as they have become even more carefree...

[Mik]

Originally Posted by NowNew7

Just completed Bengaluru-Hyderabad-Adilabad-Nagpur-Chindwara-Sagar-Jhansi-Lucknow across 2 days. Took the slightly longer route due to feedback on some patches being bad on a more direct route.

Hey NowNew7 a friend of mine is looking to do the same route upto Jhansi. Could you briefly summarize road conditions (on thread or on DM). It will be really helpful.


*************
I did Bangalore - Pune and back over last week.
No checkposts anywhere.
Most dhabas (atleast the ones car-wallahs tend to go to) are closed. Trucker dhabas are open.
Kamat Dharwad opened up two days back. The owner was glad to see us and was saying that he has lost huge business :-(
Route conditions seem the same as some of the updates on this thread.
One needs to be careful about the Chitradurg - Dharwad section. Diversions galore. On entry to Satara while coming from Bangalore (and exiting) there is a very big patch of offroad paradise.
Traffic density seemed almost normal.

[NowNew7]

Originally Posted by Mik

Could you briefly summarize road conditions

Happy to share! In fact I was thinking that it would be great to have a thread/forum to share realistic and real time road reports. Not sure if something like this already exists. Here you go:

1. Within Bengaluru: Internal roads continue to be bad as usual and getting traffic heavy
2. Bengaluru to Hyderabad NH44: Awesome roads as always!
3. Hyderabad Nehru ORR: Literally a breeze
4. Hyderabad to Adilabad NH44: Pretty good and picturesque
5. Adilabad to Nagpur NH44: Not pleasant, with frequent, unexpected road damages which will severely test your shock absorbers
6. Nagpur internal: Lot of road works happening in the city and roads vary from okay to poor
7. Nagpur to Chindwara: Most of it is pretty good, the last bit is narrower and has a few bad patches
8. Chindwara to Narsinghpur: Very bad roads for about 50 kms over flats followed by some better roads at ghats
9. NH44 from Narsinghpur to Jhansi via Sagar: Smooth sailing throughout, easy to touch top speeds, just be on the lookout for stationary and moving groups of cows!

Basically this was all NH44 from Bengaluru to Jhansi, except for the deviation from Nagpur to Narsinghpur, as per feedback from a couple of people on other social media platforms who recently did the route.

[Vipin Kumar]

Originally Posted by NowNew7

Basically this was all NH44 from Bengaluru to Jhansi, except for the deviation from Nagpur to Narsinghpur, as per feedback from a couple of people on other social media platforms who recently did the route.

This means that road construction is on in the MP side of the Pench forest. It has been going on for a long time, and there is a sharp-turns ghat in that part which the contractors have to negotiate. The MH part of this stretch up to Mansar from Pench is rather straight. So, this route will be taking some more time to be in full form, I guess. But with this completed, the entire Bangalore - Jhansi section will be fantastic. And, one can bypass Nagpur also.

Didn't you stay anywhere on your way? If yes, where...? If you could give more details in the other thread, will be useful.

Helpful post more with regard to route/road condition updates - Bangalore to Delhi/Jhansi.

[NowNew7]

Originally Posted by Vipin Kumar

Didn't you stay anywhere on your way? If yes, where...? If you could give more details in the other thread, will be useful

We practised "Atma Nirbharta" . Night halt was in our car itself, with the A/C on, when we stopped right at Borkhedi Toll Plaza for ~6 hours from 11:45 PM to 5:30 AM.

Wanted to minimize exposure with a youngster travelling with us, and senior citizens with co-morbidities at the destination, so we had no halts except for couple of tea breaks, refuelling and very cautious bio-breaks...

Also the reason why we stretched and completed the trip in 2 days (Tue 6:30 AM to Wed 11:00 PM) instead of the easier 3 days considering the distance involved.