Day 4 (Oct 28th)
Route : Shahpura - Gurgaon
Kms : 194
We wake up lazily without any alarms - Delhi is hardly 200kms away and we had the entire day to do that distance. It is a beautiful morning - outside the temperature isn't too cold, yet there is a cool breeze. The morning sun is out and I decide to go out for a walk - a wise decision it was.
Earlier in the night, we hardly had any idea what the scenery around the city of Shahpura; now I could see there is this glorious mountain at the back, giving a nice background to the hotel.
Clear & big boards indicating the hotel location to travelers going in either direction. Landmark - Tata motors dealer right in front of the hotel The background view of the hotel A view of the hotel again Coming from Gujarat eh, that's kids' stuff - so says the lady to the SUV
A word about the hotel :- this is a no frills hotel with minimum rates - be it the lodging or the food. The room setup is simple & nice - clean rooms, with a extra bed available on request. Amenities : A/c (optional), TV with cable, clean bathrooms with western toilets & working geysers, wide parking area & a nice garden (
excellent for having the morning tea outside) and lastly, a cheerful host ready to entertain any of your demands even at 1 in the night!
We decide against having breakfast, as we wanted to do that on the road, and what a wise decision it was. We pass quite a few modern hotels on the roads - unfortunately these seem to be gaining a lot of footfall as compared to the roadside dhabas. And why wouldn't they - apart from the continental choice of food, they offer a decent parking area, clean toilets & a place for your kids to run around & play.
But we didn't have any kids, neither did we have the need for clean toilets, and so we bypass such "dhabas" - after all we didn't travel 1400kms to come and eat oily masala dosas! We soon stop at an actual dhaba - one with the khatiayas & a tire puncture shop adjacent to it
The dhaba we stopover for breakfast Looks like we aren't the only one stopping here for a glass of tea! The lady goes for a tire pressure check-up - very necessary to be done atleast once every day on such long drives We decide to try out the Khatiyas - the feeling is awesome! Where can I get one in Pune, please?
Now coming to the breakfast - we inquire and are told that there is only sabzi & roti available. We were like - W*F! He's like -
Saab, khaa ke toh dekho, abhi abhi banaya hai.
Without any other option we agree to do so. One bite and we are blown away - the roti(s) are made from fresh wheat, probably grown & procured in the nearby villages - the taste was out of the world. Forget the sabzi(s) (
which also were pretty decent too), but we could just keep on eating the roti(s) alone.
And coming to the chai, we again see a lateral shift in the taste. Let me elucidate -
- MH tea is one of the sweetest tea(s) I have ever tasted, plain & loads of sugar
- GJ tea is more of additives (masala mainly, with a dash of elaichi & ginger & pudina) & water, and less milk
- RJ tea - depends on the location but mainly the milk quantity is more & thick. As for the shahpura tea, the tea had a kick that could wake up any sleepyhead!
The best breakfast of the entire trip! Clean swipe! Check out the crowd - the lady certainly was a crowd puller; every dhaba we stop-over got filled up by the time we left
With our stomachs full, we start out towards our final destination, Gurgaon. Soon we see the diversions coming up, as the entire corridor is undergoing road expansions & flyover constructions. Thankfully there are hardly any trucks around and we are able to zip through the diversions.
This fellow was managing highway traffic with that thin stick - wonder what he would have done when the time came to use it The entire Shahpura - Gurgaon stretch has a speed limit of 40kmph - wonder whom did they intend it for - tractors?
But as we near Gurgaon, the road quality deteriorates and our average speeds come to double figures. Also the surrounding scenery which earlier was full of empty fields & a few hills, is now being filled up with a few factories and multiple towns, one after another.
Change in the scenery - Industrial setup, meaning Gurgaon is nearby Weird thick cables - Delhi/Gurgaon junta, care to explain?
Soon we pass by the industrial town of Manesar, and we see huge number of car transport trucks lined up on either sides of the road. The Maruti strike is still on, and we can see the effect out here - trucks lined up & without any work to do.
Finally we pass by Manesar - both sides of the highways are filled with car transport trucks - courtesy Maruti!
Finally after 3+ days of travel with multiple number of stop-overs we reach our destination. The day is young, the
Metallica (
sigh!) concert is about to start in a few hours. To add to it, we have two epic days of F1 racing to attend.
@Dippy has already messaged/called me numerous times over the past few days trying to fix the final itinerary plan; every time the poor chap called me, I was always on the wheel, and had to cut his call. I give him the headsup about our arrival and we plan our next day accordingly.
Not for the last time, we again pray to the rain gods to bypass some of the Thailand rains to Noida, so that we could see some "extra" action - we even come prepared with umbrellas & rain coats!
Talk about hope!
More details coming up!