Day 6 (Oct 30th)
Route : Noida - Gurgaon - Shahpura - Jaipur - Kishangarh
Kms : 438
The moment Sachin waves the victory flag to signal Vettel's victory, we scoot.
One trip through the traffic jams of Delhi was more than enough for us to decide to miss the prize ceremony. Plus we were in no mood to see the below lady give a speech or anything of that sort.
Whattay slogan I say!
Thankfully there is hardly any jam and the same distance that took us over four hours yesterday takes us only an hour today. We drop Dippy & Priyank at the metro station and head directly for the Gurgaon - Haryana highway. I am not sure what exactly worked for us, but there was hardly any traffic on the road and we bypass Gurgaon in a short period. By 7.30 p.m., barely 2 hours after leaving the track, we cross the Gurgaon toll gate.
Now our original plan was to leave Gurgaon by 11 in the night and drive till Jaipur or Ajmer (
depending on how late we leave, and how tired we are) where we would take a halt at some highway lodge. But surprisingly we hardly feel any fatigue and we leave Gurgaon a good 4 hours before our planned exit time. So we change our plan to drive as much as possible, with two of swapping places all through the night, while the third guy sleeps at the back throughout the night. If both of us are able to pull this off, then he can drive during the day while we sleep.
We stop for a short tea break however the only shops we encounter are bars! A few road-side omelettes later we get back on to the road.
Now the last 100 kms on the road from Jaipur to Gurgaon was one horrible patch with several craters lined up all over the road. Fearing the same now, we drive slowly (
slow meaning 80-100 kmph ![Uncontrollable Laughter](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/uncontrollable laughter.png)
) but surprisingly there are hardly any potholes on this side of the road. However the constructions & road expansions keep coming up so overall our pace is relatively slow.
It is at this junction we are again reminded about the awesomeness of Haryana number plates. Even in the night on the highway with no street lights & moderate to high truck traffic; no indicators, full on high beam (headlights) and always with the need to overtake one and all; is apparently the way to drive. Thankfully the highway has more RJ number plates who are a safer lot.
Finally we pass into Rajasthan and immediately the roads seem a lot better. What is interesting to note is as the night passes by, the traffic (
including the trucks) goes down. By the time we reach Shahpura, there are hardly a few trucks and absolutely no cars on the highway. It was a clear night with a nice chill in the air - even the songs on the radio were from the golden era(s) of Kishore Kumar & Mohd Rafi - a befitting addition to the beautiful drive. So we decide to enjoy the mood and stop for a cup of tea at a roadside dhaba.
Now most road-side dhabas at the time of the night should be relatively empty with a few truckers taking a nap, right? Seems like we had quite the wrong idea. A group of 10 odd truckers are intently watching a movie on TV - Kalicharan! Of all things to do on a highway, I certainly did not expect this.
![Big Grin](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.png)
But apparently this is the norm for all dhabas out here as we find out later during the night - the TV is the USP of the dhaba and ensures that the owner gets a good number of customers for the night.
2000+ kms and yet she's as fresh as in the start of the trip
I take over the wheel and we continue on the road till we reach Jaipur. When you compare GJ roads with RJ roads, the latter wins hands down. But when it comes to planning bypass for the cities with clear directions, GJ cities are far better. Now when one reaches the outskirts of Jaipur, the road signs are there for the bypass route. But what they do not tell you is Jaipur is also at a crossroads of NH8, NH11 and NH12. Also the bypass initially feels like a bypass, but soon it becomes a two lane road and you start feeling as if you have somehow ended up inside the city. Add to that at 11 in the night, there is hardly anyone on the roads, so we have to manage with Google maps. The idea is to keep on going straight till you come to a T-point with the third option being a right turn. Look out for Kendriya vidhyalaya on your right side, that's your cue for taking the right (
straight would take you to the airport and NH12 onwards). Now the right turn would take you through the city, but its a straightforward road and once you pass a few crossroads, the directions start coming up indicating that you are on the right road.
Soon we reach the NH8 highway and onto the expressway. Point to note here, while coming from Kishangarh, we had strictly adhered to the 90kmph speed limit of the Kishangarh - Jaipur expressway. However we didn't feel any of the interceptors would be doing overtime and stay up to stop us at 11 in the night, so the limits were off! The same distance that took over an hour earlier is now completed in just over 30 minutes. As soon as we reach the other end, we stop for a mid-night dinner at Kishangarh. Alu gobi and dal tadka never tasted so good as it did that night.
Not all of us were awake!
An hour later, we leave