21st. September 2012 - Day (-1)
In the initial stages of planning it was just
KSM-Vtec and me, who were going to travel from Bombay in the Bolero.
doctorque and VB confirmed their participation very much at the last moment!
KSM-Vtec and me had been having continuous discussions, regarding the date and time of our departure for New Delhi. Every trip that I had undertaken so far had always been with a very early morning start. This time around
KSM-Vtec suggested that we leave on the 20th. of September, late in the night, drive through the night to reach Delhi on the 21st. of September by evening, check into a hotel and get a good nights sleep. Somehow he managed to convince me that it was a sound plan and very much doable with one person driving and the other sleeping.
But as luck would have it, the best laid plans go to waste. Horror of horrors,
KSM-Vtec was unable to get leave for Friday the 21st. September. He had to attend office atleast for the first half of the day. Imagine starting at 12:00 pm from South Bombay, which is where
KSM-Vtec's office is located and trying to reach New Delhi before 11:30 am the next day, IMPOSSIBLE I SAY! So what options did we have, none. So then it would have to be a continuous drive all the way to New Delhi and then onwards to Haridwar/Rishikesh.
Decided to go for it! KSM-Vtec loaded all his luggage into the Bolero the previous evening so that he could come straight from the office.
VB and doctorquewere ready to leave at any time,
doctorque to be picked up from Worli Sea Face and
VB from Malad.
So on the 21st. of September we leave from
KSM-Vtec's office at around 12:00pm, pick up
doctorque from Worli Sea Face, cross the BWSL and pick up
VB from Malad. A little further on the Highway,
doctorque's luggage is picked up, delivered by his Father and younger
brother!
Opp the Times of India, Malad, Arranging doctorque's Luggage Very Happy VB & doctorque
And we are finally off! We reach the Dahisar Toll Plaza at around 1:00pm. So you can say that we left Bombay at 1:00pm. The roads on NH8, have improved considerably, since the last time I have been here. I guess its a result of all the flyover works being completed! Being the middle of the day, we encountered very sparse truck traffic and it was smooth sailing all the way. We crossed the Maharashtra Gujarat border by around 2:30pm. As is the norm these days, we did not take the Bharuch Bypass, but instead exited the highway, drove through Ankleshwar and crossed the
Golden Bridge over the River Narmada.
Crossed the bridge, entered Bharuch town drove through and rejoined NH8. We had decided not to stop or take breaks for eating and towards that end we had already made sure that we were carrying enough food in the car.
VB & doctorque made sure that none of us starved and kept on plying us with home made
Theplas, Koki (A Sindhi dish like a Paratha), Mathris, biscuits, juices, etc.! A few kms after Bharuch, stopped to refuel and took the first break of the day.
BPCL Petrol Pump at Luwara, Bharuch The roads in Gujarat were a dream to drive on.
We crossed the Baroda-Ahmedabad NE1 by 7:30 pm and were at the Gujarat and Rajasthan border by around 9:30 pm. Again superb roads in Rajasthan helped us maintain very good speeds. Equally speedy was the food delivery by
VB and doctorque. Another small 10 minutes tea break at 10:00pm, near Kherwada in Rajasthan. Stopped for refueling at Rishabdeo at around 10:45 pm. At around 1:30am we reached the Bhilwara bypass. That is 13.5 hours, the fastest that I had ever driven this distance. Mighty proud I was!
Stopped for a small tea break at a road side stall and then handed over the driving responsibility to
KSM-Vtec. Shifted to the rear seat to catch some sleep, while
VB joined
KSM-Vtec as the navigator.
KSM-Vtec continued the drive at the same good speeds and we crossed Kishangarh Toll Plaza at around 4:15am and stopped for diesel at around 4:30am a little further away from Kishangarh at Bander Sindri. Crossed the Jaipur end of the GVK Expressway Toll plaza at around 5:15am. As was the plan, we turned off towards Agra just before entering Jaipur. Bypassed Jaipur and were on the Jaipur-Agra highway NH11, heading towards Agra by around 6:15am. Barring the roads on the Jaipur bypass, which are in an absolute mess due to construction work of flyovers, etc., the roads otherwise were great. But since it was early morning, we had to be very careful of villagers, cattle, etc.!
A Section of the Jaipur - Agra Highway NH11
Took a small break to relieve ourselves and guess what, the car wouldn't start up!
Tried checking all electricals, etc., without luck. Finally had to resort to the classic
DHAKAA START method and thankfully the Bolero roared back to life. After a while we realised that the battery was not getting charged and slowly all the electricals started failing one by one, though the engine was running. Considering that we had to reach Delhi by 11:30am, decided to continue till the engine gave up!
Decided not to continue all the way Agra, but instead turn off at Bharatpur and join the Yamuna Expressway at Mathura. Reached NH 2, Mathura at around 9:15 am., and finally reached the entry to the Yamuna Expressway @ Mathura at 9:50am.
KSM-Vtec the thorough gentleman that he is, insisted that I take over the driving responsibility on the YEW! All I can say here is that the expressway is fantastic!
YAMUNA EXPRESSWAY (TAJ EXPRESSWAY) YEW Toll Plaza HAPPY FACES!
Continued towards New Delhi, only to stop
Near the Buddh International Circuit to take a few clicks!
Change of drivers again and with
KSM-Vtec at the wheels, we finally reached the DND flyover meeting point at exactly 11:30am., after driving for 22.5 hours and covering a distance of 1,619 kms.
SS, laluks, PC, akaush his Parents, AS, VK & NS, were already present there. Had a very quick reunion with the
IPHE team members present there and introductions to the new team members. The others arrived shortly, but the Bombay Bolero had to leave to get the car
electrical problem sorted out and to refuel, so after bundling
SS and his luggage into the Bolero, we left before the others arrived!
akaush was kind enough to lead the way through the maze that is New Delhi!
to be continued.....