[abhikb]

The year 2019 has been very special solely because of two reasons:

i) We were blessed with a baby girl couple of days before Diwali.
ii) We gifted ourselves a Thar 700 on the day of our 3rd marriage anniversary.

The road tripping activities had taken a back seat for the entire year for us. Though the entire time passed very quickly and we had our moments to Cherish for lifetime, but again me and my wife both being road trip enthusiasts it was difficult to wait for this long without hitting the roads. Earlier it used to be 2-3 long distance trips in a year and short weekend trips once in 3 months. We have been keeping our fingers crossed till now on whether our daughter would develop that same nag and madness towards road trips. Any how whenever I would hold her, I would talk to her about all the places that Daddy wishes to travel by road and how much she will enjoy that. Many times she would respond back with a smile and many times just a curious stare as to what the hell is Daddy going to do.

The new year had just set in and unlike every year which used to be party night with friends, we decided to spend the last night of 2019 in solace at our home cherishing the new gift that we were blessed with. The first weekend of 2020 was about to kick in and I had a crazy thought, our daughter has completed 2 months now why not go for a short drive on Sunday. I discussed this idea with my wife and parents, all of them nodded in affirmation. Then my parents suggested why not visit the Ambaji Temple located at the Aravali hills of North Gujarat. As a tradition whenever we buy a new car the first out station trip is made to Ambaji temple and then it is used for other outings. However, my wife was 7 months pregnant when I bought the Thar and taking her for a 400 kms to and fro drive was out of question. Anyways the plan seemed perfect as my Thar would set in the tradition and this could be our chance to introduce our daughter to the road tripping world. Many people had advised otherwise and told us to wait atleast till 6 months, but then my parents used to roam around with us during infant age in Dad’s CJ and Amby back in those days. Hence, we decided to take the chance and see if our daughter is comfortable travelling in Thar for 10 hours in a day.

Destination details:

Ambaji Temple as mentioned above is one of 51 Shakti pith across India. Mythology says that when Lord Vishnu had used his powers to cut Sati’s dead body which Lord Shiva was carrying around the world in grief,it fell into different places each of which now has a temple to its name. It is believed that Sati’s heart fell on the Aravali hills and hence it has the Ambaji temple. Goddess Amba as spelled in Gujarati is a form of Goddess Durga. (I am no expert in this section hence the information might not be exactly accurate.)

The place is a small town also named Ambaji falls in Banaskantha district in Northern part of Gujarat state. It is about 200 kms from Ahmedabad and is only 18 kms before Rajasthan border. Every day lot many people visit the temple which doesn’t have a idol or a picture but a has a holy cave with gold plated SHREE Yantra which is worshipped as a form of Goddess Amba.

Driving distance, route and time:

1) Driving distance: 200 kms from Ahmedabad
2) Route: There are three routes to Ambaji from Ahmedabad as mentioned below:
a) Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar-Chiloda-Himmatnagar-Idar-Khedbrahma-Ambaji
b) Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar-Vijapur-Himmatnagar-Idar-Khedbrahma-Ambaji
c) Ahmedabad-Mehsana-Palanpur-Danta-Ambaji

Normally we take Route (a) as it is more convenient to travel but due to the road widening work between Himmatnagar and Chiloda we decided to take Route (b) this time.

3) Time taken to travel: On a normal day the travelling time is about 4 hours depending upon the traffic conditions and number of breaks taken.

Vehicle to travel:

Since we were 5 adults + a infant to travel, we decided we will take both the Thar as well as the BRV. Myself, wife and the kiddo traveled in the Thar whereas parents and brother drove the BRV. It may sound unnecessary to take both the cars but then I didn’t want my parents to have any discomfort as the journey for the days was going to close to 10 hours.

Our workhorses

Road conditions, places to eat, stay:

The roads till Ambaji are pretty smooth, but due to the road widening work on the himmatnagar-Chiloda stretch the entire section of 50 kms is pathetic. There are huge potholes, several diversions and many other factors to slow you down. The route via Vijapur to Himmatnagar is in much better shape and is 4 lane in maximum portion. From Himmatnagar to Khedbrahma the roads become single lane with continuous vehicular traffic though there many portions where the roads extends and is close to 4 lane. The ghat section starts after Khedbrahma which is about 25-30 kms. These days the roads of ghat section has been widened to 4 lane roads and is much easier and convenient to drive on. A decade back you can’t drive above 3rd gear in those section and it used to consume 45 minutes to 1 hour time to negotiate the path, but with the new widened roads it hardly takes 30 minutes to clear the section.

There are lot many places where you can stop for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Our preferred stops on this route are as follows:

a) Hotel Raghuchaya Palace, Khedbrahma: Lunch
b) Hotel Sarvottam or City light, Idar: Evening tea and snacks

We have never stopped for dinner since the to and fro journey is manageable in a day’s time but there are lot many hotels to have food enroute. Ambaji town has several Hotels where they serve authentic Gujarati thali and good decent hotels to stay for the night. If anyone wishes to stay enroute then Himmatnagar Highway or Ambaji town are the most suitable options. Another way out is one can drive further till Abu road which is about 18-20 kms from Ambaji.

Himmatnagar-Vijapur stretch complete 4 lane

My Thar waiving at its elder sibling on the Idar-Khedbrahma stretch

The last stretch of roads

The ghat section

The Journey:

Starting from home

Unlike a proper road trip where you start early and close the drive by evening, we started our journey very lazily at 11 am. After all who would compromise the sweet Sunday morning sleep. I was excited as well as little tensed on as to how my daughter would react to this trip, after all she is just 2 months old and she will be travelling for 10 hours in the crudest vehicle in today’s time. Our future trips was also dependent on her reaction during the journey. I had topped up diesel to the brim the previous night, set the trip meter to zero and slept with a mix of emotions.

Post completing breakfast at home we started our journey at 11am. Took the SP ring road till Vaishnodevi circle and then hopped on to SG highway. Once we reached Gandhinagar, we turned right towards Maudi-Vijapur road. Once you leave Gandhinagar, the country side roads start and it is the same till Vijapur. From Vijapur we took a right towards Himmatnagar which is completely 4 lane. We reached Idar by 1:30pm which is about 120kms from Ahmedabad. By 2pm we stopped for lunch at Hotel Raghuchaya Palace which is on the Idar-Khedbrahma Highway. Had a very tasty Punjabi food which is their specialty and were ready to start by 2:45 Pm.

The distance to be covered was around 60 kms, my brother insisted on driving the Thar till Ambaji so I shifted behind the wheels of the BRV. All this time while driving the BRV I was only gazing at the Thar cruising on the highway. The Thar simply has tremendous road presence and looks imposing while it cruises on the highway. Many people just give side without the need of honking at the sight of a fast approaching Jeep. Anyhow, we crossed Khedbrahma in few minutes and started with the ghat section. The roads have been widened and flattened to a lot of extent these days which makes it quite easier to drive, earlier it used to be single lane with continuous ascend and descend at frequent intervals. It was 3:30pm when we entered Ambaji, there will be many hardcore marketing people who would jump in front of your car and ask you to park your car in front of their shops so that you can buy stuff from there. A piece of advice on this is, there are lot many paid parking facilities available with many hordings guiding people, choose any of them and park your vehicle.

It took us about 1 hour to go inside the temple, complete the puja and customs. Had some refreshments outside the temple and started with our return journey at 5pm. I was back at the wheels of the Thar, it felt as if I am sitting 1 floor higher as compared to the BRV. While returning we stopped at Hotel Sarvottam, Idar for evening tea and started the final leg of journey by 6:30pm. During the return journey I made a goof up on the Himmatnagar bypass road by not taking a right turn towards Vijapur and landed up straight at the Himmatnagar-Chiloda highway. The road widening work is going on for more than a year now and there are several diversions and broken patches, though I enjoyed driving on the broken patches since those were like a playground for the Thar and obviously it gave me some cheap thrills. With all the diversions and broken roads It took us almost 2 hours to reach Chiloda from Himmatnagar. From Chiloda circle you need to turn right towards Gandhinagar city and then hop on to SG highway. We reached home by 10pm, had ordered dinner through Swiggy while we were on the way.

Few glimpses of the journey:

The Toddlers Experience:

All geared up for her 1st road trip

Well my daughter enjoys when we take her out for a drive since the beginning. She would either sleep peacefully or have a soothing feeling and remain at peace. All these factors gave us the needed confidence to take her out for a trip. She slept through the first phase of the journey, was joyful in the second phase and during the last phase she was either sleeping or playing in her mother’s lap while during the drive. We didn’t rush at all and took ample of breaks for her feeding and changing her clothes at regular intervals. Babies get cranky when you travel with them for longer hours? Well mine just enjoyed the journey and was playful even after we reached home. Though she slept very peacefully that night as the journey might have tired her out but then we she enjoyed to the core. It was her first interaction with the road tripping world and she did it with a big smile.

During the return journey all playful

Few tips to travel with infants:

1) Make sure they are not empty stomach and are adequately fed.
2) Take babies out for shorter strolls frequently so that they get used to going out.
3) We had kept 3 sets of clothes for her which proved to be a very good decision.
4) Carry lactogen and adequate water in case of feeding the baby with bottle.
5) Keep a list of good places to halt in case the baby is getting tired and cranky so that you can make a last minute halt.
6) Use 1 size bigger diapers while traveling for infants since it makes them more comfortable.

Conclusion:

My daughter at 2 months of age completed a 400 km drive across 10 hours with a big smile on her face, we are hopeful that she will develop the same nag for road trips just the way me and my wife have. Not a single second we felt that we shouldn’t have brought her for the drive. My take on this would be: Just go with the flow and make the infant used to traveling step by step and speaking to them at a very early stage does make a positive impact.

The Trip meter at the end of the drive showed 401 kms and the FE of the Thar came out to be 14.5 kmpl based on full to full method.

[vb-saan]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues Section. Thank you for sharing!

[Thermodynamics]

Warm and sweet travelogue. Congratulations on the arrival of cute little angel and for the THAR.

[pd_scorpio]

Good words and looks like toddler was enjoying the trip.

We did the same thing but on 3rd month to bhuj and we have great memories from.

Road widening work is going on from 2017 July itself which seems to be never ending work because they have the plans for overfly as well at few location like Chiloda circle and many other.


The route you have taken while going is any day a good road and can travel at anytime till Khedbrahma.

Night drive after 8 pm is not advisable from my experience as i have been going to ambaji on every poornima since 2013.

[SJM1214]

Little angel looks excited. Two months looks like a new record. We had our first long road trip(Anand to Diu) when my daughter turned six months.

[DaptChatterjee]

You have given me lots of inspiration. I have a 3 and 1/2 months old daughter and we (my wife and I) are afraid of venturing out. My daughter, though, instantly falls asleep in car whenever we take her out (mostly for vaccination) and maybe she's ready for a day long trip!

[abhikb]

Originally Posted by Thermodynamics

Warm and sweet travelogue. Congratulations on the arrival of cute little angel and for the THAR.

Thanks thermodynamics

Originally Posted by pd_scorpio

Good words and looks like toddler was enjoying the trip.

We did the same thing but on 3rd month to bhuj and we have great memories from.

Road widening work is going on from 2017 July itself which seems to be never ending work because they have the plans for overfly as well at few location like Chiloda circle and many other.


The route you have taken while going is any day a good road and can travel at anytime till Khedbrahma.

Night drive after 8 pm is not advisable from my experience as i have been going to ambaji on every poornima since 2013.

I second to your Point PD. Night driving is not advisable though people do travel in night time but the last stretch is also tribal belt which was famous a decade back for loot and robbery during night time.

Originally Posted by SJM1214

Little angel looks excited. Two months looks like a new record. We had our first long road trip(Anand to Diu) when my daughter turned six months.

Thanks Shreyasbhai. Yes she enjoyed the day to the core and was cheerful even after we reached home.

Originally Posted by DaptChatterjee

You have given me lots of inspiration. I have a 3 and 1/2 months old daughter and we (my wife and I) are afraid of venturing out. My daughter, though, instantly falls asleep in car whenever we take her out (mostly for vaccination) and maybe she's ready for a day long trip!

Take the plunge gradually and have Plan A,B,C ready. We have been taking her out since she was 22 days old (as per custom we are not allowed to take the baby out of house till 21 days) every weekend for a drive atleast for couple of hours. Slowly and gradually we gained the confidence and decided to take her out for a full day. All the best for memories you would make with your kiddo on a trip.

[TheHelix0202]

Regarding taking infants in a car, I assume they’re too young for a child seat and that an adult has to hold them in their arms. I’m also assuming this doesn’t hamper the usage of the seat belt by the adult. What about the baby?

[Hayek]

Nice travelogue. I do hope you have a rear facing child seat for your daughter. Road trips are great but to my mind, that is a must have when you are traveling with a child below 1.

We used a rear facing child seat cum baby carrier till our son was 1, then moved him to two different front facing seats between 1 and 6, and finally used a booster till he was 9.

[abhikb]

Originally Posted by TheHelix0202

Regarding taking infants in a car, I assume they’re too young for a child seat and that an adult has to hold them in their arms. I’m also assuming this doesn’t hamper the usage of the seat belt by the adult. What about the baby?

Originally Posted by Hayek

Nice travelogue. I do hope you have a rear facing child seat for your daughter. Road trips are great but to my mind, that is a must have when you are traveling with a child below 1.

We used a rear facing child seat cum baby carrier till our son was 1, then moved him to two different front facing seats between 1 and 6, and finally used a booster till he was 9.

Hi bhpian Thehelix0202 and Dbhpian Hayek for dropping by the Tlog. We do keep a child seat while traveling among other measures. In literal sense it won’t be advisable to travel with infants not only in a car but also in other mode of transportation, but then as per safety rule book there are primarily two things to be done when you identify a risk: 1) Eliminate the risk and 2) Mitigate the risk with some measures. You can’t argue or justify the level of safety that Thar provides, rather I would say it’s not the safest vehicle to be in even for 1 person. However, while traveling with the baby we follow Rule 2 as mentioned above. The risk mitigation is in our hands can be done with several measures or jugaads. Also we need to work on our reflexes in case of an exigency situation, even with some safety measures if your reflexes don’t act on time then also the risk increases.