[samaspire]

This was my best summer vacation so far. Why? Because I drove 5997.40 kilometers.

Places visited: Kolhapur, Wagachiwadi, Vashi, Surat, Udaipur, Jaipur, Noida, Delhi, Gurugram, Agra, Jim Corbett, Guna, Dhule, Shirdi
The car: Kia Carens Prestige Plus Diesel Manual, March 2023 model




With a sense of adventure, we set off on this month-long journey that took us through vibrant cities, historical landmarks, barren landscapes and breathtaking natural beauty. None of these were off the beaten track – you might not even see anything special about any of these places, but they were new to us and the kids. We now have memories and experiences that will last a lifetime. The time spent travelling together is something that we will cherish forever.

This travelogue captures the essence of our 5997 km journey in our trusty Kia Carens. I’m not a creative writer so do not expect a magic weave of words that will keep you enthralled. In fact, I’m the opposite of that – my work requires me to be clear with my words, formatting and layout, so that the message is communicated clearly. We did not click pictures at a lot of places, as I had no plans of writing this travelogue before starting the journey. Need to do that next time; especially of the food and the landscape.

It’s the keeda that counts!

Don’t remember when this keeda germinated, but my wife’s sister had recently moved from Bombay to Noida, and since my wife and kids always spent a part of the summer with her mom and sister, going to Noida this year was a given. We had 3 options – train, flight or by road. Last year, I had taken my car to bring them back from Bombay at the end of summer. That was a fun and comfortable solo drive, and I knew the car and I could handle longer journeys. So, I suggested to my wife the idea of driving up to Noida and she was game.

Summer is also when my sister’s kids come over from Bangalore to Manipal for the holidays. Now that I had a 7-seater car, we planned to take them along on this trip. It would be my wife, mother-in-law, three boys aged 9, 11, 13, one baby girl aged 2.5 years and the driver, me.

Another big reason to take the kids on a road trip was to get them off the screens – everyone’s screen time has increased after Covid and its very difficult to get them into other activities.


These are the boys during the Covid Summer of 2020. Then started the online classes, and they are addicted now.

The Drive Plan

The plan was to limit the drives to around 400 km per day, since the kids would not enjoy the trip otherwise. Google Maps was my go-to app for all the route and time planning.

Day 1 – Manipal to Kolhapur since we wanted to visit Sri Mahalaxmi Mandir
Day 2 – Kolhapur to Vasai (Sister-in-law’s house)
Day 3 – Vasai to Surat (my cousin's house)
Day 4 – Surat to undecided stop
Day 5 – Undecided stop to undecided stop
Day 6 – Undecided stop to Noida

I was unfamiliar with routes beyond Maharashtra, so I sought advice from our most-travelled bhpain Parag Sachania about a month earlier, regarding stops for Day 4 and Day 5.

Some of my questions to him included (don’t laugh):

• I have never done a multi-day long drive before this.
• Firstly, is it possible?
• What pains can I expect?
• What precautions do I need to take?
• Any exercises I need to start doing now?

He said he would plan the whole drive from Bombay to Noida along with a list of places of interest along the way. Then he reminded me of the main thing I had not considered. “You will have to also factor extra time spent due to election related checking all across the route in both directions at least till elections are over.” We would be travelling during peak election season cutting across multiple states. I had to add at least an hour to the daily drives - damn!

Parag’s suggestion was

• Surat – Ratlam: via Halol-Godhra-Dahod-Mumbai Delhi Expressway
• Ratlam to Kota (250 km): Via Delhi Mumbai Expressway
• Kota to Noida (465 km): Via Delhi Mumbai Expressway
• Other alternative is to do this via Ahmedabad Himmatnagar Udaipur route too.

The problem with the Kota route for us was that there were no rest-stops or restaurants. He suggested we pack and carry food for that leg. That would have been very difficult for the kids. And the kids wanted to see the desert and camels on the road because my sis-in-law had shared videos of camels taken during their drive to Noida earlier in the year. (Realised only later that the desert is nowhere on the way )



Since Parag had also said “Camels you will start spotting soon after crossing Himmatnagar”, we decided to take the Udaipur-Jaipur route. This way, we could also visit some famous tourist spots along the way.


The Final Plan – Leg 1 (April 17 – April 23)
Day 1 – Manipal to Kolhapur
Day 2 – Kolhapur to Vashi
Day 3 – Vashi to Surat
Day 4 – Surat to Udaipur
Day 5 – Udaipur to Jaipur
Day 6 – Jaipur to Noida

With the family in Noida, my plan was to fly back to Manipal 2 days later as I had to vote on the 26th and attend to office work. My sister, who would be with my mom while I was away, also had to go back to work in Bangalore, and to vote. I would then return to Noida after a week and spend some time there before starting the return leg after the 12th of May.

[samaspire]

Planning & Preparation

Luggage
Once the itinerary was finalized, we had to get down to planning the other big item – luggage. 7 people going for a month would be a lot of luggage. A roof rack would have to be installed. But the problem with the Carens is that the roof rails are just cosmetic; they are not bolted on to the body. There are roof racks available that can be installed on such cars, but I was sure they would damage the paint and the body. A little research on Amazon brought up these contraptions – bags that can be strapped onto the roof.





But before ordering, I knew I had to ask LeoShashi regarding this. He knows stuff. He was also very helpful while I was deciding to buy the Carens. He told me to get something which “doesn't always touch the roof”. But any roof rack “would make lots of wind drag, reduce mileage and also may make noise if they aren't aerodynamic.”

I also felt that having luggage on the roof would mean I would have to be extra careful on the curves and mindful of speeds. That would kill my joy.

Further research led me to Vacuum Storage Bags. I ordered a set of assorted sizes to check which would meet our requirements. The small size 24”x16” was perfect for our needs. https://amzn.in/d/0eBV7kmo





Using these bags, we could fit all our clothes and other stuff in the Carens’ boot. There would be no bulky duffle bags or suitcases. Everyone’s clothes for each night stop of the drive would be packed into 1 bag, so that we need not carry all the luggage to every hotel / house. These 5 bags would be placed at the top for easy access. All these small vacuum bags together would be wrapped in a bedsheet so that they don’t fall off every time one opened the boot. Finally, we could fit all our clothes into 10 vacuum bags.

First-aid Kits



Next was the first aid kit. I had ordered these Stanley toolboxes for Rs.283 each to store my tools, but my daughter was using it to keep her toys. I used one to carry all essential medical supplies – bandages, band-aids, pain spray, pain oil, thermometer, medicines for fever, headache, vomiting, loose motion, etc.

The other box carried all first aid items for the car – digital tyre inflator, screwdriver, black tape, brown tape, wire tags of different sizes, headlight bulbs and trim removal tools.

Other first aid items carried were a puncture repair kit, jump start wires, torchlight cum glass breaker/seatbelt cutter for the front row, glass breaker/seatbelt cutter for the 2 rear rows and some 5 microfiber wipes.

Other things we carried:

• 10 litres water can
• Electric Kettle to heat water on the way (suggested by Parag)
• Empty Box + Knife to cut and eat fruits / vegetables that we might buy on the road
• Blankets and Pillows
• Swimwear and inflatable pool toys
• Some kitchen stuff that had to be taken to Noida
• 10 packets of Kori Rotti, iykyk
• Umbrellas
• Hats / caps
• The kids were given an old Digital Camera and a Handycam in a bid to reduce smartphone usage as much as possible
• Car Vacuum Cleaner
• Lightweight clothing for all, since we had to reduce as much bulky luggage as possible.
• Additional sunshades for the windows because it was going to be HOT.
• Sunglasses, because we would be travelling in peak summer across some of the hottest states. I already had prescription shades, so I ordered one for the wife as well. All the kids also got one each.

The Carens had had its 1 year service done in March so there were no worries on that front. Road Force Balancing, Tyre Rotation & Wheel Alignment had to be done.

[samaspire]

The Departure

My mother-in-law dropped out due to some other commitments, so the final count was 2 adults and 4 kids - my wife, son, daughter, 2 nephews and me. The departure date also moved up to April 18th.

The First Leg: Total distance covered = 2154 km

18-04-2024

Day 1 - Home to Kolhapur 426km (9h 16m)



Woke up early (by our standards), had a light breakfast and stuffed the final items into the car. Most stuff was packed in the previous night. The Stanley boxes went under each front row seat along with the car tool kit, reflector and vacuum cleaner. I would be working along the way, so my laptop bag had to travel safely and be easily accessible. It went into the foot space behind the 2nd row. I did not want it in the boot in case some idiot bangs into the car from behind. Water bottles in all 7 bottle holders. Snack bag on the seat. Water can in the boot. With all this done, we were out of the gate by 7:35 am.



First stop was at Marvanthe which is about an hour from home. The kids had not been to the beach this summer, so this was a necessity. Marvanthe is a beautiful stretch on NH 66 with the sea on one side and the river on the other. Earlier it was all sand and water – one could park the car and go straight into the sea. Now they have wave breakers to prevent erosion, so we have to walk on those rocks. The excited kids climbed down the rocks and went to the water to get their feet wet. We had warned them not to get their clothes wet! It’s usually difficult to get the kids to come back once they are in the water, but the promise of further adventures ahead got them back in the car.













30 minutes later we stopped for breakfast at Prakruti Veg Restaurant, Uppunda. The kids had not had breakfast, so they had their fill, went to the bathroom, etc. so that was another 1 hour.

We got off NH66 after Gangavalli Bridge, much before Ankola, onto Agasur Road. This is a single lane road that connects with NH 52 at Agasur. From then on, it’s a 2-lane undivided highway up to Yellapur where we stopped for lunch at Coastal Crown Family Restaurant. I got my laptop out to catch up on work while the family ordered lunch. They had some amazing crispy chicken. After lunch we had to refill our water bottles from the 10 ltr. can but that did not go as planned. Some bottles fell, some water spilled, one bottle cap went under another parked car. Decided not to do THAT on the road again.

After leaving from there, we had to take the left onto Mirjan – Ramnagar Road. This was a beautiful stretch of single lane roads through small villages. Lot of nice scenery around. An hour after driving on this stretch it started to rain. I loved that. Driving in the rain is a different kind of fun. But this pleasant rain turned into a heavy storm very quickly. The wind was blowing so fast that trees were swaying wildly. I have lived on the coast all my life, so I know what heavy rains are, and I am comfortable driving even in very heavy rains. But this was next level. Debris started flying around. Visibility was next to zero and the kids were screaming in excitement (or maybe fear). I stopped the car near a school ground hoping to avoid any falling trees.

https://youtu.be/-h15B6t9Xoc

The car started to shake from the force of the wind. I could see the coconut trees swinging wildly. People were huddled into a bus stop and still getting wet. Then the storm intensity reduced just as quickly as it started, and I started my drive again. The road was littered with broken branches, and I had to get off-road to avoid them a couple of times. Lining these streets were all mango trees – the road looked like it had rained mangoes. As soon as the rain went down to heavy drizzle, we stopped the car and picked up a bagful of free mangoes. The kids got the excitement they were seeking.

An hour later we connected with the Bengaluru – Pune expressway (NH-48 / AH-47). It was all good roads for about 55km, then the diversions started.



It’s like this all the way up to Satara – 100s of diversions getting on and off the highway to the service roads. Luckily, we did not encounter any major blocks or very slow moving traffic anywhere.

By the time we reached Kolhapur it was almost 8:00pm. As the whole point of getting into Kolhapur city was to visit the temple, I had booked our stay close to the temple. I realised how close Wadikar Bhakta Nivas was only after reaching the place; it was right next to the temple complex. Parking was the Pay and Park facility of the temple managed by attendants, and they make vehicles park very close to each other. Very close. Overnight parking cost me Rs.200.

The rooms were strictly average, but had comfortable beds, clean sheets, AC and clean bathrooms. Good enough for Rs.3,500 for 2 rooms?

Kids wanted to eat non-veg but there was nothing within a 1 km radius of the temple – we walked a lot looking for one. Finally walked into Hotel Osho, which was recommended by the hotel staff. Apparently, its well known locally and it had the crowd to prove it. Food was good but everyone was tired and sleepy after the long drive. Since we also had to visit the temple early, we retired early.

[samaspire]

19-04-2024

Day 2 - Kolhapur to Vashi 391km (7h 23m)



We visited the temple early in the morning at 7:30 am. Missed the morning aarti, but were early enough to avoid the Friday crowd. Thanks to staying close by, we just had to walk 5 minutes to get into the temple.

Shree Karveer Nivasini Shree Ambabai / Mahalaxmi Mandir is a temple dedicated to Goddess Mahalakshmi who resides here as Supreme Mother Mahalakshmi and is worshipped by locals as Ambabai. It is one of the three and half Shakti Peethas listed in various Puranas. It’s an ancient structure first built in the 7th century by the Chalukyas. An architectural wonder built completely of stone, it’s full of intricate carvings.




My daughter playing with pigeons outside the temple

After the darshan, we had a sumptuous breakfast of local specialties - misal pav, poha, dosa, mango lassi, butter milk and tea. “How can we not buy Kolhapuri chappals when in Kolhapur” = Rs.2,000 ka phatka.

We checked out and left Kolhapur by 10:30 am. The highway was the same – get up to cruising speeds and then suddenly slow down for a diversion. There was always competition to see who would be the first to squeeze in ahead onto the single lane service road. This at least made the drive interesting. The Carens surprised a lot of cars with its pickup and agility.


Star attraction in front of one of the hotels along the way

Due to a work emergency, I had to make a stop at 12:00 noon. Since it was too early for lunch, the family ordered juices and ice-creams, while I worked. There was a nice play area there for the kids to fool around.





20 minutes after leaving from there, the kids started to get hungry again. All along the way we had been seeing multiple yellow hoardings of different restaurants having similar colour scheme and design. It must have worked for the 1st guy, so now everybody is copying it. (We saw something similar on the UP to UK road as well.) We chose Hotel Maharaja Palace, Borgaon, because it mentioned Mutton Bhakri. We were dying for some non-veg after a pure veg Kolhapur darshan. Looked like others were too, as the hotel was packed.











The advertised Mutton Bhakri was worth the visit – while the chicken fried rice ordered by the kids was not bad either. We were back on the road after having some delicious Masala pan outside the hotel.


Shivaji Maharaj welcoming us to Satara

Thankfully, the highway diversions ended once we reached Satara. When we reached Pune, it was what looked like peak traffic hours (but at 4:30 pm? really?) and progress was SLOW. We were literally crawling along. Progress was fast once we left Pune behind, and we reached Panvel by 6:45pm. My wife’s cousin has a farmhouse on the outskirts of Panvel and I wanted to look at some of the new construction happening there. After a longish fuel and loo break at Pavel, we were at Wagachiwadi. It’s a nice 20-acre property at the foothills of Matheran that they have transformed from a barren hillock to a lush green garden, organically growing a variety of fruits and vegetables. But guess what the kids wanted the most – WiFi!! Me too actually - I had to catch up with work. We left here after dinner reaching Vashi at 11:20pm.

Bhpian mohansrides had called earlier, and he came over all the way from Powai at 12:00 midnight. This was the first time I was meeting a banned bhpian in person. (He says he is “cheerfully and gleefully and happily and fabulously serving out the ban” but I think he’s missing his commenting privileges badly.)




Sunset pic of the day

[samaspire]

20-04-2024

Day 3 - Vashi to Vasai to Surat 348km (7h 48m)



Today’s journey would be comparatively shorter, so we had a leisurely breakfast at home. We had to stop over at Vasai to transport some things from my sister-in-law’s Vasai house to her Noida house. Started the drive at 10:55 am.

Destination - Atal Setu
Since we were so close, I did not want to miss this opportunity to drive on Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Trans Harbour Link. All the hype in the media and it really was worth it!! Beautiful roads. Probably the best surface I drove on across my whole trip. Not sure how useful it is currently, because there was hardly any traffic on it, but man it needs to be experienced at least once. You don’t get to drive over the sea every day.



The car was set to cruise @ 118kmph (the legal limit is 120, but I did not want to risk getting fined), and the kids wanted to smell the sea. They asked me to roll down the windows. The wind was so strong that the driver side sunshade flew off in a flash. This was a big problem because driving till Noida without protection would guarantee sunburns on the right side of my body. Planned to buy one at Vasai or Surat.



As you near the end of Atal Setu, you get a fabulous view of the high-rises. It’s a great welcome to old Bombay. We took the Wadala Exit 1A onto Eastern Freeway > Eastern Express Highway > Thane. I was hoping to avoid peak traffic on Ghodbunder Road since it was odd hours, but that was not be. There was mad traffic jams and blockages due to road construction – that stretch is a notorious time killer. With the amount of traffic that road handles, it should be at least a 50-meter-wide road. While we should have reached Vasai by 1:00 – 1:30pm, we reached there only at 2:15 pm. After a quick home cooked lunch, we had to rearrange the luggage to load additional items. Some soft stuff went to one side of the last row as only one 9-year-old passenger was occupying that space. He monopolized that seat and was comfortably sleeping back there for most of the trip.


On the way out of Vasai. This was 2nd biggest animal herd we saw during our trip that included a Jim Corbett Safari


Just after getting back on the highway, we hit the 1000 km milestone.

The Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) from Vasai to Surat (NH 48) is undergoing concretization and it was again all diversions like the stretch from Kolhapur to Pune. But this stretch was the opposite of smooth sailing. Regular jams, bad roads, bus fights, minor accidents – everything.



Someone had told me about this Parsi place that Mumbaikars drive/ride out to for Sunday morning breakfast, and we wanted to check it out. Saw a few good places on the way, but they turned out to be vegetarian. Then we finally found it – Hotel Ahura. This place had the best mutton kheema I have ever had - Mutton Kheema and Pav. Others had ordered other dishes, but everyone ended up eating from my plate. There is an attached bakery from where we bought some snacks and juices. There was also a car wash boy in the parking lot who offered to wash the car. While I usually don’t let anyone else wash my car unsupervised, the car was begging for it. I gave him my set of microfibers and asked him to be careful.



With happy stomachs and a shiny car, we were back on the highway – back to snaking around the highway. But once we entered Gujarat, it was like a different world. Traffic was heavy, but it was fast moving. No bottlenecks anywhere. Gujarat has developed all along the highway; we did not get even a small stretch of undeveloped, un-urbanized village / town till the diversion at Palsana. The next 25 km to Surat was over NH 53 which was again well maintained but with minimal traffic. And it was clean. The whole of Surat was clean. Surat is, or was at one point, the city with most number of flyovers in India. Surat has some really rich people, not surprising considering that it is the diamond hub of India. What is surprising though is that these rich people can be as unassuming as the next guy. You might see a simply dressed man wearing chappals walking down the street, and if you don’t know him, you will not realize that he had a turnover of 12,500 crores last year. If it was anywhere else, he would be flaunting his Lambo.

We reached my cousin’s place around 9pm. After dinner, we went around the city and stopped for some late night ice-cream. They also took us to the haunted Dumas beach – a beach with no sand and no water it seems. We did not even step out of the car because it was after 1 am and we were all sleepy.


Sunset pic of the day

[samaspire]

21-04-2024

Day 4 - Surat to Udaipur 510km (7h 28m)



Today was going to be the longest drive of this leg and we ideally should have left early, but we wanted to spend time with my cousin’s family and got going only after 11:00 am.




Tata Surat

Destination - Expressway!!

Got out of Surat and 30 minutes later we were back on the GQ driving towards Ankleshwar. At Ankleshwar, we took the diversion to Baruch and then on to the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, also called the Vadodara - Baruch Expressway or the Vadodara – Mumbai Expressway. This was exciting – my first Expressway drive.





I would have loved to test my top speed but was vary of the cameras and set cruise to 118 kmph. It was only at the end did I realize that the toll booth and cameras were not operational yet. In hindsight, that was a good thing, because that road surface was poorly designed. There were sudden undulations that caught everyone off-guard and left the last-row passengers in a mess. I switched off cruise after it happened twice and reduced speeds to under 100. It’s either bad road construction or Gadkari’s smart way of making sure everyone drives well under the speed limits.

It was already late in the afternoon, and all were getting hungry. We assumed that we would stop for lunch at one of the highway rest stops. We found one after a long break but unfortunately this was still under development. At least the washrooms were working though; nice and clean. We used this break to stretch out for some time.







The kids ran around the helipad and were having fun. The freaking hot sun did not seem to bother them one bit.



12 booths and not a single soul.

This is when I realised that the highway was not officially open.






At Vadodara, this e-way exits onto the Ahmedabad – Vadodara expressway, which felt like we were back in civilization - there was traffic! Roads were tarred, not concrete, and the journey became quieter as road noise reduced a lot. After 1 hour of blissful driving, we were put back on earth as we were back on NH48. This runs as SP Ring Road around Ahmedabad. It is also supposed to be part of the Golden Quadrilateral, but its more like any city road.

It was past 3 pm by now and no lunch yet, but the loads of sweets and snacks that my cousin had stuffed in our car kept our hunger at bay. Finally, we began seeing some restaurants. We stopped at Honest Hotel – which sadly for the kids, had only vegetarian fare. Luckily, they enjoyed the fresh juices and pizza there. We spent a good hour and a half here, and in the car, since I also had to catch up on some office work.

Getting out of Ahmedabad, traffic reduced once we crossed Gift City. It was good roads all the way and the kids started getting excited as we neared Himmatnagar (camels, remember). The excitement grew as we crossed Himmatngar and were getting closer to Rajasthan. We were saying, “they will come, they will come” but nothing – no sighting. We did see a couple of wedding baraat dances though. Finally entered Rajasthan at 6:50 pm – a new state for us.


Swagatam, Veer Bhoomi Mewad, Rajasthan



Once we entered Rajasthan, the whole geography changed, traffic reduced, development besides the road disappeared, road quality dipped a little but that was made up by the beautiful hills around us.



The drive was uneventful until we were well inside Udaipur, diligently following Google Maps. The roads were getting narrow but since our Hotel was in the old city, I don’t think much of it. But after one particular right turn, the road kept getting narrower and narrower. There was no way 2 cars could pass each other anymore. I kept going until someone stopped me and asked me to turn around. He said “Never use Google Maps for old city roads”. Turning around a 6x15 feet car on a 10 feet wide road was quite an adventure in itself.



Then, following manual directions, we reached Kotra Haveli, our stop for the night. The hotel has no vehicle access (unless its something like an Omni), but they have a parking arrangement with the nearby Jagadish Temple parking lot. The hotel manager himself came to direct us to the parking. We then had to walk 5 min to the Hotel.

It’s a beautiful property – heritage structure and well maintained. Service was also very good. The rooms were very spacious with very comfortable beds. All 6 of us could actually have slept in one room. I had booked 2 rooms the previous day for just Rs.4,069 – the magic of off-season pricing. (These rooms probably retail for around 8-9k each during tourist season.) We got all our rooms for cheap on MMT – I guess not many want to travel to Rajasthan & MP during the summer.







There is no off-season pricing for the food though 😉. The restaurant on the rooftop offered an amazing view of City Palace. We caught it on time before the lights were switched off for the night.




Sunset pics of the day

[samaspire]

22-04-2024

Day 5 - Udaipur to Jaipur 430km (8h 30 m)








City Palace daytime view


Authentic Rajasthani Breakfast The stuffed parathas were really nice.

After breakfast we went for a walk around the old city area near our hotel. Every place looked like modernity is trying to squeeze out in between ancient heritage - not succeeding but creating a mess in the process.



We had to pick up some stuff from the car, so while we were there, the parking attendant tried to sell us a boat ride for Rs.500 per person. We felt that it would be too hot to go on a boat ride in summer, but we took it under advisement. The hotel suggested we go there directly. And so, it was decided.

Destination Lake Pichola

The lake was a short drive from the hotel. As we were crossing Doodh Talai, someone called out to us from his bike and offered his guide services. Might as well, we thought. Devendrasingh was his name, and he took us around the lake towards the parking lot, where he said he had a free parking arrangement. Guess what the kids saw there – camels!! Finally.







As we were admiring the lake, our guide brought along a photographer for a family photo. He offered to dress us up in traditional Rajasthani clothes, but only my daughter agreed for it.


The 3 brothers watchfully supervising the process





Next on the agenda was the boat ride on Lake Pichola. It was here that I realised that the Bond movie, Octopussy was shot here.















After the 30 min boat ride, we had some delightful Kulfis near the camels. Then it was time to leave for Jaipur. In hindsight, we should have left after lunch, but the plan was to stop at some restaurant an hour or so later. Little did we know that there is nothing outside the city.

And then it happened. As we were navigating out of Udaipur, some idiot in a Hilux decided to scrape my car while we were stopped at a signal in front of the court complex. I knew better than to create a scene since my car was not local and it would also have held up traffic. It also helped that the damage was not major.




As soon as we exited the city limits, the scenery went back to barren hillocks and rocks. A lot of the rocks were what looked like marble.





I was cruising along nicely with the kids busy clicking photos of the rock show, when the police interceptor spotted me. They were stopped at the end of a long straight stretch and wanted to fine me for going over 100. Fine was Rs.1000. I paid Rs.500 and left.



One hour out of Udaipur and we were on the lookout for restaurants. But there was nothing – other than run down truckers dhabas. One of the boys wanted to go to the toilet and we told him to wait till we stopped for food. Since food stops were not in sight, we stopped at a fuel pump. No water. Off we went looking for the next one. We must have stopped at 3 or 4 places before we found one in working condition and acceptably clean.





The roads were desolate with no signs of anything or anyone. Couple of months earlier, my sister-in-law and her husband drove the same way, and she got scared on this stretch because it was so lonely. I was enjoying the drive though – good roads and hardly any traffic. When we finally found a proper restaurant, it was 3:45 pm.



It was called 3 Idiots. Don’t know why, but the flooring was laid with loose concrete stones. Jaipur was still 4 hours away and by the time we left there it was almost 5:30 pm. The road ahead was the same as before until an hour and half before Jaipur. Slowly the lonely roads transformed into proper city roads – lots of lights and bad traffic. That traffic and a pitstop for pastries delayed our journey by an hour. Destination was Fort Chandragupt – in the heart of the city. Parking was, all cars squeezed into the parking lot. Some cars needed to be taken out if a car parked in front wanted to get out. Luckily, we arrived late and got a spot where we had space to access the boot.




Found another South Indian after a long, long time.

In fact, we did not see single KA registered vehicle in the whole North Indian leg of our journey. The first one was a truck on the way out of Shirdi.


Sunset pic of the day

[samaspire]

23-04-2024

Day 6 - Jaipur to Noida 323km (6h 59m)



As soon as they woke up, the kids and my wife were off to the pool while I slept in. The pool was small but there was only 1 other family there, so the boys had almost the whole place to themselves.







Our plan for the day was to see a bit of Jaipur and leave after lunch for Noida. Since the distance was less than 300km, we did not need to hurry.


Jaipur Darshan

Checked out at 12:13 pm and first wanted to see why Jaipur is called the Pink City.


Entry to the old city


I loved how there were no modern signboards

And then, just like Udaipur, as we were crawling through traffic, a boy gets off a bike and offers his services as a guide. I asked him to sit in the car and do his thing. He laid out his options and our first stop was Rajasthan Handloom & Handicrafts Industries on Amer Road. This turned out to be a costly affair, but worth it. They showed us some lightweight quilts that apparently make you feel warm in the winters and cool in the summers. And then the saree shopping started.





2 hours later we were out of there – hungry. Luckily there was a good restaurant close by - TVG The Vegetarian Grill.



The adults tried the Rajasthani Thali and kids ordered some Chinese. All of it was great. While we were shopping earlier, our guide got upgraded from junior to senior – nephew to uncle (probably based on how much we spent there).


Himmatsingh, our new guide, suggested we go to Haathi Gaon for an Elephant Safari. This was some 30 minutes out of the city. The place is huge and well maintained with a big pond for the elephants to bathe in.












Shanti and Muskaan - my daughter still remembers the elephants' names









This place has some bad reviews online for being dishonestly expensive, but our experience was good. They showed us a price list and we chose what we wanted. A 30 minute ride on 2 elephants cost us Rs.10,500, plus some tips (Rs.1500 which they insisted we pay). I felt it was ok considering the cost of taking care of elephants. They do eat a LOT. We took just the ride package, but you can also bathe, feed and paint the elephants.





On the way back to the city we stopped at Amer Fort and Jal Mahal Lake for about 15 minutes each. Amer Fort warrants another proper visit, but the Jal Mahal Lake promenade was not maintained at all.





Someone had spent a lot of money on developing the area like Marine Drive but there is no maintenance now.


Our final stop in Jaipur was Jantar Mantar. This was something I wanted the kids to see.


It was a long walk from the parking to Jantar Mantar








Photostop at Hawa Mahal

We bid adieu to Himmatsingh and Jaipur at 6:30 pm after some delicious Lassi and samosas.



"Fevicol ka majboot jod hai – tootga nahi."

Most of the Jaipur to Noida stretch is the NE4 / Delhi-Mumbai Expressway so going was crisp. I made no other stop other than a short refueling stop, and reached our final destination in Noida at 11:45 pm.

Leg one of the Road Trip was done!

Total Kilometers: 2479.30
Drive Time: 52 hours 4 minutes
Mileage: 18.1 kmpl (actual should be about 16)
Considering the many hours of idling time with AC on, and the fact that I am no sedate driver, this is wonderful mileage.

[samaspire]

24-04-2024


All the luggage from the car

Back to base

I was flying back home to Manipal today, and because we had started a day later than planned, I did not get a rest day.


When the flight was somewhere over Maharashtra



Sunset pic of the day - From the flight





Met bhpian Srinidhi “SRISRI_90” at the airport who had come to pick up his parents.


One of reasons for flying back was to cast my vote on the 26th. I have not missed a single election since I have been eligible to vote.

The next few days were spent planning a trip for my son’s 12th birthday. Finalized on Jim Corbett, and with some help from Delhi based bhpian Ashish “desiaztec“, booked the safari.

I was due to fly back on 3rd May. The flight was at 8:30 pm but after multiple delays, it finally departed at 11:45.


I have never seen this much crowd in an airport!

India Gate

Next day we started our Delhi darshan with India Gate. I found driving around in Delhi to be a pleasure. The roads are very well-planned, and the tarmac is smooth. I guess that’s the advantage of being the nation’s capital.








Spy pics of inside India Gate








India Gate was massively crowded, but again well managed. Parking was across the road and the approach through an underground tunnel. But the most memorable thing about India Gate were the mosquitoes. There were too many of them. All the kids fell sick one after the other starting the same night and we were stuck at home for the next 3 days. I blame these mosquitoes for it. Or it could have been Delhi Belly.

Ashish had suggested we go to Pandara Road for dinner, and we assumed it would be authentic Delhi street food . To our surprise it was a bunch of expensive restaurants.





Since we were already there, and no one had the strength to walk anymore, we decided to indulge. And it was almost worth it. We also got a glimpse of the posh Delhi crowd.



Ashish “desiaztec” dropped by the next day on his way to work.


Our 2 cars



Gurugram

I had to visit a client’s office, so we all set off to Gurugram. It’s about an hour from the house, but it means going from UP to Delhi to Haryana – 3 states!! After arriving at Gurugram, all I could see was DLF – even the metro stations. Has DLF developed the whole city?

Anyways, I dropped my family off at a DLF Mall while I went to my client’s office. Once done with that, I met my family, had some snacks at Karims and left for Noida. This time Google suggested a different route via Faridabad – I guess to avoid the evening Delhi traffic. Here I found my first toll booth that did not accept FastTag. The Faridbad Toll naka had its own prepaid card system so I had to pay cash.

[samaspire]

09-05-2024

Trip to Taj Mahal (Yamuna Expressway)

I had heard much about Yamuna Expressway and I was very eager to drive on it. It did not disappoint. Arrow straight roads for long stretches, well behaved traffic and nice tarmac – what more could one ask for. The only bummer was patches of tar on the culverts. Every few minutes, you get these undulations that spoil all the fun for the backseat passengers. I finally had to switch off cruise control after a couple of big bumps. Overall, the roads were good all the way up to Taj.

Just as we entered the vicinity of Taj, multiple guides tried to flag us down. We finalized on one Asif who showed us some official Taj Guide ID card. His fee was Rs.1550, but I’m pretty sure he earned some more because there seems to be some sort of a commission system among all other service providers. Starting from the riksha, to the photographer to the memento sellers, to the hotels. The funny thing about Asif was that he defaulted to his Americanised English even if we asked questions in Hindi.


The entry






First sight of the Taj Mahal








You don’t realize it by the pictures, but it’s a massive structure.




Long walk from the entrance to the main structure




Juxtaposed with the mosque on the left


Its beautiful, and HUGE


The kids wanted to touch the Taj




Behind the Taj, facing the river and the black Taj


In the background is the structure to the right of the Taj



Sunset pic of the day





Our guide then took us memento shopping to his own shop, and then to a Petha shop owned by his friend. And then to dinner at an expensive restaurant of his choice – The Salt Café Kitchen, despite me asking for a reasonably priced restaurant. By the time we finished dinner, it was late, so we decided to stay back in Agra for the night. I called up Asif and he was there in 5 minutes to take us to his “friend’s” hotel. This time I checked on MMT for hotel prices and gave him the budget. He got us 3 AC rooms for Rs.5,000 at a decent place.

The next day we left early for Noida as we had plans to visit Red Fort and then to dinner at my cousin’s place at Nizamuddin. We reached home by 12:30 but ended up skipping Red Fort and went straight to dinner. Here we experienced our first dust storm. It was wild but dry, unlike the rainstorms that we are used to. I did not know this was a common occurrence in Delhi and Noida.

[samaspire]

Trip to Jim Corbett National Park

11-05-2024
Noida to Dhikuli 278km (4h 21m)




Google Maps & Timeline messes up sometimes. A lot of times, it did not capture stops and driving times. Above is one example. Driving time was also not recorded properly sometimes.

It was my son’s birthday, and we were off to Jim Corbett. We had booked the evening safari, so we were told to be ready for a 2 pm pickup from the hotel. By 8 am all the excited kids and adults were in the car and off to Uttarakhand.

Delhi really has amazing roads serving it. The highway we were on was running parallel to the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, until we split away after Ghaziabad. After that it was mostly construction / road widening work for most of the way. We stopped for breakfast at Rajaji Haveli, a huge food court cum restaurant plaza with a big play area for kids. Needless to say, the kids wanted to spend some more time here and we could not leave until 10:45 am.







As we were getting closer to our destination, I was supposed to take a left at Moradabad. But the turns Google was suggesting looked like narrow village roads. The experience of Udaipur compelled me to skip these and look for proper wide roads to head towards Ramnagar. Finally found that at Rampur – a very bright city. The whole place was painted bright pink.

The way to Ramnagar was the Rampur-Suar-Bazpur Road. 45km of dead straight, single lane, narrow road with lot of heavy truck traffic, spiced with numerous villages all along the way. No wonder Google was suggesting I take the left much earlier. Initially, I drove properly, waiting patiently for the right opportunity to overtake the trucks, but the going was too slow. Then I noticed what the locals were doing. Gun the engine at the slightest opportunity to overtake and swing out of the way of oncoming traffic. I followed the same method but took much lesser risk. There I remembered why I chose the Carens over the XL6 – there was no way the XL6 could pull off such overtaking manoeuvres; it just does not have the pickup. Then I started to enjoy the drive. Can’t say the same for the people in the last row.

Somewhere along this road we crossed over from UP to UK. The traffic reduced considerably after that. The one advantage of taking this route was that we bypassed almost the whole city of Ramnagar and along with it, all the local traffic. It was here that we first encountered the safari Gypsies, most of them probably coming back from the morning safari. Dhikuli, the place we were staying at, was another 15 minutes away through some beautiful forest roads. We encountered a few more of the Gypsies along the way.


Our first (and only) elephant sighting

We reached our resort Shelton Blu by 1:30pm but there was no hurry to get ready as our safari guy had called earlier to inform us that the pickup would be at 4:00pm due to extreme heat. Our Safari was booked in the Garjiya Zone and so I had booked a resort closest to this place. We checked in, had lunch and were all ready by the time our 2 Gypsies arrived to pick us up.







Enroute to the Garjiya Zone Safari starting point


I had carried my own binoculars, but we rented a couple more for Rs.200 each. Our driver later said that it was Rs.100 to Rs.150 and we should have bargained.





Mr. Monkey - our first wildlife sighting of the safari








Fresh tiger kill









Tiger claw markings

This is the closest we got to a tiger sighting. Our guide said that tigers are usually seen near watering holes in peak summer. It was peak summer then, but unluckily for us, it had rained heavily the previous night so there was water everywhere. The tiger did not need to come out in the open to meet us.









Our driver was taking us around leisurely, but the other Gypsy driver was in too much of a hurry. He did not slow down despite repeated requests from the passengers and the guide. (We have complained against him).

We did not see any tiger or elephant, but lots of deer, peacocks, monkeys and chicken. I got to experience the 4x4 capabilities of our Gypsy and I think the bug has bit me. We completed the Safari at exactly 7:00 pm, the closing time. They dropped us back at the resort but only one of the drivers got his tip.


Back at the resort

We celebrated my son’s birthday by cutting a cake during dinner.


12-05-2024
Dhikuli to Noida 257 km (5h 15m)





For the return journey, the family wanted to avoid the Rampur route, so we took the Ramnagar - Kashipur - Thakurdwar - Moradabad road as suggested by Ashish.



Reached back home around 5pm.

We had decided to start our return leg the next day and wanted to do some Dilli ki shopping before that. Nobody else was in a mood to travel that evening so just my wife and I ended up going to Sarojini Nagar Market. Stuff was cheap, but there was little scope for bargaining at most shops. Either we were bad at it, or they all had fixed their minimum selling price. But honestly, how much lower can one go than Rs.150 for good quality t-shirts. There were also branded jeans and shorts for Rs.50, but they were used garments.

Next day’s return journey was postponed by a day because the kids wanted to spend a day at the mall.

[samaspire]

The Return Leg

My nephews refused to accompany us for the drive back home, so my brother-in-law came to take them back to Manipal. Since there was space in the car now, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law decided to accompany us till Bombay. Final head count was 4 adults and 2 kids.

The Final Plan – Leg 2 (May 14 – May 20)
I did not want to take the same route, so it was decided that we go via UP and MP. This way we could explore more places. We also wanted to spend a couple of days with family at Bombay, so I had to reduce the number of overnight stops in this return leg.

Day 1 – Noida to Guna
Day 2 – Guna to Dhule
Day 3 – Dhule to Shirdi to Vashi
Day 5 – Vashi to Kolhapur
Day 6 – Kolhapur to Manipal

Total distance covered = 2326 km

14-05-2024

Day 1 – Noida to Guna 532km (8h 56m)





We would be taking the Yamuna Expressway again and I was expecting the roads further ahead to be just as good. Maan, were we in for a disappointment!









Roads are fantastic for people coming to visit the Taj, but after that it’s a big mess.





The Agra ring road is not complete, so all the traffic flows through this narrow village road and connects to the Mumbai – Agra Highway.

Also called the Agra-Bombay Highway or Asian Highway 43 (GMaps also says Chennai Delhi Highway and Srinagar-Kanyakumari Highway), it was the old NH3. Now it feels like ill-maintained city roads with a lot of local traffic for about 20-30 km. After that the roads are mostly desolate.





Saw these structures on the way.

I know its cow dung, but they were made in beautiful, symmetrical patterns. What is the story behind this?


Fun fact: For a short 28km stretch after crossing Parwati Nadi River Bridge till the Chambal Bridge in MP we were in the state of Rajasthan.


Entry to Gwalior






On the outskirts of Gwalior, GMaps suggested a right turn to some narrow road going to Stone Park. I was pretty sure it was not the right way, but still decided to take it just to break the monotony. This road was through a village and some beautiful scenery.





Marble cutting units – that’s why its called Stone Park!


Our first Lion spotting of the trip




Sunset pic of the day


Gwalior Exit

Between Gwalior and Guna, the next 200 km were mostly desolate - difficult to find even one decent hotel for snacks.





Finally, we took our chance with this place. They made fresh and tasty onion bhajiyas for us. Along with some piping hot tea.


200 km of just this scenery

This was a 4-lane highway with very little traffic, but not maintained at all. There were no potholes, but so many undulations on the road, that I could not maintain a steady speed. We finally reached Hamlinn Resort, Guna at 9:15pm.









This was a nice place on the highway. Again, got it for dirt cheap prices.

[samaspire]

15-05-2024

Day 2 – Guna to Dhule 551 km (8h 14m)





This was our longest single day distance of the whole trip, and also the most boring. The roads were mostly desolate like the previous day and equally bad till Dewas. Because there were no decent hotels on the highway, we entered the city to find a place for lunch.





Some good stretches near the city bypasses

After Dewas the roads were nice and smooth. India’s cleanest city – Indore was along the way, but the cleanliness lasted only till the city limits. I did not know that Indore was so developed. It looked almost like Bangalore, but much cleaner.


Met this guy on the road. “Joint Collector”, hehe




Sunset pic of the day



We paid the most tolls in this UP to MP stretch

Our stop for the night was Hotel Jhankar Palace, Dhule. It’s wrongly marked on Maps, so we had to call the hotel to find out where it was. This was again a very nice 3-star property, but the icing on the cake was the food. Amazing fare. Mr. Harish Sharma, the Chef was also the hotel manager. He personally took our order and recommended some very tasty dishes. I would highly recommend this place for its fantastic vegetarian fare.

16-05-2024

Day 3 - Dhule to Shirdi to Vashi 361km (7h 54m)





We were all very happy with Jhankar Palace, until I found out that the idiotic, overzealous room boy had washed my car, despite specifically asking him not to! And just as I suspected, he had washed it without first spraying out the mud and sand. I was gifted with some more scratches.

Destination Shirdi

Today’s plan was to have darshan at Shirdi and then to Vashi via the Samruddhi Expressway. A friend from school whose family has a hotel near the temple, had made arrangements for our darshan.







On the road to Shirdi


The going was good until we got off the Mumbai-Agra highway. Then it was a mixed bag, with roads getting very bad as we approached Shirdi. Our destination was Sai Palace Budget Hotel where we parked the car, freshened up in one of the rooms and had lunch. The restaurant section is right opposite the temple. Our darshan was delayed by an hour because Chandrababu Naidu was paying a visit, and public entry was stopped for some time. (Guess Sai Baba’s magic worked for him). Once he left, Sarvesh, my friend, took us in through the VIP entrance. Tickets were 200 per adult. We had a clear path all the way up to the main hall, where we finally had to join the queue. Sarvesh was our unofficial guide where he told us about all the rituals and the workings of the place. We got a good darshan and were out of the main hall within 15 minutes. Then we went back to his hotel where he treated us to some nice tea. We were meeting after more than 20 years, but he refused to accept any money for the food or the room. School friends are one of a kind and irreplaceable.

There is a Police Petrol Bunk where we refueled before leaving Shirdi. The approach to the expressway is under construction, so currently it’s a single lane pothole ridden mess.



Entered the Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg alias Samruddhi Expressway at 6:57 pm.



After entering the expressway, I had stopped on the side in what looked like a parking area on the shoulder. I wanted to click photos of the road for my cousin, but within a minute, a police Bolero was beside our car and asked me to get out of there.



This expressway was the best one of my entire trip – no undulations or potholes whatsoever. Only the Atal Setu had better surface, but I would not call that an Expressway. It was a fun drive, but I had to be careful to keep it within the posted speed limit. I had set the cruise to 110 and hit the CC button as soon as I spotted the cameras. Somewhere on this stretch we hit 5000 km on the trip meter.

The road after Igatpuri, going into Bombay is in terrible condition with the 8-laning work going on. At times it felt like we were off-roading. Luckily for us it was late in the night, and we covered the last 43 km in 1.5 hours. Later that week, I got news of people stuck on that road for over 5-6 hours.

18-05-2024

Day 5 - Vashi to Kolhapur 350km (6h 43m)





After spending 2 nights with family, we left Vashi after lunch for Kolhapur.





On Khandala Ghat




Very less traffic in Pune today


This was the first time I was heading towards a destination without making arrangements for the night stay. We had planned to stay at Hotel Sai International, located a little before Kolhapur, and assuming rooms would be available, did not book in advance. Big mistake, because it was 10:45 pm by the time we reached the hotel, and it was fully occupied. Then I started looking for a decent hotel along the way, stopping and inquiring. Most of them were seedy places or full.


Stopped to pickup some dinner on the way

Decided to check on MMT while waiting for our order and found Hotel Jurkis Thali Junction. Looked posh but was not well maintained. Had to change rooms twice for different reasons, and the final room we were allotted did not have a working AC. Would not recommend this hotel to anyone.

[samaspire]

19-05-2024

Day 6 – Kolhapur to Manipal 477km (10h 12m)





The final day of the road trip was here. The restaurant at Jurkis was not open because the chef was unwell, so we had to go hunting for breakfast locations. Found a Haldiram’s nearby – the bill was almost what we paid for the room.


Bidding adieu, never to meet again

Soon after leaving Kolhapur, we crossed over into Karnataka. Major highway work is going on all along the way. Hopefully, the driving time to Bombay will be reduced substantially once this is completed.






As we were driving over a bridge, I noticed an i10 below on another older bridge. It was the Ghataprabha River Bridge.



We decided to explore, so I took my car down to the old bridge.





My son wanted to go touch the water.








All 3 bridges are visible in this - abandoned one, currently in use, and under construction. Each newer one is higher than the other








Later we stopped for lunch near Belagavi and then for a late tiffin cum bathroom break at Hotel Pandurang International, Kumta.

And then it happened – my daughter started puking. She had travelled almost 3/4 the length of India and back without any issues but fell sick so close to home. Luckily, she was good once it was all out of the system.


As we were getting closer to home, my eye was on the odometer. It was close to 6000, but I realised that I would be falling short by a bit. Decided to take the longer route home, but still fell short by 2.6 km.





Reached Home at 11:00 pm



A week later the Bangalore boys flew back home.

Vacation over!

Hopefully, this is the start of many many more road trips for us.

__________________________

Driving Cost Summary

Toll
18-04-2024 Manipal to Kolhapur --- Rs.470
19-04-2024 Kolhapur to Vashi ------ Rs.580
20-04-2024 Vashi to Surat ---------- Rs.565
21-04-2024 Surat to Udaipur ------- Rs.490
22-04-2024 Udaipur to Jaipur ------ Rs.495
23-04-2024 Jaipur to Noida -------- Rs.650
08-05-2024 Noida to Gurugram ---- Rs. 50
09-05-2024 Noida to Agra ---------- Rs.470
10-05-2024 Agra to Noida ---------- Rs.300
11-05-2024 Noida to Dhikuli -------- Rs.490
12-05-2024 Dhikuli to Noida -------- Rs.340
14-05-2024 Noida to Guna -------- Rs.1025
15-05-2024 Guna to Dhule ---------- Rs.885
16-05-2024 Dhule - Shirdi - Vashi -- Rs.485
18-05-2024 Vashi to Kolhapur ------ Rs.660
19-05-2024 Kolhapur to Manipal ---- Rs.470

Total Toll Paid: Rs.8,555.00
Note: UP & MP had the worst roads, but the most number of tolls.

Car Wash
Full wash before Leg 1 : Rs.600
Body wash at Ahura : Rs.200
Body wash at Noida : Rs.400
Body wash at DLF Mall before Leg 2 : Rs.800
Total = Rs.2,000

Alignment & Balancing before departure = Rs.1,700

Fuel Cost : Rs.34,287.33
Fuel Filled : 380.5 litres
Total kilometers : 5997.40
MID Mileage : 18 kmpl
Actual Mileage : 17 kmpl

Total Expenses = Rs.46,542
Which works out to ~Rs.7.76 per km

[SmartCat]

Moving thread from Assembly Line to Travelogues. Thanks for sharing!