This trip could have been a click away on any travel portal website. Instead, we decided to make this one of the most memorable travel of our lives, hence, we decided to hit the road & experience things that we would have never had a chance to had we taken a flight/train.
I & my brother were the only roadies on this journey & I have to say that it turned out to be a perfect balance in terms of the challenges/ demands a road trip presents. Although there are more than one route to reach Delhi/NCR but we chose the below that suited our requirements the best.
Bangalore - Pune - Bombay - Udaipur - Jaipur - Gurgaon
As opportunities likes these do not arrive very often, we decided to go easy about it & enjoy the journey before making it to the final destination. That being said, below was the halt arrangement we had implemented.
Bangalore - Pune [1st Stop] Via NH 48 - 13h 42min - 837Kms
Although we were confident that we'd be able to cover this distance if we start on time & maintain a good speed on the highway. The confidence comes from our previous road trips we have done together earlier but 837kms did bring a smile on our faces as this was the first time we would embark on such a long journey in 1 day. We aimed to start from Bangalore at 6am but inevitably ended up starting at 7:20 am. It still took us about 2 hours to get out of Bangalore as we had to make our way through the traffic. If you live/have lived in Bangalore, you know what I'm saying ;). As our journey was going to be really long, we decided to go fully prepared to meet our comforts. We bought an "Ice Box" to keep us refreshed by chilled beverages at all times, basic travel meds, mobile phone portable charger [Lifesaver] a must buy for road travels & a carton full of snacks & quick bites. We drove in my brother's car - Mahindra XUV 500 - so it allowed us to carry almost everything that one may require on a road trip. Needless to say, get your car inspected throughout before even deciding to make a plan as that is the only thing that will allow you to accomplish your goal. Apart from your GUTS !
Google Maps
I have to say that it really came to our use & saved us from taking longer & unnecessary routes. Yes, it will literally save you every minute it can to shorten your journey, which was a little annoying at times. I.E - It will ask you to take the service road instead of the flyover as it is aiming to save your toll tax, we did follow the same a couple of times & later realized that it is eventually merging with the same flyover & the biggest difference was that you could maintain a faster speed and save a couple of minutes and pay the TOLL. But honestly, no complaints at all as we were not in a hurry. Eventually, every time it asked us to take the "Exit", we would just continue on the flyover and continue with the journey. NOTE: iPhone users (That includes myself) - it is better if you buy a navigation device OR an android phone with a powerful battery life. On our journey, we were using my brother's Oneplus 6 with no worry in the world. Although his car has SetNav but that does not necessarily show the shortest of routes.
NH - 48
Trust me on this !
This is one of the best highway I have driven on so far. I mean, for once, you are made to feel that your taxes aren't getting flushed down the toilet. This is a no nonsense route without a lot of turns. If you are a focused driver & can tune your brain & eyes on the road without any difficulty, this drive will be a piece of cake for you. Long wide roads that offers a few scenic visuals on the way. Our only "Biggest" disappointment was that there were hardly any restaurants throughout "Karnataka" to grab a good meal. If you are from Delhi, I'm guessing that your "Idea" of a good restaurant would be similar to "Sukhdev Dhaba" or a "Haveli" kind of deal. Unfortunately, it is not the same in down south. But that is where our big carton of munchies came to our rescue so we were decently sorted. Of course, we did stop for our respective "Sutta" breaks & nature's call. Otherwise, everything else was just fine.
We divided the drive into 2. My brother drove from morning till late afternoon & I would drive from then to night. [Around 10ish max]. We were clear on one thing that we were not going to drive at night as it is not a very safe idea "In our opinion" plus you do need to rest your body as well. We entered "Maharashtra" at around 6ish in the evening & were taken by a surprise by the eating options it had to offer. I mean, it looked like a food paradise that had all kinds of cuisines to offer. However, we just admired that vision from our car at the speed of 120 kmph as we were in the flow & did not want to break that. [Yeah, I was able to maintain that speed even after the sunset]. Credit goes to the highway and the matured driving :p. We entered Pune at around 8pm ish & reached our hotel at 9:40ish. Therefore, a total of 14h 35min {Including breaks & breathers}. Night was young & so were we so we indulged in some rejuvenating activities & were one with the universe :D
Pune - Bombay [2nd Stop] 3H 2min - 152 kms - Mumbai - Pune Hwy
The good thing about life is that if you have already been through the fire, you don't mind walking on the water at all. For those who did not understand what I just said, After covering a badass distance, this one seemed like a baby in a mother's womb. We started at 10AM & were wandering around Bombay roads by 1ish. [Extremely poor] roads & it just kills the driving experience even if you are sitting like a boss even in an SUV. No kidding ! Anyway, we had planned to visit our dear friend who is somehow surviving in Bombay for the past 3 years. So without wasting our time any further, we met at a very fancy microbrewery called "The Finch" - located in Powai. We had a couple of beers & witnessed some kick ass live band [Rehearsing] for their show that was to be performed later that night. In short, it was GREAT ! There was not much to do nor we were really interested in doing so because of the roads [As mentioned earlier, traffic & the humid weather] so, like wise men that we are, we just decided to go to our hotel & again "Indulged in rejuvenating activities" :D till about 1Am. Although, we had another long journey that was awaiting us the following day but we took the liberty of being in the moment & not act anal in terms of following the clock by every minute. And one mustn't do that because there are a lot of things that is not in your control when you are on the move. Even if it's as simple as clearing the bills OR waiting for your dental kit to arrive at your room ! So, Relax & Take it easy !
Bombay - Udaipur [3rd Stop] 13h 38m Via NH 48 - 760 Kms
Start time - 8:10 AM
Fortunately, we were saved from the morning traffic as our friend had already warned us about the same. We bid our goodbye's to the city that never sleeps and took the next step towards our destination.
Udaipur ! - By now we were convinced to call ourselves full fledged roadies as we were spending each night in a different city. Right from the 1st of June 2019 when we had started our journey. It was a great feeling I cannot deny that. In fact, I wished if our lives could be like that where you're always on the go and making great memories & meeting interesting people. Roads were good, it started to get hotter as we crossed Gujarat & specially when we entered Rajhastan. Note that NH in Rajhastan aren't like any other NH you may come across. They offer 2 lanes & great visuals while you're at it. It was empty for as far as we could see and barely came across any traffic. Needless to say, our breathers & "Sutta" sessions continued every 3 -4 hours. This was the time when our "Ice box" came to our rescue at 40 + degrees. The car windows were hot but inside it was pretty comfortable. Although, felt bad for the car though :(Only driving enthusiast will get that). As decided, I took over at around 4ish & continued to drive. It may get a little difficult for some people to drive on that highway after sunset as there is barely any visibility. Also, there are a lot of heavy vehicle that slows you down and annoy the hell out of you when you are trying to maintain a set speed. NOTE: A little extra "Presence of mind" is required when you are driving to Udaipur at night as there are those nerve breaking speed breakers that is really hard to spot at a relatively high speed & even with the "high beam" turned on. I mean they are just there to make a fool out of you & your car specially. Apart from that I don't recall any issue in terms of driving. Just maintain a decent speed, do not go very fast, anything between 90 kmph - 100 kmph should be more than enough. {For relatively new drivers}. I was slightly above 100 kmph because I have been driving for almost 15 years now & do have a sense of night driving. Not many options to stop and eat again so carry your own stuff I would suggest. TIP: try to spot a car of the respective state you are crossing {Specially at night} and keep following it. You will not only avoid potholes but also have an upper hand in terms of ramming your vehicle through those monstrous tiny speed breakers and what not. If you follow the car ahead of you, you will get a very good understanding of how you should drive and when to apply breaks. Udaipur finally had us at around 9:15pm. We were happily surprised that we made it almost before time. Learning - Google Maps will give you a fair idea of the travel time at a certain speed. As we were able to drive faster than that so we allowed ourselves to start an hour later from our starting point of the respective city we were in.
It was a moment to celebrate yet another journey after reaching Udaipur so we did just that. I don't think I need to tell you how again? :D ! Idea was to stay the following day in Udaipur and check out some places but when we looked outside the window we immediately knew our answer ! NO ! It was really HOT & we could really use a bit of chill environment and the crazy hotel beds to die for. Therefore, we just chilled in our room & kind of had a farewell of the "Solo lives" we'd been living so far in Bangalore. We both felt we owe it to ourselves so we bought ourselves another day as our lives were going to change after reaching Gurgaon - Home & all of that ! You know what I'm saying right?
Udaipur to Gurgaon - Final destination - 5th June 2019
Via NH 58/48 - 10h 38m - 623 kms
Last day of our trip of a lifetime ! We had mixed emotions. On one hand I wanted this process to never end. At the same time I also wanted to finally make it & clock yet another kick ass road trip on our travel list. We started easy ! I mean, we weren't worried at all when we checked the kms. 623 are you kidding me? (That was our reaction) "Roads that take you home never seem long enough" We started at a very relaxed time at 9:40 AM. The hotel folks were kind enough to refill our 51 ltr Ice box with good looking ice cubes. We settled in the car, turned on the AC, did the basic checks, lit a cigarette and finally changed gears. This was a quieter drive in comparison to our other drives. I am not sure why but maybe because an adventure was about to end in a couple of hours and life was going to be as usual. Nothing out of the ordinary - Like this trip ! My brother was at the wheel and I was just looking outside the window thinking about life & when will I get an opportunity to do something like this again? I mean what are the chances that you will have a trusted friend/brother or anyone who you'd want to travel with? You cannot just travel with anyone on long journey's like this. As the distance was reducing, my anxiety levels & the temperature outside was increasing. However, no compromise on the "Sutta breaks" :D ! We did not stop anywhere to eat this time because there wasn't really any acceptable restaurant in the first place. {To each its own}. We just ate our munchies and kept on driving. E.T.A was 10:30pm that was straight away reduced by 2 loving hours. Minimal breaks & the advantage over the roads I guess.
We crossed multiple cities before entering Haryana. I have to say it was a "Bliss" to see DL & HR number plates around you. Our's is an HR registration. We passed through Tonk & Alwar & very smoothly touched NH 8 at 6:30pm. As luck would have it, it started to rain beautifully the moment we were on NH 8. We thought to ourselves that this was probably God's way to welcome us back home. It was quite a vision and a surreal moment ! Crossing through the same roads where we grew up was a reminder that no matter what you do & wherever you go, "Roads will finally bring you home" !
And just like that at a blink of an eye, we were home at 8:30 pm. I & my brother firmly shook hands and said "To many more" !
Factual information:
1) Total Toll tax - Around 5k
2) Diesel Cost - Will depend upon your vehicle. Ours was around 13k
3) Accommodation/food - Minimal - Max 2k/night
4) Zero hassles from the Police apart from the time we entered Pune. The usual "Where are you going" & coming from jazz ! Do make sure you have your vehicle documents in place including PUC. Needless to say !
And please do NOT drink & drive and wear your seat belts at ALL TIMES ! I don't think there was anything we could have done anything differently as we went well prepared. As mentioned before, I know of people who have done this all alone, good for them and must have been a lot of pain in the ass for them surely. It's advisable to have 2 people at least who are trusted drivers. Do not go berserk on the highway, after all this is India & anybody can appear at any moment on the road so you ought to be cautious at all times. Apart from that, just get your car inspected before you start, mainly the tyres ! And a hell of a playlist to keep you entertained.