Delhi - Nagpur - Pune

[souvikjana83]

I have been planning to bring my 2009 Honda City from Delhi to Pune and my plan coincides with my cousin's marriage in between in Nagpur. So I decided why not bring my car from Delhi to Nagpur and then to Pune. An amazing Road Trip happened thereafter. My wife decided to come along as she didn't wanted me to do the trip alone.

I did some calculations using Google Maps and decided that it would be better to stop at Sagar on Day 1 to reach Nagpur on Day 2 by afternoon. Day 2 was the marriage day and we had to leave from Nagpur on Day 4 in the morning. By the end of Day 4 to reach Aurangabad and finally to reach Pune by mid day on Day 5.

Day 1 - Noida, UP to Sagar, MP (650 Kms):
Started from Noida at 7.15 AM to reach Yamuna Expressway just before 8.00 AM. One needs to take care that there are now speed cameras on Noida - Greater Noida Expressway as well as Yamuna Expressway. Hence one needs to take care not to drive beyond the speed limit (80 kmph as per my knowledge).

Once on Yamuna Expressway, its a smooth ride till Agra and I was easily travelling at 120 kmph. Reached Agra at 9.00 AM. However at present the link road from Yamuna Expressway to Agra Gwalior Highway is not completed. When I got down from the Expressway the Google Maps showed the route via a village which had pretty bad roads. I lost close to an hour in covering 10 kms of those village road. We were feeling hungry and we had our breakfast of pooris and Aloo ki sabji in our car only.

At 10.30 AM we finally reached the Agra Gwalior Highway (NH44). Its a 4 lane Highway with mild traffic of all types of vehicles. The road condition is quite good. The traffic becomes a bit heavy near Dholpur and Morena. But gets clear once these small towns were crossed. Once we crossed the Chambal river, the landscape changed completely. It was more barren and less green.

By 11.30 AM we were on Gwalior bypass and the roads were very good. We were easily driving at close to 100 kmph. I was aware that Gwalior Jhansi part is still under construction. My plan was to reach Jhansi by 2 PM.

Once we crossed Gwalior within the next 10 kms the wide road turned into 2 lane road in parts but since we were travelling during the day the traffic was light. Here also we were going on an average of 70-80 kmph. We got some good traffic in Datia and it took us 15-20 mins to cross Datia. But once we crossed Datia, we were again going mostly at around 80 kmph.

At 1.30 PM we reached Jhansi and I was mildly surprised that we had covered so much distance so quickly. We were still not hungry due to the heavy breakfast of pooris and aloo ki sabji and my wife suggested we move ahead. We soon bypassed Jhansi and we came across a board showing Sagar - 200 kms.

We started for on Jhansi Sagar Road at around 1.45 PM. The Jhansi Sagar is by far the best road I have seen in a very long time. Absolutely zero traffic, we were zooming at 120 kmph easily. The only obstacles that were coming up sometimes are the cows on the roads and one needs to take care not to hit them. We reached Lalitpur by 2.30 PM and only the signboard showed just 100 kms to Sagar. My wife was ecstatic as she was not believing the kind of roads and the speed we were maintaining in these parts of the country. She never thought that she will find such good roads in these parts of the country.

At 3.00 PM, we took diversion from NH44 to go to Sagar. We reached Sagar in another half an hour and checked into the hotel. We decided to take a nap even though we were not feeling tired at all. We rest out at Sagar for rest of the day.

 

[souvikjana83]

Day 2 - Sagar to Nagpur (400 kms):
Since we slept comfortably, we started from Sagar by 7.30 AM. Unfortunately we didn't ate breakfast at the hotel thinking we will have something in Dhaba. However that turned out to be a bad idea as there were no good dhabas on the highway. The maps showed out the road to highway and we were on NH44 in 15-20 mins. The awesome highway started again and we again travelled at 120 kmph easily.
By 9.00 AM, we reached Narsingpur and there we had tea and light snacks at a very poor looking dhaba. However the tea was freshly made and very good. Just Rs 5 for a cup of that awesome tea there which is so unbelievable.

Now there were 2 routes from Narsingpur to Nagpur. The NH44 which goes via Seoni or the SH547 that goes via Chhindwara. The map was showing us to go via Chhindwara but my wife thought the NH would be better than SH considering the roads are so good that we have been driving. So we decided to continue on the NH44 only. After an hour we encountered little ghat roads which were nothing compared to the ones in Pune and I was still driving close to 70-80 kmph. When the ghats ended, we saw that the road widening work is going on. We encountered some traffic there but moved on. Our speed decreased a bit but we moved on steadily.

We reached Pench Tiger Reserve by 10.30 AM and saw that we had only 100 kms to go to reach Nagpur. I was feeling happy that we will be able to reach Nagpur within an hour probably but the maps were showing 3 hours.

We started and soon find out that the highway in the Tiger Reserve are narrow and the road widening work is going on. Due to this the roads are in bad condition with huge speed breakers and lots of trucks. It took us a good 1.5 hrs to cover those 50 kms of roads in the Reserve. But we were seeing lot of monkeys on the road and on one occasion a deer crossed the road just before our car and before my wife started her camera to take a picture of her she was gone in a flash. Even though we were going slowly we were feeling happy to see that.

When the forest ended it was close to 12 PM. The maps showed that still 50 kms to reach Nagpur. Finally we came across a Toll and the operator said only 4 lane roads from there to Nagpur. We again picked up speed on the highway and reached Nagpur by 12.30 PM.

We enjoyed the marriage ceremony of my cousin at night and spend the next day for all their functions as well.

 

[souvikjana83]

Day 4 - Nagpur to Aurangabad (500 kms):​

We did breakfast and started by 9.00 AM. Since now the marriage of my cousin is over we were relaxed and in no hurry. We got some traffic while coming out of the city but soon we were on Nagpur - Aurangabad Highway. The highway was 4 lane road and we were going at an average of 100 kmph easily.​

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Within 2 hours we reached Amravati at 11:00 AM. Just after crossing Amravati the 4 lane road ended and 2 lane road started. I guessed that we are now entering a State Highway and the National Highway probably goes towards Akola and onwards to Mumbai. However the State Highway even though was 2 lane had good roads. We were going at an average of 80 kmph. There are no major cities in between and roads were pretty empty for most parts.​

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We decided to have lunch at MTDC Lonar since we were not feeling comfortable with any of the dhaba food that we were seeing. We hadn't seeing Lonar Lake as well and decided why not visit it while we are in these parts of the country. So we changed our destination in Google Maps from Aurangabad to Lonar Lake.​

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At 2 PM we reached MTDC Lonar and ate our lunch of simple rice and dal and sabji. As it was quite hot we didn't feel to eat heavy. Aurangabad was still 150 kms away and we didn't wanted to get our stomach upset. After Lunch we saw the Lonar Lake which was just opposite to the MTDC and take some pictures.​

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We started from Lonar Lake at 3 PM and after sometime my wife dozed off. I had read that the road is very bad at Sindkhed Raja but after reaching there I found out that the road is quite good. Only the traffic gets a little choked there are there are markets on both sides. It took us some 10 mins to cross Sindkhed Raja and after that we again were going at an avg of 70 kmph.​

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Once we crossed Jalna the 2 lane road ended and the we got 4 lane highway with medium traffic. We made good speed and reached Aurangabad by 5 PM.​

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My wife woke up fresh said to me to visit Bibi ka Maqbara (Mini Taj). Poor me driver drove so much but still went ahead with that . After visit came back and took rest for the day.​

 

[souvikjana83]

Day 5 - Aurangabad to Pune (250 kms):
This route I was aware of since I have visited Aurangabad from Pune with my friends. We started from Aurangabad at 10.30 AM after breakfast. Its a good 4 lane road till Pune and I wanted to reach Pune by lunch.

We reached Ahmednagar by 12 PM and I thought we will easily reach Pune by 1 PM. But we got heavy traffic in Ahmednagar and thankfully Google Maps showed a faster route within the city to avoid one major traffic jam. It took us good 30-40 mins to go across Ahmednagar. Afterwards we again started on the highway with our speeds at an avg of 70-80 kmph. We were now getting some good traffic and we also got stuck in Shikrapur. By the time we reached Pune it was 2.30 PM. We had lunch at a friend's place and told them our adventure. Afterwards we reached home and had a good afternoon nap.

An amazing Semi Cross Country Road Trip ended.

 

[GrandRk]

Nice trip update.

Sir, no travelouge is rated complete without pictures. Do post few of them.

Also if possible, can you tell us about,

• Where you stayed at Sagar? How was your experience there? What sightseeing you done in Sagar?
• How was climate at Lonar lake? Post pictures of Lonar Lake.
• Where did you halted in Aurangabad? Until what time Biwi Ka Maqbara remains open for tourists? Post pictures of Biwi-ka-Maqbara.
• How did your Honda City behaved? Do you came across any under body scrap? What mileage you got in this journey?

Thanks !!

 

[souvikjana83]

Nice trip update.

Sir, no travelouge is rated complete without pictures. Do post few of them.

Also if possible, can you tell us about,

• Where you stayed at Sagar? How was your experience there? What sightseeing you done in Sagar?
• How was climate at Lonar lake? Post pictures of Lonar Lake.
• Where did you halted in Aurangabad? Until what time Biwi Ka Maqbara remains open for tourists? Post pictures of Biwi-ka-Maqbara.
• How did your Honda City behaved? Do you came across any under body scrap? What mileage you got in this journey?

Thanks !!

Thank you GrandRk. Let me reply one by one:

- At Sagar, we stayed at Hotel Ram Saroj Palace. Sagar is a small industrial town but this hotel is very good. We also ordered our dinner here and it was very tasty. Highly Recommended. (I chose Sagar as there were no other good towns after this till Nagpur).
- Since we travelled in April only, climate was very hot at Lonar Lake (since we reached there in afternoon). Due to that we didn't spend much time there and didn't go till the waterfall.
- At Aurangabad, we stayed at Hotel Panchavati. Aurangabad is a tourist place with lot of good hotels. Try travel websites to get good deals. Hotel Panchavati was good too. Bibi ka Maqbara is open till 10 PM.
- My Honda City being more than 7 yrs old now ran very good. No underbody scrapes since the roads were very good throughout. On an average I drove at 80-100 kmph all throughout. The only concern area was the roads in the Pench Tiger Reserve since they are in bad condition at some place and with some large speed breakers. So if going in Honda City or any vehicle which has low ground clearance do ensure to tackle those speedbreakers at an angle. Otherwise all good. I am really proud of NHAI and GOI that we are getting so good highways and expressways in our country. Even the 2 lane Amravati - Aurangabad SH is very good.

I will post pictures of our trip soon.

 

[souvikjana83]

Some pictures that captured the Roads, Landscapes and Attractions along this trip:

Agra Gwalior Highway:


Gwalior Bypass:


Gwalior Jhansi Highway:


Bundelkhand Landscapes:


Jhansi Bypass:


Jhansi Sagar Highway:




Sagar Narsingpur Highway:




Narsingpur Seoni Highway:


Pench Tiger Reserve:



Amravati Aurangabad Highway:


Lonar Lake:



Bibi Ka Maqbara (Mini Taj):


Aurangabad Pune Highway:


As one can see these pics tells the story of the amazing highways of the country.

 

[GrandRk]

As one can see these pics tells the story of the amazing highways of the country.

Indian highways feels always awesome to me. Few of them are just sight to behold of. Keep enjoying on this man made marvels.

 

[souvikjana83]

Indian highways feels always awesome to me. Few of them are just sight to behold of. Keep enjoying on this man made marvels.

Agreed. There will come a time once the Agra Bypass Link will be complete and the roads in Pench Tiger Reserve will be done, people will be able to travel from Delhi to Nagpur in 12 hours. The NH44 (now also called the North South Corridor) is one of the most amazing road that I have travelled.

 

[fusion_defusion]

Souvik,
A very well written travelogue. Good that you were able to cover Bibi ka M and Lonar crater during the trip. Did you also engage a guide there or was it only a short visit?

 

[souvikjana83]

Souvik,
A very well written travelogue. Good that you were able to cover Bibi ka M and Lonar crater during the trip. Did you also engage a guide there or was it only a short visit?

At Lonar Lake, we didn't wait for long as it was quite hot being afternoon and we also wanted to reach Aurangabad before dark. We spent only 5 mins there. At Bibi ka M as well, we didn't took any guide as it was about to be dark and it was more of a short visit.

 

[Fyzy09]

Lovely road!! thanks for sharing

 

[icecool2010]

Lovely writeup. Thanks for sharing.
I am driving down my car from Haridwar to Chennai - and will take the same route as yours
till Nagpur. Glad to know roads are good.
I intend to take a driver with me so both of us can share driving.
Quick Question: If the driver plays truant - do you recommend me driving solo?
I intend to drive from 6.00 am to 7.00 pm and resting in some hotel for the night. No night time driving.

 

[abhijeetp]

Nice travelogue and excellent snaps of the highways!

Day 2 - Sagar to Nagpur (400 kms):

Now there were 2 routes from Narsingpur to Nagpur. The NH44 which goes via Seoni or the SH547 that goes via Chhindwara. The map was showing us to go via Chhindwara but my wife thought the NH would be better than SH considering the roads are so good that we have been driving....

Recently I traveled through Pench forest for my onward journey from Hyderabad and took the Chhindwara route for the return journey. Chindwara route is much better, though the road is 2 lane road but the road quality is excellent all through.

 

[Atulamigo]

Lovely writeup. Thanks for sharing.
I am driving down my car from Haridwar to Chennai - and will take the same route as yours
till Nagpur. Glad to know roads are good.

Kindly post your road trip too in detail. I am planning to visit Haridwar from Pune.