Road Trip To Rajasthan from Kerala

smooth rider · 23rd November 2011, 10:53 PM

Hi pals. iam planning a road trip to rajasthan this christmas vacation. i plan to start from my place on 24th of december and plan to have a 14 day escape from my routine life. please help me in planning my route, places to see, time to allocate for each site etc.

Edit:Travelogue of the trip now added on Pg.3: Road Trip To Rajasthan from Kerala

350Z · 24th November 2011, 12:23 AM

This will be an exciting road trip, down from Kerala to Rajasthan. Congrats. Please make sure prepare and plan the things well in advance. Keep the car in good health and collect all the required details of authorized Volkswagen service centres en-route. Map out the entire plan thoroughly with good hotels to stay etc. How many people will be accompanying you during this trip? If you can extend the date of travel then I would like to advise paying a visit to Delhi as well. Since Auto Expo is happening around that time, it will make for a nice opportunity. As far as we talk about the places of interest in Rajasthan – It’s more or less about the forts and traditional culture of the state. Here are a few places that you should consider visiting: Jaipur, Ajmer, Pushkar, Jaisalmer, Mount Abu, Ranakpur, Bikaner, Bharathpur and Sariska / Ranthambore. I might have missed a few though, hope others can suggest. Also check out the following travelogues:

- Short Trip to Bharatpur (Keoladeo National Park)

- Ford Figo Titanium Travelogue: Delhi – Mhandipur Balaji – Jaipur - Ajmer

Road Trip To Rajasthan from Kerala-kerala-rajasthan.png

Drive Safe,
350Z

Chandranath · 24th November 2011, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smooth rider

Hi pals. iam planning a road trip to rajasthan this christmas vacation. i plan to start from my place on 24th of december and plan to have a 14 day escape from my routine life. please help me in planning my route, places to see, time to allocate for each site etc.

Great maaan... Have a nice trip and file a detailed TL once you return

truecitylover · 24th November 2011, 04:36 PM

Wow, thats a great plan SR. I would have the below mentioned places in my itenary:

1. Mangalore
2. Udupi
3. Goa (Christmas time in Goa will be fun)
4. Pune
5. Nashik
6. Jaipur
7. Sariska Tiger Reserve

Will PM you the directions. Its pretty long and may be messy here. Attached is the route map:

jayadev · 24th November 2011, 04:44 PM

@smooth rider, from Kannur , are you serious ?
.. in your Vento?

TSIVipul · 24th November 2011, 05:37 PM

@Smooth Rider:
That's a great plan,in fact now both of us must join and form a gang of long distance road travelers.Its every year that I make 4-5 1500+ kms long road trips.

The joy of long road trips is as follows:
1):Food...I love eating it,every 200 kms you get a different type of food as well as totally different taste too.On such a long trip,don't go to Mcdonalds,Pizza huts etc,else this joy will be missed by you.
2):Enjoy the roads..well this may sound weird,but you will understand what I am saying when you start the trip.
3):Every 250 kms,you will find a new India.So you can find 8 Indias in the trip.
4):You come even closer to your car,in fact you will start loving and praising it.
I took my Innova on my first long trip(Meerut-Allahbad-Meerut)and from the same day I respect and believe my Innova more than my other cars.In fact after that the Innova accompanied me to Ladakh,Pune,Calcutta,GOA and many more other destinations.

Some small tips,these are the steps I myself take before long road trips:-

When was the last service done?If the service is due and you have no time then get a small tuning done by any mechanic.
Rest this is the checklist:-
1):Service requirement.
2):Get the tyre pressure checked thoroughly and take care that your spare tyre is in an okay condition.
3):Brake fluid and engine oil levels.
4):Most importantly,check the most ignored liquid,THE COOLANT.
5):If you find even a small problem with car like jerks etc,then get them checked before moving.
6):Weather of the place where I am going.
7):Have enough food and drinking water with me in case I am trapped in a jam.
8):Phone must have enough balance if its a prepaid and must be fully charged.
9):Have a list of the local service centers available at the place you are going.Also its better if you have a friend/relative at the place.
10):MOST IMPORTANT,you must be at least three people who know how to drive,one may be novice too,but other two must be experts and in a physically/medically sound state.Especially wen your trip is going to be long and you travel long distances in a short time with less stops.

Last and most important:IF YOU HAVE TO GO LONG,THEN NEVER OVERSPEED,BUT TRY TO BE CONSTANT.This gives good FE,keeps you relaxed and is safe too..

NOW BUCKLE UP AND GO ON..HAVE A HAPPY JOURNEY.

smooth rider · 24th November 2011, 06:22 PM

thanks 350z, chandranath, truecitylover,jaydev, tsivipul. yep jaydev iam serious, yes in my vento.started planning already.plan to have me, my wife and 2kids plus my close pal. in fact we had it planned for last december but friend had a small accident and we had to cancel it.the route i have in my mind is via NH17 till mumbai. from there via NH8 till udaipur.but the thing iam not comfortable is that i don't know the way to by pass mumbai.can any one tell me how ? in fact way back in 1995 me and another pal drove down all the way from delhi to payangadi in a contessa. my friend didn't know how to drive and i had the whole drive to my self.that time we by passed mumbai by going to nasik from nh8 then on to pune. hubli, then crossed over to nh17 at karvar then to mangalore and home. i feel that its a longer route.

Surfer · 24th November 2011, 07:28 PM

Great idea, please follow the above mentioned route . skip mumbai cos now days Pune - Mumbai expressway gets jamed frequently which can cos you a lot of time, also passing mumbai city will also take more time.

truecitylover · 28th November 2011, 01:11 PM

Sorry for the delay in the Itenary. Tried to send it across to you as a text file but was not able to send attachments.
So, finally had to paste them as a pic. Would say - Do not miss "GOA".

@TSIVipul: Thats a fantastic must do list buddy!

shailinder · 28th November 2011, 01:16 PM

WOW man this one would be one trip for you. By the way how many people would be on board and do know how to drive ?

All the best.

TSIVipul · 28th November 2011, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by truecitylover

Sorry for the delay in the Itenary. Tried to send it across to you as a text file but was not able to send attachments.
So, finally had to paste them as a pic. Would say - Do not miss "GOA".

@TSIVipul: Thats a fantastic must do list buddy!

Well,dear,don't you think that the pic is a bit too small to read and understand?
Rest,about the to-do list.Those are the strict steps followed by me before going on long journeys and I feel that if anyone follows these easy steps then the journey will come out to be nothing less than the best.

Quote:

Originally Posted by smooth rider

in fact way back in 1995 me and another pal drove down all the way from delhi to payangadi in a contessa. my friend didn't know how to drive and i had the whole drive to my self.that time we by passed mumbai by going to nasik from nh8 then on to pune. hubli, then crossed over to nh17 at karvar then to mangalore and home. i feel that its a longer route.

Well,dear those times were different.You used to have dual carriageways but still they were empty and you didn't had much headache while driving,but now a days it feels like people concentrate less on driving their own cars but do more to disturb others.

I'd advise you to have at least one expert driven with you and you people must try to cover maximum ground in the night as in the day it will take more time as well as will be tiring too.While you can make long travels by night when no stop is planned at any stretch.

Be strict on especially tyre pressures,because they can make or spoil your journey.It will be better that you get them checked and refilled(as they will definitely come down)every 500-600 kms,it doesn't take more than two minutes,but can save you from getting tired as well as some liters of diesel too.

truecitylover · 28th November 2011, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TSIVipul

Well,dear,don't you think that the pic is a bit too small to read and understand?

The original pic seemed to be fine @ my end.

MODS: Can you look into this issue?

smooth rider · 28th November 2011, 10:28 PM

tuecitylover i will give goa the miss as i had been to goa more than 5 times. goa will just be a stop over this trip. i have close friends there so it will be for rest and refreshment only. the by pass that you have posted is not clear from my side. my friend who is coming is a good driver. one problem that i have with the car is that the spare wheel is only 14' on steel rims while the other four are 15' on alloys. should i go in for replacing the spare tyre and rim? in case of a puncture will driving on the spare 14' tyre for long distance lead to any alignment issues ?another thing is that my car will clock only 12k to 13k prior t my journey. the first service is at 15k kms which will come during my journey. should i have the 15k service done prior to the start or have it done en route ?

truecitylover · 29th November 2011, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smooth rider

the by pass that you have posted is not clear from my side.

I lost the original image from PC. It was taken from google maps. Sorry my bad!!!

Quote:

one problem that i have with the car is that the spare wheel is only 14' on steel rims while the other four are 15' on alloys. should i go in for replacing the spare tyre and rim? in case of a puncture will driving on the spare 14' tyre for long distance lead to any alignment issues ?

It is always better to be on a safer side. Do change the tyre and rim. Long distance run with un even tyres will lead to serious damage to tires and allignment will be a issue here.

Quote:

another thing is that my car will clock only 12k to 13k prior t my journey. the first service is at 15k kms which will come during my journey. should i have the 15k service done prior to the start or have it done en route ?

There is no harm in a service before schedule. But, a service before a long trip is mandatory. If it is not possible, you may try with other dealers enroute during your stay but remember:

1. You are going to service in a unknown territory.
2. You will miss your ride dduring day time, which could be used for travelling elsewhere.

jayadev · 29th November 2011, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smooth rider

thanks 350z, chandranath, truecitylover,jaydev, tsivipul. yep jaydev iam serious, yes in my vento.started planning already.plan to have me, my wife and 2kids plus my close pal. in fact we had it planned for last december but friend had a small accident and we had to cancel it.the route i have in my mind is via NH17 till mumbai. from there via NH8 till udaipur.but the thing iam not comfortable is that i don't know the way to by pass mumbai.can any one tell me how ? in fact way back in 1995 me and another pal drove down all the way from delhi to payangadi in a contessa. my friend didn't know how to drive and i had the whole drive to my self.that time we by passed mumbai by going to nasik from nh8 then on to pune. hubli, then crossed over to nh17 at karvar then to mangalore and home. i feel that its a longer route.

Thinking about joining you!!

A Punto Behind Vento...!!