Travelogue: Driving Maruti 800 from Delhi To Pune

[singh890]

All right my friends, since it’s weekend and I have this pending, i thought of sharing my Delhi - Pune -Delhi experience. Well sorry to tell you guys but i don't have any pictures for that trip as i did it almost 8 years back. And that was not a planned trip. It was just a quick decision between me and my dad.
So back in summer of 2004 after i got my 12th results, I was trying for admission in a good college. And i always wanted to go Pune. So it was decided that me and my dad will go to Pune and look for colleges, fees and all that stuff. So initially we had our reservations from "Goa Express" but somehow only one of our ticket got confirmed and the other was still in the waiting and there were no chances that it would get cleared. And since the journey from Delhi to Pune is almost 26 hours from train. We didn’t want to travel with just one confirmed seat. So my dad asked me what we shall do. And before I said anything, my dad was like “Lets Drive”. My dad loves driving too. And I was happy too, as this would be my 1st long road trip.

Day 1
So we decided to go through NH 3. We drove our Maruti 800 and we had 1 bag, 1 suitcase, a water cooler and some snacks and food with us. We got our car checked, spare tire checked, all fuses checked, kept a rope, a flash light and few extra fuses.
We left at about 8:30 PM since we had to cancel our tickets and get the car checked. Our goal was to reach Agra by midnight and leave early morning, as we didn’t want to cross Chambal during night. We took Mathura road and reached Agra around 12 as planned. So far everything was good, except some traffic at the Haryana Border. So we covered around 200 Kms that night.

Day 2
Started 4:30 AM from Agra and took NH 3. We reached Gwalior around 6:30 AM as there was no traffic and roads were fine and the distance was about 120 kms. So we took a tea break of about 15 minutes and then left. We didn’t have a plan as where to stop at night. Since we were 2 drivers it was decided that we will cover as much as we can.

We drove around 500 kms and reached Indore around 3:30 PM and had our lunch and took a rest for about 1 hour including the lunch. Roads were good till Gwalior but as we left Gwalior, I have no idea where did the good roads go? It looked like the road was built on potholes. I still remember that there was a patch for about 100 Kms, I couldn’t even go over 50. That patch was HORRIBLE. But somehow we managed to reach Indore and I had to take little rest after driving on that horrible patch.
After our lunch we decided that we will stop at Malegaon and we left Indore around 5 PM. Roads were better after Indore and yes as we were getting closer to MH, petrol prices kept going up. We reached Malegaon at 11 PM and the drive was about 315 kms. There was a small hotel by the highway, I don’t remember the name, but it was good and the food was good too.

Day 3
We started at 6:30 AM from Malegaon and reached Pune by 12 PM and covered around 315 kms . we had no problems, no flat tires. Reached Pune safely by the grace of God and without a scratch on the car, though our 800 took a lot of beating in MP but it survived. It was a really good experience.

[Sam Dinkar]

Here's a pat on the back of that Maruti 800 !

[FJ CRUZER]

Buddy, allow me congratulate you first (just by reading the thread heading!!) before I read on!

It is a dream since I was a kid to drive from Pune to Delhi, still unaccomplished.

Many congratulations. I hope I can get hell lot of hints from your travelogue.

[cooldhaya]

That was a brave decision , roads at those times must not have been good like as it is now. I am sure you can do the same trip again a lot quicker with better cars and better roads too.

[singh890]

Originally Posted by cooldhaya

That was a brave decision , roads at those times must not have been good like as it is now. I am sure you can do the same trip again a lot quicker with better cars and better roads too.

I bet the roads must have been improved now. And i am planning to do a road trip this year, once i am back from US. But it's gonna be Delhi-Goa-Rajasthan-Delhi. Still figuring out what places to visit in RJ and this time in a better car. most probably Safari

[singh890]

Originally Posted by Sam Dinkar

Here's a pat on the back of that Maruti 800 !

Thanks Buddy. I know i did the same when we reached Pune

Originally Posted by FJ CRUZER

Buddy, allow me congratulate you first (just by reading the thread heading!!) before I read on!

It is a dream since I was a kid to drive from Pune to Delhi, still unaccomplished.

Many congratulations. I hope I can get hell lot of hints from your travelogue.

Thanks bro..Actually a lot of people were shocked when we told them that we are going Pune by Road and that too 800.
And i hope your dream come true soon. Will post my Pune - Delhi experience soon.

[singh890]

Well guys this is my experience on our way back to Delhi from Pune.

So we stayed 2 days in Pune and after getting my admission in Ness Wadia College of Commerce, and enjoying my those 2 days with my sister and Jiju, both of them are in Air Force,. So we stayed with them at the Air Base guest house, which was really fun except the fact that you can’t sleep after 4:30 AM , because after that they start their flight training and man those fighter jets are sooooooooo coolll. We decided to leave for Delhi on the 5th day of our trip.

Day 5
We woke up early and left Pune at 4:00 AM and decided to take NH 8 instead of going back via MP as we didn’t wanted to deal with those bad roads. So we started at 4:00 Am and took the Pune – Mumbai express way and then the Thane road to NH 8. And we reached Thane around 6:30 Am and we had our morning tea and light breakfast at Thane and so far we covered around 150 Kms.

After our small tea break we left at around 7:00 AM and after driving for almost 5 hours we stopped for fuel and lunch at 12:00-12:15 PM. We had covered another 300 Kms. We had to pass through some bad road patches for almost 60 – 70 Km. since it has been almost 8 years I don’t exactly remember the name of the places where we stopped. So after having our lunch and filling fuel we again started our journey around 1:15 and reached Ahmedabad around 4:30 PM and covered another 215 Kms. We stopped for about 15 minutes and then again back on the road.

Around 9:30 -10:00 PM we reached Udaipur, covered around 275 Kms and decided to stop there and leave early next morning. So on day 5 we almost drove 940 kms in 18 hours. Which according to me was not bad, as we were driving Maruti 800. The roads from Ahmedabad to Udaipur were really awesome and we drove mostly on NH 8.

Day 6
We woke up had our breakfast and filled our tank and left around 7:00 AM. After driving almost 250 Kms we took our first stop for about 30 minutes and again we were back on the road. Around 2:00 PM we reached Jaipur and covered another 200 Kms. We decided to have our lunch. After taking our lunch and getting a small rest we were again on the road and we reached Delhi at about 8 PM and covered almost 270 kms. We did get some bad traffic between Jaipur and Delhi. But overall the trip was wonderful and by the grace of god we reached home safely and without a scratch on our 800.
Overall distance covered was around 1660 kms.

Overall I would say that it was a very nice experience and I loved it. And if anyone is planning to do the same I would suggest taking NH 8 instead of NH 3 but again these are my opinion. The reason I am saying this is because the roads are better if you take NH 8 and go through Gujarat – Rajasthan. Some places the views are just amazing.

[350Z]

You and your dad must be applauded for this courageous trip and that too all of sudden. This is such a travelogue which is beautiful even without the photographs. I plan for a similar road trip sometime in future and this travelogue has just evoked the bug in me to make it happen fast.

Drive Safe,
350Z

[singh890]

Originally Posted by 350Z

You and your dad must be applauded for this courageous trip and that too all of sudden. This is such a travelogue which is beautiful even without the photographs. I plan for a similar road trip sometime in future and this travelogue has just evoked the bug in me to make it happen fast.

Drive Safe,
350Z

Thanks buddy, yes i felt the same when we completed our journey. And dude you will just love it and i am pretty sure that the roads should be much better no compared to 8 years back and especially in your new fiesta, it is gonna be rocking.

I am myself waiting eagerly for my Delhi - Goa -Rajasthan -Delhi trip & on top of that coming home.

[Chandranath]

I have said this in the forum and at the cost of repetition, I say that the M800 is one of the toughest car ever to have plied on Indian roads. Do not underestimate its ability . I have first hand experience.

[singh890]

Originally Posted by Chandranath

I have said this in the forum and at the cost of repetition, I say that the M800 is one of the toughest car ever to have plied on Indian roads. Do not underestimate its ability . I have first hand experience.

Yes you are very right buddy and i can say this because for me and my family our 800 has done a really great job and we have be driving this car for almost 10 years now. And we have done so many trips and that too with luggage full in the back and on the carrier. But this car has never ever stranded us between any of our trips, except some flat tires on which no body has a control on our Indian roads. And i love our 800.

[Varun560061]

Great trip, Do you still own the car ? Din't you get tired ?

[singh890]

Originally Posted by Varun560061

Great trip, Do you still own the car ? Din't you get tired ?

yes buddy we still own the car and it is still running great. And i did get tired but a little bit. but then we stopped for fuel, food etc. so that was kinda rest and that's all i need.

I am a long driver dude. i did my Virginia to Minneapolis trip (in US) an only stopped 3 times and that to for fuel, besides that i just drove non stop. entire night. You can check my travelouge for that.

[anisghos]

Originally Posted by singh890

Overall I would say that it was a very nice experience and I loved it. And if anyone is planning to do the same I would suggest taking NH 8 instead of NH 3 but again these are my opinion. The reason I am saying this is because the roads are better if you take NH 8 and go through Gujarat – Rajasthan. Some places the views are just amazing.

Very refreshing Singh Saar, great trip, might have been very nostalgic for you and Yes i do agree, the best route from Mumbai to Delhi is NH 8- NH 76-NH79-NH8 i.e. Mumbai-Udaipur-Chittorgarh-Kishangarh-Jaipur-Delhi.. Excellent roads, all 4 laned except the Udaipur bypass which is still 2 laned and patchy what i saw in the last week of December.. I am updating my TL Mumbai onwards, we can see the pictures of the present situation in that route..