26 Hours Nonstop and Solo Delhi - Pune - Delhi in My Wagon-R


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Hi Friends,

I love driving so much that it now becomes my passion; earlier driven myself to many different destinations, but always dreamt of driving from Delhi to Pune one day, there are so many logs on internet which inspired me a lot.

All this happen suddenly so no planning or anything just a mad-mad run, but I enjoyed all this madness, It all started with the birthday of my very special friend (now my wife ) on 25th of December 2008, she was posted in Pune at that time, I undertook this journey to give her a surprise and fulfill my long term dream of long drive, I had taken this lifetime decision on 24th morning itself and decided to go to Pune by my car to give her a surprise. I immediately applied for 4 days leave from 26th to 29th and decided to reach Pune at any cost by 25th December.

Some stats for you guys:

Travel dates: 24 Dec 2008 to 30 Dec 2008

Vehicle: Wagon R Lxi June 2007 Model

Start time: 3:00PM on 24 Dec 2008
End time: 8:30PM on 30 Dec 2008

Start destination: Delhi
End destination: Delhi

Total distance travelled:3547 KM (Including some local travel in and around Pune)

Damages: Minor accident near Jaipur while returning due to heavy fog

Base route: Delhi-Jaipur-Udaipur-Ahemdabad-Surat-Mumbai-Pune

My preparations:

Reached my home around 1:00 PM do my packing till 2:00 PM taken a shower and got ready for my 25 hrs solo long drive. I stocked some dry fruits; snacks with me to keep me awaken all night along with my regular medicines and couple of water bottles.

My combined log of day5 and day6:

Started from Delhi around 2:00PM in noon and reached Pune by 4:00PM next day, it was quite a terrific journey for me, I was not able to prepare any detailed log for this side of my journey due to over excitement and excess concentration on my set target…to reach Pune by tomorrow and successfully made It.

Now I understand why a traveler often not able to write logs so easily as it was a very tough ask from them, log require lots of effort and pain.

Please find below my day5 & day6 details this was only I am able to compile till date and would like to share my experience with you guys:

Start time: 7:30AM
End time: 8:30PM
Total time: 25Hrs
Total KM: 1550KM (approx)

Time loss: one hour due to heavy fog on 190 Km stretch after Jaipur

Start destination: Nigdi (Chinchwad) Pune.
End destination: South-West Delhi.
Total toll tax paid till Delhi: Rs. 850(approx)

I went to bed early last night to start my journey early morning but able to wake up by 6:00AM only after a deep and long sleep and started my journey towards Delhi by 7:30 AM. This time I decided to take some pics but manage to take couple of shots only, also note down some log details to post some useful information for future travelers.

First stop

First stop was at Indian oil petrol pump on Dehuroad which is located before toll plaza got tank full and paid Rs 1500; time was around 8:40AM, started my journey again takes left turn after couple of minutes to join Mumbai Pune express highway, after few kms run got another toll plaza showed them my previous toll plaza slip and paid Rs.140 toll tax, after using this amazing road I felt that these tolls are worth every single penny roads are now world class, specially Delhi- Pune route amazing roads I must say. On express highway each passing car will remind you that you are traveling in India speed was above limits but still peoples are overtaking each other madly, looking for the first board towards Thane after taking right entered in Taloja Industrial area, I kept moving straight and takes left for Mumbra toll plaza followed the straight road till another toll plaza on Agra road from here takes left, after going few Kms straight takes right and reached under the first flyover, now I was on Ghodbunder road here I followed the straight road and after the toll plaza made a halt at fountain hotel on my left.

Second stop (For breakfast at fountain hotel)

Time: 10AM
Total hours: 2.5Hrs
Total distance travelled: 143Km
Average speed: 57.2 Kmph (bad roads near Panvel)

Now I had to move right towards Surat on NH8 road was not good till Surat as there are numerous flyovers construction and road widening work was going but I do hope that once they are completed you will definitely find roads from Delhi to Mumbai very inviting, these ongoing construction work sucks both your energy and time and they both are very precious on nonstop drives. I thought I had made a good decision by starting early in the morning as I am able to reach Delhi next day by 8:00am and resume my office, at one point I thought starting early by 5:00am in the morning then I thought It is better to complete my sleep as I have to drive whole night, my suggestion to future traveler is that if you are planning to halt in night then start early in the morning and reach Udaipur by evening after completing around 900km of your journey and take rest for day or two to start early next morning for Delhi and vice versa.

Coming back to my journey I keep moving straight and followed the road signs embossed with Surat then Ahmedabad and so on these sign boards played an Important role in journey I just followed them and completed my trip, if you are travelling on new routes to reach your destination, game rule is simple just write down the parent route and follow it, In my case It was Pune-Mumbai-Surat-Ahmedabad-Udiapur-Jaipur-Delhi same was stamped inside my head. Surprisingly I don’t need to ask for the directions this time after following above rule.

In this journey I made a point to stop at petrol pumps after every 150-200Kms or say whenever my fuel needle came to half I started looking for fuel stations on my left for tank up. I think there are two benefits of this one you are able to ease yourself by attending your nature calls (as I drink lots of water to keep me awaken for so long) second you are able to confirm the route from filling guy at station, one more thing friends remember to keep water bottles along with some dry fruits, light snacks etc to meet any urgent requirement of your stomach also this will keep you busy as you are alone.

Now again coming back to my log, I was moving towards Surat from fountain hotel, fuel needle of my car is now hovering around half way mark for quite some time now, time for next pit stop.

Third stop

Time: 1:00PM
Total hours: 5.5Hrs
Total distance travelled from Pune: 388Km
Distance from previous stop: 245Km
Average speed from Pune: 70.54Kmph
Average speed from previous point: 81.66Kmph

I can't believe on the above figures at first glance they are amazing as so much construction work was going on but luckily few jams below the under construction flyovers and top of that 90% of roads are having two way traffic plying on single road but I must say roads are quite wide which enables you to overtake maximum vehicles, sometimes while overtaking sandwich like situation arises but I somehow managed them hehehe

Now I was zipping fast fiercely and made up my mind for night halt in Udaipur after completing 900Km run on day 1, it was enough for me but destiny had some other plans for me.

Fourth stop (for lunch at Mayur hotel)

Time: 2:45PM
Total hours: 7.15 Hrs
Total distance travelled from Pune: 477 Km
Distance from previous stop: 89 Km
Average speed from Pune: 66.71 Kmph
Average speed from previous point: 61.37Kmph

I must say food was very tasty, I stopped here after seeing good numbers of vehicles parked outside (This rule worked here too) It also reminds me that In most cases whenever there is crowd there must be something going on, now I started again keep moving straight please remember we have to move straight as I turned left after seeing a Vadodara signboard but after moving half an Km I realized that I am on wrong path, I enquired at roadside car washing center and hell that guy told me to go back to highway take right turn for Halol and then from there you will reach Udaipur, thank god I followed my inner voice and got myself back on track in no time and keep moving straight there was huge jam on this stretch after passing Narmada Infrastructure Construction Enterprise Limited, entered Bharuch toll plaza paid Rs.15. I was now on Vadodara-Ahmedabad expressway route and paid toll tax of Rs. 69 remember If you reach here means you are on right track, here minimum speed limit for cars are 90KMPH I was moving at good speed after 80 km found an exit on left for Udaipur, you have to be little careful about this exit, as you miss any signboards trouble will start for you so please be extra vigilant.

I was approaching towards Udaipur, started calling different hotels but to my bad luck no room was available due to New Year I also tried at hotels on NH also but all in vain, then I prepared myself for another night long journey OMG!

It is always better to plan things prior to start of any Journey I learnt this lesson hard way, but still there was hope for hotel in my mind, Udaipur is still 300Km away so for next few hours I don’t want to think about this. Now friends it’s time for a pit stop again, my body also need some stretching but It was not paining like Day 2 when I had to apply Moov and on Day3 not able to move my neck properly, but by the grace of god I was enjoying my pain this time.

Contd....
 
Thread Starter #2
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Re: 26 hours nonstop and solo Delhi-Pune-Delhi in my Wagon-R

Contd...

Fifth Stop (for fuel at Essar pump while moving towards Himmat Nagar)

Time: 5:45PM
Total hours: 10.15 Hrs
Total distance travelled from Pune: 651Km
Distance from previous stop: 174Km
Average speed from Pune: 64.13Kmph
Average speed from previous point: 58Kmph (Due to pathetic road condition and traffic jam)

In particular, roads on this route are quite well and realized that good infrastructure like road will turn around our country but still we have to pay 55 Paise per KM toll tax, I think it worth’s every penny for commuters as it saves both time and energy, precious inventories of any travelers.

Back to my log I kept moving straight and followed the signboards, also confirmed the route from petrol pump guy he told me to keep moving straight. One very useful thing I want to share with you friends that you can also ask approaching route direction from guy’s at toll plaza, also try to refrain yourself from divulging your journey details to any unknown person specially if you are alone. I keep moving straight followed the signboards and road curves ahead It was getting darker by every passing second, at 09:00 PM before Udaipur I found an Hotel on my left I enquired for a room they quoted me Rs.600 for a night, rate was fine but location was very scary may be due to hilly terrain and only one car was parked outside, I thought it is wise to move on in no time I started again after reaching Udaipur bypass I tried to find a room but all my efforts are in vain, It may be because off my reluctance to enter inside the city but no issues I prepared myself mentally for a night long journey again, now as per the trip meter I moved total 880Km away from Pune, bypassed Udaipur after moving some kms I thought to have dinner as it was hard to find hotels and petrol pumps on coming stretch.


Sixth stop (for dinner at roadside Dhaba)

Time: 9:30PM
Total hours: 14Hrs
Total distance travelled from Pune: 886Km
Distance from previous stop: 235Km
Average speed from Pune: 63.28Kmph
Average speed from previous point: 56.62Kmph


Wasted 30 minutes on dinner after that readied myself for tough journey ahead, put some woolens over me as it was terrible cold outside, I don’t realized the same until I stepped outside of my car, at dhaba I purchased lots of chocolates to keep myself busy all night, roads were smooth car dipper over worked for whole night till Jaipur after midnight I started feeling very sleepy and it becomes quite difficult for me to drive further so I started looking for tea or coffee shop but there was only darkness outside, after sometime few pair of lights started visible outside got the sign of humanity and found the dhaba.

Seventh stop (for tea at roadside Dhaba)

Time: 00:30 AM
Total Hours: 17 Hr
Total distance travelled from Pune: 1070Km
Distance from previous stop: 184 Km
Average speed from Pune: 62.94 Kmph
Average speed from Previous point: 61.33 Kmph

There was so much darkness outside able to saw on headlight beam of my car. I started thinking that if electricity will not there in cities what will happen to them but thought of our ancestors they live their lives without them; my fuel needle is dipping below half mark, started looking for filling station.

Eighth stop (for tea at roadside Dhaba)

Time: 1:00 AM
Total Hours: 17.5 Hrs
Total distance travelled from Pune: 1107 Km
Distance from previous stop: 37 Km
Average speed from Pune: 63.25 Kmph
Average speed from previous point: 123 Kmph

Average from previous point was incredible which means that roads are now straight and empty, sped past Chhitorgarh and then Kishengarh, heading towards Jaipur now, It was extreme pleasure to drive in nights, empty roads, loud music inside and my loneliness, I was on cloud 9, every moment was special and memorable for me, I saw few Delhi registered vehicles on the way after Kishengarh expressway from Kishengarh to Jaipur is fantastic at 3:00AM passed Jaipur, initially I thought I will complete last 250 km in 3 hours but after Jaipur it was heavy fog outside closely following white swift which was madly surging ahead of me, I was in no mood to let that vehicle passed from eyes but there are truckers making three lane trying to overtake each other and was not giving us side but still we are doing above 80 on an average, sometimes even touching 120 but as Delhi was approaching number of vehicles kept increasing, heavy fog started barely able to see more than a meter dividers are also not visible, heavy fog spoiled all the show, left with no option but to follow large vehicles but still managed to reach Delhi by 8:30 AM also got the tank full on the way. I drove again on same route next year but with my brother and had a night halt, not able to take many pictures few are attached below from my first and second journey.



pic10.jpg

pic12.jpg

pic14.jpg

 

lxi.

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Re: 26 hours nonstop and solo Delhi-Pune-Delhi in my Wagon-R

Woah buddy! Would be really tiring, but for TAI'ns , it their pleasure! Right, Eh?
Didnt read the whole thing!:stupid: just went through the main points!

Waiting for the report of your journey, 8.5Hours are still left here!
 
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Re: 26 hours nonstop and solo Delhi-Pune-Delhi in my Wagon-R

Woah buddy! Would be really tiring, but for TAI'ns , it their pleasure! Right, Eh?
Didnt read the whole thing!:stupid: just went through the main points!

Waiting for the report of your journey, 8.5Hours are still left here!
Thanks lxi yep it's quite tiring and painful will not drive this long again as it is not safe.

Yep summarized everything above including the last 8.5Hrs. Not manage to click much pics en route due to mad mad rush though all the toll slips were in safe custody of mine will compile toll slip data in excel one day.
 

lxi.

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Very nice writeup buddy!
One of the best travel experiences I have ever Read in my Life!

3547kms! Oh god! I have not done more than 200kms continous drive solo!
 
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Good write-up Toughguy, and after reading ur experience I can tell u enjoyed every bit of ur drive. Enjoy your drive.
 
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Thread Starter #8
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Very nice writeup buddy!
One of the best travel experiences I have ever Read in my Life!

3547kms! Oh god! I have not done more than 200kms continous drive solo!
Good write-up Toughguy, and after reading ur experience I can tell u enjoyed every bit of ur drive. Enjoy your drive.
Your nickname is properly justified. Great journey buddy and good write up also.
Thanks a lot lxi, sharmavi and tasuray for your encouragement and lovely words.

It was quite a old write up just copy and paste to retain the thrill, wrote above words after coming from the trip which is still fresh in my mind.

God two weddings to attend in Pune and Ahemdabad will surely again cover this route in Dec'12 with proper pics and words.

I am glad that all you guys liked it, please forgive me for grammar mistakes if any.
 

350Z

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That’s one of the best travelogues around. Great write up too and it was like reading adventures of Bear Grylls. :smile: You did some serious daredevilry by deciding for a solo drive all of sudden with not much preparations as such and on top of that, it’s when the cold is at its extreme. I am sure your family members would not have been most happy with this decision or was it otherwise? Just a few days ago I read another similar travelogue of Delhi – Pune – Delhi (http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...travelogue-driving-maruti-800-delhi-pune.html). Now that I have read this one too, it has only added fuel to the fire of my temptations.

Drive Safe,
350Z
 
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That’s one of the best travelogues around. Great write up too and it was like reading adventures of Bear Grylls. :smile: You did some serious daredevilry by deciding for a solo drive all of sudden with not much preparations as such and on top of that, it’s when the cold is at its extreme. I am sure your family members would not have been most happy with this decision or was it otherwise? Just a few days ago I read another similar travelogue of Delhi – Pune – Delhi (http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...travelogue-driving-maruti-800-delhi-pune.html). Now that I have read this one too, it has only added fuel to the fire of my temptations.

Drive Safe,
350Z
Thanks for your lovely words and encouragement, i am overwhelmed with all the warmth here at this forum.

You should also try this route, Gujrat and Rajasthan got one of the best roads in our country and in particular this Delhi-Mumbai section. Already done this route twice and will do third time this year.
 
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This is a very challenging and courageous act you have undertaken - guess accomplishing it would have been fully satisfying. Its good to note that a small hatch like Wagon can hold up to continuous long journey without major troubles.

Good note.
 
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This is a very challenging and courageous act you have undertaken - guess accomplishing it would have been fully satisfying. Its good to note that a small hatch like Wagon can hold up to continuous long journey without major troubles.

Good note.
Yes and that too twice, special mention for my stock JK ultima tyres which performed exceptionally well with no problem whatsoever not even a single puncture they lasted till more than 50K. No clutch change in vehicle till date completed 65-70K (approx). Exchanged my lovely and trustworthy waggy to Polo this month i miss her so much :(

Amazing car hats off to Maruti Suzuki for this particular model.
 
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Good Job buddy, reading your travelogue reminds me of my trip that i did. Delhi-Pune-Delhi-MBD. It would have been interesting even if you had 1 person with you. But i can understand how it feels when you drive alone. As i have done that 3 times but in US.
And i agree that NH 8 is far better than NH3 via MP. When i did my trip i went crazy driving on NH3. At certain places i couldn't even go over 40. GOD
 
Thread Starter #14
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Good Job buddy, reading your travelogue reminds me of my trip that i did. Delhi-Pune-Delhi-MBD. It would have been interesting even if you had 1 person with you. But i can understand how it feels when you drive alone. As i have done that 3 times but in US.
And i agree that NH 8 is far better than NH3 via MP. When i did my trip i went crazy driving on NH3. At certain places i couldn't even go over 40. GOD
Thanks singh890, you are right this route is far more better than MP route.
 
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@ToughGuy: One word "Amazing". You really are tough guy[clap]. Very nice Travelogue enjoyed it thoroughly. That would be tiresome yet worth the effort I feel[thumbsup]. Thanks for sharing the complete experience.

Drive Safe
Santosh.V
 

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