Bike Trip! Return Journey from Delhi to Bangalore 2400 Kms via Udaipur, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune

So after covering the Central India route from Bangalore to Delhi via Hyderabad, Nagpur (Read about it Here), I wanted to take the different route on the way back. Decided to take the Western route via Mumbai. Since I don't ride at night, I had only 12 hours of riding time and I had to cover 800 kms each day

Day 1-  Delhi to Modasa Gujarat - 811 Kms

Plan was to stick to NH48 all along. Roads were absolutely BRILLIANT all through the day. Only problem is, I couldnt cross 120 because this route has the whole fleet of trucks between Delhi and Mumbai. Good part about this route is you will find ample places to eat, refuel and rest all along the way. 

Near Jaipur on the Traffic Filled NH48

The NH 48 (previously NH8) was absolutely Bliss to Ride in Rajasthan

After crossing Jaipur, Ajmer, there is a place called Beawar where there are 2 options to go to Ahmedabad. I took the route via Udaipur as suggested by Google. It had 100 Kms of single road without Divider but post that it was all good. 

The Decision point near Beawar

A HUGE Shiva statue near Nathdwara near Udaipur

Entry to Udaipur is through this Tunnel in the Hill

Udaipur was surely beautiful with its lakes and hills

Crossing Udaipur

Rajasthan parts of NH48 till the Gujarat border was fabulous without any potholes. Since plan was to reach Udaipur (which I did by 4pm). The 100 Kms after Udaipur is HANDS DOWN the MOST SCENIC ROADS I have ever ridden. Roads cutting through the Hills and weather adding the icing on the cake

Hill cut roads after Udaipur were most beautiful roads ever

Although every now and then, you do find a lot of Cows in Rajasthan

Post Udaipur Roads

Nature Finds its Own ways to be resilient of Human Invasion

Rajasthan, you had truly amazing roads!

I thought I will push further and extended the day till Modasa Gujarat. I found a very good stay in Modasa called Hotel Sagarinn which had clean and luxury rooms, sanitized for Rs 600 (COVID Special price)

Sunset and End of the Day in Modasa Gujarat

Day 2 - Modasa to Ahmedabad to Panvel (Mumbai) - 633 Kms

I was planning to take from Modasa to Godhara route to Baroda, but couple of my friends insisted on meeting me in Ahmedabad so decided to take a detour which later I realized would cost me 3 hours and 100 more Kilometers. 

Modasa to Ahmedabad was painful but it was Green all throughout

Enroute Ahmedabad

The road from Modasa to Ahmedabad was PAINFUL single lane, pothole ridden roads that will kill your palms. Constant thoughts in my mind, if the detour to ahmedabad is worth it! After 80 kms of this torture, Out of the two people whom I was supposed to meet, one guy overslept! Anyways, as I carried on, I realized two wheelers are not allowed on the Expressways. The NH from Ahmedabad to Gujarat was not so great either with people driving all over the place. The WORST section of the whole trip was Baroda to Surat with potholes the size of craters and HEAVY tortorous rains making the visibility to almost zero. I could hardly keep safe speeds of 80. 

Maharashtra Roads were a sigh of relief

However, roads in maharashtra was comparitively better with lesser potholes. After countless breaks and snail pace, I realized that I wouldnt be able to make it to my target of Satara.

It was physically challenging to ride with wet leather gloves

Infact when I entered mumbai, I was stuck in traffic near Thane for almost 1 hour. Decided to call it a day and took halt at Panvel. I spent 1 hour searching for a place in Panvel as all the places I navigate to seemed to be closed. Stay was in Hotel Crown which was the only available option for Rs 2000. But their room and service was good and hygenic.

Day 3 - Panvel (Mumbai) to Bangalore - 958 Kms

I knew today was going to be a long day since I couldnt really cover much yesterday. I needed to plan my breaks effectively to be able to reach Bangalore by atleast Midnight. While heading to Pune, realized two wheelers are not allowed in Express way to Pune! Bummer Again. The normal highway from Mumbai to Pune was not bad however had lots and lots of Speedbreakers. The route was beautiful with waterfalls everywhere in Khandala and Lonavala due to rains.

Countless Waterfalls can be seen in the background in Ghat roads of Khandala

 At the view points, there was so much fog that Visibility was absolute zero! I was absolutely loving the surroundings and momentarily forgot about the huge distance i had to cover.

Almost zero visibility due to Fog in Khandala

Ghat sections after Pune were mesmerizing green

Perfect weather to ride the ghats

The Ever beautiful Karad Kohlapur 4 Lane Dream Project

She knew I will give her food

Once I reached Pune, there was occasional rain every now and then till Kohlapur but the good roads ensured I could maintain 120 throughout.

Some Treat for the Bike

Once Crossing Karnataka, my body and bike gained some unknown energy. With the brilliant views, TOP NOTCH Roads and sparse traffic, I felt so BLESSED to be living one of the BEST states in India. In the whole of the Trip, I think I would rank roads of Karnataka 1st followed by Telangana and Rajasthan.

At the Karnataka Border

From here on, I was pretty familiar with the route having already done Bangalore - Pune - Bangalore earlier in Feb on my bike. My target was to cover the Hubli Chitradurga stretch before dark as there is road widning work in progress. I just managed it as I reached chitradurga by 6.30 pm.

Spotted a Rainbow in Davangere

Beautiful Highways of KARNATAKA

Sunset, usually till when I ride

The Last Sunset of the Trip

Panoromic Windmills of Chitradurga welcoming you

Chitradurga to Bangalore is a bliss to drive and I could cover this easily with adrenaline of going home carrying me through. However dur to my tinted visor and rain, I couldn't go beyond 100. Riding at night is fun and body doesnt get tired as much

Because of my Tinted Visor, I cannot ride at night with it

The LEDs and Indicators were surprisingly good at night

I reached home much earlier at 10pm lucky to be greeted by my wife and 3 daughters with wide grin and relief!

At home with my ladies :)

All through the trip, I saw different faces of my country and I am just proud of every part of it. I know it is not a very good idea to travel during COVID times, but I never stopped at places for food and rode on Portable / fast food. At night, I would order room service in the hotels. At none of the Borders was I stopped or asked for Pass. I did have my COVID Test done before the trip and had the report ready but nobody asked for that either. 

Now, I will observe quarantine for 14 days and get tested after 7 days just to be safe. This was one of the most memorable trips for me especially in these times with all the uncertainties in travel due to Pass and limited stay options but I guess it adds to the planning and preparation. Next up is the eastern route, Bangalore to Delhi via Chennai Kolkata!

Bike Trip! - Bangalore to Delhi 2100 Kms through Hyderabad, Nagpur

Pre Ride Planning

So its been WFH for almost half an year and things were starting to open up. I had plans to do the GQ on my new bike on Independence day but unfortunately, lockdown was still prevalent. After following many Travelers from HVK group and TeamBHP, finally decided to travel from Bangalore to Delhi after obtaining all the Passes

I got the Travel passes of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka easily but Maharashtra and UP required a COVID Test to be done. So I did the Test from Thyrocare in Bangalore for Rs 600 and got the necessary passes. Gave my Bike for checkup and changed the Brake pads and Tyres just in case. 

Bike is ready with New Tyres and Brake shoes

The plan was to stick to the NH 44 all along for 3 days with Day 1 halt at Nizamabad and Day 2 at Sagar. Even Identified places to stay, called them and confirmed that it was open. It was the eve of the ride and as usual, I did overpack

Packed Took 50% of these things

Day 1 - Bangalore to Adilabad - 905 Kms

Started from home at around 5am and breezed through till Bagepalli Border for Andhra Pradesh. Surprisingly, No checking or asking for epasses. After entry to Andhra, there was one cop who asked to open my bag to check for Liquor.

Beautiful Roads of Andhra

Easily reached Hyderabad by 12 pm but couldnt enter the Expressway as it was banned for 2 wheelers. Hence took the road through the city traffic.Roads in Andhra were beautiful going through the hills. The climate was a pleasure to ride. As soon as I crossed into Telangana I was surprised to see even better roads. beautiful flowering trees were planted on both sides of the road making it feel like a grand welcome.

Bikes not allowed in Hyderabad Expressway

The entire stretch of day was was magnificent and I was able to cover more than 900 kms today. It was the adrenaline of starting the journey as well which made me push extra.

For the Night, I halted at Adilabad which was the last Border point between Telangana and Maharashtra. I didnt want to go through epass checking at night so decided to halt in Telangana itself.

Stay - Hotel New Krishna Lodge, Adilabad for Rs 600

Night Stay in Adilabad

Day 2 - Adilabad (Telangana) to Lalitpur (UP) - 700 Kms

I had a very eventful day today. After the bliss of southern states and a relatively easy day yesterday, today I entered Maharashtra. As soon as I entered, I realised it's going to be tough. Very very bad quality roads. After riding for 100 kms decided this is not happening and pushed suspension 1 point on softer side. While on the break felt extremely sleepy and slept on a bus stand for an hour. This was just 8am and I knew I am not going to cover the intended distance today (Plan was Jhansi). The mod on suspension helped but still was not able to keep up more than 120. Then entered Nagpur and the big fiasco happened.

At 8am, I just couldnt fight sleep so took 1 hour nap in a Bus Stand

While in the Nagpur City, I missed the deviation to NH44 and entered NH 547. This NH 547 was the worst of roads with best views around. Later I heard from locals that due to heavy rains, there was a landslide in NH44 after Nagpur and all the truck traffic was diverted from NH44 to this 547. What was worse is there were 3 huge traffic jams with one of them due to an overflowing river and other two due to over turned trucks in the Ghat roads. This Highway is not well equipped for the huge trucks and doesn't have a divider as well.. to add to the misery, the roads had HUGE potholes and going above 40 was turning out to be a challenge.

Beautiful Green across MP

To safely navigate, turned the suspension to the softest side and reduced psi in rear tyre from 41 to 39. This section between Nagpur to Narsinghpur of 255 kms took me close to 5 hours whereas in the main Nh44 I could've covered this in 2 hours. Plus the strain on legs additional. Couple of Good things about this route is, the Ghat roads and view is amazing. Plus, since I was going slow, I got a very good mileage of around 25

Anyways, once I reached back nh44, I just couldn't control myself. Pushed the suspension up 2 notches and immediately started cruising in 140. The next 200kms I could cover in 2 hours easily. However all those 200 kms it was pouring constantly and everything I wore was soaking wet. Driving in mp and up part of nh44 is very challenging because of so many dogs and cows.  In the journey today 3 times abs kicked in due to the dogs and cows.

Crossing the Border in UP

The roads in MP and UP are top notch and the greens around the highways are mesmerizing.. I could cover 100 kms more than my original plan and reached lalitpur for night halt. Overall I covered around 700kms today in 12 hours with all the sleep break, traffic, bad roads etc. Could've done it faster with lesser strain had I not deviated to the other Highway, but nothing much to be bogged over about.. end of the day body is fine too ride another 1000 kms tomorrow and looking forward for the next day tomorrow!

Amazing Food and Tea in UP

Stay - Hotel Anand Residency, Lalitpur. Rs 1000 

I just love the small town ppl and their mentality.. I told them I'm coming from Bangalore to Delhi and looking at the mud covered bike, the security guard cleaned it with a bucket of water without me telling him... I paid him 100 bucks which he accepted with a wide grin on his pan filled face 😀

Security Guard Washed my bike without asking

Day 3 - Lalitput to Delhi - 556 Kms

Today I reach delhi. The excitement of going home was taking me across the Cow filled roads of UP. I've read a lot about the Jhansi- Gwalio stretch in Teambhp which was under construction but managed  to breeze through this stretch easily. Guess the work has progressed afterall.

Green Route near Gwalior

Once I was nearing Agra, I made a mistake of following the Highway rather than going in the city for the expressway. Realizing this late, decided to take the Expressway in Mathura, for which I had to travel 15 kms inside the city with painful traffic

Once I reached the Expressway, I covered 100 kms in 42 minutes 😁😁 the Taj Yamuna expressway to me was like giving food to a man hungry for a month! 

And so I reached Delhi. Stopped for a quick photo in front of Buddh International Circuit

A quick shoot near Buddh International Circuit

My Bike standing tall and Dirty with my Dad's Car

Family in Delhi surprised to see me

Amazing route, raining all throughout. Highways and mountains fully green. Loved traveling through the lengths of my country especially during the monsoons. Overall it was 2100 Kms covered in 2.5 days. Looking forward to the return Journey through the Western Route. 

Edit - You can read about my return Journey from Delhi to Bangalore through the Western Route HERE

Voxy – The Road trip Dog

The Road trip Dog

Travelling with a dog in India is not just an alien concept but something that is ridiculed upon. Pets in India are still viewed as means to entertainment, pass time at home, look at cute faces all day or impress the snobbish social pet owner community. Many at times due to this, the dog eventually loses its natural energy, activeness and mimics the owners laid back, over grown, couch intensive lifestyle. Dogs are naturally fast, aggressive and playful and your cute, cow-eyed, furry companion would be their best if raised this way.

Voxy off the Leash for the first time in her life

First taste of open water swimming

Meet Voxy, our spoilt brat with love overdose, who shares the passion to travel almost every bit as us. "Madam", as we call her, thinks of us as her Royal helpers who will take her around the world. She is playful yet intelligent, energetic yet retarded, curious yet dumb. She cannot say it but she looks upto us and knows that we are the ones who will help her realize her dream of exploring the globe.

All set for the next adventure

Voxy’s first Trip

Both I and Rimjhim have been avid travelers sharing a common passion of exploring places. The idea to take Voxy along came up when we bought our car. To start off, we took her to Makalidurga trek where she had her first taste of open water swimming. Both of us were pretty scared then, whether she will be able to swim, or if a snake bites her or she gets tangled in the plants and drown. We even had our first moment of scare when she ran away into the bushes chasing birds. I was getting pretty worried as this was the first time we unleashed her and we lost her the first time itself. I was even imagining putting up posters of her all around. But Rimjhim was acting cool and she knew voxy would eventually come back and she did.

Voxy at Makalidurga

Trekker Dog

So we gained confidence on our trekker dog and decided to take her to Nagalapuram Trek with couple of more friends. When Voxy travels with 4 people in the car, she loves to just stand on us as if we are soft pillows. The guys sitting behind have a hard time protecting their balls. Once we reached the base of the trek, we decided to catch some quick sleep. Our Madam had other plans in mind. Starting from birds to butterflies, she chased everything that flied above ground. Her energy management section of the brain was so poor that she spent 120% of her energy chasing birds even before the trek started. Her sense of cognition gave away as she jumped almost from 8 feet high rocks. And after a while, her Motor went bust and she was tired as a tortoise. We had to lift her for most parts of the trek since then. By the time we finished the 2 day trek, Voxy was exhausted slept all through the way back and for a week since then.

Conquering mountains 19 at a time

Leading the way all throughout

Sorry, got held up chasing a mouse downhill

Trekker Dog!

Beach Dog

Voxy was slowly getting used to the car and we decided to take her to Gokarna next. This was when we realized Voxy was a beach dog more than anything else. The joy of seeing her running into water, jumping like a horse is unparallel to anything else. We stayed in a shack in Kudle beach and almost the entire beach and every single person knew Voxy. Most of them were plain surprised that we brought her all the way from Bangalore. Looking at her love for beaches, we took her to Auroville next, where she didn’t mind the dirty beaches of Pondicherry and enjoyed no less. Another beach on her list was the Udupi where we stayed in a shack in Kundapura, visiting all the beaches on the west coastline. Voxy found a new hobby of chasing crabs but poor thing cannot learn that they are just too fast for her. When god gave her persistence, he must have been several folds generous as she never gives up chasing anything.

I love it here

Enough of photos you two, lets play!

I want my share

Mommy look, Cat up there!

Maybe I'll find more birds over there

Tired after chasing away all the birds

Now lets pose with my parents!

Leaving my mark all over

Mountain Dog Voxy

Rimjhim was more of a Beach person and we knew how much Voxy loved the beaches. Now it was time for the mountains. With increasing confidence we took her to more treks like Makalidura (second time, we managed to the peak), Madhugiri, Anthargange and Kodachadri. Remember when I told you this one had GigaJoules of Energy stored inside, we got to see that when she climbs. If we walk 10m uphill, Voxy climbs 100m uphill, turns back, realizes that we are so slow and comes back to us. So effectively, for each 10m we climb, Voxy climbs 190m. So if we are climbing 1 hill, she climbs 19. Such is the magnitude of the powerhouse stored within her. We often think about getting her shoes for the trekking. She burnt her paws in Madhugiri due to the heat, got leaches in Kodachadri but eventually heals herself in a day or two. All this will just slow her down but cannot stop her. Maybe she is thinks of grieving in pain as a waste of time and she can run instead! She is fearless to run at full speed behind a mouse downhill and then climb all the way back up. She can navigate through the caves of Anthargange balancing on the rocks. She is truly, the queen of mountains.

Voxy on top of Madhugiri

Humans Climb so slow

Photo bomb! Doggy style

Time to get a lift

I'm not going back home

Shall we measure who has the longer tongue?

Voxy at Anthargange Caves

The Sailor dog

So last week we decided to go for Scuba diving and we thought why not take voxy along. The instructors were dog owners themselves and loved the idea of bringing her along the boat. Interesting thing about dog owners is when they see voxy, they see her as a kid and start missing their own dog and regret not bringing their pets along. Incredibly Voxy was extremely well behaved all through the 40Km boat journey through the Arabian Sea. Although she did give us a scare or two when she tried jumping off a running boat but she listens to us most of the times. In fact we have noticed that she listens to us more when she’s on a trip than at home. And she had the most amazing time in the sea swimming doggy style with a life jacket. The three of us even did snorkeling and swam through the waves together. She loves the water as much as the beach or the mountains.

Dont you Hoomans worry when I'm on Lifeguard Duty

Hi-Paw

Maybe thats where the food is

Here Take my Candid Photo

What did I tell you about scratching my butt

It’s very hard to determine whether she likes travelling with us or not. But being with her for this long, we know that she wants to do it more and more, with extreme levels of enthusiasm. She is the first one to sit in the car when we start and first one to get out and run when we stop. Some people on the way ask why do you bring her. It’s very hard to answer these people, as usually, we are busy chasing her to the top, testing our limits of affection for each other. Be it race down the coastline or up the hill or swim across the currents; Voxy always maintains 2 feet ahead of us, making sure we are following, making sure she makes the trip amazing for us.

Trips with Voxy
- Makalidurga
- Nagalapuram
- Gokarna
- Makalidurga Peak
- Auroville
- Madhugiri
- Anthargange – Kolar
- Udupi beach
- Kodachadri Trek
- Scuba Diving – Boat ride

Experience and Learnings

• ·        Most of the hotels on the highway are friendly towards dogs. Don’t look for pet friendly hotels as they will charge a premium for accepting dog
• ·         Accomodation – Never book it. Always check with the lodges, bargain and then tell them you have a dog
• ·         Taking dog food is a waste. Better to feed it on the way
• ·         Dog toys, another waste. Dog has many other things to be interested about
• ·         Car is absolute must as its very hard to negotiate with Public transport in case of larger breeds
• ·         Meet a lot of Dog owners who remember their dog and wish they could’ve brought them along
• ·         Pet will ensure that you are the center of attraction always. You will be known everywhere
• ·         You will never be tired of her. Being a couple we never felt we are losing a moment or privacy. All the memories will be beautiful with her
• ·         The dog will mostly never trouble you if you take care of her properly. Give her good exercise and food, she will sleep sound all night even in a new place
• ·         Ensure that your dog is fit and healthy
• ·         Ensure that you have taught your pet the basic training for restraint and behavior with strangers
• ·         Remember the after trip cleanup along with Tick removal
• ·         Dog will mostly love being in the car except for nature calls. But mostly, they will hold back their urge all through the travel. So keep looking for signs
• ·         Be prepared for a lot of Fur in your car
• ·         Dog will keep its head out of the windows most of the time. Be sure to clean the dirt off her eyes after the trip