Round the Country in My Manza. 5000+ Kms in 7 Days, 9 States

[anisghos]

Well done Anish!

I am Starting My 6500+ KM (including DS2012) drive tomorrow. Kolkata - Bodh Gaya - Kanpur - Delhi - Churu - Bikaner - Jaisalmer - Bhuj - Ahmedabad - Kolkata (Via NH6 route suggested by HVK Sir). Ahmedabad to Kolkata Night halts not yet planned.

I sincerly want to thank you for your wonderful, detail blog. This will definitely help me planning my journey from Ahmedabad to Kolkata.

Excellent plan Raja.. Go ahead and enjoy your drive..
You can plan for Ahmedabad-Nagpur-Sambalpur-Kolkata while coming back, Nagpur and Sambalpur being night halts.. Ahmedadbad-Nagpur will be a bit aggressive but i am sure you would be able to do that..

BTW, how many days you are planning for the whole journey..

 

[anisghos]

We crossed Ghodbunder and the jams eased a bit but the traffic was pretty high. Road widening was in progress which made free flowing of traffic a bit difficult.

At last we were on NH 8. I had dreamt of driving through this route for a long long time and finally here i am. I was very pleased to make it here and drive through this stretch. We knew if we could weather out the first 2 days on time it would make our life much easier on the later half of the journey and so it was. This is what the trip was all about – endurance & will power and not to give up. We endured the first 2 days and it was now time to enjoy the moment. Subho was still keeping a bit mum, we tried to cheer him up so that he enjoys the drive. But i knew many thoughts were running through his mind and so was mine, all the probable options and etc.

With all these mixed emotions we kept on with the journey.. Lets the pictures talk once we crossed Godhbunder..









You can see a good amount of traffic on the road ahead.

 

[anisghos]

We were trying to speed a bit as we wanted to cross the NE1 i.e. Ahmedababad - Vadodara Expressway at daylight. We had already missed the beauty of the western ghats and was almost certain that we would miss the beauty of the green Rajasthan as well. So we wanted to go past NE 1 in daylight. We also wanted to view the the palace and pichola lake at night in Udaipur as they are decorated with lights. Our plan was to leave Udaipur in the morning so we would miss it if we reach late.

We had planned not to halt anywhere before Ankleshwar which would be our first D & P break. Ankleshwar is around 300+ kms from Mumbai.

Nothing much to say, straight forward roads curving along the hills. Excellent driving conditions. Let the pictures do the talking...









Once we crossed the city limits the traffic eased out a bit and we started to speed up and make up some lost time. We crossed by Virar Toll and proceeded.



















Charoti Toll Plaza.

 

[anisghos]

Once we crossed the Charoti Toll Plaza we were approaching the Maharashtra-Gujrat border around 40 kms from Charoti Toll Plaza.









At the border we were thoroughly checked, all the car papers, the registration, license etc etc.. Once they were happy they let us proceed.

We were sprinting ahead, the sun shining brightly, near empty roads and the horse power took over we were running all guns blazing from all ends..
We crossed Vapi at around 12.47, Valsad at 1.09, Chikhli at 1.27, Navsari at around 1.46.

Lets have some pictures of the speedometer at that time...

120+



130 +



140



140

 

[anisghos]

We were trying to move as fast as we could, we were approaching Ankleshwar pretty fast.



Navsari Bypass







Bharauch another 71 kms



Crossed NH 6 over the bridge at Kadodara and had a glimpse of the road again which we had travelled through the last 2 days.. Don't know why, but felt good while crossing NH 6



Kamrej Toll Plaza



Bharauch another 45 kms



We did not take the Ankleshwar bypass as it is traffic prone and huge traffic jams all the time. Anybody travelling this route please do go through the town and avoid the bypass. We went through the town and it was pretty empty and halted for Diesel fillup. We were searching for a pump which accepts CC and yes we found one..

Ankleshwar-Bharauch road (Approaching the Golden Bridge)




We would now be crossing the Golden bridge which connects Ankleshwar and Bharauch and towards NE 1.
Can we reach there on time by day light?

 

[anisghos]

Lets have a look into couple of videos :


Just crossed Maharashtra and Gujrat Border :


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0eHXxD2h5M

 

[anisghos]

Approaching Vapi :

You can see the Manza flexing his muscles and picking up speed..

DSCF3885 Updated - YouTube

 

[anisghos]

Approaching Ankleshwar :

You can see truck traffic increasing to some extent...

DSCF3916 - YouTube

 

[anisghos]

Now, before proceeding towards the Golden Bridge i.e. Ankleshwar-Bharuch bridge over Narmada, lets us go through some facts about this bridge..

This is a all time HVK favorite and has become my favorite as well. I really loved driving though it..

Extracts from wikipedia :

"The Golden Bridge that connects Ankleshwar to Bharuch was built in 1881 by the British, who needed a bridge across the Narmada River to create better access to trade and administration officials in Bombay (now called Mumbai). The Bridge is actually called Narmada Bridge.

The Golden Bridge has seen many floods and natural disaster like earthquakes, but it has stood for 129 years, providing daily transportation to the people of Ankleshwar and Bharuch.In fact, the site is definitely worth a look. The bridge is as much a part of the rich history of Bharuch as are its archaeological and architectural wonders, mostly temples.

The British, who needed a bridge across Narmada to enable easier access for trade and administration officials in Mumbai, built the Golden Bridge, or Narmada Bridge as it is named, in 1881.
According to legend, it is known as the "Golden Bridge" because the iron used in its construction is very sturdy, resistant to rust and rare, and it was so expensive to build the bridge that a bridge could have been made from gold over a small river like the Thames in this much amount.

The bridge was originally built for the Bombay-Baroda-Ahmedabad Railway Line. But despite being so expensive it was not strong enough to carry the load of the freight trains. Hence a new bridge was made for railways and the Golden Bridge was converted into a road bridge.

The bridge connects Ankleshwar to Bharuch The Golden Bridge got its name on account of the heavy expenditure incurred on building it for more than seven times, after it continued to get damaged due to heavy water flow of river Narmada.

It is not just been a connection between two towns, rather it is a tourist spot for people who throng it in the evenings and enjoy the sight of the Narmada.
The original construction was started in 1861 and in 1863 the pillars got washed away. Then in 1867, more pillars got washed away and the same happened in 1871.
The next two years, the work that was done also got washed away.

Finally, the British undertook the job in 1877 and completed the bridge on May 6, 1881 at a cost of Rs 45.65 lakh and called it Narmada Bridge.
In 1860, the work for laying railway tracks was also started adjacent to the Narmada Bridge. With the construction of a new bridge, the railway tracks were laid on the new bridge.
At one time during World War II, financial crunch had even forced the government to decided on destroying the bridge for its iron, but the love of locals for the bridge saved it.
After Independence, it became part of the national highway. Later, after the construction of a new national highway, vehicle flow was restricted."


While discussing with HVK earlier, he suggested me to go via this route and to drive through this bridge and after learning briefly about the history of this bridge i was also eager to drive through this beautiful bridge..

Have a look... Hope you would also like it..
Here we go.. THE GOLDEN BRIDGE over Narmada..



Golden Bridge At Ankleshwar - YouTube

Next, the question still remains, Can we reach National Expressway 1 on time by day light?

 

[anisghos]

Some issues with the Maharashtra and Gujrat border video earlier...

Just crossed Maharashtra and Gujrat Border - YouTube

 

[samarjitdhar]

Hi Anis, v busy with work? You haven't updated this thread in a while now. Waiting for the rest of the return trip

 

[anisghos]

Hi Anis, v busy with work? You haven't updated this thread in a while now. Waiting for the rest of the return trip

Yes a bit, But i would start posting updates today again..

Sorry guys for keeping you waiting..

 

[anisghos]

Once we crossed the Golden bridge we were on to Bharuch, went past the Bharuch railway station on the left and drove couple of kilometers of a SH and a left turn onto NH 8 again. We took a 5 mins P break before joining back NH 8.

After the P break when we were getting into the car i saw a big smile in Subho's face. He said he had a talk with his mom and his father was stable. We was so relieved to hear that. Now we can freely drive without any thoughts in our mind. We had some food packed up from home and we did not have to bother about food halts and mostly who cared, do hell with food now.. We were all thinking about the drive and getting onto NE1

It was around 3.30 pm and we were now zooming ahead towards NE1. It was another approx 70 kms more till NE 1 and now we were almost sure that we would be able to go past NE1 in daylight unless and until we get stuck somewhere . We were a happy bunch of guys..

Lets have some pictures before NE 1 :





Nicely laid tarmac









Vadodara Exit



Vadodara Exit



We were now approaching Vadodara-Ahmedabad Expressway (NE 1) and we were eagerly waiting for the signboard which states WELCOME MAHATMA GANDHI EXPRESSWAY . We made it till here in very good time, some 72 kms in 45 mins.

 

[anisghos]

The sun was going down, but we were already in NE 1 now. We had enough light and time to go past NE 1 in daylight and what an experience !

It was around 4.30 pm and we saw the signboard stating National Expressway 1.





We were overjoyed to see the signboards. Subho and Soham were all ready with the the cameras and they were capturing what ever thay could. My toes were itching to press the accelerator to the limit, and so did i, not to the limit though. ..

I could see the needle soar from left to right and my Manza's groan increased and suddenly i saw the speedometer showing 150 +. Roads were empty and on a tarmac of such quality we let loose everything and we were whizzing past all other vehicles in a whisker. It was my first high speed encounter crossing 150 and we enjoyed it to the hilt..

Nothing much to say and let the pictures do the talking..













Udaipur another 333 kms









Dont you think with the condition of the road being such you would be tempted to press the accelerator.. I DID



We went past Anand interchange at 4.56 and Nadiad Interchange at 5.04. Needless to say about the speed we were travelling we reached the NE 1 exit in very good time. We took left through the exit and were back in NH 8. We were exhilarated with the drive and stopped for 2 mins.

First sight of Camels

 

[anisghos]

We covered a distance of 119 kms in 55 mins. We did it in very good time and we were very happy to drive through NE 1 which i had dreamt of from a long long time.

We drove very fast and enjoyed each and every second of the drive and we wish to come back again here.

Some videos to fill your belly :


National Expressway 1 - YouTube


National Expressway 1 - Nos 2 - YouTube


You can guess the speed we were travelling in :


NE 1 - Nos3- Have a look at the speed - YouTube


NE1 - Nos 4 - YouTube


Now that we had crossed NE 1, we were looking forward to the next part of the drive. It was getting dark now and we knew we would not be able to see the green Rajasthan today and for that we have to come back and so would we.

Nevertheless, we were very very happy and with our hearts filled with enormous amount ecstasy we moved forward.

Will be back very soon this time.