A few advised not to go in September with the rain, landslides and the state of the roads but I wanted to go before the start of the tourist season in October
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When you are going to be 60 next year, having missed out on a lot of things others take for granted because of being immersed in ‘work’ when younger, there is sometimes a near desperation to make up for lost time.
Besides, ‘meetings’ which had been the bane of my existence the past 4 years kind of wear you down and thankfully, with that period just over, what better way to celebrate than a road trip with my wife to Nepal. In addition, a feeling of being ‘free as a boid’, as John Lennon might have said, leads you to do something different.
A few advised not to go in September with the rain, landslides and the state of the roads but I wanted to go before the start of the tourist season in October, knowing the monsoon starts withdrawing in the latter half of September. A few others were wondering ‘why’ but paraphrasing RFK Sr, I was thinking ‘why not.
One way was to go by the shortest route, but we were also interested in seeing places and meeting people who work there and also to see an India away from the expressways and Starbucks outlets, far away from the happening places in our country.
The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see. – G.K. Chesterton
With the time frame available, however much we wanted to be a traveller, one had to be a tourist also but we tried to do justice to the first as much as possible.
There was a kind of plan to get to Raxaul and then Pokhara but no plan on how to come back. Besides, one cannot plan excessively for a road trip in our country as so many things can make you change your itinerary or go wrong.
I did a 1 lakh servicing at 98,600 km as well as tyre rotation, alignment and balancing a week before departure, as well.
I was not concerned about the boot space as there were only two of us. Other things were the TUSA tyre inflator, a Swiss Army knife, a windshield breaker seatbelt cutter, a hefty jack and an umbrella. Our lap top bags were wedged between the seats. I had earlier changed the spare wheel from a smaller r 16 to r 17. The TPMS read 37.25 PSI for the front tyres and 36.5 for the rear at 27 degrees C.
The trip as planned was to go to Padhar in MP, then Jabalpur, Lucknow, Raxaul and onto Pokhara.
Day 1:
My wife and I left on September 1st at 5.15 am. Driving in Andhra was uneventful especially for a short distance on the fabulous Chittoor Tirupathi highway.
At day break on the Chittoor Tirupathi Highway
We had breakfast on the outskirts of Kadapa. This is when it started pouring and once in Telangana it was running so heavily as to affect visibility.
Crossing the Tungabhadra and the Krishna rivers we could see the muddy waters overflowing their banks.
A short distance from the Hyderabad ORR, we had lunch.
This is when the rain increased. Google maps showed congestion on the ramp to the ORR and instead of going left on the ORR we went right which was an additional 35 kms. However, all the underpasses were full of water, but ultimately got onto the ramp. The ORR was fantastic as usual and having set cruise control at 120 kmph, had an enjoyable drive as well.
The problem was at the exit where there was water flowing well above a causeway and had to use an alternate path through slush and mud.
We finally reached Hotel Krishna in Nizamabad at 6.30 pm.
Dinner was in the hotel.
Distance travelled 859 km
Toll 1185 INR
Day 2:
We started at 7.15 am in pouring rain. The countryside was green and all the water bodies filled. Once on the Hyderabad Nagpur highway the going was fast. As pretty as the countryside looked, stopping for photographs was not possible because of the heavy truck traffic and the absence of a shoulder in this road. I really admired the roadworks in Telengana as with such heavy rain there was no waterlogging near the median. I later found that 156 trains had been cancelled because of the rain.
Get away from it
However, as soon as you enter Maharashtra, bad roads start and trucks with their heavy load swerving right and left became a common sight. Though there appeared to be a quarter hearted attempt at repair since last year, it was grossly inadequate. Being the main arterial road from the South to Central India, I wonder why it doesn’t figure on badly needed infrastructure upgrade.
We stopped at the Vithal Kamat near Hinganghat for breakfast for the 3rd time in 2 years. However, the quality of food had deteriorated since our last visit.
The roads definitely improved near Nagpur and soon we were on the fabulous roads of MP. What with very little traffic, it was fast going and we reached Padhar by 3 pm.
RC and his wife DT were my classmates in undergrad from more than 40 years ago and DT, from school also and we stayed in their house. They had been working in this hospital for more than 30 years, providing much needed quality services in a rural area.
DT’s father, all of 95 years and hale and hearty received us warmly. We then had lunch there.
Both RC and DT got back from work at the hospital by 5.30 pm. It also happened to be our 33rd wedding anniversary and they made it a memorable occasion.
Distance travelled 558km
Toll 955 INR
Day 3:
All of us went for an early morning walk and after a leisurely breakfast, while RC and DT went to work, we spent our time just lazing.
While my specialty and RC’s are different there are certain areas where there is an overlap and that day had one and he invited me to the operation theatre. This gave me a chance to witness his skill as a surgeon and I could only admire his expertise, while my wife went to see a doctor who had done post grad in her speciality.
In the evening, RC’s brother, also a surgeon in the hospital and the third owner of a Pajero Sport took me and my wife offroading on a hill track close by which was simply exhilarating and out of the world.
After dinner and swapping stories, we were wondering where to stay at our next stop, Jabalpur and I booked in a serviced apartment called ‘unTrained and unPlanned’. I think the name is what attracted my attention.
Day 4:
After a leisurely breakfast we left at 10.20 am. There are 2 routes to Jabalpur and I was told to go via the Seoni route as it was more scenic and less cows on the road.
It definitely was scenic and roads good till 40 kms from Seoni.
Once we turned into the NH near Seoni, the first 10 Kms were not greatbut thereon nearly flawless.
There were cornfields and nearing Jabalpur, teak appeared on both sides of the road.
We reached our destination at the apartment complex on the outskirts of Jabalpur and the owner of the serviced apartment, seeing the car registration welcomed us with a bright smile and a ‘Vanakkam’. There was an outlet of Indian Coffee House a km away which was convenient for all our food needs.
Distance travelled 377 Kms
Toll 450 INR
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