I have been driving on Indian roads for many years but always had a dream to go for a long road trip exploring heritage sites, monuments and amazing food of Incredible India.
Although summer is not a great time for such a trip but that’s when schools close and everybody in the family is available.
Initially my wife, daughter and I were set for this trip, but as we started our preparations, my 75 years old mom insisted on joining us. We were little concerned about extreme weather conditions and several days on the road but couldn't convince her for staying back.
Our final route plan was Bangalore-Hyderabad-Amarkantak-Varanasi-Lucknow-Oracha-Udaipur-Ujjain-Omkareshwar-Nagpur-Hyderabad -Bangalore.
I would like to thank Mr. H V Kumar for his valuable guidance on route planning and real time assistance while we were on the move.
Summary
Duration 15 April 2015 – 1 May 2015
Distance covered – 5733 Kms
Highlights
No breakdowns, no flat tyre
Sun rise, Sunset
Magic of Varanasi
Great food all through
Low lights
Bad roads from Rewa to Allahabad
Preparation
Team bhp discussion threads
Real time help from friends on routes and accommodation
Tips
Refueling @ the end of each day
Stay connected: we started a whatsapp group which came very handy for remote help
Stay connected: we started a whatsapp group which came very handy for remote help
Day 1: Bangalore – Hyderabad - ( 600 KMs)
We had a delayed start @ 8:00 AM and crossing the Bangalore city itself took close to 2 hours but roads were pretty good till Hyderabad.
We entered the city of Nizam @ 2 PM and decide to have the world famous Biryani. Stopped at Bawarchi and I must say it was yummy.
Traffic was much better than Bangalore city but with lots of two-wheelers on city roads one should be little careful.
We checked into The Nizam Club, nice location bang opposite the Telangana Assembly. We relaxed for an hour and started for Birla mandir, which is up the hill and gives a beautiful view of the entire city. We could not click any pictures as photography was strictly prohibited there. On our return we visited the Husaain sagar.
Tried amazing flavors @ Nizam Club:
Mutton biryani was great.
Veg biryani was too good and we ordered it twice, nice quality rice and not greasy. Perfect blend of spices and loads of veggies.
For the first time we had tamarind stuffed bhajjis with peanut and mint chutney: Amazing!
Khubani kaa meetha, simple but subtle taste! Not what we get in Bangalore.
Hasil-e-mehfil:Mutton biryani and Charminar.
We were really scared about this part of the trip due to bad road conditions between Adilabad–Hinganghat. More so, because our car doesn’t have a huge ground clearance. All travel forums were full of horrifying stories of vehicle damages due to big craters, in fact a colleague of mine had a bad accident the previous year.
So, we started @ 6AM driving carefuly but Quattro performed exceptionally well and the road repair work made our journey comfortable.
We crossed Nagpur around 1 PM but were not sure how far we could reach before 8PM so didn't book any accommodation.
At 7PM, we were 50 kms away form Mandla, a small town in MP. We had very poor mobile/internet connectivity but thanks to my friend Ashish Nema from Bangalore helped us book a nice hotel. This was a MP tourism hotel with comfortable rooms and courteous staff. As we had a long day, we crashed immediately after dinner.
Day 3: Mandla - Amarkantak (200 kms)
We started after breakfast for this short journey. Roads were utterly butterly smooth and there was absoluely no traffic.
We reached our destination Kalyan Seva Ashram, Amarkantak @ 1:30 PM. We had visited the Ashram before and it's an amazing place away from the hustle bustle of city.
The ashram runs a boarding school and we were very impressed with the way these kids were being brought up. They were very confident and ready to face the competitive world ahead.
We visited the origin of the holy rivers Narmada and Son.
We stayed for 2 nights and didn't feel like leaving the place but had a long journey ahead of us.
Day 5: Amarkantak-Allahabad-Varanasi (600 Kms)
We left at 6AM and stopped at Shahdol for a quick breakfast visit to our relative, Mr Sunil.
He works for Coal India and insisted upon showing us an open shaft coal mine nearby. We thanked him and rushed back to the highway.
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| Open shaft coal mine |
It was 9AM and by now, we were getting mixed inputs on the road condition ahead. Having crossed Hinganghat stretch, nothing scared us anymore. We were advised not to take Rewa-Mirzapur route instead take Rewa-Saimaur-Katra-Allahabad-Varanasi route.
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| No signs of road |
This was the worst stretch we had faced so far, from Katra to Chakghat: no signs of road and all we could see were clouds of dust. Very few cars were seen on this road and even trucks and buses were crying.
This was the true test of Quattro, yet: our bodies are not 4x4 and this got me worried for my mom but she didn't complaint.
We entered Allahabad, though the road was not bad but the traffic was very heavy. By the time we reached Varanasi, it was already 8:30 PM and we checked into UP Tourism hotel opp Cantt Railway station.
Day 6: (Varanasi)
Started our day at 7AM by visiting the Kashi Vishwanath temple. This temple is considered one of the most important jyotirlinga yet, the heavy rush and law and order situation disappointed us. We waited for 2 hours in the queue and as we started moving forward, we saw a huge pile of stinking garbage bags (flowers and offerings) just at the entrance.
Cops were all over the place but none to manage the crowd, instead taking their near and dear ones thru back door.
Varanasi as a whole was a great experience, nice people and good food but something must be done to improve the crowd management at the temple.
Outside the temple was a completely different experience, we stopped by a Kachori wala and got blown away by the taste of the kachoris. Our next stop was a Lassi shop.
The next stop was the Banaras Hindu University. The university had a huge campus. As my wife had studied there, this was a must visit place.
We also visited Sarnath, the place where Gautam Buddha gave his first teaching after attaining enlightenment.
We ended the day with the sublime Ganga Aarti.
Day 7: Varanasi - Lucknow (380 kms)
We were mesmerized by the charm of the oldest living city in the world, i.e. Varanasi. The next morning we started for another great city, the city of Nawab's: Lucknow.
By the time we reached Lucknow, Sham-e-Awadh was waiting for us. We spent the first evening chit-chatting and planning for the next few days.
Needless to say that our welcome was with hot and crispy samosas. This continued for all 3 days we spent in Lucknow, every house had a different variety of samosas to offer.
Day 8, 9, 10: Lucknow
There is so much to explore and eat in Lucknow from famous chats to Kabab's and Biryani and fortunately we didn't miss anything.
Below are pictures of the two great monuments, which speak about the culture of this city.
Day 11: Lucknow - Jhansi-Orachha (350 kms)
After four days of pampering at my brother in law's house, we started early morning for the next leg of our journey from Lucknow to Orachha. Got packed cheesy sandwiches for breakfast so that we don't waste the morning one hour and make maximum use of the traffic free buttery roads.
At around 11 AM, outside temp was 42 degrees. Mom had a very bad cold due to changing weather conditions but salute to her who was always ready to step out of the car and explore Incredible India!
We had a nice drive except for 1hr of slow traffic while crossing Kanpur. Thanks to slow moving traffic we could capture some candid moments.
The Jhansi fort is an amazing reminder of the brave Rani Laxmi Bai who fought with Britishers. It's unfortunate that the place which ignited the flames of independence, is so poorly maintained. One of the biggest disappointment was no official guide, it seems that UP tourism has put a stop to the guide service.
The rooms were very good and gave a nice view.
After 2 hours of fort and national museum exploration we started for Orachha. It was a short drive and we checked into Hotel Bundelkhand Riverside, owned by the royal family.
The rooms were very good and gave a nice view.
Orachha is a beautiful town with palaces and temples. The streets are very narrow, so you have to be extra careful.
This is the only place where Lord Ram is worshiped as a King.
The town also has numerous cenotaphs or chhatris in the vicinity of the fort and the river Betwa.
Day 12: Orachha - Udaipur (700 kms)
Got up early to capture sunrise on the banks of Betwa and after a light breakfast, started our journey for another glorious city of India, Udaipur.
Yes, we reached Rajasthan.
Amazing roads, outside temperature touching 45 degrees, we reached Chittorgarh fort in the afternoon.
Chittorgarh is the biggest fort in Asia. It's like a small city inside the fort having 13 kms peripheral road.
All the old monuments of warriors are completely neglected. Chittorgarh fort too is not in a good state, though declared Unesco world heritage site.
It’s unfortunate that all who fought with invaders are forgotten, but those who befriended enemies flourished and today their next generations are enjoying it.
In my opinion when princely estates were merged, these kings should have been given 3bhk flats and govt should have auctioned their palaces.
We reached the city of lakes, Udaipur by 7 PM. Parking is a problem in the old city, there is one govt parking and you need to go thru narrow streets and it's risky. We were lucky to get a slot as we were late. Our stay for the first two nights was at Jaiwana Haveli. The dinner was authentic Daal-Baati enjoyed with a nice view from the terrace.
Day 13, 14: Udaipur
Udaipur had a lot to offer: temples, monuments, amazing food and palaces.
We started our day by visiting the Jagadish temple, it wasn't crowded. The next destination was the City Palace, so we hired an auto (tuk-tuk) for the whole day to explore the city.
To visit the palace you have to shell out 1k per person but worth visiting. It's unfortunate that we don't see palaces of great fighters like Tipu, Maharana Pratap etc.
There was a vintage car showroom inside the palace, we skipped it and went for a boat tour of The Jag Mandir Palace. The palace is now used as a wedding venue.
There is so much to explore inside the City palace that one must reserve an entire day for it.
After a good morning session, we had Rajasthani+Gujrati thali @ Natraj hotel. I have lived in Gujrat, so can tell u that it was very tasty and authentic. They serve Rajasthani, Gujrati or 2 in 1 Thali.
As the temperature was reaching 45 degrees, we decided to take some rest and get energized for the evening at Bagore Ki Haveli. Rajasthan tourism deserves a big WOW for putting together this show which not only showcases the cultural heritage of the state but also promotes artisans.
Next day we visited Nathdwara and Eklingji temples and on return saw a local wedding procession.
We concluded our trip with Lal maas @ Amet Haveli and captured the City Palace at night.
Day 15: Udaipur -Ujjain (350 Kms)
We left Udaipur with a promise to come back.
Road from Udaipur to Uajjain was very good and we reached comfortably at 4PM. After a quick shower, we were on our way to Kaal Bhairav temple. This is a temple where alcohol is offered to the deity.
Our next destination was the Mahakaal temple.
We reached at 7PM without knowing that evening Aarti starts at 7:15 and we were just inside when the Aarti started.
It was a devine experience which can't be expressed, wonderful beats of Nagada, Damroo and Ghanti created such an atmosphere that for few minutes I was in "ZERO THOUGHT" state, complete silence inside me and my eyes were seeing The Lord as if there was nobody around, just two of us. Amazing !
Could not capture any pics as photography was strictly prohibited inside the temple.
Day 16: Ujjain-Omkareshwar-Nagpur (700 kms)
This was the last leg of our journey back home.
We passed thru Indore and had a typical Indori breakfast of Poha and Kachori on the roadside.
Visited Omkareshwar temple early morning and we were on our way back to Nagpur.
Thanks again to Ashish Nema for booking a hotel in Nagpur near the highway which gave us a good night sleep and energy for the last day travel.
Day 17: Nagpur-Hyderabad-Bangalore (1095 Kms)
We originally planned to stay in Hyderabad and start to Bangalore next day morning but we reached Hyderabad at lunch time, thanks to road repair work at Hinganghat.
Once in Hyderabad, how can you not have Paradise Biryani? This is the main branch of Paradise and so popular that the place is called Paradise circle.
However, I would rate Bawarchi over Paradise and Nizam club Biryani @ no. 1.
We left Hyderabad @ 4 PM and by the time we reached Bangalore it was 11:38 PM.
We could not belive that we traveled 1095 kms in a day.
This was my best.
This trip has transformed us all, we are not the same anymore. This was the best time spent together, as a family.
The trip taught each of us many lessons, yet one was common: We love our India, Incredible India.
A year has gone by, our memories are refreshed as we are ready for the next trip soon...
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