Varanasi to Bhopal road trip in October 2020 by Deepti Gupta

Varanasi to Bhopal (Varanasi_Bhopal) road trip by Deepti Gupta. 

Travel dates: 24th and 25th October, 2020. 
Total Driving time: 15 hrs
Stop-overs: 2 hrs 
Night halts: 1 at Sagar.
No. Of People driving: 3  

Vehicle: Hyundai Santro new model, hence going above 120 kmph was not possible as it starts beeping continuously because of the "safety" feature. 

Route taken + Condition of road: 
Varanasi - Prayagraj: Old GT Road. Mostly the road is good. 
Prayagraj - Rewa Bypass  (Via Naini): 4 lane highway in good condition.
Rewa Bypass - Satna: Road is under construction so quite a few rough patches (we had to go to Satna cause of a pitstop that we had to make. Else this can be avoided and keep straight on the NH towards Katni. It's a 4 lane highway till Katni). 
Satna- Katni (via Maihar): road is good. After Maihar it meets the 4 lane NH. 
Katni - Damoh: Road has a lot of patches. Although work is going on so should be fixed soon. Be on the lookout for cows sitting in the middle of the road. 
Damoh - Gadakota: Road again has a lot of potholes and patched + cows sitting on the middle of the road. 
Gadakota-Sagar-Bhopal: Road is quite good. Although be on the lookout for cows. 
All the tolls between Katni - Bhopal are cash only.