Road trip from Chennai to Shirdi via Nellore, Hyderabad, Naldurg and back.
Indian Roadie Preferred Route for the onwards journey:
Chennai - Naidupeta - Nellore - Ongole - NAM Expressway - Nehru ORR Hyderabad - Naldurg - Tuljapur - Osmanabad - Shingoli - Yedashi - Beed - Padalsingi - Pathardi - Miri - Tisgaon - Vambori - Rahuri - Shirdi.
Timings for onward drive:
Started from Chennai at 4.00am.
Reached Shirdi at 11.00am, the next day.
It included 22 hours of driving, plus 9 hours halt for refuelling, beverages, meals, powernaps at filling stations, etc.
After starting from Chennai at 4.00am, exited the city via GNT.
GNT all the way till Tada had huge truck traffic.
Reached Tanguturu toll plaza at 08.00am.
Stopped for an hour at the unique restaurant on top of the toll plaza.
Took the left turn for NAM Expressway at 9.30am.
Fastag worked without a hitch at all the tolls on NH16 (erstwhile, NH5).
On NAM Expressway, 2-wheeler riders riding on the wrong lane, short spells of bad stretches and some sudden unmarked sections of 2 lane carriageway were frustrating.
The 3 tolls on NAM were very slow. Elchuru toll was the slowest.
Reached the CCD at Narketapalli (on NH65) at 12.45pm and stayed on till 1.30pm.
There was relatively sparse traffic on NH65 upto Chottupal. Thereafter, it was moderate Hyderabad city traffic till the ORR entry.
Driving on Nehru ORR all the way till Patancheru was a pleasure.
Patancheru - Sangareddy was somewhat crowded but traffic kept moving. Tambaram
NH65 was in excellent shape until Talmod without any diversions.
Tanked up at a BP Ghar Dhaba at 1600. Don't stop here for food, there is none. We were here only for coffee and it took them 15 mins for that. Left at 1630.
There was only one bad diversion till Omerga. Remaining portion is in good condition.
From Omerga till about 15 kms before Naldurg had a couple of diversions.
The 15 km leading into Naldurg had very good roads, no roads, and a lot of diversions.
From Naldurg exited NH65 and took a right turn towards Tuljapur to reach the Solapur - Tuljapur - Beed highway
The 'road ahead' went to Sholapur, Indapur, Pune.
Crossed Naldurg at 7.30pm.
Stopped for dinner a little after Tuljapur it was 10.00pm.
From here all the way till Padalsingi where we exited, is a dream stretch.
There are a few bridge constructions, 2-3 diversions and a half km 2-lane section which are all manageable.
All 3 tolls were Fastagged, but the boom bar opening was not automated.
Padalsingi-Pathardi is great 2-lane road. 1-2 village sections had narrow stretches, but that's ok. Quite a few private buses gave company.
Pathardi-Tisgaon is OK to good 2-lane.
Tisgaon-Miri-Khospuri ranges from good to bad.
Khospuri-Vambori-(Nagar-Shirdi NH) is decent 2-lane. One railway crossing.
Nagar-Shirdi is OK to excellent.
Return: Shirdi-Vambori-Khospuri-Nagar-Jamkhed-Bhoom-Terkhed-Yedashi-Osmanabad bypass-Ujani-Lohara-Dalimb-Hyderabad (stay)-NAM-Madras
Started Shirdi at 0730 after breakfast, knowing food stops are a pain and Sunrise, Beed was 4 hrs away.
Wanted to retrace the onward route, ended up taking a mix :)
To take the Jamkhed-Bhoom you have to pass through Nagar a bit, which is a pain.
20 km either side of Nagar has heavy 2-wheeler traffic.
Nagar-Jamkhed is average to OK 2-lane.
Jamkhed-Kharda is a dream 2-lane.
Kharda-Bhoom is OK to bad.
Bhoom-Terkhed is OK.
Terkhed-Osmanabad bypass is a dream.
Osmanabad bypass-Ujani is decent 2-lane. Took the Tuljapur-Ausa concrete 4-lane for a short distance.
This stretch is probably being expanded, so there was no shoulder.
After a 45 minute stop, left at 1400.
Took Lohara-Dhanori-Dalimb which is decent but narrow 2-lane.
From Dalimb, there was only one diversion. Otherwise was a breeze all the way till Sangareddy where there is a 1-lane stretch. Traffic keeps you company from Sangareddy.
Reached Hyderabad at 1800.
Left the next evening at 1700 and took a cool 2.5 hours to Chottupal.
The delay ensured the NAM stretch was much better than the onward.
The NAM tolls were a relative breeze compared to onward.
Entered NH16 at 2330.
The non stop run from the fuel stop at Chottupal ended at Gowravaram CCD at 0030.
Resumed at 0100.
Musunur toll plaza some unusually heavy crowd, which took 10 mins.
Torrential rains kept company from Ongole till Karanodai.
And as I predicted on the way, Bermuda (Madras) hardly saw any rains.
The diversions had lot of standing water from Tada till Karanodai.
Reached home at 0425.
Overall observations:
From Madras, going via Hyderabad is definitely faster and peaceful compared to Bangalore-Pune route for Shirdi/Aurangabad destination. Infact for Aurangabad its a no brainer.
You can maintain 90-100 and still cover better ground than GQ.
The diversions in NAM can surprise, so its better to maintain 90s to be able to slow/stop for them. Definitely night drive here is much more peaceful than day.
NAM is the worst place to look for food. Patancheru-Naldurg is slightly better. NH5 has few CCDs and Tanguturu N5. Even the brand new Solapur-Beed-Aurangabad doesn't feel bad.
There are few more food/stay options apart from Beed Hotel Sunrise on Tuljapur-Beed stretch, but didn't note the names.
Beed Sunrise is bang on the highway.
Nagar-Bhoom-Osmanabad was no way desolate.
I'd never take the Bhoom route, one for the road quality another being it takes right into Nagar city.
Indian Roadie Preferred Route for the onwards journey:
Chennai - Naidupeta - Nellore - Ongole - NAM Expressway - Nehru ORR Hyderabad - Naldurg - Tuljapur - Osmanabad - Shingoli - Yedashi - Beed - Padalsingi - Pathardi - Miri - Tisgaon - Vambori - Rahuri - Shirdi.
Timings for onward drive:
Started from Chennai at 4.00am.
Reached Shirdi at 11.00am, the next day.
It included 22 hours of driving, plus 9 hours halt for refuelling, beverages, meals, powernaps at filling stations, etc.
After starting from Chennai at 4.00am, exited the city via GNT.
GNT all the way till Tada had huge truck traffic.
Reached Tanguturu toll plaza at 08.00am.
Stopped for an hour at the unique restaurant on top of the toll plaza.
Took the left turn for NAM Expressway at 9.30am.
Fastag worked without a hitch at all the tolls on NH16 (erstwhile, NH5).
On NAM Expressway, 2-wheeler riders riding on the wrong lane, short spells of bad stretches and some sudden unmarked sections of 2 lane carriageway were frustrating.
The 3 tolls on NAM were very slow. Elchuru toll was the slowest.
Reached the CCD at Narketapalli (on NH65) at 12.45pm and stayed on till 1.30pm.
There was relatively sparse traffic on NH65 upto Chottupal. Thereafter, it was moderate Hyderabad city traffic till the ORR entry.
Driving on Nehru ORR all the way till Patancheru was a pleasure.
Patancheru - Sangareddy was somewhat crowded but traffic kept moving. Tambaram
NH65 was in excellent shape until Talmod without any diversions.
Tanked up at a BP Ghar Dhaba at 1600. Don't stop here for food, there is none. We were here only for coffee and it took them 15 mins for that. Left at 1630.
There was only one bad diversion till Omerga. Remaining portion is in good condition.
From Omerga till about 15 kms before Naldurg had a couple of diversions.
The 15 km leading into Naldurg had very good roads, no roads, and a lot of diversions.
From Naldurg exited NH65 and took a right turn towards Tuljapur to reach the Solapur - Tuljapur - Beed highway
The 'road ahead' went to Sholapur, Indapur, Pune.
Crossed Naldurg at 7.30pm.
Stopped for dinner a little after Tuljapur it was 10.00pm.
From here all the way till Padalsingi where we exited, is a dream stretch.
There are a few bridge constructions, 2-3 diversions and a half km 2-lane section which are all manageable.
All 3 tolls were Fastagged, but the boom bar opening was not automated.
Padalsingi-Pathardi is great 2-lane road. 1-2 village sections had narrow stretches, but that's ok. Quite a few private buses gave company.
Pathardi-Tisgaon is OK to good 2-lane.
Tisgaon-Miri-Khospuri ranges from good to bad.
Khospuri-Vambori-(Nagar-Shirdi NH) is decent 2-lane. One railway crossing.
Nagar-Shirdi is OK to excellent.
Return: Shirdi-Vambori-Khospuri-Nagar-Jamkhed-Bhoom-Terkhed-Yedashi-Osmanabad bypass-Ujani-Lohara-Dalimb-Hyderabad (stay)-NAM-Madras
Started Shirdi at 0730 after breakfast, knowing food stops are a pain and Sunrise, Beed was 4 hrs away.
Wanted to retrace the onward route, ended up taking a mix :)
To take the Jamkhed-Bhoom you have to pass through Nagar a bit, which is a pain.
20 km either side of Nagar has heavy 2-wheeler traffic.
Nagar-Jamkhed is average to OK 2-lane.
Jamkhed-Kharda is a dream 2-lane.
Kharda-Bhoom is OK to bad.
Bhoom-Terkhed is OK.
Terkhed-Osmanabad bypass is a dream.
Osmanabad bypass-Ujani is decent 2-lane. Took the Tuljapur-Ausa concrete 4-lane for a short distance.
This stretch is probably being expanded, so there was no shoulder.
After a 45 minute stop, left at 1400.
Took Lohara-Dhanori-Dalimb which is decent but narrow 2-lane.
From Dalimb, there was only one diversion. Otherwise was a breeze all the way till Sangareddy where there is a 1-lane stretch. Traffic keeps you company from Sangareddy.
Reached Hyderabad at 1800.
Left the next evening at 1700 and took a cool 2.5 hours to Chottupal.
The delay ensured the NAM stretch was much better than the onward.
The NAM tolls were a relative breeze compared to onward.
Entered NH16 at 2330.
The non stop run from the fuel stop at Chottupal ended at Gowravaram CCD at 0030.
Resumed at 0100.
Musunur toll plaza some unusually heavy crowd, which took 10 mins.
Torrential rains kept company from Ongole till Karanodai.
And as I predicted on the way, Bermuda (Madras) hardly saw any rains.
The diversions had lot of standing water from Tada till Karanodai.
Reached home at 0425.
Overall observations:
From Madras, going via Hyderabad is definitely faster and peaceful compared to Bangalore-Pune route for Shirdi/Aurangabad destination. Infact for Aurangabad its a no brainer.
You can maintain 90-100 and still cover better ground than GQ.
The diversions in NAM can surprise, so its better to maintain 90s to be able to slow/stop for them. Definitely night drive here is much more peaceful than day.
NAM is the worst place to look for food. Patancheru-Naldurg is slightly better. NH5 has few CCDs and Tanguturu N5. Even the brand new Solapur-Beed-Aurangabad doesn't feel bad.
There are few more food/stay options apart from Beed Hotel Sunrise on Tuljapur-Beed stretch, but didn't note the names.
Beed Sunrise is bang on the highway.
Nagar-Bhoom-Osmanabad was no way desolate.
I'd never take the Bhoom route, one for the road quality another being it takes right into Nagar city.
