Road trip from Hyderabad to Lucknow in Kia Seltos by Kumar Anubhav in July 2021

Solo Roadtrip Hyderabad to Lucknow (Hyderabad_Lucknow) by Indian Roadie Anubhav Kumar in July 2021. 

Car: Kia Seltos Petrol NA 

Route: Hyderabad - Nagpur - Seoni - Sagar -  Jhansi - Kanpur - Lucknow. 

Distance: 1100 kms on NH44 and 300 kms on NH27 from Jhansi. 

21 July 2021: Left Hyderabad at 5.15 am ... raining heavily all the way to Seoni where I reached at 2.45pm. Total drive was 620 kms. NH44 is bliss. Stayed at Motel Center Point right on highway. Food is very good. 

22 July 2021: Left Seoni at 4 am. Reached Sagar at 7.30 am. Met old friends and had breakfast at Satyam Shaba. I was previously posted in Sagar during 2015 - 16. Left Sagar at 8.47 am and reached my home in Lucknow at 5 pm.  

(Courtesy: Indian Roadie 'group' post dated 2021-07-23 by Kumar Anubhav, PSU Bank Manager, Hyderabad)

Kolkata to Mumbai via Sambalpur, Raipur, Nagpur, Nashik - Indian Roadie Preferred Route

Best Route For Road Trip, Indian Roadie Preferred Route, Motoring Route, Driving Route from 

Kolkata to Mumbai (via. Manguli, Angul) 

(Kolkata_Mumbai): 

Kolkata - Kharagpur - Jaleshwar - Balasore - Soro - Bhadrak - Panikoili - Chandikhole - Manguli - Turn right - Dhenkanal - Anugul - Rairakhole - Sambalpur - Turn left - Bargarh - Saraipalli - Areng - Raipur bypass - Bhilai - Durg - Nagpur bypass - Amravati - Akola - Khamgaon - Dhule - Nashik - Thane - Mumbai.


Strictly no night driving between:
Angul and Sambalpur (dense forest).
Bargarh and Raipur.

Day 1: Kolkata - Sambalpur (13 - 14 hrs) {or even upto Bargarh}.
Day 2: Sambalpur - Amravati (12 - 13 hrs) {or Bargarh to Akola}.
Day 3: Amravati - Mumbai (14 - 15 hrs) {or Akola to Mumbai}.

Buy oranges from the roadside at Bazargaon after Nagpur .  

Bhopal to Bangalore - Indian Roadie Preferred Route and a drive on 5th and 6th May 2020 during Covid-19 lockdown

Bhopal to Bangalore, Indian Roadie Preferred Route and a detailed trip update.

Date of journey: 05-06 May 20

Start: Bhopal, 0900Hrs on 2020-05-05.
End: Bengaluru, 0730 Hrs next day, i.e. on 2020-05-06.

Pass applied through MP Govt website as I work in Bengaluru and had to return, got approval in 2 days.

Route: Bhopal - Hoshangabad - Betul - Nagpur - Hyderabad - Bengaluru

Road, traffic and checkpost update:

Bhopal to Hoshangabad - multiple unmarked and uneven diversions, ended up bending 2 rims. Exercise caution specially if driving in night. Major traffic pile up near Mandidip at Corona check post as all vehicles are being checked for passes, only pass to be verified, no entry/screening for people exiting Bhopal. Further checkposts before and after Narmada river bridge, need to get out of vehicle, verify pass and register entry. Marginal traffic majorly truck but some local vehicles also near industrial areas.

Hoshangabad to Betul - poorly marked diversions but road surface is decent, beware of old culverts which have sudden dips, can bottom out suspension easily. Checkpost while crossing all towns, need to get out of vehicle, verify pass & register entry. Mostly empty roads with few trucks.

Betul to Nagpur - beautiful concrete roads, sparse traffic, only long haul truck traffic. No checkpost except MP-MH border where only pass & luggage check was done. No screening. Crossed Nagpur around 12-01pm,  no checks while crossing city, minimal traffic, may be due to extreme heat. Most flyovers are closed.

Nagpur – Hyderabad – Flyovers construction ongoing near Butibori & patchy road surface almost till Hinganghat, good roads after that. Long haul truck & small loading vehicle traffic carrying migrants in all possible dangerous  ways. Also lot of ppl walking on side of roads, drive carefully as they are crossing roads at multiple points. Checkposts at multiple points in MH, pass verification & register entry to be done. At MH-TS border, proper thermal screening being done, also TS govt is issuing a certificate for the same which should be carried & useful while exiting TS.

Hyderabad – Bengaluru – Good road surface, very minimal traffic being night. Checkpost just before Medchal which is the only checkpost we were stopped to enter Hyderabad. Nehru ORR is closed for cars, need to pass through city. We crossed around 11pm-12am which helped in crossing without any local traffic, some flyovers closed where Inner ORR is open. Multiple checkpost present but not stopped anywhere. Next checkpost at TS-AP border before Kurnool, pass & TS certificate verification & register entry. No checkpost after that till AP-KA border at Bagepalli. Only pass checked near Bagepalli toll. Next checking at Devanahalli, only pass to be shown. No checks after that till inside city.

Very very few dhabas are open & are crowded with truck drivers, best avoided. Fuel pumps are open on highways but closed in night in all major towns including Hyderabad. Few puncture shops are open but only on Highways & not inside city. No other mechanic/repair shops open.

Bypass roads are open but all town entries are closed, anyone in transit should not try to enter as its not allowed.

Surprisingly almost all tea shops were open near Penukonda & was crowded also.

I am currently in self quarantine however was very disappointed with KA govt lapse of not screening ppl who are entering from other states/cities in Bengaluru. This may lead to a big problem in coming days.

Pls be cooperative & humble with police/medical staff who are stopping you to check. We are sitting in our AC cars whereas they are sitting outside in scorching heat with minimal facilities.

Courtesy: Siddharth Pathak

Nagpur to Delhi - Indian Roadie Preferred Route

Nagpur - Chindwara - Narsinghpur - Sagar - Jhansi - Gwalior - Agra - Delhi.

* Indian Roadie Preferred Route

Indian Roadie Preferred Route and Indian Roadie Distance Signage - Jabalpur to Kanyakumari via Nagpur, Hyderabad, Bangalore

 

Indian Roadie Distance Signage on the southern end of Narmada River Bridge on NH44 (erstwhile, NH7) at the outskirts of Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh while driving towards Seoni, Nagpur, Adilabad, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Salem, Dindigul, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari. 

The photos also depict the Indian Roadie Preferred Route as follows: 

* Jabalpur to Nagpur, 

* Jabalpur to Hyderabad, 

* Jabalpur to Bangalore, 

* Jabalpur to Kanyakumari.

Raipur (CG) to Agra (UP) - Indian Roadie Preferred Route

Raipur (5am on 2/1/2019) - Bhilai - Durg - Bhandara - Mauda - Nagpur Outer Ring Road - Mansar - Pench - Seoni - Sagar (12-30pm on 2/1/2019) - Jhansi (4-30pm on 2/1/2019) - Gwalior - Agra (8-30pm on 2/1/2019).

Nagpur - Noida road trip of 1100 kms in 15 hrs in November 2016 by Hyundai i20 petrol

Roadie Shekhar Patil drove Nagpur to Noida (Nagpur-Noida) on the first Sunday of November 2016 in 15 hours in his Hyundai i20 petrol.
Total distance: 1100 kms.
Route: Nagpur - Chindwara - Sagar - Jhaṅsi - Gwalior - Morena - Agra - Delhi.
Took off from Nagpur - Betul road at Saoner.
Great road except Jhansi - Gwalior section which NHAI has possibly forgotten if it exists.
Nagpur - Betul toll road, according to him is one of the best stretches built by NHAI so far. He found it better then Yamuna Expressway.
Apparently this route has least facilities for highway users. One has to find a neat and clean dhaba for food with some difficulty. For restrooms, gas stations are the best bet.
However, there were good decent restaurants on Sagar Bypass and Lalitpur Bypass.

Mumbai to Kolkata road trip via Nashik, Dhule, Amravati, Nagpur, Raipur, Sambalpur, Angul, Balasore, Kharagpur (Version - 1)

If one intends to drive from Mumbai to Kolkata, the ideal route is via NH3 (upto Dhule), NH6 (upto Sambalpur, Odisha), NH42 (upto Manguli, near Cuttack), NH5 (upto Balasore), NH60 (upto Kharagpur), NH6 (upto Kolkata).

The route via NH3 and NH6 is:
Mumbai - Nashik - Dhule - Khamgaon - Akola - Amravati - Nagpur - Durg - Bhilai - Raipur - Areng - Saraipali - Bargarh - Sambalpur.

Driving distance from:
Mumbai (Gateway of India) - Thane - Igatpuri - Nashik via NH160 (erstwhile, NH3) = 180 kms.
Nashik - Dhule = 160 kms.
Dhule - Jalgaon - Bhusawal - Khamgaon via NH6 (new, NH53) = 220 kms.
Khamgaon - Akola Airport via NH6 = 58 kms.
Akola Airport - Amravati via NH6 = 90 kms.
Amravati - Nagpur (crossing of NH6 and NH7) = 170 kms.





Pune, Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Buldana drivers will touch NH6 at Khamgaon.







After reaching Sambalpur, it's best to avoid driving on NH6 via Deogarh, Keonjhar, Baharagora, Chichira, Kharagpur because it's not a pleasant drive through a predominantly double laned road with uneven surface.

From Sambalpur, it's best to follow NH55 (erstwhile, NH42) from Junction with NH6 to Junction with NH16 (erstwhile NH5) at Manguli near Cuttack via Rairakhole - Angul - Dhenkanal bypass - Chowdwar (261 kms).





NH55 (erstwhile, NH42) is mostly good double laned road barring a few sections where it's also four laned.
Strictly avoid driving the Sambalpur - Angul (140 kms) double laned highway which passes through dense forest section after sundown. Facilities are almost non-existent. However, an early morning drive from Sambalpur to Angul is a great feeling with the sunrays peeping through the tall saal trees.



Angul became famous since mid 1980s for Asia's largest Aluminium smelting plant owned by NALCO Ltd, a Government of India enterprise.

From the Manguli crossing of NH55 with NH16, follow NH16 via Manguli toll plaza - Chandikhole - Bhadrak - Soro - Balasore.







From Balasore (Phulwari Chowk) drive on NH60, a newly relaid concrete road via Jaleshwar, upto Kharagpur which is 123 kms away.





Kharagpur to Kolkata is almost entirely six laned NH16.

Day 1: By leaving Mumbai by 4.30am, a sedate driver/ rider should be able to reach Amravati or an additional 100 kms upto Nagpur.
Day 2: Amravati/ Nagpur to Sambalpur .... good hotels are available.
Day 3: Sambalpur to Kolkata (either via Angul, Bhadrak or via Deogarh, Keonjhar, Baharagora).  

Edit: Roadies can drive Mumbai to Kolkata via Pune, Hyderabad, Vizag, Bhubaneswar and follow the map in the link. 

https://indian-roadie.blogspot.com/2020/12/indian-roadie-preferred-route-motoring.html 

Sambalpur (OD) to Raipur (CG) - Indian Roadie Preferred Route, Motoring Route, Driving Route, Best Route for road trip

Indian Roadie Preferred Route, Motoring Route, Driving Route, Best Route for road trip from 

Sambalpur to Raipur 

(Sambalpur_Raipur): 

Sambalpur town (Laxmi Talkies Chowk) ---- 
Sambalpur NH6 Ainthapalli crossing (4 kms) ---- ROR: Deogarh, Kharagpur, Kolkata via NH6. RA: Jharsuguda, Rajgangpur, Rourkela. ROL: Bargarh, Raipur, Nagpur, Mumbai via NH6 ---- Remed Chak, Sambalpur ---- Mahanadi River Bridge and Hirakud Station (11 kms) ---- Bargarh (ICICI Bank, Gandhi Chowk) (40 kms) ---- Kamco Springs factory (14 kms) ---- Sohela (15 kms) ---- Luhurachati (Inter state Orissa Chattisgarh border check post) (16 kms) ---- Saraipalli (32 kms) ---- Basna (21 kms) ---- Sankra (19 kms) ---- Pithora (17 kms) (ROR: Barnawapara Forest) ---- Patewa (38 kms) (ROR: Sirpur 17 kms) ---- Tumgaon Police Stn (10 kms) ---- 
Kodar Resort (3 kms) (on right of NH6) ----
Crossing of NH6 and NH353 (ROL: Mahasamund 10 kms) (8 kms) ---- Mahanadi River Bridge (2 kms) ---- Arang (7 kms) ---- 
Jindal Power & Steel stockyard (9 kms) ---- 
MM College of Technology + Mayoor School, Raipur on left of NH6 (3 kms) ---- HPCL Raipur Depot on left of NH6 (8 kms) ---- Monnet Ispat & Energy (2 kms) ---- Jindal Steel plant on left of NH6 (2 kms) ---- 
ROR Naya Raipur (2 kms) ---- Treasure Island Mall on right of NH6 (2 kms) ---- Magneto Mall, Labhandi, Raipur with PVR & KFC on right of NH6 (3 kms) ---- Raipur NH6 bypass on left flank (1 km) ---- Raipur Rly Stn on right flank (7 kms) via Gaurav Path, Ghari Chowk, Jail Road, Hotel Babylon, Hotel Celebration.

Suggested hotels in Raipur: 

Hotel Celebration, Hotel Babylon.

Distance from Sambalpur (Laxmi Talkies Chowk) to Raipur (Hotel Celebration, near railway station) = 294 kms.

Expected driving time = 5 hrs.

Not too many eating joints enroute, unless one is keen on a stopover at the Chattisgarh Tourism lodges in the dense forests.
Toilets at the fuel pumps are not too clean enroute. However, there are a few exceptions at some of the pumps located in the outskirts of Sambalpur and Raipur.

ROR: Road on Right; ROL: Road on Left; RA: Road Ahead.