Introduction to our ROAD TRIPS - Some Dos and what to expect

Bangalore to Vaishnodevi TO Bangalore – 7259 kms

Total Cost involved: Petrol - Rs.50000       Due to April north Indian summer we use AC

                                                 Toll    - Rs.10000           Wstrn India roads are very good but have tolls

                                                                                 and parking fees at various locations. Also cost                                                                                          includes getting the car washed everyday

                                               Room - Rs.40000    1 for men and 1 for women - For 10 days -                                                                                               Avg price per room Rs.2000 (SHARING)

                                                Food - Rs.10000/person 

                                           ------------------------------

                                              Total - Rs.110000

                                           ------------------------------

TOTAL COST / Person:  Rs.35000 if four people travel and Rs.30000 if five people travel

                                            *  Apart from this our personal expenses etc would invlove another                                                           Rs.10000 or 15000 depending on our needs.

                                              * No shopping included in this.

WHAT TO BRING ALONG

• Your medicines is you are taking any daily and other emergency and general medicines.
• We will have a basic first aid kit in the car.
• Power banks, phone charger, multiple pin charging adapter, Indian pin adapter, spike buster, if possible a non-smart-phone with a BSNL sim card apart from your regular smart phone.
• We will be using google maps and also due to roaming mobile phones tend to lose their charge in about 5 to 6 hrs max. So its a good idea to carry good capacity power banks  which can charge atleast 4 times as we will be required to share with others also. The charging pins in the car all do not work. Also we can charge through laptops if we are carrying them.
• Its important to charge all the phones, power banks and laptops, cameras, ipods etc in the few hours that we spend sleeping in the room. So its a good idea to carry a good, working and with mimimum 6 points Spike buster as the hotel rooms do not have many electrical points. We might have to share one or two points with all our devices.
• We create a WhatsApp group with all of us and our family members so that we can share our whereabouts with them round the clock so that they do not worry about our well being and also to make them jealous about all the fun that we are having :) ;)
• Its a good idea to carry a couple of umbrellas, rain coats or jackets, sweaters etc.
• Do not carry one large suitcase with all your clothes. Especially do not carry large suitcases with wheels. Instead, make 3 or 4 small bags with clothes for 2 or 3 days, with each bag carrying all your emergency and daily medicines, toiletries, cosmetics and necessities divided into small quantities into all the bags. This is becuase it is very late by the time we reach hotels to sleep, usually beyond mid night, so we do not want to waste too much time lugging our luggage and need to grab a bag quickly and get to the room to catch the few winks of sleep that we get. Also, in the morning we leave early, usually at dawn, so we need to get back to the car and on the road quickly.
• We do not remove all the luggage from the car exept that day's small bag and our electronic devices like laptops, phones and power banks for charging. We keep the car locked and safe in the hotel parking as it is for a very short duration of maybe 4 to 3 hrs.
• Keep another bag with small quantity of emergency medicines, cosmetics, phone, power banks etc. Keep the spike buster handy to grab and carry into the hotel room when we disembark frm the car in the night.
• Bring along lots of spirit of adventure, being ready to face any situation and challenges etc. Bring along a memory stick full of lovely and latest bollywood, kollywood and english music so that we will be spending roughly 100 to 120 hrs in the car which needs that many hours of music. Otherwise we will have to listen to Ashok's Pakistani music and we will be tearing our hair out!!! :( 
• Carry cash and credit / debit cards. We usually do not do much shopping. Also, this time there will be no visits to weavers. So no stoppages for that. 
• Our sight seeing is usually done at very fast pace and usually point to point. No lingering and no wastage of time. So we have to be quick on our feet when we are off the car with minimum time taken to do the things we intend to do.
• Lots of conversations, fun and camaraderie happens within the car during the drives.
• Ashok does most of the driving. But when he requires sleep and rest others take over for a few hours. Especially the first three days of travel. Night driving is also required. We also take turns in navigating through google maps.

WHAT TO EXPECT

• We usually have a fixed time to reach our destination. It would be typically 2.5 days. So the first day involves 1200 kms of travel which means we will be travelling for 15 hrs. The second day would involve 1400 to 1500 kms of travel which would mean 20 to 22 hrs of driving. The third day would be about 300 to 400 kms of travel. Which would be 5 hrs of driving.
• We usually carry a lot of theplas, chapathis and sandwiches with us for these two days and usually do not stop for breakfast, lunch or dinner to save on the time and to cover maximun distance.
• There will be typically 3 to 4 stops per day for filling up diesel once every 400 kms. This time is also utilised to visit the toilet, have some tea or coffee if there is a shop in the petrol bunk, buy biscuits, cold drinks etc, if there is a shop in the petrol bunk. The toilets might or might not be clean. But since we will be travelling in western and north India which are more developed for tourism, we might be lucky to find good toilets. It is adviced to utilise the facility at each and every stop as we never know when we might find the next one.
• Once we reach Mata Vaishnodevi, we have to do treck 14kms to the temple. So carry appropriate clothing for the trek and also a trekking bag to carry the necessities.

TOLL ON THE BODY

• Obviouslly you should not have motion sickness. Since we will be driving continuously for 12 days and typically 18 hrs a day, if you are a person who cannot drive without throwing up then this is not the kind of adventure for you.
• The travel invloves a lot of physical fitness. You should be able to endure sitting continuously for 18 hrs a day and be able to manage with minimum sleep. You should be able to handle greulling and hectic schedules.
• Women will develop swollen feet due to sitting for 18 hrs a day for 10 to 12 days. Your feet will begin to hurt by the 8th or 10th day. 

ITENARY:

Bangalore to Vaishnodevi TO Bangalore – 7259 kms

FIRST LEG - ONWARD JOURNEY

Bangalore to Surat to Chandigarh to Vaishnodevi – 3134 kms

Tuesday, 19^th April                                 

Bangalore to Surat – NH4 and NH8 – 1252 kms

Wednesday, 20^th April

Surat to Chandigarh – NH8 – 1411 kms

Thursday, 21^st April

Chandigarh to Vaishnodevi – NH1A – 390 kms

Afternoon - trek of 14 kms to Vaishnodevi temple and Darshan.

Night stay and rest in hotel there.

Darshan might be pushed to Friday, 22nd April.

SECOND LEG - RETURN JOURNEY

Vaishnodevi, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Mathura, Agra, Jhunjhunu, Jaipur, Mumbai, Shirdi, Shani Shingapur, Poona, Pandharpur, Kolhapur, Bangalore – 4205 kms

Friday, 22^nd April: (LIGHT DAY)

Vaishnodevi to Amritsar – NH1A & NH 15 – 264 kms

Afternoon langaar in Gurudwara

Evening visit to Wagah border

Night stay in Amritsar

Saturday, 23^rd April: (LIGHT DAY)

Amritsar to Chandigarh – NH1 – 231 kms

Lunch and sightseeing at Chandigarh

Night stay at Chandigarh

Sunday, 24^th April: (LIGHT DAY)

Chandigarh to Delhi – NH1 – 260 kms

Lunch at Delhi and sightseeing in Delhi Metro

Night stay at Delhi

Monday, 25^th April

Delhi to Mathura – Yamuna Expy – 160 kms

Mathura to Agra – Yamuna Expy – 75 kms

Agra to Jaipur – Agra Bikaner Rd – 239 kms

Night halt at Jaipur

Tuesday, 26^th April

Morning sightseeing at Jaipur

Mid morning travel – Jaipur to Jhunjhunu – RJ Sh 37 & NH8 – 192 kms

Afternoon darshan at Baba Gangaram mandir

Evening travel – Jhunjhunu to Mt Abu – NH8 & NH 14 – 660 kms

{JAIPUR to Mt ABU – NH14 & NH8 – 494 kms}

Night stay at Mt Abu

Wednesday, 27^th April

Mt Abu to Mumbai – NH8 – 748 kms

Visit ti Siddhi Vinayak and Mahalakshmi temple in Mumbai Local

Night stay at Mumbai

 Thursday, 28^th April

Mumbai to Shirdi – NH3 – 252 kms
                Morning darshan at Shirdi

Shirdi to Shani Shingapur – NH 160 & MH Sh 166 – 75 kms
                Afternoon darshan at Shanishingapur

Shani Shingapur to Poona – Kopargaon, Ahmednagar Pune Highway – 161 km

Night stay at Pune

Friday, 29^th April

Poona to Pandharpur – NH9 – 210 kms
                Morning darshan at Pandharpur

Pandarpur to Kolhapur – NH 204 – 204 – 182 kms
                 Afternoon darshan at Kolhapur

Kolhapur to Bangalore – NH4 – 611 kms

Saturday, 30^th April

Buffer Day

Sunday, 1^st May

Rest Day