Southern Sojourn - 7356 km long 22 day road trip by a 62 year old

Are you crazy ? are you in your senses ? these were the questions to me when I announced that I am going to do an approx. 5000 km road trip to Chennai and beyond, may be even upto Kanyakumari, lands end of South Asia. Would that be possible for a 62 year old sexagenarian to travel alone along with his Driver (was strictly told by my daughters to take the driver along and not to venture alone), to do this mad trip ? just read on…. It would be interesting.

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A marriage was to be attended at Chennai on 10th Sep and had already planned flight bookings for 8th Sep and post marriage had planned to visit deep South for around 10 days on personal trip to our family Kul-Devta Temple and also visit our native places in and around Tiruchi – Thanjavur belt and recall some nostalgic childhood memories, when we used to visit with our parents during Summer holidays.

G20 Summit in Delhi on the same days i.e. 8,9,10th September in Delhi and some flights got cancelled due to VIP movements, so was mine too. No looking back, since childhood was fond of travelling long distances and this was a blessing in disguise and an opportune moment for me to take my long dreamt road trip to down south.

Quick check of route and KM – the best option was NH44 and Chennai and Bangalore were approx. 2200 km each and almost equidistant from Delhi and bifurcation point was Hyderabad. So initially planned the destination to be either of these two cities and with three halts enroute, at somewhere in MP (Sagar or Narsinghpur) for the first day, Nagpur and Hyderabad for the next two days.

Infact, had we both (me and my driver) could have taken turns in driving and could have covered in three days or less but we wanted a comfortable and safe trip and strictly not driving more than 10 to 12 hours a day and covering around 500 KM a day, including breaks for breakfast, lunch, tea and washroom breaks, except for the first and the last day.

Above that, Mr. Nitin Gadkari was repeatedly coming on every channel and stating the crores of amount he is investing and also has invested in making India's Expressways and Highways at world standards, so I thought, chalo lets make it this time and have the first hand experience myself.

Here starts the day by narration of my trip in brief, so that you guys don’t get bored. As far as possible, have tried to be humorous, but it all depends on the reader how he/she takes it.

Day 1 Sunday 3rd Sep 2023

Not just me, my driver was also keen, so we planned out to start early morning around 5AM, but actually left home at 5.45 AM. Before going on the long trip, I took my 2017 Model Honda City I vtec for a regular 70000 KM service and told them of my plans and they took care of it and came out with three observations.

1. Battery has exceeded its life span of three years and is at around 80% and can go off at any time.

2. Wiper blades might need replacement

3. AC blower was making sound at higher speed.

Being a typical Indian, sab chalta hai, we went ahead without doing any of the changes. First day was a planned leg and we were to halt at Narsinghpur, beyond Sagar around 775 KM.

Other preparations for enroute, some biscuit packets, protein bars for energy, one crate of Drinking water bottles for our use enroute. The tour commences with a visit to the local Ganesh ji temple previous day evening and breaking a coconut for a successful journey ahead.

Fastag wallet loaded by Rs.5000/- as wasn’t aware as to how much I would end up in the entire trip. Along with that also carried, little bit of cash in small denomination also, in case if it is required for any expenses.

Journey commences

Started from home at 5.45 AM, entered Noida at 5.50AM, Delhi border and Noida were all decorated for the forthcoming G20 summit. Reached Yamuna Expressway starting point in around 20 minutes and set cruise at 95KMPH (MPS was 100 on the stretch) and reached Agra toll by 8.15AM, initially we wanted to take the NH44 from Delhi itself, however google suggested us to take Yamuna express way as the travel time was lesser by 45 min and toll was also lesser (!). Now realised how boring is to travel on expressways, thought national highways are better where one is attentive, with human, cyclists or cattle or even other motorists suddenly coming on the way.

Once we reached Agra Outer ring road, then the problems started as Google map diverted us to some village roads to reach NH44 instead of routing us via Tajganj and busy Agra roads as it was past 9AM and local traffic had started. Finally we reached the road leading to Gwalior NH44. Perhaps we thought the time saved on travel to Agra was spent here !

Once reaching NH44, the road upto Gwalior via Dhaulpur and Morena is still through the city traffic sharing with all modes of transport, the byepass should be ready by 2025, it took us around 2 hours to cross the stretch where we cross into two states Rajasthan and then on to MP. You cross the Chambal river and travel along the beautiful Chambal ravines, a beauty on its own. Max speed we could hit was around 60-70 until we reached Gwalior bye pass.

Once we reached Gwalior, the Gwalior byepass circles around the city and you hit the accelerator and don’t even come to know when you crossed Dabra and when you see the beautiful Jain temples on the hills and also the Datia fort, then realise how soon you crossed Datia and soon going to enter back UP. We took a break at Datia at a Jain Vaishno Dhaba for our Lunch and then proceeded ahead, again to enter back UP near Jhansi which went past on our left as we took the bye pass and moved ahead crossing the road leading towards BHEL township. The superbly laid NH44 and the scenary around us was a treat to the eyes until we reached Lalitpur and welcomed by huge reservoirs of various Dams built in those areas. In a we reached the MP Border again near Malthone.

Don’t know why only in MP, we observed the cows and calf’s find their resting place on the national highways. one must be very careful while driving as cattle come out suddenly from the bushes on the central verge. Around 5 PM we crossed Sagar and halted for a tea break at a MPT resort and for night halt reached Narsinghpur around 7PM and checked into Hotel Grand Shukrana. Hotel also gave a decent accommodation for the driver in their banquet hall.

Day 2 - 4th September 2023

The second day travel was only upto Nagpur hence we started little late around 9.45 AM and again back on NH44 via Seoni and Lakhnadon. Now NH44 is little bumpy and damaged here and there due to the recent monsoon rains and add to that the Cows on the roads, these were natural speed breakers which weren’t spoilers to look at the Bhanrer Range along the Satpuras in the south of Narmada and the Ghats which followed us upto Lakhnadon, Seoni and Nagpur were treat to the eyes. We reached Pench tiger reserve took the 37km long overpass which goes above the wild life sanctuary which is a win win situation for both traffic and wildlife as the traffic flows above, while the wildlife moves around below.

Reached Nagpur around 2 PM and saw the zero mile, Dheeksha Bhumi and also the Rail coach restaurant. G20 has a major role to play in Nagpur as well as could see the city has been spruced up beautifully. We took a break at a Hotel near the Airport on the Wardha Road. For driver accommodation since hotels along the airport road don’t offer, an entrepreneur has smartly converted his residence to dormitory at an affordable rates where the drivers or even backpackers can stay the dormitory beds rates range from Rs.250/- per night to Rs.750/- depending upon the room one takes.

Enroute we didn’t break anywhere for lunch as we had our lunch at Haldiram Coach restaurant at Nagpur Railway station.

Day 3 – 5th September 2023

After breakfast, today’s destination was set to Hyderabad at a distance of 511 km and google map saying around 9 hours for the travel time. We departed around 7.45 AM after the morning breakfast at the hotel. Back on NH44, it was a smooth sailing until we crossed the city limits, beyond that upto Telangana border and around 150 km, NH 44 needs fresh carpeting, the road had potholes and some big even upto a feet deep. May be the recent heavy rains could have been the culprits with heavy truck traffic on these roads.

Once we cross the Penganga river, we enter Telangana and the best part of NH44 we encountered was in this state. The road signs were perfectly in place, the speed KM warning at appropriate place. Where ever there were crossings there were rumble strips to warn the driver. The Route along Adilabad and Manchippa Reserve forest along the Nizamabad District, Nestled in the heart of Central India and Deccan Plateau this route takes you through picturesque landscapes, historical sites, and a myriad of experiences that will leave you spellbound.

Soon you cross Godavari River near Nirmal town and reach Kamareddy where we saw a Shri Lakshmi Narasimha Family Dhaba and stopped for Lunch Break, however we couldn’t get our choice of Daal and Roti but were offered only the traditional Andhra meal of rice varieties. We carried on as we had a heavy breakfast in the morning and had almost reached Hyderabad Medchal which was an outer part and soon hit the Nehru Outer Ring Road and hit MPS of 120 KMPH and were at our friends house for snacks around 4.30 PM and followed by dinner.

Day 4 – 6th September 2023

After morning breakfast at my school friends house, we were to leave for either direct to Chennai or Bangalore, however since we were in our own car and can do whatever route alterations we can, today’s destination was Puttaparthi where my Mami was staying and the distance was around 430 km and 7 hours as per google maps. Again the departure time was set to around 7.45 AM and we took the beautiful Nehru ORR again before entering NH44, this time route goes along Mehboobnagar, Kurnool and Anantapur. Had a nice lunch at a decent restaurant Maax4 at Dhone on the NH44 itself.

Saw the beautiful ISKCON Temple on the NH44 in the outskirts of Anantapur built as a Rath. Soon reached Dharmavaram and on to Puttaparthi by around 4.30 PM. Spent time at the beautiful temple and the ashram stayed overnight. It was an amazing experience at the temple and ashram.

Day 5- 7th September 2023

Our own vehicle and we can decide what we want !! Further change in plan, instead of going to Bangalore for a day, straight away going to Chennai from Puttaparthi and accordingly left around 7 am. Google was showing three routes and all taking around 9 hours – one all State highway, second was part State highway and part national highway, third was little stretch of state highway of around 50 km and rest all through NH upto Chennai. However the distance through the third option was more by around 60 km to first option, still we went ahead considering NH are better considering these are 4 lane against state highways.

From Puttaparthi, we came to Chickballapur, then on to Chintamani and on to Chittore route and further towards Ranipet to take on NH 48 to Chennai. Final stretch after entering Chennai was painful and was full of traffic until we reached the Hotel. Finally my Honda city entered the 9th State on this trip and the next four days were spent in Chennai meeting relatives, friends and attending the marriage.

Day 9 – 11th September 2023

Time to depart from Chennai towards Mayiladuthurai and Vaitheeswaran Koil and visit the Kul-devta temple. We departed around 5.30 AM and loaded the suitcase in the boot and it wouldn’t close and kept on opening again and again. We weren’t too sure as to what had happened ? We thought either the sensor had some issues or the alignment of the boot had gone out of order.

Quick googling on the issue, helped us to clean the lock and both ends with cloth and clean any unwanted material obstructing the sensor. Even that didn’t work. We were losing time. After 10 minutes of fighting with the boot, driver thought of applying some logic and tied the boot one end with bottom portion of the car so that it doesn’t come up more than the required. (what we used to do in olden days in Ambassador and Premier Padmini cars). It worked as soon after a couple of KM when we went through a speed breaker the boot automatically closed.

Curiosity has it limits, after an hour exiting Chennai we stopped for a cup of morning tea and breakfast around 8AM, we opened the boot to see whether all is well, but no, it was back to the same problem, it wouldn’t lock. We proceeded ahead with partially opened boot, which attracted every one who overtook us and informed us about the same !! Anyways after few minutes again it got closed on its own, when we approached a Toll booth where we had to go through a speed breaker.

While we were on the erstwhile GST road, now has different NH numbers as NH32, NH179B and NH132 at different places. After 9.30 AM I called up my regular service Engineer at Honda workshop in Delhi and told him about the boot lock problem, first question from him was, where was the duplicate key ? then I realised the goof up, I had made!!! that only a day before I had changed the pouch carrying the Duplicate car Keys and home keys into the suitcase from my handbag !!.

Next what, stopped the car and removed the pouch, it was all fine. Comedy of errors.

One thing to be told about the NH in Tamil Nadu, the roads are superbly built to last any sort of heavy rains, the signages are in place. Only deterring factor is that wherever there is a cut on the highway, along with rumble strip, they have also put barricades, which compulsorily reduces the speed.

It seems Bharat Petroleum have tied up with Adyar Ananda Bhavan and at many places could see their food outlets along with the petrol pumps with neat washrooms etc.

While we were moving smoothly, somehow google mislead us in between and rerouted us via Lower Anicut (a dam on the Coleroon (kollidam) river built in 1902 and Sethiathopu Dam which was built in 1856.) anyways it was a treat to the eyes to watch the fertile lands of the Cauvery delta region of the Tamil Nadu state.

Soon we reached Mayiladuthurai railway station, in time to receive my Brother and Sister in law coming from Coimbatore by Jan Shatabdi express who would be joining us for the temple visits.

After checking into a hotel, we visited the Kuldevta temple at Vaitheeswaran Koil - Vaitheeswaran Koil is dedicated to the Shiva, and is worshipped as Vaidyanathar or Vaitheeswaran meaning the "God of healing" and it is believed that prayers to Vaitheeswaran can cure diseases. Vaitheeswaran is a Tamil derivative from vaidya (Doctor) and Ishvara (God/Master). The presiding deity is Sri Vaidyanathan, facing towards West whereas East side is the common one. He is the God of Healing. When pronouncing in Tamil, it sounds like "Vaitheeswaran". It is one of the nine Navagraha (nine planets) temples and is associated with the planet Mars (Angaraka).

The holy waters of the Siddhamirtham tank within the temple complex contains nectar, and a holy dip is believed to cure all diseases.

After observing the required rituals we were back to the Hotel for a well earned rest.

Day 10 – 12th September 2023

We checked out of our Hotel around 8 AM and after visiting the Mayuranathar Temple in Mayiladuthurai, the temple is said to be more than 1000 years old and The temple is dedicated to Lord Mayuranathaswamy, a form of Shiva, and has given its name to the town itself. The main icon is a lingam and the presiding deity is called Mayuranathar because the Hindu goddess Parvathi worshipped Shiva here in the form of a mayura.

After a nice breakfast of Idli, Pongal and vada, it was time to leave the city towards Trichy via Samayapuram and took the route via the same Lower Anicut and Gangai Konda Cholapuram. Gaṅgaikoṇḍa Chōḻapuram is a village located near to Jayankondam, Ariyalur district, Tamil Nadu, India. It became the capital of the Chola dynasty in c. 1025 by Chola emperor Rajendra I, and served as the capital for around 250 years. It has been recognised as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.

After performing Puja at Samayapuram temple, we reached Trichy (Tiruchirapalli) and checked into our Service Apartments. During evening it was time to meet our relatives and friends.

Day 11 – 13th September 2023

Was spent on local visits in Tiruchi and nearby temples.

Day 12 – 14th September 2023

Day started with a visit to Erumbeeswarar temple, in Tiruverumbur near Trichy, dedicated to the deity Shiva. Built on a 60-foot (18 m) tall hill, it is accessible via a flight of steps. The temple's main shrines and its two prakarams (outer courtyards) are on top of the hill, while a hall and the temple tank are located at the foothills. Shiva is believed to have transformed himself into an ant hill and tilted his head at this place to enable ants to climb up and worship him.

Later on back to the service apartments and it was time to checkout from Trichy. My brother and Sister in law went back to Coimbatore, while I proceeded towards Rameshwaram taking NH 336, NH 536 and NH87. Since we left Trichy around 11 AM, it was a 4 hour run via Pudukottai, Karaikudi and Ramanathapuram.

In the evening itself we were able to see the lands end at Rameshwaram (Arichal munai), Dhanuskodi, APJ Abdul Kalam House and memorial and also visit to the temple for the evening aarti. Finally settled for a good night sleep at a Hotel very near to the temple.

Day 13 – 15th September 2023

Checking out from Rameshwaram after breakfast, with visits to Rama padam, Lakshman teerth, Rama teertham, Panchmukhi Hanuman temple etc., before we said goodbye to the city and moved on towards Kanyakumari via Tuticorin and Tirunelveli via NH87, NH 32, NH132 and finally joining back at NH44 near Tirunelveli byepass.

Reached Kanyakumari in the evening just in time for us to see the sunset at the sunset point, however rain clouds played spoil sport and we couldn’t watch much of sunset and headed towards Suchindram Hanuman temple for a darshan. However, at Kanyakumari,we could still the three different colours of the three seas joining there (Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean and Arabian sea).

Day 14 – 16th September 2023

Next morning, we wanted to do a visit of the Tiruvalluvar statue and the Vivekananda Rock memorial, however due to overnight rains and due to low tides, the ferry weren’t plying until day time. So we had to pacify ourselves for another time visit to these places. After a round of the city, it was time for us to depart for Coimbatore for a couple of day stay.

We took to NH44 until Dindigul, in between near Madurai, again we took a break at the A2B at one of the Bharat Petroleum outlets for our lunch. While the travel along NH44 was superb, later on upto Coimbatore through the other roads were either under construction or through towns and villages reducing our speed.

Thus we reached Coimbatore around 6.30 PM from Kanyakumari.

Next two days were spent in Coimbatore visiting nearby places, friends and relatives. The places include Adhi yogi.

Day 17 – 19th September 2023

Departure from Coimbatore was set to 6AM and we took the NH544 and then taking the NH44 at Salem, taking the route via Salem, Dharmapuri and Erode. We stopped for breakfast at A2B near Salem and then proceeded ahead.

Thanks to Holiday for Ganesh Chaturti in Bangalore, the roads in Bangalore were literally traffic free and reached our destination in time. Driver was checked into a Zostel in Indira nagar and I stayed with my cousin nearby. Taking advantage of low traffic on the road, visited friends and relatives in the evening.

Bangalore was cool during the day and cold during the night, perhaps it was the reason, next morning the car didn’t start as the battery went dead, we had to do a push start and did our visits and later took it to an Honda Showroom to cross check the battery level and as expected it needed a replacement, which was promptly done.

Rest of the day and next day were spent visiting friends and relatives whom I wasn’t able to do whenever I used to come to Bangalore due to Ola/Uber drivers frequently cancelling their trips or the auto guys charging exorbitant rates.

Day 19 – 21st September 2023

Return trip to Delhi commences now as its almost three weeks we left Delhi, had initially planned to go to Goa, Pune and Mumbai as well and extend the trip by 10 more days, however, may be we should do that some other time. Left Bangalore around 6AM and destination for the day Hyderabad around 500 KM and 9 hours away. Lucky to avoid the school bus traffic in Bangalore and hit the NH44 towards Hyderabad around 6.45 AM and set the cruise on the accelerator. Soon we crossed the Devanahalli airport turn, while we went straight ahead, traffic towards airport moved on to the flyover.

Moment you cross the toll, magically traffic reduces. At Chickballlapur we stopped for morning breakfast and tea and moved ahead. Soon it was time to cross the KIA Factory and see the neatly lined up trailers which would carry the newly built cars standing readily. Crossed Anantapur and saw the famous Ratha ISKCON temple and took a selfie with its backdrop.

We had our Lunch at Kurnool at a decent restaurant and reached Hyderabad our destination by 5 pm at the same place where we stayed. Ganesh chaturti functions were on at the apartments over there and for dinner we had a nice prasad offered by them.

Day 20 – 22nd September 2023.

Back on NH44 from Hyderabad to Nagpur, the same old route which we took while coming from Delhi and enjoyed the scenic beauty of the Deccan Plateau upto Telengana Border and had to be careful after that due to potholes on the road once we entered Maharashtra until we reached Nagpur in the evening and had a nice and tasty dinner at ‘Neivedyam’ restaurant at Sitabuldi, Nagpur.

There was an orange alert for Nagpur city and neighbourhood for heavy rains, and we could feel the same when it started around 3AM at night.

Day 21 – 23rd September 2023.

Day started with heavy rains and by the time we departed around 8 AM, the rain had subsided. However our route back to Delhi today was not via NH44 but we were taking the NH47. We saw some of the areas under knee deep water in Nagpur as we were passing through flyover in the city to take the NH47 towards Betul and Bhopal.

Believe me one of the best stretches of NH we had seen on the trip, once we enter the Satpura ranges and forests and the scene changes magically. Four lane road had very less traffic and we sailed smoothly until Betul and met one of my friends who is into organic farming. After a short lunch with him, went to visit his farm, but rains played spoil sport.

We had to cut short and proceed ahead on our journey towards Bhopal for staying overnight.

NH47 further goes towards Indore, while road towards Bhopal is under construction at many places. In an years time, the travel time between Bhopal and Nagpur would be reduced to 5 hours or less. Yes that’s what the type of roads they have built, although it criss crosses both Satpura and Vindhya ranges passes through Narmada as well.

Day 22 – 24th September 2023

Final day of the trip, Already started feeling little homesick. Precisely there were two reasons to come via Bhopal back to Delhi. One was to visit my friend near Betul and the second was to be on the Tropic of cancer with my car.

We departed from Bhopal Sayaji Hotel at 6AM as the days trip would now be the longest of all the days and we expected it to be more than 13-14 hours as we had to cover 750 odd KM. Initial target was to reach a place called CHHOLLA on the Vidisha road at the Tropic of cancer. Later realised that we were just a day after the Equinox day when we saw the 7AM sun right on the Tropic of cancer line.

After the customery photographs we were to join NH 44 near Malthone, however Google played tricks with us and routed us via some villages and it was only around 1040 AM that we were able to join the NH44 and increase the speed of our car after having our morning breakfast.

Back on NH44 in MP means, cows on roads, however with sun playing hide and seek with clouds while coming back to Delhi we dodged the cows and careful in driving.

Soon we entered UP and Lalit Pur and time for filling up the fuel tank, there is a vast difference of almost a Rs.8 to 9 per KM between MP and UP.

Everything was smooth until we reached Morena, where we were held up for almost an hour for a religious procession blocking the busy NH44 on a Sunday evening. Thus, we reached Agra around 7PM, had a nice dinner in one of the restaurants in Tajganj and took the express way to reach home by 10PM.

Final day of the trip total KM run 797 and it took us 16 hours.

Total Run in the entire trip was 7356 KM and the car consumed 401.59 litres of petrol giving an average of approx. 18.4 KMPL – while speedometer displayed average consumption as around 18.2 KMPL.

Total Toll charges came to Rs.9700/-

It was an incidence free travel, the vehicle didn’t give us any trouble except the Bangalore part.

An one time experience, which I can never forget.