1000 kms in 2 days
I made a breezy visit to Hubli/Dharwar the weekend that went by. It was breezy in all senses.
Statistics:
2 days, 1000 kms, 60 litres of petrol thanks to supposedly 'the most fuel efficient car' Alto. One near miss. Well, the miss felt like god gave me ticket and then told me that I am too young for a ticket yet, so left me through without one.
Learnings and Suggestions:
Avoid traveling away from Bangalore in the afternoon and evening as the sun would be hitting you in your face for a large part of the journey. Figure out the directions yourself, I am not good at that. I hadn't taken that into account while planning the trip, but I turned out to be lucky as the sun never really looked me in my face.
The stretch from Tumkur to Chitradurga is beautiful. Flawless would be an understatement, but the traffic in this stretch is fairly high. Not high enough for one to not maintain a respectable pace. If an Alto could sustain 110-120 kmph consistently, sedans and other bigger cars could do much better. The stretch around Chitradurga is very breezy, and one understands while traveling that the myriad number of windmills which are delight to watch, are totally justified.
The stretch from Chitradurga to Haveri is disappointing. Apparently the contractor who was supposed to deliver the road ran into some financial trouble and re-tendering of the road work is going on. Let's hope that the stretch gets ready soon, though if one were to decipher from the state it is in right now, it would take atleast a year and half for the job if one were to start right away.
The stretch from Haveri to Hubli is probably the best, as the road conditions and the infrastructure around are of similar nature as that of the road till Chitradurga. Additional attraction for a driver on this road would be the lesser traffic compared to the traffic on the roads till Chitradurga.
Time:
Onward journey timings inclusive of a breakfast break of 30 minutes:
Home in Bangalore to Home in Hubli : 7 hours (430 kms)
Outskirts of Bangalore to outskirts of Hubli : 5 hours (400 kms)
Return journey timings inclusive of a stretching break of 10 minutes:
Dharwar outskirts to Home in Bangalore: 6.5 hours (450 kms)
Dharwar outskirts to Bangalore outskirts: 5 hours 45 minutes (420 kms)
The most pleasurable part of the drive:
Late evening travel in darkness with the headlights on, on the return journey from Chitradurga to Tumkur : 130 kms in 1 hour 10 minutes.
A better car which can consistently clock 140 to 150 kmph comfortably, coupled with a rectified stretch of around 120 to 140 kms between Haveri and Chitradurga could result in a travel time of 4 to 4.5 hours from Bangalore to Hubli. Overall, the 53,000 crores that were invested in the Golden Quadrilateral Project by the last BJP central government are definitely justified considering the time and effort these highways save.
Statistics:
2 days, 1000 kms, 60 litres of petrol thanks to supposedly 'the most fuel efficient car' Alto. One near miss. Well, the miss felt like god gave me ticket and then told me that I am too young for a ticket yet, so left me through without one.
Learnings and Suggestions:
Avoid traveling away from Bangalore in the afternoon and evening as the sun would be hitting you in your face for a large part of the journey. Figure out the directions yourself, I am not good at that. I hadn't taken that into account while planning the trip, but I turned out to be lucky as the sun never really looked me in my face.
The stretch from Tumkur to Chitradurga is beautiful. Flawless would be an understatement, but the traffic in this stretch is fairly high. Not high enough for one to not maintain a respectable pace. If an Alto could sustain 110-120 kmph consistently, sedans and other bigger cars could do much better. The stretch around Chitradurga is very breezy, and one understands while traveling that the myriad number of windmills which are delight to watch, are totally justified.
The stretch from Chitradurga to Haveri is disappointing. Apparently the contractor who was supposed to deliver the road ran into some financial trouble and re-tendering of the road work is going on. Let's hope that the stretch gets ready soon, though if one were to decipher from the state it is in right now, it would take atleast a year and half for the job if one were to start right away.The stretch from Haveri to Hubli is probably the best, as the road conditions and the infrastructure around are of similar nature as that of the road till Chitradurga. Additional attraction for a driver on this road would be the lesser traffic compared to the traffic on the roads till Chitradurga.
Time:
Onward journey timings inclusive of a breakfast break of 30 minutes:
Home in Bangalore to Home in Hubli : 7 hours (430 kms)
Outskirts of Bangalore to outskirts of Hubli : 5 hours (400 kms)
Return journey timings inclusive of a stretching break of 10 minutes:
Dharwar outskirts to Home in Bangalore: 6.5 hours (450 kms)
Dharwar outskirts to Bangalore outskirts: 5 hours 45 minutes (420 kms)
The most pleasurable part of the drive:
Late evening travel in darkness with the headlights on, on the return journey from Chitradurga to Tumkur : 130 kms in 1 hour 10 minutes.
A better car which can consistently clock 140 to 150 kmph comfortably, coupled with a rectified stretch of around 120 to 140 kms between Haveri and Chitradurga could result in a travel time of 4 to 4.5 hours from Bangalore to Hubli. Overall, the 53,000 crores that were invested in the Golden Quadrilateral Project by the last BJP central government are definitely justified considering the time and effort these highways save.
5 comments:
Merely reading the post gave me a kick. :) Good going.
Did you do the entire drive and back alone?
Thats a bit freaky esp. in the night even on a wide highway.
@ Vatsap: Lets do something similar. How about Leh? April? Remember?
@ Vijay: Yes boss! I drove all the way and back. It was freaky. Beyond a certain point, you don't really care. :)
Sir...
Baandaaga namma mane kade baand hog ri....
Btw....had met Shanbag sir recently...
Also,
Check out the Dharwad Belgaum stretch...it is beautiful.
The Belgaum Kolhapur section is equally good.
It is a pleasure to drive on those roads.
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