We left Gurgaon on Jan 24th, after celebrating the Deepotsav on Jan 22nd at home.
It was a cold and foggy morning…. 6 Deg C. Had packed the car over the past two days and didn’t have too many things to bring down in the morning.
Day 1 – Jan 24 2024 Gurgaon to Sagar
Day 1 of our road trip began with an early start from Gurgaon at 6:36 AM. Our first stop was at our friend Rajesh’s place, where we picked up the first day Prasad from the RamJanmabhoomi Temple. We reached the Yamuna Expressway within 35 minutes but the heavy fog on Yamuna Expressway slowed us down a bit. We made a pit stop just after the Mathura Toll Plaza to refuel and have breakfast. We enjoyed some homemade dosas and a cup of tea before hitting the road again.
As we continued on, the fog cleared up as we left Agra and got onto the highway towards Gwalior. We made a quick stop at our favorite tea stall after the Babina Toll Plaza. Had a plate of pakoras just for remembering our friend (late) Mukesh Yadva before continuing on to Sagar. The temperature climbed up to a comfortable 17 deg C in Sagar. We didn’t have to use the room heater even though it was kept in the room.
We reached Sagar at 6.12 pm. Ten hours of driving time and about 90 minutes of pit stops.
A short video about this leg of the journey –
We stayed the night at Hotel Deepali as always.
Day 2 – Jan 25 2024, Sagar to Nagpur
We met Hemant and Pawan at the restaurant when we went down to have breakfast. As always the food was outstanding. After a great breakfast, we started from Hotel Deepali around 10.15 am.
The road between Sagar and Nagpur was expected to be bad as there had been incessant rains but surprisingly the roads were not too damaged.
Our country is so beautiful …. only a road trip truly lets you appreciate the beauty.
We stopped at the Bison Retreat just before the Pench Tiger Reserve to have tea and some snacks. Again there were several monkeys monkeying around, jumping on the roof top and trying to enter the restaurant.
I wished Adi on his birthday while sitting in the restaurant and clicked this pic –
We reached the Treebo Trends Chalets, Nagpur at about 5.00 pm. Total distance covered – 429 Kms between Sagar and Nagpur.
The night was eventful as Amma caught a bad bout of cough, cold and fever. Anjal Alluppu Marunthu, the Siddha medicine that Kousalya introduced to us, came to the rescue at 11 pm. 🙂 She was able to sleep well and we could continue our trip.
Day 3 – Jan 26 2024, Nagpur to Hyderabad
We had ordered food from our favourite restaurant, Nagpur’s Varhadi Thaat Restaurant the previous evening so that we didn’t have to stop for a long breakfast. Some rice and dal for Amma and Bhakri for me and Krishnan.
Started from Nagpur at 9.15 am. After refuelling at the Nayara petrol Pump on the Nagpur – Hyderabad NH 44, we were on our way.
The roads in Maharashtra are just not upto the mark … the road between Nagpur to Adilabad is full of patches and potholes :(. Just the Hinghanghat flyover is a short nice stretch.
Note : If someone is keen to stop for breakfast, you can do so at the Vithal Kamat Restaurant near Jaam crossroad from where you take a right turn towards Hinghanghat. It’s a new addition on this highway.
Once we reached Telangana, the roads were fantastic. Enjoy the beautiful views –
We reached Hyderabad by 5 pm. Went over for dinner to our friend Kiran’s place. Besides great food, I also got to enjoy the artisanal filter coffee that Kiran brewed in his fancy coffee machine. We all just crashed for the night after that great dinner.
Total distance covered – 538 kms. This is probably 20 kms extra as we took the wrong loop on the Nehru ORR.
Day 4 – Jan 27 2024, Hyderabad to Chennai
What an eventful start to the day …. Amma’s cough worsened a bit and she felt a little dizzy. So after eating breakfast, we tried finding a doctor that we could consult over the phone. Amma wanted to speak to Chellamma, my cousin who is a doctor and luckily Raman Mama and she were back in Hyderabad.
I called her over a video call and she suggested a cough medicine.
In the meantime, Kiran had spoken to his sister-in-law and she also reached out over a video call and sent us a prescription for the medicines. Amma felt better by this time so we stopped at a nearby pharmacy, collected the medicines and started out around 10.30 am on the Hyderabad-Chennai leg of the journey.
The 55 Kms over the Nehru ORR went by quickly and we were just getting worried about the condition of the roads from Mriyalguda onwards when a diversion took us onto the Kasu Brahmananda Reddy Expressway ….. Wowwww, is all that I can say. There are still some sections to complete near Addanki, but the entire distance between Mriyalguda and Medermetla has become a fantastic road to drive on.
We took the turn towards Chennai at Medermetla and then reached Chennai via Ongole and Nellore. Stopped at a petrol pump to eat the idlis that we had packed. Amma was feeling a lot better.
The entry into Chennai through Padiyanallur and the Red Hills-Perambur road slowed us down due to heavy traffic. Can’t understand why there were so many vehicles out on a Saturday evening !! Reached the serviced apartment at 8.40 pm nearly a couple of hours ahead of Google Maps’ prediction.
Ordered some food from Sangeeta’s and were fast asleep by 10.30 pm.
Thus concluded our 18th road trip between Gurgaon – Hyderabad/Chennai.
#BharatBhraman
Very useful. Thank you