paragsachania Distinguished - BHPian



Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Belur/Bangalore Posts: 6,134 Thanked: 18,799 Times

Sojourn on the Golden Quadrilateral in my WagonR F10D 'Its better late than never' !!So finally after closely an year, I manage to write this travelogue about one of the most memorable road-trips I drove in May 2012 in my faithful Tallboy.I started this one primarily to pay tribute to my companion - My workhorse which is now reaching the 200000 Kms mark on the ODO in coming days



THE ITCH STARTS FOR ANOTHER LONG DRIVE.....



Nobody at home raised eyebrows when I first talked about the idea of Just another long drive sometime soon. After all, they are used to my addiction and acknowledge the habit now.



Everyone naturally assumed it would be Pune/Mumbai/Aurangabad again.My hometown Belur & Chikmagalur never falls into long drive category anymore even for my daughter of 3 years who has taken up drives as far as Gujarat over the past and those very regular drives to Pune ever since she was a 3 month toddler!



While I was all excited about my plan, apprehensions about the initial reaction from everyone at home when I revealed what I had in mind and how we intend to do it was quite obvious:







AND THEN THEY ALL HAVE NO OPTIONS BUT AGREE....



Nobody jumped from the couch in shock and none were amused as they knew I was planning a drive to New Delhi for the 2012 Grand Prix at BIC.



For the sheer passion for driving that I have and the fact that I have been living to drive, I could manage each one of the family members agree for this circuit The Drive on the Golden Quadrilateral for just one reason The reason to just DRIVE!



WHEN DO WE DO IT?....



My Boss (Legally known as my wife) and my daughter are off to Rajkot for 2 weeks and I will miss my little one who for the first time will be staying away from me for 2 weeks since she was born. To kill time at home in her absence gave rise to this "better option" of driving the Golden-Quadrilateral.



So, I thought to myself - Why not start off on the weekend once I drop Wife and Daughter to the Airport on 5th May?



I NEED COMPANY, WHO WILL MAKE THE CROWD?....



The very first obvious choice was my usual co-passenger, my father who had no hesitation to accompany me on this fantastic circuit. My cousin Bro in Chikmagalur always wanted to join me for at least one of many long drives that I take up in future and hence I roped him into this who agreed to join without second thoughts.



Question: WHY TO TRAVEL SO MUCH ON ROAD AT ALL??......

Just another drive

Leave carbon footprints on the Golden Quadrilateral

With absolutely no sight-seeing, drive by the day and rest by the night

Explore the roads my car has never seen before

WHICH CAR WILL HELP US WITH THIS?....







There were no second thoughts on opting for my older workhorse; The Wagon-R despite of the option to opt for the City in the family. The Tallboy never gave an opportunity for Dad to complain of lower back pain ever unlike the City many a times.



The WagonR's ODO was already hovering beyond 166000 mark and it had run less than 8000 kms since the last service and this drive will definitely be an endurance test for the faithful tallboy under typical peak summer conditions up-north.



A thorough check-up at Surakshaa car care and we were all set for the drive.



PLANNING THE DRIVE....



I had driven till Gujarat over the past couple of years on many occasions and beyond this was completely a new circuit for me. In detail, I read a lot of travelogues on GQ in Team-bhp that gave me an idea of the possible sectors for each day and the night halts.



Nevertheless, one person I always remember while taking up such drives was our very own H.V Kumar. A very long telephonic conversation and he impeccably gives me all the details in each sector regarding traffic pattern, best times to drive, bottlenecks, tricks and tips, places to eat and refuel etc. I jot down as much information as I can and that instills more confidence in me. A very big thank you to Kumar sir for the valuable guidance and continuous support all through the drive.



HOW MANY DAYS AND NIGHTS?....



With my average of almost 1000 kms per day, inputs from the travelogues and the discussion that I had with HVK, it became evident that our typical halts will be like this:



May 5 (D1) - Pune

May 6 (D2) - Udaipur/little further

May 7 (D3) - New Delhi

May 8 (D4) - Varanasi

May 9 (D5) - Asansol/Dungarpur/Kolkota

May 10 (D6) - Vizag

May 11 (D7) - Bangalore



.....Continued Nobody at home raised eyebrows when I first talked about the idea of Just another long drive sometime soon. After all, they are used to my addiction and acknowledge the habit now.Everyone naturally assumed it would be Pune/Mumbai/Aurangabad again.My hometown Belur & Chikmagalur never falls into long drive category anymore even for my daughter of 3 years who has taken up drives as far as Gujarat over the past and those very regular drives to Pune ever since she was a 3 month toddler!While I was all excited about my plan, apprehensions about the initial reaction from everyone at home when I revealed what I had in mind and how we intend to do it was quite obvious:Nobody jumped from the couch in shock and none were amused as they knew I was planning a drive to New Delhi for the 2012 Grand Prix at BIC.For the sheer passion for driving that I have and the fact that I have been living to drive, I could manage each one of the family members agree for this circuit The Drive on the Golden Quadrilateral for just one reason The reason to just DRIVE!My Boss (Legally known as my wife) and my daughter are off to Rajkot for 2 weeks and I will miss my little one who for the first time will be staying away from me for 2 weeks since she was born. To kill time at home in her absence gave rise to this "better option" of driving the Golden-Quadrilateral.So, I thought to myself - Why not start off on the weekend once I drop Wife and Daughter to the Airport on 5th May?The very first obvious choice was my usual co-passenger, my father who had no hesitation to accompany me on this fantastic circuit. My cousin Bro in Chikmagalur always wanted to join me for at least one of many long drives that I take up in future and hence I roped him into this who agreed to join without second thoughts.There were no second thoughts on opting for my older workhorse; The Wagon-R despite of the option to opt for the City in the family. The Tallboy never gave an opportunity for Dad to complain of lower back pain ever unlike the City many a times.The WagonR's ODO was already hovering beyond 166000 mark and it had run less than 8000 kms since the last service and this drive will definitely be an endurance test for the faithful tallboy under typical peak summer conditions up-north.A thorough check-up at Surakshaa car care and we were all set for the drive.I had driven till Gujarat over the past couple of years on many occasions and beyond this was completely a new circuit for me. In detail, I read a lot of travelogues on GQ in Team-bhp that gave me an idea of the possible sectors for each day and the night halts.Nevertheless, one person I always remember while taking up such drives was our very own H.V Kumar. A very long telephonic conversation and he impeccably gives me all the details in each sector regarding traffic pattern, best times to drive, bottlenecks, tricks and tips, places to eat and refuel etc. I jot down as much information as I can and that instills more confidence in me. A very big thank you to Kumar sir for the valuable guidance and continuous support all through the drive.With my average of almost 1000 kms per day, inputs from the travelogues and the discussion that I had with HVK, it became evident that our typical halts will be like this: Last edited by paragsachania : 15th April 2013 at 13:30 .