Driving from Patna to Delhi by Ritz
After little more than 8 years , I decided to hit the road for a long travel from Patna , Bihar to Delhi by Maruti Ritz Petrol. I did Delhi to Patna in 2010 by same car.There were many route options but decided to take Patna -Lucknow -Agra -Delhi route due to two reason first, half of the distance from Lucknow to Delhi through expressways and second the road condition was better to reach any four lane from Patna.
The traditional route was to catch four lane at Mohania from Patna and then to Varanasi, Allahabad, Kanpur,Agra and Delhi. But the road condition from Patna to Mohania , though NH was not good.
We decided to start by the sunrise at Patna around 5.30 am and the goal was to reach Delhi by late night by 11 pm.
We started as planned from Patna at sunrise after light breakfast of Dahi and Chura and crossed Ganges at Patna through newly built Jayprakash Narayan Setu . The first target was to reach four lane of NH 27 ( old name NH 28 ) through Patna, Pahleja, Bela wheel factory, Parsa, Taraiya at a distance of 110 km from Patna and then to further 31 km to Gopalganj. The journey from Patna to NH 27 entry was good. The road condition was satisfactory except the first jolt of tyre burst just after crossing Taraiya. However two young person saw me and helped in replacing the tyre,
I was driving without spare wheel so automatically slowed down to see the tyre shops on highway to replace the burst tyre but since it was still morning none of the shops were open. The four lane condition was good more particularly after entering Uttar Pradesh and I was driving in the range of 70-80 . There were several Apollo tyre shops on highway but none of them having Ritz tyre. Finally the search ended near Faizabad at Ceat Tyre shoppe . Got the tyre replaced and also stopped for first tea and pakoda on a good road side restaurant . Lucknow was another two hour drive from here .
Google estimated the distance close to 1100 km from Patna residence to Delhi Dwarka residence and it was almost correct . The final distance was 1107 km and Lucknow at 540 km.
The Lucknow city has grown on both sides of NH and speed was reduced in city. The connection from NH 27 to Agra expressway was through the city roads and it took good 45 minutes to reach expressway entry crossing new high court building, kanshi ram monuments, Ambedkar memorials, loreto convent and long cant area.
Before entering the expressway got the fuel tank filled and set for second half of journey from Lucknow to Delhi by expressway.
Entered Lucknow -Agra expressway at 5.15 pm and the distance was 316 km. The one time toll was 585 rupees. It was fun driving on the expressway , excellent road. And also there was a portion on the expressway about 50 km from Lucknow where the road surface has been made in such a way that the same can be used as emergency run way for any type of aircraft.
There were planned service area on this expressway at 62 km and 200 km approximately with good signage all along the expressways. Took second break at first service area for about an hour to call back close to dozen missed calls and also to eat aloo paratha with pickles and dahi followed by good tea. Huge open space around the service area was much refreshing with clean and spacious wash room.
After that started for Agra and crossed Agra at 9 .30 pm . The speed limit at expressway was 100 km which was easy to achieve with completely stress free lane driving.
The Lucknow -Agra expressway is connected to Agra -Noida expressway by expressway bye pass with a separate toll. Took expressway bye pass to Noida expressway and after entering it a sense of destination at sight comes but suddenly after traveling for 30 minutes the second tyre ( front driver side ) bursts in the mid lane. It was pitch dark with heavy cloud hovering. The rain started slowly to heavy.
Put vehicle in the service lane for changing tyre. However the heavy rain took lot of time but finally got new tyre in place. Now traveling remaining part without spare tyre looks risky but there was no way out so decided to limit the speed and started for the destination.
The Agra to Noida one time toll was Rs. 415.00
Took third break at service area for some chips and coffee.
After that started at 12.30 and finally reached Dwarka residence at 3.00 am. It was close to continuous 22 hours journey from Patna to Delhi .
It exceeded my estimate by 4 hours due to two tyre burst due to my oversight of not checking the tyre conditions and consequent lower speed.
I totally enjoyed this driving and look forward for more such long driving experiences. Will add more details later.
The traditional route was to catch four lane at Mohania from Patna and then to Varanasi, Allahabad, Kanpur,Agra and Delhi. But the road condition from Patna to Mohania , though NH was not good.
We decided to start by the sunrise at Patna around 5.30 am and the goal was to reach Delhi by late night by 11 pm.
We started as planned from Patna at sunrise after light breakfast of Dahi and Chura and crossed Ganges at Patna through newly built Jayprakash Narayan Setu . The first target was to reach four lane of NH 27 ( old name NH 28 ) through Patna, Pahleja, Bela wheel factory, Parsa, Taraiya at a distance of 110 km from Patna and then to further 31 km to Gopalganj. The journey from Patna to NH 27 entry was good. The road condition was satisfactory except the first jolt of tyre burst just after crossing Taraiya. However two young person saw me and helped in replacing the tyre,
I was driving without spare wheel so automatically slowed down to see the tyre shops on highway to replace the burst tyre but since it was still morning none of the shops were open. The four lane condition was good more particularly after entering Uttar Pradesh and I was driving in the range of 70-80 . There were several Apollo tyre shops on highway but none of them having Ritz tyre. Finally the search ended near Faizabad at Ceat Tyre shoppe . Got the tyre replaced and also stopped for first tea and pakoda on a good road side restaurant . Lucknow was another two hour drive from here .
Google estimated the distance close to 1100 km from Patna residence to Delhi Dwarka residence and it was almost correct . The final distance was 1107 km and Lucknow at 540 km.
The Lucknow city has grown on both sides of NH and speed was reduced in city. The connection from NH 27 to Agra expressway was through the city roads and it took good 45 minutes to reach expressway entry crossing new high court building, kanshi ram monuments, Ambedkar memorials, loreto convent and long cant area.
Before entering the expressway got the fuel tank filled and set for second half of journey from Lucknow to Delhi by expressway.
Entered Lucknow -Agra expressway at 5.15 pm and the distance was 316 km. The one time toll was 585 rupees. It was fun driving on the expressway , excellent road. And also there was a portion on the expressway about 50 km from Lucknow where the road surface has been made in such a way that the same can be used as emergency run way for any type of aircraft.
There were planned service area on this expressway at 62 km and 200 km approximately with good signage all along the expressways. Took second break at first service area for about an hour to call back close to dozen missed calls and also to eat aloo paratha with pickles and dahi followed by good tea. Huge open space around the service area was much refreshing with clean and spacious wash room.
After that started for Agra and crossed Agra at 9 .30 pm . The speed limit at expressway was 100 km which was easy to achieve with completely stress free lane driving.
The Lucknow -Agra expressway is connected to Agra -Noida expressway by expressway bye pass with a separate toll. Took expressway bye pass to Noida expressway and after entering it a sense of destination at sight comes but suddenly after traveling for 30 minutes the second tyre ( front driver side ) bursts in the mid lane. It was pitch dark with heavy cloud hovering. The rain started slowly to heavy.
Put vehicle in the service lane for changing tyre. However the heavy rain took lot of time but finally got new tyre in place. Now traveling remaining part without spare tyre looks risky but there was no way out so decided to limit the speed and started for the destination.
The Agra to Noida one time toll was Rs. 415.00
Took third break at service area for some chips and coffee.
After that started at 12.30 and finally reached Dwarka residence at 3.00 am. It was close to continuous 22 hours journey from Patna to Delhi .
It exceeded my estimate by 4 hours due to two tyre burst due to my oversight of not checking the tyre conditions and consequent lower speed.
I totally enjoyed this driving and look forward for more such long driving experiences. Will add more details later.
Comments
Post a Comment