Pune to Puri - Bike Trip: Day 1

We left Pune at about 04:00 hours. The rains decided to accompany us. Not exactly something that I enjoy when I am on the bike. It was dark as but the street lights were there to see us out of the city. The Nagar-Road is undergoing “four-laning” and the the diversions were not too visible, but somehow we managed. The rains also seemed to have let up a bit, but only till we reached the state-highway.

Once on the highway the rains were back and the infinite darkness coupled with the oncoming blinding high-beamers, the trip already started to seem really really long! As we neared sunrise, the rain didn't seem to be as irritating as before and the lack of traffic heading out of the city was also a relief.

It was about 07:00 hours and we were nearing Ahmednagar when we got some traffic. We thought we'd stop for tea or something but the first stop at a hotel got us a yawning waiter who informed us that the hotel was only a “lodging only” and that we should try our luck about a kilometer ahead near the bus stop. Having already wasted 15 minutes we decided to skip Ahmednagar altogether and take a halt at Aurangabad.

The traffic out of Ahmednagar was minimal and we managed to make it to Aurangabad in good time for breakfast. From Aurangabad it was off to Jalna. The road was just bearable with the asphalt being chipped off over the entire stretch of road till the National Highway. The increasing number of villages also seemed to be getting in the way of the biking experience. We reached the highway (NH6) at Khamgaon, where we stopped for lunch.

After lunch we had hoped to reached Nagpur in good time but the powers that be (read Road Authorities) had something completely different in mind. The road, if it can be called that, was just potholes till Amravati. Luckily there was no rain and no left-over puddles to complicate the drive.

Maintaining decent speed was also possible as the potholes were not too wide. Pulling “zig-zags” was quite easy. The bad roads seemed to be never-ending until we reached the Amravati bypass. The Amravati bypass is what poetry is written about, well ... not really ... but probably the Akola-Amravati stretch had my head still spinning and looking at the amazing road was making me feel like a kid in a toy-store ... run all over the place screaming!
The dream road was soon over and we were back to reality ... at Tiwasa. A few kilometers from Tiwasa and the "ass-hurt" started again. It didn't stay bad for too long though once we hit the “four-laning” section till Nagpur.

Boy, is this road great, and when the road construction does finsh, it is going to be truly amazing. The diversions near the villages were something to watch out for, the rain had made inches of sludge. It was quite a surprise that our bikes didn't slip in that stuff.
The ongoing “four-laning” continues till about 50 (fifty) kms outside Nagpur city. We were at this point at about 18:00 hours. The traffic was quite crazy entering the city, especially the last 35 (thirty-five) kms. The roads in Nagpur are excellent. We reached my cousin's place by about 20:00 hours.

Note: The pictures of the trip have been uploaded at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/shantanu.gadgil/Pune2Puri