It was a chilly morning in Mount Abu, and waking up at 5:30 am was one of the hardest things to do. After dismissing ideas of night driving or starting at 4 am, we had decided to start at 6 am. First, the kids needed rest. Second, even if reached Surat by evening, it would give ladies a good couple of hours or so to go shopping. The staff at Hotel Gorbandh packed some sandwiches since we were leaving early (couple of hours before the regular breakfast time). Mukul, Anant and I had to step out on a cold, chilly morning to tie the luggage, which we did in 10 - 15 minutes, being used to the routine by now. We left Mount Abu shortly before 6:30 am on the morning of the last day of the year, and the penultimate day of our trip.
I took the wheel and started slow, having to descend along the winding road (ghat section). There was no traffic at all because we had left early. As we crossed the forest, we could see the sun rise in the distance. Upon finishing the ghat section, we came to a junction where the map told us to continue on Abu Road instead of taking a left (which would have led us directly to the fast paced NH 27). Instead, we had to drive for about 10 kms through the narrow roads of the town, till Abu Road finally merged on to NH 27. As soon as we reached NH 27, we managed to "take off". Abu is a town on the Rajasthan - Gujarat border, and it took us no time to cross it and enter Gujarat state. We bid adieu to the state which we called home for 6 days and 5 nights.
Being early morning, there was hardly any traffic. We were cruising at good speed which was interrupted only because we hit the Khemana Toll Plaza on NH 27. Anant was the navigator and spotted the ETC / FASTag lane. In Gujarat, it was not exclusive for those with a FASTag, so we had to let the vehicles ahead of us pass. However, we did not have to spend time in paying toll. Soon, we crossed Palanpur and Mehsana a while later. This time around, we did not take the Mehsana bypass which we had taken enroute Jaisalmer.
After crossing Mehsana, we encountered a little traffic which brought down our average speed. Since we had to go to Surat, we took the Sardar Patel Ring Road to bypass Ahmedabad. There was a toll booth every 10 kms or so on the Sardar Patel Ring Road, and they had no ETC / FASTag lane. One of the rare occasions where we had to stop for toll. It was good to see however that they were accepting payments through debit / credit cards as well as digital wallets like PayTM. We needed to refuel, and stopped at the HP Petrol Pump on the Sardar Patel Ring Road. We had covered 224 kms in around 4 hours, and it was time for a driver changeover.
Mukul took the wheel and got lucky right away as he got his chance to "take off" multiple times on the super fast NE1. In an hour and a half, we were close to Vadodara. We crossed the Vadodara toll plaza and merged on to NH 48. It was past 12:30 pm and decided to take a lunch break at Banyan Paradise resort on the outskirts of Vadodara. There was a covered parking where Mukul parked the car, but the roof happened to be low and our luggage on the roof carrier just brushed against it.
I must say that Banyan Paradise was a very good restaurant, and we helped ourselves to some Punjabi cuisine this time around, having had enough of Gujarati and Rajasthani cuisine over the past week. Pallavi had some mocktail while we ordered hot water and honey for Ruhi. The poor kid was suffering from dry cough and I hoped she would feel better soon. She didn't feel much like eating because of her sore throat. We enjoyed some nice Punjabi dishes. A little after 2 pm, we were done having lunch.
Anant took the wheel this time, and instead of backing the car out from the covered parking shade, he went ahead. The luggage brushed against the parking shade once again. I opened the sun roof of the car and found that the luggage was dislodged a bit, hence Mukul and I climbed on the car roof and secured the luggage. By 2:15 pm, we were on the road again. It was a steady drive on NH 48. No opportunities to "take off", as the traffic had picked up. We took the diversion after crossing the Narmada river bridge at Bharuch (before Ankleshwar). It was another tiresome afternoon drive for Anant, but he drove up to Surat. Our stay was at Hotel Ginger Surat, which was at the outskirts of the city. Instead of showing us the fastest route that bypassed the city, the map made us go through the city, slowing us down further. At 5:20 pm, we had reached our hotel - and our last stop on the trip.
In the parking lot of Hotel Ginger at Surat, I recall mentioning to Mukul that it was the last time we would be untying the luggage on our trip. Ruhi's condition had worsened and she was running high temperature. We gave her some medicine and I called up her pediatrician, who suggested some medicine which I got from a medical shop nearby. Ruhi needed rest so I put her to sleep. Others took some rest as well, and the ladies then decided to go shopping. Trisha was tired as well, so Mukul stayed back to look after her. Anant, Rama, Gauri and Pallavi visited the Rangila Park Shopping Center in the Surat city marketplace. The ladies shopped for some sarees while Anant gave them company. Ruhi and I both slept off, while Trisha had some food and felt better. After the folks returned at around 9 pm, we had dinner at the hotel restaurant. Ruhi slept off immediately after dinner, and I was beginning to get worried how she would cope up the next day - we still had to drive back home the following day.
Trisha and Ruhi had cooked up a plan to get a cake for celebrating New Year's Eve and to usher in 2017. Ruhi had slept off but Trisha was awake. Mukul got the cake as per the plan, and we all chit chatted till midnight. We then cut the cake and took a few pictures as the clock struck 12. Ruhi was dead tired and didn't budge when we tried to wake her up. She was later upset that she couldn't join us but that couldn't be helped.
Wishing each other a Happy New Year, we went to sleep by 12:30 am on January 1, 2017. That marked the end of our last night on this marvellous trip.
I took the wheel and started slow, having to descend along the winding road (ghat section). There was no traffic at all because we had left early. As we crossed the forest, we could see the sun rise in the distance. Upon finishing the ghat section, we came to a junction where the map told us to continue on Abu Road instead of taking a left (which would have led us directly to the fast paced NH 27). Instead, we had to drive for about 10 kms through the narrow roads of the town, till Abu Road finally merged on to NH 27. As soon as we reached NH 27, we managed to "take off". Abu is a town on the Rajasthan - Gujarat border, and it took us no time to cross it and enter Gujarat state. We bid adieu to the state which we called home for 6 days and 5 nights.
Being early morning, there was hardly any traffic. We were cruising at good speed which was interrupted only because we hit the Khemana Toll Plaza on NH 27. Anant was the navigator and spotted the ETC / FASTag lane. In Gujarat, it was not exclusive for those with a FASTag, so we had to let the vehicles ahead of us pass. However, we did not have to spend time in paying toll. Soon, we crossed Palanpur and Mehsana a while later. This time around, we did not take the Mehsana bypass which we had taken enroute Jaisalmer.
After crossing Mehsana, we encountered a little traffic which brought down our average speed. Since we had to go to Surat, we took the Sardar Patel Ring Road to bypass Ahmedabad. There was a toll booth every 10 kms or so on the Sardar Patel Ring Road, and they had no ETC / FASTag lane. One of the rare occasions where we had to stop for toll. It was good to see however that they were accepting payments through debit / credit cards as well as digital wallets like PayTM. We needed to refuel, and stopped at the HP Petrol Pump on the Sardar Patel Ring Road. We had covered 224 kms in around 4 hours, and it was time for a driver changeover.
Mukul took the wheel and got lucky right away as he got his chance to "take off" multiple times on the super fast NE1. In an hour and a half, we were close to Vadodara. We crossed the Vadodara toll plaza and merged on to NH 48. It was past 12:30 pm and decided to take a lunch break at Banyan Paradise resort on the outskirts of Vadodara. There was a covered parking where Mukul parked the car, but the roof happened to be low and our luggage on the roof carrier just brushed against it.
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| Having lunch at Banyan Paradise Resort, Vadodara |
Anant took the wheel this time, and instead of backing the car out from the covered parking shade, he went ahead. The luggage brushed against the parking shade once again. I opened the sun roof of the car and found that the luggage was dislodged a bit, hence Mukul and I climbed on the car roof and secured the luggage. By 2:15 pm, we were on the road again. It was a steady drive on NH 48. No opportunities to "take off", as the traffic had picked up. We took the diversion after crossing the Narmada river bridge at Bharuch (before Ankleshwar). It was another tiresome afternoon drive for Anant, but he drove up to Surat. Our stay was at Hotel Ginger Surat, which was at the outskirts of the city. Instead of showing us the fastest route that bypassed the city, the map made us go through the city, slowing us down further. At 5:20 pm, we had reached our hotel - and our last stop on the trip.
In the parking lot of Hotel Ginger at Surat, I recall mentioning to Mukul that it was the last time we would be untying the luggage on our trip. Ruhi's condition had worsened and she was running high temperature. We gave her some medicine and I called up her pediatrician, who suggested some medicine which I got from a medical shop nearby. Ruhi needed rest so I put her to sleep. Others took some rest as well, and the ladies then decided to go shopping. Trisha was tired as well, so Mukul stayed back to look after her. Anant, Rama, Gauri and Pallavi visited the Rangila Park Shopping Center in the Surat city marketplace. The ladies shopped for some sarees while Anant gave them company. Ruhi and I both slept off, while Trisha had some food and felt better. After the folks returned at around 9 pm, we had dinner at the hotel restaurant. Ruhi slept off immediately after dinner, and I was beginning to get worried how she would cope up the next day - we still had to drive back home the following day.
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| Celebrating 2017 New Year's Eve at Hotel Ginger, Surat. We missed Ruhi.. |
Wishing each other a Happy New Year, we went to sleep by 12:30 am on January 1, 2017. That marked the end of our last night on this marvellous trip.
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