Arnav Gupta 😷 💉🟢 💉🟢 (@championswimmer)
So I recently moved from #Delhi to #Bangalore and the easiest and fastest way I could move my work desk setup (monitors, PC, gaming chair) and my car was to stuff all that into the 🚗 and drive it all the way down.
So here’s a smol thread 🧵 on a DEL-BLR road trip. pic.twitter.com/CHIU2Ey63o
Arnav Gupta 😷 💉🟢 💉🟢 (@championswimmer)
Day 1 was planned to be #Delhi to #Gwalior . But that would have left a very long 2nd day, so we planned to go a little further to Jhansi.
A complete chance browsing through @bookingcom led us to discover this beautiful Bundelkhand Riverside Resort at Orchcha to stay. pic.twitter.com/kKYFpbGAn1
Arnav Gupta 😷 💉🟢 💉🟢 (@championswimmer)
Day 1 was 425 km. Total drive time was 10hrs+, because we stopped at Agra to visit @TajMahal too.
Booked Hotel Atulyaa Taaj (apart from Oberoi Amarvilas, this is the nearest hotel to Taj) simply as an expensive parking spot 😅 as the car was loaded with stuff. pic.twitter.com/vXZs8kooRh
Arnav Gupta 😷 💉🟢 💉🟢 (@championswimmer)
The Bundelkhand Riverside Resort is the haveli of the erstwhile Raja of Orchcha, and imho, the best possible place one can do a highway stop on the first leg of this trip. Highly recommended! pic.twitter.com/T4QaGiyTAh
Arnav Gupta 😷 💉🟢 💉🟢 (@championswimmer)
Next day we went from Orchcha (Jhansi) to Nagpur.
In terms of road quality, we faced the worst stretches on this leg. Places where the highway goes through a city and is pretty much a city road. Places under construction/repair.
90% of it is still 100kmph level good. pic.twitter.com/0QznI2K5iF
Arnav Gupta 😷 💉🟢 💉🟢 (@championswimmer)
Day 2 was 550 kms of driving. And thus again 10hrs on the road.
We stopped just a little before Nagpur inside the @PenchMP Tiger Reserve 🐯 to check out the resorts.
Sadly post COVID, all are at very low/nil occupancy. But worth staying if you have 2 spare days in the trip. pic.twitter.com/VxfRPe1LbW
Arnav Gupta 😷 💉🟢 💉🟢 (@championswimmer)
There’s a lot of stretch of the National Highway that cuts through the tiger reserve. Despite tall barricades along the roads, monkeys on the road are a common feature.
We had to get out of Pench post sundown and it was spine-chillingly eerie to drive through the unlit jungle. pic.twitter.com/ABd5ufNLyG
Arnav Gupta 😷 💉🟢 💉🟢 (@championswimmer)
Next day we drove down to #Hyderabad
This was quite a beauty of a drive. The amount of greenery, hills, valleys, small river crossings we saw around will be unparalleled. Great roads too, the whole stretch. pic.twitter.com/mJBq3ACbvn
Arnav Gupta 😷 💉🟢 💉🟢 (@championswimmer)
Not gonna lie, Hyderabad stop was all about @IKEA pilgrimage.
First time visit to IKEA, and totalllly worth it! Bought a bunch of things, and noted down a bunch more to order.
Protip: Good place to take out someone too 😅, won’t run out of conversation starters. pic.twitter.com/YVQwbPsTxr
Arnav Gupta 😷 💉🟢 💉🟢 (@championswimmer)
Day 3 was 500km, and we didn’t stop at all (had to hurry to reach before IKEA closes) so covered it all in 8 hrs.
The last 50km stretch, the bypass around Hyderabad and the road to HiTech city were just 👨🍳🤌
Easily 150kph capable roads, 4 lanes throughout, well maintained! pic.twitter.com/FRoxTIBlH6
Arnav Gupta 😷 💉🟢 💉🟢 (@championswimmer)
At every stop I tried to stay at a good hotel, primarily because I wanted the car, laden to the brim with my stuff, to be parked properly.
@Westin at Hyderabad has one of the best breakfast buffet spreads, I figured, as a result. Definitely recommended just for the breakfast. pic.twitter.com/FejoZzqVZR
Arnav Gupta 😷 💉🟢 💉🟢 (@championswimmer)
Final leg - home run. Compared to the last 2 legs, where there would often be 30-40 min stretches of driving through literally middle of nowhere (no dhabas, no small towns, no civilisation), this whole leg is through quite populated areas. Not a single deserted stretch. pic.twitter.com/hVO6mXmAFa
Arnav Gupta 😷 💉🟢 💉🟢 (@championswimmer)
Day 4: Another 525 km.
Stopped at IKEA again in the morning 😅 Also stopped at @Lenskart_com as driving with the sun in the eye was starting to get to me. Buying shades helped a lot, albeit only on the last day.
Reached @peakbengaluru quite late into the night. pic.twitter.com/84jquNrgbM
Arnav Gupta 😷 💉🟢 💉🟢 (@championswimmer)
Thankfully journey ended at Indiranagar and didn’t need to go upto @SonyWorldJn, or else would have had taken another 4 days to cross the stretch of deleted road at Koramangala😅😅
