HYD-Pune-HYD

We travelled by road to Pune from Hyderabad recently. The drive is 550 Km
one way not including the quick trip to Lonanvala.

Find the pictures at flickr

Day 1:
We started at 7:30 in the morning by getting on to NH-9 on what turned out to be 9 hours day drive to Pune. One after another we crossed small towns of AP, then Karnatka before entering Maharashtra state. Solapur is about mid way and we decided to take the bypass to Pune.

There is a good break at about 180 Kms from Hyderabad. Owner is Mr. Mishra - very friendly. The place is clean and food is good too. Clean restrooms are scarce on the Indian highways :) For the uninitiated, here are few tips - keep plenty of munches and water for the way. Pack for drinking as well as wash. I like to throw in two large PET bottles, a hand towel and a bottle of liquid soap in the boot.

The highway is good (by Indian standards) mostly single lane, without median and occasional streches ridden with pot holes. If you drive reasonably well you can expect to average 55 to 60 kms per hour - that means touching 100s occasionally. The highway is lined by sunflower farms and small hills around Solapur.

You can also cath the magnificent view of Naldurg fort just before Solapur from the NH-9. We hit Pune at about 4:30 pm. First stop - Magarpatta IT park where I met old friend of mine - Anurag. We stayed with Anurag and family for first night.

Day 2 and 3:

Next two days we spent exploring the city - Deccan Gymkhana, MG Road and Lonavala. We moved to Deepak's house on Karve Rd. We also met Deepak Joshi, who recently got married. It was simply wonderful. Also met Arun and Ravi. Arun is my college professor, first mentor and first boss too (not in the pictures). I also made a quick trip to my college.

Poona city was a bit of a let down. It is no longer the sleepy town it used to be. It is almost a big city with lot of traffic and crowd. Some of the old haunts are, surprisingly, still intact :). It took some time to get to them but they are there. Even the good-old JAWS is there - but I think it is closed down now and building is up for sale. Alaka talkies, Marzorin Café, Boocha Electricals, The Place for sizzlers, Dorabjee's which has now turned into a magnificent store.

A pleasant surprise was Bombay Poona Expressway and Magarpatta IT Park. We reached Lonavala in less than an hour. A tip when on the road and ordering tea or coffee - ask for sugar to be served separately :)

Day 4:

We started the journey back on the morning of the fourth day a little late packed with vada paos and kanda bhajji!! The highways are begining to get lined by Reliance gas stations attached with amneties and there was one just outside Pune. But it was filthy and coffe was yuck too. I hope these are just teething troubles and they will get better in coming days.

I caught several magnificent pictures of rural India. Hope you like them too. Send me a note.

Find the pictures at flickr

Indexed under Travelogues.