Bangalore to Delhi by TATA Punch

Hello lovely people, hope you’re all doing well. I’m so excited today as the exam season is finally ending and tomorrow is Nemit’s last day of Formative Cycle (exams). We are now looking forward to two months of freedom as the summer holidays are just around the corner. We’ve already started planning how to spend them. Nemit wants to visit his grandmother in Delhi for a month. I’m telling him Delhi will be too hot in the summers but he doesn’t care. My husband and I want to explore a new destination. But I also want to add some adventure to it like the road trip we did a few months back. We travelled from Bangalore to Delhi by TATA Punch car, crossing 7 states and covering 2100 Kms in just 3 days. That was epic!

This was the longest I’ve driven in quite some time, breaking our last record of driving for 2000 Kms over 9 days during our trip across Rajasthan, where we explored 5 major cities. We did that trip back in 2020, just before the pandemic struck. However, if I talk about my favourite, most adventurous & also scariest drive to date, it would be our road trip, Delhi – Koti Village – Delhi, through the snow.

So many times, I’m asked why my husband doesn’t drive the car. Some even make jokes about how he lets me drive while he sits in the passenger seat. But they fail to see that the joke’s on them. Driving isn’t gender-specific and anyone can be a good driver regardless of gender or age.

When the husband drives, nobody asks him why his wife doesn’t drive. Then why is this question directed at the wife?

Why is it so hard for people to accept that a woman can be just as passionate about driving, adventure, off-roading, extreme sports and offbeat travel as she could be about child rearing, cooking, makeup, or fashion?

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On the other hand, a man may not feel as comfortable with these activities. They can be gentle and nurturing too. While my husband enjoys adventure like me, he’s not as passionate about driving as I am. Therefore, we’ve our own pact; I handle the driving and he helps with navigation because that’s what he’s good at.

For so long, I’ve avoided voicing my thoughts on this topic and because of that I haven’t written much about our road trips. But not anymore!

So, today I’m going to share about our Bangalore to Delhi road trip experience in our TATA Punch car as a couple. Unfortunately, Nemit didn’t come with us on this journey because his grandmother thought it wouldn’t be safe to travel such long distances with a small child. I tried to persuade her but couldn’t convince her, especially when she offered to take him back to Delhi with her by flight. Yep, I know that’s extreme – we’re a bit of a crazy family here.

Bangalore to Delhi by TATA Punch

Two days before our travel date, Nemit’s grandmother came from Delhi and the next day, she took him back with her. However, a day before our trip, Sumit came down with a high fever in the afternoon and we had to put all our plans on hold. We thought of postponing the trip but we had promised Nemit that we would meet him in 3 days. We started medication for Sumit and waited anxiously. Both of us couldn’t sleep the whole night, I kept checking his temperature, which didn’t seem to come down at all.

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Our original plan was to start our journey very early in the morning, around 2 am, but that plan was scrapped. So, we waited for Sumit’s temperature to come down before setting off. Luckily, his fever broke in the morning and we decided to leave at 6.30 am from Bengaluru.

Day 1 of Bengaluru to Delhi Road Trip: Bangalore to Hyderabad

Sumit’s fever kept coming back all day which meant it was something serious. Our Plan A was to cover around 750 Kms and stop for the night in Nizamabad, about 177 Kms from Hyderabad. But that plan didn’t work. So, we came up with Plan B.

Plan B was to drive 720 Kms and stay overnight in Kamareddy, just 117 Kms away from Hyderabad. But, unfortunately, this plan also didn’t pan out. We found an hour long traffic jam just before entering Hyderabad so we made a Plan C.

Under Plan C, we made the decision to stop in Hyderabad for the night and start fresh the next day. Finding a decent budget hotel in the outskirts of Hyderabad was a challenge in itself especially on a Friday. We ended up staying in a business hotel and paid a hefty amount just for the night. But I loved the food there. Can you guess the name of the hotel?

You may watch Day 1 Vlog on our YouTube: Bangalore to Delhi by TATA Punch

Now, let’s move on to second day of our journey.

Day 2 of Bangalore to Delhi by TATA Punch: Hyderabad to Narsinghpur

We started our journey around 6.30 am with the plan to drive to Nagpur, approx. 500 Kms from Hyderabad. Luckily, the roads were in good condition, allowing us to cover that distance in about 7-8 hours. However, Sumit’s fever was not coming down, so we started him on antibiotics, which proved effective.

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We decided to cover some more distance and found a hotel on the way to Sagar (Madhya Pradesh). Here, we did a huge mistake. We took a diversion from NH 44 onto another route, which turned our entire journey into a nightmare. The roads were under construction and there were no traffic police to manage the chaos. The situation worsened during the night drive as there were no street lights on that highway. For about 2 hours, we drove in pitch darkness on a single road with two-way traffic, making it an extremely challenging experience.

That drive broke my spirits as I was in so much pain in my right knee and the stitches area in my lower abdomen. Those who don’t know, I underwent uterus removal surgery (Hysterectomy) in April 2023 due to fibroids.

 

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A post shared by Neha Sharma | Mom Travel Blogger (@growing_with_nemit)

That pain made me doubt my decision to undertake such a long drive within such a short timeframe. But thanks to my husband, who reminded me of all the wonderful road trips we had done and the lessons learned from each. He also reminded me of my dream to do more adventurous trips in future. That was enough to motivate me.

Fortunately, after taking antibiotics, Sumit began to feel better and his temperature didn’t spike again. Despite our poor health and pain, we came back stronger the next day.

So, on the second day, we covered a distance of 764 Kms from Hyderabad in 15 hours and stopped for an overnight halt in Narsinghpur, Madhya Pradesh.

Here’s the Day 2 Vlog of our Road Trip: Bangalore to Delhi by TATA Punch

Let’s continue the journey.

Day 3 of Bengaluru to Delhi: Narsinghpur to Delhi

On the third day of our journey, we started 15 mins earlier than usual, around 5:45 am, which made a huge difference. When we started we were worried that we might find bad roads again. However, after driving a few kilometers, we joined back on NH 44 and the roads from there were much better.

The only problem was the stray cattle roaming freely on the highway in Madhya Pradesh. We had read about it before starting our journey and thought how bad it could be. It’s India and we have cattle on our roads, that’s not a big deal!

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But it’s a big deal when these animals roam freely on a national highway. They suddenly jump in front of your vehicle out of nowhere. Some just sit and relax in the middle of the road without a care. One has to drive extremely carefully on this particular stretch from Nagpur (MP) to Lalitpur (UP).

But you know what the worst part is? Accidents! We witnessed the distressing sight of dead calves lying on the road, apparently hit by some passing vehicles. To minimize such risks, people should drive carefully at speeds below 40-50 km/hour.

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After crossing Sagar, we stopped at a small hotel for breakfast. Surprisingly, the food they served was very good and tasty. After a filling breakfast, we continued our onward journey at around 9 am and drove for 5 hours without taking any breaks, covering approx. 390 Kms.

We skipped lunch that day because we were so excited to reach home. Finally, around 7:45 pm, we reached Delhi. I can’t explain how happy, relieved and satisfied I felt as we entered the city.

You may watch Day 3 Vlog here:

I must admit, this road trip was incredibly fulfilling for me as a content creator. Without the usual responsibilities of parenting, I had the freedom to focus entirely on capturing content. With all the extra time on my hands, I could shoot exactly as I wanted to, taking retakes and capturing shots from various angles, even while driving, without any distractions from the backseat. It was fun but I definitely missed having my son with me. That’s why we decided to bring him along for the return journey.

Despite the challenges, we made countless memories during this trip and learned valuable lessons. This experience has given us the confidence to embark on more such long road trips. Now, we are excited and eagerly looking forward to our next adventure.

That’s it for this post! Now it’s your turn to tell us, what type of travel do you like? And maybe share a bit about your most favourite trip?

This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Mads’ Cookhouse.