The 1402 Kms Journey Begins

Day 1---31st Oct 2015

MUMBAI to GOA-(aka Chembur to The Tubki Resort, Palolem)

Car-Hyundai Eon (Great for 3 People travel)

Route To Goa-Mumbai--Pune(Old highway till lonavla, Express way thereafter)--Nipani--Ajra- Sawantwadi--Palolem, South Goa

Distance-643Kms, 11 Hrs 44 Mins

Total Toll charges(Round Trip)-460/- (No tolls via Old Mum-Goa Highway ;-)

Total Fuel Charge-5500/- i.e. 88 Litres

Petrol Price-
Mumbai-68.25 Rs/Litre
Goa-56.11 Rs/Litre

          After noting down the demands for Kaju, souvenirs and rejecting few for smuggling in cheap alcohol, I left from work around 11.15 PM.Our plan was to meet up outside shopper stop, Chembur by 12 AM. On my way I decided to fuel up from petrol pump at Vile Parle, deciding to keep it light using the pit stop strategy and fill time and again at select fuel stops on our way.I met Ashish and Kaustub at chembur who were already in spirit of Goa as we headed towards our destination.
I, along with score of other travellers can vouch for the removal of the toll nakas bordering every exit. The toll naka of Vashi has been collecting tolls for eternity just as Ba was alive to see her children's grand children in the famous soap, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi.To our surprise, the toll attendants were collecting tolls only from trucks & other heavy vehicles, nevertheless waving their hands to stop the private small cars just in case they did pay up not knowing about the change of rules.We breezed pass happily repeating the quote 'Achhe Din'.The same case at Karghar Toll naka amplified our reasons to believe in 'Acche Din'. Toll Saved-70/-
We headed towards Pune on the old Mum-Pune Highway(follow the linked route and I assure you, you will always beat the traffic on ghat section than travelling on expressway) as I've always found it to be scenic & a peaceful drive than the expressway.We passed the the 1st toll of Shedung paying Rs 30/- at 1.05 AM.Mind you, Friday night & Saturday night, the drive on Expressway could be cumbersome due to traffic, as much Mumbai crowd head towards Lonavla, Pune, Panchgani etc which are prime tourist spots during weekends. We, on old highway breezed past overlooking heavy traffic on the expressway ghat section. Time saved-30 Mins :-). At around 1.30 AM we stopped for light snacks & Tea at roadside stall near Lonavla market which remain open almost all night to cater to  hungry travellers like us for a quick bite of Egg Bhurji, Maggie(Yippee noodles for now) tea etc.

Yummy Snack Stall en route Lonavla

            Feeling refreshed after a 25 min break, we decided sync in with Mumbai-Pune expressway as we were lagging in our target of reaching Nipani, Karnataka by 7AM. Expressway was a breeze as I throttled out consistent max speed of 150 Kms. The thing about driving at such high speeds on Expressway is to drive on the middle lane as there is a high risk of tire burst so you don't have much lane gap to manoeuvre and may just hit the divider. Best way-Drive Sane, Stay safe.We reached Talegaon toll naka at 2.33 AM where by shelling out Rs 117/- we exited the expressway onto NH4 where we continued blasting past Pune and reached, 

Khed-Shivapur Toll at 3.14 AM Rs 80/-
Anewadi Toll at 4.24 AM Rs 55/-
Tasewade Toll at 5.13 AM Rs 68/-
Kini Toll at 6.12 AM Rs 68/-
Koganoli Toll-6.39 AM Rs 40/-

Total Distance from Talegaon Toll Naka to Koganoli-280 Kms
Time Taken-4 Hrs 6 Mins

Night Drive on NH4

Day Drive on NH4

       5 Kms before we reached Nipani, we caught a sight of an overloaded bus.Well, that was an understatement really as it was filled to brim & more, tilted on one side with people hanging on to nuts & bolts to avoid falling out of the bus.I'd say our Mumbai BEST buses do a far better job with the same. While following the bus, we clicked pics while they happily cheered on, with them knowing they surely will be immortalised on the web ;-).

Going, Going..Hold on to your Butts..!

  
         We reached Nipani at 6.45AM, way before our estimated time :-) By then we were as hungry as Adam Richman eager to eat out his stack of 15 burgers for brunch. So we halted for breakfast at Hotel Kaveri, 13.7 Kms ahead at the intersection of Natepute-Londa Road where we had to exit highway and head towards Sawantwadi on Nipani-Gandhinglaj Road.

Highway Intersection

**This intersection has always confused Mumbai-Nipani-Sawantwadi-Goa route travellers hence a special note. Check the above link as this will give you a clear picture.**

After taking the right from highway you should see this board immediately

Power breakfast of Medu-Wada Sambar, Dosa, tea & coffee served our purpose of getting through till Panjim for lunch.Special mention here as the south Indian food items were lip smacking.

Hotel Kaveri on left of the Intersection

Break The Fast

      We continued onto Nipani-Gandhinglaj Road which is a single lane half baked road lined by trees, paddy fields and cows, stray dogs crossing the small road at their own comfort time as they rule these parts. It was early morning hence a very pleasant drive. If you follow google maps, it shows you great detours which if taken, takes you to interiors of villages where you can live & breathe the local village culture which is worth something.

Beautiful Countryside Route

     While on this road, you encounter speed breakers of all shapes & sizes. Some have warning signs boards assigned to inform about their arrival and some arrive at their own will, so me going at slightly higher speed due to no traffic en route, I missed knowing a speed breaker ahead and the car used to jump up due to not braking. So Kaustub sitting on back seat, spilt water, cold drinks, bumped his head on roof time and again.After that any speed breaker he saw miles away he would warn me upfront, I had an automatic early bump warning system in place for the rest of the trip ;-)
The route was slightly bumpy with zig zag curves, but that could not stop my eyes & mind from shutting down while driving as I had been driving for more than 500 Kms at a stretch.So we stopped for a chai and a short power nap at the side of the road.Few villagers curiously stopped to have a peak in the car as to what 3 city boys are up to by sleeping in the car with the music & engine running.Not wishing to have their imagination run wild, we moved on and reached Sawantwadi by 9.30 AM, pumped up knowing Goa is 30 Kms away, beaches, Goan food, local culture,and etc, etc awaiting us. ;-)