A travel of 280 km, almost in a straight line, on the much-touted Purvanchal Expressway, was a satisfying experience. It almost gave me the feeling that we were riding on a Gulf expressway again. Naturally, the travel did not take long. We left at 8.30 am and reached our hotel at 12.15 pm, a bit shy of 4 hours.
Perhaps because we had cribbed so much about the heat yesterday, we woke up to an overcast sky, which remained so till we were 15 mins from reaching. The gods are kind.
Leaving Lucknow (8.15 am):
However late we try to wake up, stretching it beyond 6.00 am is tough for us. The sun was up earlier, for one, since we were moving east, and Panna was missing out on the sunset picture.
Since it is a shorter drive, and since Purvanchal might offer limited breakfast options, we decided to have breakfast in the hotel and leave. Panna had a stock of fruits and I decided to go for a choice of egg, that included toast as well, if we surrendered the hash browns. All very pukka sahib. Problem was, at 7.30 am, the main chef had not landed up, and the sous chef, who was more likely a waiter, did not understand poached eggs or sunny-side up. Even my “safed flat flat with yellow gol gol” did not cut mustard. He said he will make half-fry, and since he did not know what a baked tomato was (it was part of the dish) he offered to slice it in the half-fry. God forbid! I said: Baba make an omlette and slice tomato and onions there. Finally what landed up (personally carried by the sous chef), was a single fried egg, with two super-thin bread slices soaked in oil, covered with a lot of pride.
All sorts of pandemonium from our end! Finally we caught hold of the chef, who re-sent the order - well-prepared double-eggs, four slices of toast, and in a second instalment, baked tomatos and potato wedges. The point was, till now our food experience here at the Dolphin Club was superlative. One should not allow that to go to waste because of an untrained sous chef.
We looked for a petrol pump as we took off, because a full tank was the right thing to hit Purvanchal with, and we wasted 20 mins driving off-route in order to locate one. With all three tummies - Rajat, Panna and Punch - full to the brim, we felt sufficiently equipped to navigate the expressway.
The Purvanchal Expressway (9.15 am):
The Outer Ring Road finally jettisoned us onto the PEx after 20 kms, and we ramped up to an elevated stretch of 6-lane road structure, where the usual speed was 100, and at places 120 kmph. Expressways being those with a central divider and protected edges (against infiltrations), driving along them is a particularly hassle free experience.
The Delhi-Meerut exp (14-lane), Delhi-Noida (8-lane) exp and Mumbai-Pune (6-lane) exp are examples of particularly wide ones. In contrast, the Delhi-Mumbai exp, slated to be completed soon, would perhaps be the longest, at 1015 kms. This is, in fact, the first of the Greenfield Expressways, designed for 12-lane use, with initial construction of only 8-lanes. Currently, expressways occupy 6,000 km length, with another 11,000 under construction. That apart, there are Brownfield projects that expand NHs from 4-lane to 6-lane, of which 43,000 km have been converted in the last 8 years. Most of the investments now come from the central govt, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
A bit more of this, and it would seem like I was preparing for UPSC, so let me get back to the quality of the drive.The plusses are many, but what about fuel pumps, food stops and bio breaks? Well, in the 250 odd kms travelled on the PEx, we found two fuel pumps (petrol/diesel/CNG), two toilet blocks (pretty clean) and one minuscule snack shop with tea nestling next to a toilet block. These need to increase in number, I feel. Abroad, the fuel pump, food shop and toilet block practically go together as a single real estate of considerable size and parking area, which gives a more wholesome experience. Here, none of these ramp-offs had any parking area to speak of, and we were jostling for parking on the service roads, competing with trucks and buses whose drivers/passengers needed refuelling. I do not know about other expressways, but PEx did not impress me in these aspects. In fact, tomorrow we plan to push off early and have breakfast while driving further on the expressway, so we are carrying breakfast, being unsure what we will get on the ramp offs.
But being a first time for me, inside India, it was a pleasant driving experience.
Reaching Azamgarh (12.15 pm):
Azamgarh simply appeared as a stop because I did not feel like driving 10 hrs between Lucknow and Patna.
That said, Azamgarh, with a population of 110,000, has its claim to fame. Historically, it was part of the Kosala kingdom, and was founded by Azam in 1665. His brother Azmat constructed the famous fort of Azamgarh. On the religious side, it has many temples, and also hosted the ashram of the famous bad tempered Durvasa Rishi. He probably has many followers in the area, given the fact that mafia activity is said to be pretty high here. Culturally, it has a mix of Hindu, Avadh and Jaat culture, and they are famous for Black Pottery and Banarasi saris. That’s Azamgarh in a nutshell, although we did not do a touristy round.
This was a place where I could not locate a hotel near PEx, so we had to move into town for around 10 kms. However, our choice, Hotel Shiv Sai, seems to be a good one, with clean rooms, modern decor and hygienic washroom. We had lunch in the room, our usual rice, daal and alu jeera, the formula for healthy living. Today, we are going to vegetate in the room, have a simple dinner, and sleep off.
Tomorrow we drive to Patna, where we will be staying with a cousin of mine.
Photo credits: Panna Rashmi Ray
Pro touring tips - how to pack for two people
The Punch is a small car, a glorified hatchback, so boot space is not limitless. At the same time, on long trips, there is bound to be a lot of knick-knacks that have to be included which would otherwise not be required. Clotheswise, I feel that one week’s clothing is enough to carry on to infinity, though Panna usually packs a little more, in order to give variety to her photos. But our usual bag details will be like this -
A) Boot space:
- Small cabin luggage for Rajat
- Small cabin luggage for Panna
- Kitbag for Panna
- Kitbag for small woollens (if cold climes are involved)
- Big shopper for jackets (if very cold climes are involved)
- Kitbag for tools
- Smaller packets for extra footwear
B) Rear seat space:
- Big shopper with dry snacks
- Big shopper with implements (eg kettle) and utensils (eg plates, spoons, bowls)
- Backpack with toiletries, electric cables, medicines.
- Laptop bag
- Cpap device
- Extra water bottles rolling around
So, while it all fits well (hence the lead line to my blogs is #packing_a_punch), giving a lift to someone would involve shifting things around a bit. We have also got into a routine of taking certain bags up to the room, eg A1, A2, A7, B1, B2, B3. Sometimes an extract of B1 and B2 are carried up in a smaller bag, especially if it is only an overnight stay. Carrying B4 and B5 are need based.
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