By now, I am used to morning or early morning starts. Mostly between 6am to 7am. I wake up fairly fresh, with the enthusiasm and adventure in my heart of exploring unknown roads.
The Start
Our route today will be,
Pune → Indapur → Solapur → Humnabad → Zaheerabad → Hyderabad
The previous day had been long and tiring. I usually avoid this on the day prior to a long journey, but this time it was work and I had to endure. A short vacation to explore Hyderabad. I could barely manage 4 hours of sleep to wake up around 5am. Usually in the west of India, that’s dawn. The orange haze in the the mildly lit up sky and cool breeze of monsoon. It did not take much to feel fresh and ready.
545kms to Hyderabad
What I usually look for in a long drive or a road trip would be good roads, great eateries on the way and scenic beauty. NH65 had it all.
As we stepped on to Solapur Highway, we were greeted by 4 lane highway roads, fairly good in condition, not congested and our car could touch the 3 -figure mark quite easily.
Our 1st stop was about a 100kms off home on a no man’s service road besides the beautiful sugar cane fields. Some food, refreshment before we stopped for breakfast at Nisarga Dhaba some 40kms before Solapur.
Dosa, Vada Pav, Poha and a mandatory usage of their washrooms (It could have been cleaner) and were good to go.
By now, the milestones read 300Kms to Hyderabad. NH65 being so adequately good, it was easy to maintain steady speed, fairly high. I am against speeding mainly to obey rules as well as to avoid a quick burnout. High speed does that to a driver. It tires you, causes safety hazard, and driving becomes a burden because you cannot enjoy. Optimal speed is my choice. This road seemed tailor made for me.
What caught my eyes, on our approach to Solapur were the wind mills and how close they were to the highway. Felt like, every possibility of being swept away by the massive blades. Scary!
The road divider needed a special mention, flower plants with blue and white flowers ran dividing the highway all the way. A good 300kms by us. All pruned to perfection. It was evident that the landscaping was maintained with great care.
….and we are in Telengana
A quick fuel refill at Humnabad in Karnataka and we took a break at Zaheerabad. We are now in Telengana. Hyderabad was 75 kms and about 2 hours away.
JNORR
Jawaharlal Nehru Outer Ring Road. 8 lanes, 158kms with permissible maximum speed limit of 120 Kms circling the city. Wow!!
Hi-Tech City
We checked into Axon Business hotel at Kondapur in Hi-Tech city. Greeted by a very welcoming and helpful staff along with and a few friendly dogs. This was our stay for the next 4 days. 4.30pm on the clock. A 9 and a half hours drive and finally we reached.
Nawab’s Restaurant
A brief rest for 4 hours and we were fresh to explore whatever we could find nearby. Not so tired, we decided to go around the city for the next few days in local transport. It is the best way to acclimatize in an unknown city. We found Nawab’s restaurant. A 40 mins wait seemed brief with the prospect of great mughlai food. A beautiful mughal architecture, some antique, Chicken Gulnar kebabs and Zafrani Chicken Dum Biriyani. The kebabs were juicy, mildly smoky and the biriyani a right mix of spices disappeared from the plate much faster than expected.Perfect end to a long and beautiful day.
As I called it a night, Hyderabad had only introduced itself. The forts, palaces, biryani, pearls and stories would have to wait until tomorrow. Day 1 belonged entirely to the journey—and what a journey it had been.
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