Day Seven
Bikaner to Sagra – 295 km | Ryan Lee
Since we were still in Rajasthan, my home State, I kind of made a fuss and got to drive the first stint of the day. What to say! I got used to the awesome empty highways of the countryside. For a change I got a chance to push the CLA a little which elicited a purr out of me – “woaaaw”.
Sagra to Gandhav – 270 km | Harket Suchde
More Rajasthan goodness, the highway had two lanes, was arrow-straight, sand on either side, with a few million stray grains swirling about on the road too. It was magnificent, and an absolute joy to drive on. Stray animals still persisted until we crossed over into Gujarat, though, where the highways transformed into proper six-lane tarmac beauties.
Gandhav to Chopadva – 285 km | Piyush Sonsale
We were now passing through the Kutch region of Gujarat, with vast empty fields and marshlands on both sides of the road. The sun was still a couple of hours away from setting when I took over since we were on the west coast and the highway was world-class like most of the major roads in Gujarat. The distance till Anjar was covered quickly but we had to leave the highway for the remaining part. The road to Bhuj was a broken single carriageway with a long line of trucks ahead of us. So we decided to skip the Bhuj-Mandvi-Gandhidham section and drove back to Anjar.
Chopadva to Morbi – 206 km | Sanjay Raikar
Gujarat’s state highways are a joy to drive on, as I found out when I took over the CLA for the last stint of the day. The traffic was sparse and there was a soft drizzle, but I had no problems covering the 200-odd kilometres thanks to the car’s excellent projector headlamps.
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Day Eight
Morbi to Visavada – 400 km | Harket Suchde
Annoyingly, the roads had lost their shiny, flat-tarmac lustre, and had turned into pothole-riddled ones. This meant we had to proceed at a maddeningly slow pace, which, while infuriating in general, could have been a lot worse if I wasn’t in the pilot’s seat of the packed-to-the-brim CLA.
Visavada to Junagadh – 172 km | Piyush Sonsale
The road was wide and straight with smooth tarmac and the landscape was dotted about by large windmills. I drove till Porbandar at an average speed of 70 km/h since the road was empty and it was an opportunity to save some time that would come in handy in the evening. After a tea break in Porbandar, we drove down the coastal road till Mangrol before turning in towards the mainland. After bypassing Junagadh, we had a quick lunch before the driver swap, where I was served a veg pizza garnished with dry fruit and candies!
Junagadh to Ahmedabad – 332 km | Sanjay Raikar
From historic Junagadh to modern Ahmedabad, I drove on roads of different shapes and sizes, but all consistently flat and smooth. The traffic seemed to build up as we got closer to Gujarat’s largest city and commercial hub but the roads were wide enough to accommodate everyone.
