Rajasthan looked lush green with the heavy downpour and temperatures were very comfortable.
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After having to leave the Scoprio Getaway at Ghaziabad for repairs in June (documented here), it was finally time to get the big guy back home.
With this in mind, we flew into Ghaziabad and planned on driving down the Getaway back to Bangalore. While at it, we also decided to visit few places we hadn’t been to and check out the newly built Delhi Mumbai expressway that has promised to make short work of traversing the country. The evening I landed, took the Getaway to the car wash round the corner and Pintu Singh scrubbed the car clean grooving to some loud Punjabi delights. He was washing and doing DJ duties admirably. Sneaked out that night for a tank fill and also do a quick test drive of the car. I was driving the Getaway after June when it had been dropped off for gearbox work at Mahindra service. Everything seemed in order and I felt confident we would be in for a good drive. Started early before dawn, got onto the Meerut expressway and from there onto the eastern peripheral expressway and drove comfortably along the bumpy expressway toward Palwal. Traffic was sparse. The speed limit was 120kmph but we were happy sitting at 90-100 enjoying the morning with the windows down. The dark skies looked ominous and we were expecting heavy rain on this leg. The weather had tossed all logic out of the window. There were floods in eastern Rajasthan at this time.
Anyway, to continue the story of the drive, we had a lot of food in the car and this wasn’t a surprise when we had Parents seeing us off at one end of the drive. Kept munching on various things while staring out of the window. The Getaway felt strong and performed well. It had a lot of luggage inside the tarp and we needed a car like this for the journey. It could cruise to healthy three digit speeds effortlessly and the weighbridge at a toll plaza showed 2450kg as the weight of the moving missile. The seats, as I always keep mentioning were fantastic even though the clutch pedal travel was a wee bit too much for my height and I had to get a little closer to the wheel than I normally would have liked. The Delhi Agra expressway was absolutely devoid of traffic and was a joy to drive on. Rajasthan looked lush green with the heavy downpour and temperatures were very comfortable. (video)
Rains
Delhi mumbai expressway
Rajasthan in the rains
Delhi Mumbai expressway
We were headed to Ratlam that day and looked set to arrive well in time. Atleast that was how it looked until the expressway got over at Sawai Madhopur and we had to take the other roads. The rains intensified and visibility was tough. Was happy that I was perched high up and didn’t have to bother about water logged sections, which came in plenty with water from the fields overflowing onto the road. The sedans really had to be careful and were understandably slow to evade danger and this built up traffic quite a bit. It was slow progress but we finally joined the expressway again to continue our journey. The speed limit is 120kph and one can sit at these speeds the whole day. A lot of refreshment stops dot the expressway and while most are not operational now, it is just a matter of time before they commence.
saw some incredible sights on the way
By dusk we trooped into Panched village where we had booked our stay at Maangarh, a heritage homestay. It was a pleasure meeting Priyanka and Chaitanya who were gracious hosts and told us about the family history of their home and the Panched village. The homestay has a lot of pictures depicting the last hundred years and one fascinating picture was that of a neem tree in the compound that is still around from that time. The huge dowry boxes of the family members made for some imaginative guess work.
Priyanka makes delicious vegetarian fare and we were treated to some lip smacking delights for dinner. The rooms were comfortable and we retired early that night.
Parked at Maangarh
Maangarh homestay
Our next hop was the heritage city of Mandu and I always loved the Baj Bahadur and Rani Roopmati romance in the movies. The Jahaj Mahal and the Rani Roopmati mandap were laced with stories of their romantic adventures. Jami Masjid and Ashrafi Mahal were grand structures with mixed architecture depicting power changing hands from Pawars to Mughals. We also got the getaway clicked against some monuments while at Mandu. Mandu heritage resort was a comfortable place to stay and explore the nearby places.
Jami Masjid
Jahaj Mahal
Hindola Mahal
Inside the Hindola mahal
Life taking shape
one of the many fort gates
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