I had the pleasure of staying in Kolhapur recently and I must say, it was an absolute delight – especially the food! In fact, of all the places I’ve travelled to in India, the food in Kolhapur was by far the tastiest, with only one restaurant in Agra coming close to giving it some competition.
As much as I enjoyed my stay, it was time to move on. After being on the road for nearly seven days, I could feel the hard-core traveler attitude starting to take hold of me. I called home to discuss my next travel route, knowing I was already two days behind schedule due to my impromptu stays in Palakkad and Kolhapur. Initially, I thought of stopping in Pune, but then extended my trip to Thane in Maharashtra before ultimately settling on Vapi in Gujarat. It was a 550-kilometer stretch and I needed to travel longer each day to make up for lost time. I quickly called a hotel in Vapi and booked a room for the night. The lady who answered the phone was very professional and courteous, making the booking process a breeze.
Setting off from Kolhapur at 9 AM, I traveled on the NH4 until I reached Pune. The road was broad and well-maintained, making for a pleasant journey (in fact, I would give NH4 the maximum stars on my road trip across India!). From Pune, I took the Mumbai-Pune highway and was highly impressed by the multi-lane road – it was like driving on a Formula 1 track! By evening, I had covered a lot of distance and had arrived in Thane/Navi Mumbai. Interestingly, this was my first visit to Mumbai, and I traveled through its bustling suburbs. I recall having a bit of confusion deciding on the correct route to Vapi, but with the help of Google Navigation on my Phone and a kind stranger, I finally made it onto the highway to Gujarat.
I must commend the “excellent” GPS receiver on my Android phone, which never lost contact with the satellite, unlike my other GPS navigators that kept switching back and forth. It’s definitely a great GPS navigation device for travelers!
As I continued my journey, I noticed something new – people were getting up close to my car and asking me questions about my road trip while I was driving! It was the first time this had happened, despite the road trip thing being printed all over my car. It felt good to be recognized, and from Thane to the Gujarat border, people were noticing my car and giving me a thumbs up from afar. I felt like a bit of a celebrity!
To be honest, I don’t remember much about my trip from Thane to the Gujarat border except for the fact that the road was narrower than NH4 and I couldn’t maintain the same speed. However, the road was well-maintained, and I reached Vapi by evening, a bit confused about finding the hotel I had booked. Finally, I located it, and it looked lovely – decorated with lights all over the garden. I was eager to try some Gujarati food and finally, after a nonstop trip with no food, I could finally rest and enjoy a well-deserved meal. As I arrived at the hotel, I was greeted by a courteous Nepali guard who helped me with parking. I rushed to the hotel lobby, excited to satisfy my hunger with some delicious Gujarati cuisine.
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