Tour of Nagaland 2022 | Day 1 | Pune to Nagpur | 735 kms

Nagpur was my first choice of halt when I was preparing the rough route plan. Any other place in between didn’t catch my fancy. Moreover, Nagpur was the ideal place to stay since I had many friends staying in the city so finding a good accommodation was never going to be a hurdle. The only issue was the distance as it was above 750kms and I was unaware of the road conditions.

Some weeks before the departure, I met a few of my riding buddies from the near vicinity of Nagpur at our annual riding event called “Rider Mania” in Goa. This event is being held by the company itself. During our usual chit chat, they had told me that they used the ‘Samruddhi Expressway’, the newly built super expressway connecting Mumbai to Nagpur to reach faster. In India, motorcycles are not allowed on Expressway but since the highway was not yet fully operational or inaugurated, they could easily drive through it and with that confidence, I too planned to do the same today. With some googling about the route that the Expressway takes, the nearest possible point to catch the mega highway was in Aurangabad, some 15 km outskirts of the city.

Starting early was crucial for today as I would be riding on completely new roads. The bike roared to life around 5 a.m. with my Dad wishing me the best of luck for the journey. My first planned checkpoint was Ahmednagar city, close to 100 km and I reached comfortably around 7:30 am battling the morning chill and fog. Did a few recordings on my GoPro too!

My first tea stop was in Ahmednagar and as I was sipping my hot beverage, a kind gentleman who took a liking to my eerie attire approached me and bombarded me with all sets of questions about where I was going, my moto behind all this, are you riding solo all the way up to Nagaland and so on. He eventually sponsored my Tea and I really felt humbled by his kind gesture. He said this was the way he could be a small part of my tour. It was really a good start for the day as it charged me further and I could meet a nice gentleman on the road.

The next stop was Aurangabad which came by in a flash as I passed through the cities of Shani Shingnapur, and Pravarasangam before reaching the city. Instead of entering the city, I took the bypass as the place from where the expressway passed was located around 15 km at a place called Sawangi.

I knew at the back of my mind that since this highway was not yet open to the public, finding things such as food and fuel was a problem. I was already carrying some dry fruits with me but still decided to stop before actually entering the highway to stock up on some dry snacks and energy drinks. Eating light was the only way to cover such a massive distance for today. An energy drink was needed so that I could be charged up right up to the last km. The only worry was Fuel along the way but I decided to rest that matter in the hands of fate. This was the only way that could cut short my travel time if I had any hopes of reaching Nagpur comfortably.

My first impression about the highway as it got visibly near was Wow! It seemed gigantic and as I was at its roundabout, I could see the road rising getting curved towards the left-hand side to join the elevated highway. I was seeing some architectural marvels here. My only vision of such highways was in the PC Game ‘Need For Speed: Most Wanted’ when I used to play at a young age. The highway seemed exactly a copy of the highways I used to race my Car in the video game.

Entering the highway, I came on the opposite lane which was taking me towards Mumbai exactly the reverse of where I planned to go. Since this was the mega highway which was meticulously planned, there was no cut in the divider from where I could take a turn immediately. I had to drive much further ahead where I could locate one as the divider placement was still in progress. Turing my bike over the loose gravel and mud, I came into the opposite lane and stopped immediately to take a glance at the massive blue board sizing over me like a dinosaur. The time was 11 am and the text on the board said Nagpur was 438 km. Somehow, I managed to catch hold of a sheep herder and somehow got a photo of myself clicked alongside the blue direction board. It seemed as though he had never handled a smartphone let alone clicked a photo as I got the shot desired after some retries.

I was really ecstatic to ride on this highway and see for myself where it could lead me, directly to Nagpur or some other place. I was a little apprehensive about riding on the highway at this point in time since 2 Wheelers are practically banned on super expressways making my riding somewhat illegal and second thing that bothered me was that I was practically alone on this highway. I was fearful of the highway police or some other entity that they should not catch hold of me on the way as I pushed towards Nagpur. But, my excitement levels surpassed my fears as once again I let my fate decide the course of today’s journey. Without worrying too much, I pushed further.

I was practically all alone on the highway. This was known. There was not a single object which was moving along with me. The only cars that I saw on the roads were carrying the highway construction people. Occasionally, I saw people like me in cars using the highway to proceed toward their destination. They were maxed out in speed as it the roads were wide open with virtually no one in between. The highway being elevated from the main ground was fenced from both sides to prevent wildlife and other animals from treading on the highway.

I’d decided to stop every 100 km and refresh myself. I knew this was going to be more of a mental challenge than a physical one. Riding along at constant speed made me feel sleepy as there was not even a tiny surface deviation. The road was flat like a slate. After reaching my 1st 100 km checkpoint, I stopped to eat whatever snacks I was carrying in my tank bag. The sun was at its full power which made me drink a lot of water.

I really like the construction of the highway. It seemed like an engineering marvel, a kind of highway which I hadn’t seen till now. The highway was something that resembled highways in foreign countries. Everything was properly marked, the direction to places, the km left to a particular place, the road surface, and going even a step further to build overhead bridges so that wildlife could cross comfortably. The wildlife thing was taken as inspiration from some highways being operated in Europe which I had read about in social media. This was the highway that could easily compete with the foreign ones. Another good thing about the highway was that it passed mostly through farms and not like other highways where you see constructions on either side. Here, I could see farmlands or worst case, open barren lands on both sides. The whole length seemed to be devoid of any settlements. As I cruised ahead, I could see petrol stations being set up on the highway itself. I was yet to see any building which offered food. Before entering the highway, I had made my tank full but at the back of my mind I knew that at some point, I would have to do something to get petrol in my tank.

The 2nd 100th km mark was even tougher. The riding at same constant speed and with the sun blazing from up above was making me feel dizzy as there was virtually no body movement happening, both, from the road surface as well as my own. It was just sitting. The vibrations from the engine further add to the cause. Even Red Bull didn’t help as after some km the effect of it waned away. But, somehow, I tried to keep my focus as this was the only way and the fastest one If I had to reach Nagpur early.

The highway was being built in stretches and at some point I had to go to the other side and ride from the right side, just like most of the roads in foreign countries. But, there wasn’t any problem as the road was devoid of any oncoming traffic. Many times I had to switch from Left to Right and vice versa depending on the road conditions. At some points, I could see the road closed way ahead and also there was no means to cross over to that side, but upon coming near, there was always that little space from where I could squeeze by bike as I pushed further. Remember, the highway is still not opened yet. Luck was helping me at each and every such roadblock.

When the low fuel indicator got lit, I knew I knew I was in trouble now. There was quite some distance left to Nagpur. Since all the petrol stations on the highway side were being set up, I came to the conclusion that I’d have to exit the highway to get the tank refilled. After some km, there was a planned exit from the express highway to the main road below. As I took a long left turn and came to the exit toll booth, I was stopped by some people. These people were officers from the NHAI (National Highway Authorities of India) who were working on the project. At first, they were stunned seeing me there and started to ask me questions as to how I got up on the highway in the first place. I entertained them with my long story to which they agreed but gave a stern warning that I wouldn’t be able to rejoin the highway as it was not allowed and on top of that it was not safe and there would not be any help coming if any untoward incident happens. Plus they threatened me that everything was being captured by the CCTV camera which was installed on the exit toll booth.

Nagpur was still far away and taking the normal highway meant that I wouldn’t be reaching soon owing to heavy traffic and god knows what the road conditions could be. I was able to find a petrol bunk within 2km of exiting the highway but somehow I again came back to where the express highway joined the national highway. I knew that there would be some way to get back to the expressway as the highway was still under construction. I searched a lot by riding the expressway parallel from underneath and taking some very rough roads that were meant only for walking but I couldn’t locate one which joined the expressway which was running over my head.

Just then as I turned back, I met a local village person who first got angry seeing my behavior and desperation to rejoin the highway but his demeanor soon melted when I told him my situation. He told me to follow him to the exit toll booth where he could exercise his pressure on the guys as him being a local there. But the NHAI people were hell-bent on not allowing me through and even shooed away the local person. But, I held my ground and stood near the toll booth, my freedom lying just meters away from me. I killed my engine and stood there like a statue, the toll guards giving me a stern look. After some time, one of the guards approached me and I reiterated my story to him about reaching Nagpur early. Still, he had a dismissive look on his face but as I pulled out my ex-serviceman card (My Dad was in the Navy so I have an ex-serviceman card to my name which is actually my medical facility card which entails me using Armed Forces medical facility ). Upon showing him the card, his attitude changed and he suddenly let me pass through. He directed me to quickly enter via the last in the line toll booth and reasoned with me that it was only due to my belonging to an Armed Forces background that was he letting me pass through. Had it been a local civilian, it would have been a game over for me. I thanked him for that gesture as I happily re-entered the expressway with a smile on my face.

Dusk was approaching fast and I still had a long way to go. It was close to 150 km. I took my last photo of the day as the sun was about to sink on the horizon. The time was 5:30 pm. From there onwards, I drove mostly on the right-hand side and the left side was under construction. The speed was maintained constant at around 80 kmph. I took my last refreshment break just 50 km before Nagpur standing along at the side of the road with the light from the light pole nearby supporting me. I drank my last bottle of Red Bull, my 3rd for the day and I pushed further having wiped the helmet visor clean of dead bugs. It was early evening time but there was complete silence and darkness around me. It felt scary. Some cold also had started to fill the atmosphere.

At around 7:30 p.m., I could see the exit toll booths far ahead. It was so many that it resembled a stopped train. Each bogey represents one tool booth. I zipped past them and over a few km joined the National Highway towards Nagpur. Some 10 odd kms were left.

My stay was not finalized so had to ring some of my friends who’d stayed in Nagpur in the past. I thought with their contacts I could get one to stay for a night. Tomorrow’s plan was to head towards Ambikapur, a city in the state of Chattisgarh. It was a rough plan and like today as I reached Nagpur, I was confident that I would reach the next city comfortably. As I pushed towards the city center, I got a msg from my friend that my stay had been arranged in some apartment in front of our company. Some guys who were working with my friend earlier stayed there and they’d agreed to let me use their room for tonight. I’d received the directions and along the way, I stopped at the ‘I Love’ landmark to get my bike clicked with the ‘I Love Nagpur’ at the backdrop. I had vowed to click such a photo at every city along the way where I’d halt for the night.

Since it was almost 8:30 pm, I thought of having my dinner before reaching the apartment to save time also I was tired and was not in the mood to go out for dinner once I reached my intended place of stay. At a roadside shop, I had Momos and washed it all down with a hot coffee! Absurd combination. During all this, I happened to meet some people as well as kids who were surprised to see me in the unique attire. I was happy to answer all the silly questions as I munched on my hot Momos. One kid thought Nagaland was out of India and so I had to tell him that Nagaland was an integral part of India and located in the easternmost. Some were in shock that I was riding solo to Nagaland all the way from Pune!

My Momos being finished, I bid all of them goodbye before heading towards my place. 2 gentlemen were standing on the road next to the apartment waiting for my arrival. They could easily locate me following which they escorted me inside the parking lot where I parked my bike. We all 3 hauled up my never-ending luggage to the 2nd floor of the apartment. It was a good workout but at the wrong time of the day. Before saying adieu and good night for the day to the lads, I clicked a photo of the bike with my company’s entrance at the backdrop. A good end to a tiring day.

Before hitting the bed, I gifted them a local Pune snack delicacy called ‘Bhakarwadi’ as a token of their support on the 11th hour. If these guys would not have been there, I would have been forced to look for a decent hotel to stay.

With that, Day 1 of the trip had ended on a good note as I was excited for tomorrow as I would be exiting Maharashtra and entering a state which I hadn’t traveled in my life.