Day 1 – Mumbai to Vadodara – NH8 – 402 Kms
The plan was to get up at 0400 and be on the road by 0530. I think we managed pretty well by waking up at 0430 and hitting the road by 0600. I had filled my USB pen drives with some 30GB of music or 2500+ songs including latest Hindi, old Hindi, Pop, Rock, English all-time great love songs etc. It is important to have enough music when you are on the road for 2 weeks.
All pen drives were tested a week in advance to confirm that they were working when connected to the USB port in my car. This holiday was about the journey and not the destinations. So we would not run around and try and cover all the tourist places in each destination.
0600 – Started from home.
0625 – Dahisar checknaka on NH8. Crossed Mumbai. Paid toll of INR 35.
Son comfortably slept in the back seat. We were glad to have carried a pillow and comforter. He woke up after 3 hours all refreshed.
0700 – Stuck for 10 mins in traffic at toll naka in Virar. Paid toll of INR 64
0750 – Charoti toll Naka. Paid toll of INR 58. Distance of 99Kms travelled so far.
0810 – Tank full. Diesel worth INR 1000 filled. Took a bio break and stretched legs.
Road conditions excellent on NH8
0840 – Entered Gujarat state
0845 – Touched Vapi. Total distance covered 151Kms
0855 – Bagwada toll plaza. Paid toll of INR 64.
0935 – Boriach toll plaza. Paid toll of INR 56.
1000 – First pit stop for breakfast. Stopped at a HP petrol pump about 9 Kms post Navsari. There was a restaurant named Sugar and Spice. Had a hearty breakfast and got refreshed.
1035 – Hit the road again. Road conditions were excellent throughout. There was some traffic and had to overtake trucks regularly. Mostly from the left side as many did not give way.
1100 – Toll plaza at Surat. Paid toll of INR 70.
1215 – Toll plaza at Bharuch. Paid toll of INR 85.
1240 – Reached Vadodara. Had a tough time finding Hotel Fern Residency using navigation as I accidentally switched it off and it would not find the route again for some reason.
1320 – Finally after going around in circles and asking a few people, accidentally found the Hotel and checked in.
NH8 was excellent. There are diversions in some places but the road is smooth.
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My son after a nice 3 hour nap in the back of the car.
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First pit stop for breakfast after crossing Navsari
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Total Toll paid from Mumbai to Vadodara on NH8 - INR 432
Note - All road pictures are taken with phone cameras and while moving, so maybe hazy.
