Uncategorized – That Road Trip Lady

Banaras has always fascinated me, largely due to its portrayal in Bollywood movies. While the most convenient and budget-friendly way to reach Banaras is by train (especially for solo travelers or a couple), I had long dreamed of a road trip from Delhi—ideally in November or February, when the weather is just right: neither too hot nor too cold, with minimal fog. For three years, I postponed the trip, hoping to gather a group of four to make it more economical. But when that didn’t work out, I finally decided to go for it in 2024—with just my mom, my favourite travel companion! The planning Posing at the first rest stop We barely did any planning for this trip! On a Monday (4 Nov), I casually asked my mom if she would be up for a roadtrip to Banaras. My mom did some calculation and realised that her maid was on leave the coming weekend; so we decided to do the trip that very weekend(8-9 Nov). Since Banaras is about 850 km from Delhi, we needed at least 4 days to do this trip. I had an office commitment on the Monday (11 Nov), so we decided to head out on Thursday (6 Nov) itself and be back on Monday morning. True to our usual road trip style, we kept things spontaneous and didn’t book any hotels i n advance. The only preparation? A quick car check-up at the Hyundai service center! The Route As per google maps, the recommended route was via Lucknow. The map advised us to get to Yamuna expressway from either Jewar (Since we were starting from Gurgaon), or go back to Noida via Delhi and join the expressway at Noida. Having been on Yamuna expresssway a few times, I was not a fan of it. Don’t get me wrong—it’s a beautifully built expressway and undoubtedly the best choice if you simply want to get from point A to point B quickly. Besides, I’m not a high-speed driver, and long stretches of expressways tend to make me feel drowsy. However, for me a roadtrip is all about the journey. I find national and state highways far more enjoyable, offering a mix of scenery, local stops, and a true sense of adventure. That said, I’m also not a fan of jam-packed roadblocks, endless diversions, congestion, bottle necks —basically, the sight of red on Google Maps gives me palpitations! I have been to Agra couple of times now and have used multiple routes to get to that city. The best route as per me was via NH44. However, the map showed major congestion near Mathura on NH44. I finally decided to be on NH44 until Vrindavan and then cut across to Yamuna Expressway until Agra. After Agra, I had no prior experience with the route, and the map showed only one viable option—the alternative was shorter in distance but would take about two extra hours. The Beginning of the Trip Posing with my travel companion The 'Thursday' arrived and we set off from Gurgaon at 5:30 AM. It was a beautiful clear morning with a slight nip in the air. The roads were amazingly smooth and since we started really early, there was absolutely no traffic. As decided, we took a cut from Vrindavan towards Yamuna expressway crossing Prem Mandir on the way. Thankfully, it was early morning or else it would have taken me ages to cross that stretch. By now, mom and I had already had our first disagreement - while I wanted to stop for breakfast on NH44, mom preferred to stop on the expressway. In my experience, the stops on expressways are quite limited and that is exactly what happened. We drove for about 50Km on the expressway and by now I was starving and admittedly a bit 'hangry'. We got our first rest stop after the toll on the expressway at about 8:00 AM. And as expected it was a small restaurant with very limited options. It was definitely an 'I told you so' moment for me. As we were hungry, we shared one paratha to settle down our hunger a bit and decided to stop somewhere further down for a proper breakfast. Agra - Lucknow Expressway Once the Yamuna Expressway ended, we followed the multiple sign boards directing us towards Lucknow. I soon realised that there was actually an expressway connecting Agra and Lucknow and a remarkably smooth expressway one at that. Agra Lucknow Expressway The initial excitement of the smooth roads quickly gave way to boredom for me. The roads were almost too smooth, and I definitely needed my coffee. A sign on the expressway mentioned that there was a Barista about 50 km ahead—finally, some hope! Since I was feeling drowsy, I handed over the driver's seat to my mom, who loves such smooth roads. In a way, I believe Mom and I really complement each other when it comes to our driving preferences. The expressway was quite deserted and the few cars that were on the expressway were just zooming by us as we were maintaining a speed limit of 100 kmph. We soon reached the rest stop. The options there (as on most expressways, in my opinion) were quite limited. We were not very hungry but had some idli, stretched our legs and picked up my coffee. We had about 2 -2.5 hours to reach Lucknow. To avoid feeling drowsy, mom and I started making our plans after reaching Lucknow. Although we would reach by 1PM, we decided to stop there for the night. Both of us had been to Lucknow a long time back (nearly 20 years ago), so we decided to explore Lucknow and start fresh the next day. As we had not booked any hotel, mom started calling a few hotels and checking for accommodation. My only condition was that I did not want to get into the main city as I remember it being quite chaotic. After making a number of calls, we decided on a hotel named 'Casa Aishbagh' which was about 10 minutes from Hazratganj and had a decent parking spot. The route till the hotel was mostly blue as per the map. So we decided to go to this hotel and if the room was decent we would stay there. The property was actually quite nice and seemed as a place that was mostly booked for Weddings. The rooms were decent and we paid about 2000 Rs for the room. Lucknow Muskuraiye, aap Lucknow mein hain! We quickly freshened up, had lunch at the hotel and also took a nap before heading out to the city. We only had a few hours in the city, so we decided to go to Hazratganj area. My list had chaat and mom's list had shopping for chikankaari. Hazratganj area would take care of both. Given the chaotic traffic, with vehicles moving in every direction, we decided to leave our car behind and take an e-rickshaw instead. So around 5PM we headed out. Since we had eaten a very heavy lunch, we decided to shop first and have the chaat later. However, I had completely underestimated mom's stamina when it came to shopping. For one chikankaari suit, we must have visited at least 20 shops! By the time we finally bought the suit, I was starving. One of the most famous chaat spots nearby was Shukla Chaat Bhandaar, but when we arrived, it was packed with people. Despite my hunger, I didn’t have the patience to wait and suggested we find another place. Mom, however, dove straight into the crowd to assess the situation. Within 30 seconds, she emerged triumphantly—with a plate of aloo tikki in hand! She’s definitely a rockstar! After devouring a few plates of chaat, my mood instantly improved. That’s when Mom casually mentioned that she wasn’t happy with the suit she had bought and wanted to exchange it! Since she had just treated me to some amazing chaat, I couldn’t say no. So, back we went, retracing our steps and spending yet another hour shopping. By the time we finally reached our hotel at 9 PM, I intended to research our route for the next day’s drive. However, within minutes of getting into bed, we were both fast asleep. To be continued in Part 2