Sudden plan, 4 days holidays, no school, no office………
Yes we decided to go to Varanasi on a short impromptu trip. No pre-plans, hotel booking at last moment (which hotel we chose and why will come in another post), this was the kind of trip.
We were travelling to Varanasi by road after almost 10 years, earlier it used to take around around 7 hours to cover a distance of 315 kms thanks to the numerous railway crossings and road passing through cities and towns. But this time the google map (yes we use the same extensively) was showing 5 hours and 20 minutes. The route we were to take was through Purvanchal Expressway.
Purvanchal Expressway is the 2nd most important expressway which is now functional (after Lucknow Agra
Expressway). It is 340.8 kms in total length and connects Lucknow to Ghazipur (both in Uttar Pradesh). The Purvanchal Expressway is a part of Government of Uttar Pradesh’s initiative to connect Lucknow with Ghazipur in order to improve transportation facilities and trade & commerce activities in East UP and Bihar. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 16 November 2021. Its a toll road and the toll collection started in May 2022.
We were not to take the the whole route on expressway and had to get down from the expressway and connect with NH 330 at UPIEDA Toll Plaza at Kurebhar Sultanpur (just after Sultanpur interchange).
We started our journey from Lucknow at around 8.00 am (after CNG re-fueling at Lucknow) were on Purvanchal Expressway soon through Gosaiganj area (one passes the HCL IT city, the Amul-Banas and Parag Dairy, Jalsa Resort). If you plan to have something to eat, you can do it at Royal Padma Dhabha as there are not many good options for food on Purvanchal Expressway. Its only once you land at NH (in Sultanpur) you get a plethora of Dhabas till Varanasi.
The Expressway is good. Not much traffic as of now. But please don’t over speed (speed limit 100 for cars) for your own safety. Its mostly green on the both the sides of expressway. There is a petrol pump after the toll plaza with decent wash rooms.
Our journey on expressway was smooth and uneventful. The road is good. We travel frequently on the Agra Lucknow Expressway and some how in terms of amenities find it better, but then this is a new one and sooner it will also have amenities (there are signs for the same, but no amenities as of now).
Then at Sultanpur Interchange we left the expressway and took NH 330 (Guptarganj Bazar, Katka). This road was comparatively narrower and slowed us down as were passing residential areas. The road was good. Here on both sides we found decent eating joints or Dhabas (both serving vegetarian and non vegetarian food). Then we had to take a left turn on Parupur/ Chattauna Road. This is a narrow single lane road passing through villages / small towns. Our speed was reduced but interesting names of the villages and towns (like Domuha दोमुहा) made the route exciting.
Then after a few kilometers we were back on NH, this time NH 731. The road is beautiful, smooth. But this highway is still being constructed, so had to be careful and it would be slightly difficult at night. It passes Lambhua, Baksha, Jaunpur before reaching Varanasi. On the route again we saw many decent eating joints. At one point the toll plaza was being made and that was were the road was really in an awful condition but for some distance it became single sided. But post that the road was smooth.
We crossed Jaunpur – our earlier memory was of mango orchards near the road (Jaunpur is famous for Langra variety of mangoes) but the new road does not pass through the same and there are no orchards to see. At Chauhan Tiraha the road joined the NH 31. Google was showing this road as Lucknow Varanasi road. There was toll plaza here. Again many eating joints on this road including one interesting outlet Luttur Motel. We crossed the Sai river.
We found our 1st CNG Station (a GAIL operated pump) on the other side of the road (This one is before the Pindra Phoolpur Bypass). We stopped here for CNG. Soon we were in Babatpur, and crossed the Babatpur Airport (in fact the road passes behind the airport runway area, and if one is lucky, one may see a flight take off or land- many people were crowding to catch a glimpse of the flight take off when we reached).
Finally we were in Varanasi (after some time), the road was still good. Beautifully dotted with palm trees on the divider . We were staying at Rahi Tourist Bungalow which is in the Parade Kothi area (close to bus stand and the Varanasi Cantt Overbridge).
We reached our hotel at 2.00 pm with 3 stop overs (2 washroom / toilet breaks and one CNG refueling break). We had our own breakfast and lunch we decided to have at our hotel. Once we reached Varanasi, that’s when our speed reduced as we were in the city and with chaotic city traffic of Varanasi the speed can not go over 40 max.
Overall a nice trip, uneventful and no obstructions.
Pravāsavarṇana 