So, how is travelling by car in India, generally? In my itinerary we are being driven (in an "SUV&quot from Jaipur to Ranthambore, then from Ranthambore to Agra, then from Jhansi to Khajuraho. It amounts to quite a few hours in the car, although the distances don't seem to be that great. I assume that must be due to the road conditions? Has anyone travelled those routes? What is the condition of the roads?
Also, are there rest areas along the way -- at least gas stations or gift shops or something with tourist toilets? I hear public toilets can be challenging, but when you gotta go, you gotta go! Is it true that many public restrooms don't have stalls, or even walls for that matter?

I was driven from Agra to Ranthambore and from Ranthambore to Jaipur snd both drives were great. Agra->Ranth was LOOOOONG, but if I remember, my guide told me we were taking the longer path because the shorter way was going to be slowed down because of reconstruction.

The driving on the highways was CRAZY! Sometime when my driver passed a car, there would be inches between us. I kept my arm inside at all times. We stopped a few times for the bathroom. I think there actually were stalls. The roads were mostly paved and in decent condition. I just came back from Africa and I would take India's roads any day.

Ironically the one place where the road wasn't so great was when we went through a tiny town on the way to Ranthambore and I saw the locals just walking and lounging with their camels.

Driving is pretty exciting, noisy and long in India. We drove from Delhi to Agra and from Agra to Jaipur. On both legs, our driver stopped at a very clean restaurant mid way where you could use the perfectly fine restroom and have a cup of chai or lunch. Everyone seems to stop at these places--both foreign and domestic tourists.

Don't even try to estimate a relationship between time and miles on any western scale. For instance, the distance between Agra and Jaipur is 137 miles (221 KM). It is a good five hour drive which is around 25 mph (this year's monsoon did a real job on the roads.)

You will be glad you are in an SUV (probably a Toyta Qualis). Sitting up high in an SUV is a much more pleasant way to enjoy the surroundings as you travel. We had a regular sedan in Arangubad and hated it.

You will close your eyes driving the first leg of your travels, as some moments can be seriously terrifying. However, like every new experience in India, you will get used to it and have great stories to tell folks back home.

On our tour bus, the drive from Orcha to Khajuraho was really terrible! The paved part of the road was a narrow strip which we had to move off of when meeting another vehicle. The pavement was full of potholes. Driving in India is an adventure!

It is a question of one's own comfort, so you will get a thousand different perspectives on how it is to travel by car in India. We found all of the alarmist comments about how unsafe and scary the roads are to be over the top. We were driven all over Rajasthan this past December and the time on the roads was a highlight. It is true that the driving is not like it is in the West (well, maybe Italy) -- the passing is close and there are many seeming "near misses." The important thing to remember is that the drivers used by tourists are trained and are used to this organic flow on the roads. You have to take yourself out of your home mindset and just trust the driver (hire a good one). If you are going to be white-knuckled the whole time you will miss the neat things you see as you travel through the countryside.

After spending a couple of nights at Sher Bagh in Ranthambore, my son and I had a driver take us to Agra. The manager at Sher Bagh said it would take six hours - it took us 7 and 1/2. . . because it was a one-lane road the whole way! There is a better highway that goes directly from Jaipur to Agra but because of where we were starting off, this was the best route. Well, traveling on a one-lane road means that when two moving objects (car, bus, truck, camel and cart, bull and cart, sheep herd, etc) meet, either going the same direction or the opposite direction, someone has to pull off. The drop from the pavement to the ground is not always an easy one, so your tires take a beating. Which results in flat tires. After changing one tire, I realized that left us with no spare so I was really nervous but we did not have another flat so all was well in that department. But this process makes for a very slooooooooow trip. The good news is, you get to see a lot up close. I took some of my best pictures on this leg of our trip. We went through several small villages where I'm sure they hardly ever see a white person. It was like riding in a parade with everyone waving at us - except we were the ones with the camera and they posed for pictures. We only stopped once so that our driver could take a break. Our driver did not speak English so there was no conversation or explanation about what we saw. It was sort of a surreal trip in that regard.

Also traveled by car from Bangalore to Mysore but they were building a new four-lane road so it was fast and crazy. However, in my three weeks in India, I only saw one wreck and it was at the beginning of our long drive to Agra and it was out in the country, not in heavy traffic. I guess they all know what they're doing and expect everyone to drive the way they do.

Public toilets I used during our trip had small rooms with the sunken toilet washed out by water - either that you pour yourself or someone else pours for you for a tip. You definately want to wear solid shoes for those (i.e. no sandals).

Parker-
Did you see any tigers at Ranthambore?
What time of year were you there?

Thanks

I agree with winter travel's comments. We also enjoyed travelling overland and the possibilities to stop off along the way.

However, there was a considerable difference in the drives in quieter areas such as Udaipur, Bundi and Jaiselmer and the highway closer to Jaipur which was rather crazy!

Cruisinred - we did see a tiger on our first trip out. . . very lucky given that there are only about 26 tigers within the 400 sq mile preserve. The next day, another couple saw a tiger and her two cubs. Other than these sitings, no one else staying at the campsite saw a tiger in our two days there. We were there the first week in February, 2006.