I was planning to fly from Bombay to Delhi on friday, oct 24, to be home for Diwali the following week when i got a shock of my life. The cheapest airfare was at least 3x the regular air fare. I know, because I fly between Delhi and Bombay every week.
Now, it makes me pretty mad to think that airlines (or anybody for that matter) charge high prices just because they can. Sure, it might make business sense but it’s also pretty under-handed. So, I decided to drive down.
I left from my apartment in Bombay on Saturday, oct 25, at 6:30 am, and reached home in Delhi on Sunday, the 26t, at 9:30 am, covering a distance of approximately 1500 km. I spent 27 hours on the road, of which I was driving for 23. Caught a couple of hours sleep on Friday night, somewhere outside of Udaipur and took a few breaks here and there — 30 mins every 3 or 4 hours. It’s not like I was in a mad rush to get home, but subconsciously, I think the thought of getting home for Diwali, seeing extended family and expecting a week of festivities had me pretty wired. 
I took NH8 from Bombay all the way up to Udaipur, and then NH 76/79 from Udaipur to Jaipur (via Chittorgarh), before ending up on NH8 again from Jaipur to Delhi. The drive was pretty good except for the first 6-7 hours which were slightly painful because of lots of new highway construction from Bombay up to Vadodara. The scenery for an hour, leading up to Udaipur, was beautiful.
