Vasai Road or Kalyan Junction accommodation

AlanJ

After a long train journey (from Hubli) we arrive at Vasai Road, near Mumbai at around midnight.... and are then faced with another 50-odd kilometres of travel to get to Mumbai proper (the train doesn't go there).

We really don't want to be sitting in taxis, etc, in the wee small hours, and knocking up the hotel proprietor in the middle of the night (we expect the train won't be on time anyway), so a better plan would seem to be to get off the train either at Vasai Road or -- even better -- at Kalyan Junction, and find a cheap hotel as close as possible to the railway station. Then, at 6 the next morning, we can commute, refreshed, to Mumbai for a day's sightseeing.

Sounds good... except that we are having difficulty finding any information about hotels near the railway station at either of these two centres (which, I'm aware, are not really geared to tourists). I'm hoping that someone from indiamike has stayed there and lived to tell the tale. I'm also hoping that Kalyan, being a junction, will have lots of hotels to choose from when we arrive there (hopefully around 10 p.m., not too late to find the preferred choice).

Can anyone help with some personal knowledge?

Thanks for all suggestions!

steven_ber

A thought....

the train arrives at Pune at 18:30, Pune to Mumbai is only something like 3 hours by bus, there is a great expressway that makes the journey really fast.

But don't think of staying the night in Pune then travelling to Mumbai from there, many people live in Pune and work in Mumbai, so morning transport may be a lot busier.

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AlanJ

Now that, Steven, is a cunning idea, and one to which I never gave even a second's thought until you mentioned it.

You're right about the train timing: you deduced that I must have been referring to Train 6210, which is scheduled to reach Pune at exactly 1830. It then takes around five hours to get to Vasai Road, so it never occurred to me that I could actually save time by doing it by bus.

And, of course, this is the perfect solution.... even allowing for an hour to cover the lateness of the train, if we can leave Pune at 8 p.m., this makes our arrival in Mumbai a perfectly-reasonable 11 p.m., and I see the Benazeer looming in our future.

Now, if someone knows any website which will display for me the express bus timetable, you can take away the last remaining shred of doubt, and I will consider this a "done deal". Hopefully, with two large centres like Pune and Mumbai, these buses run more than two or three times a day.

Once again, I have reason to thank you, Steven... although I admit I never thought that you would ever to be able to tear yourself away from train timetables long enough to admit that there were even such a thing as buses, much less telling someone to use a bus in preference to a train!

By the way, I sent you a private message about a week ago... hope you got it, because it was an admission that all your earlier advice was right and that all my planningis now going very smoothly by doing it the Steven Ber way!

Alan

amarshah

Alan you can opt for Raj travels, they have a online booking facility too. http://www.raj.travel

Else go to the bus stand close to the railway Stn and catch the first bus going off to Mumbai. There are various providers of this service both Govt owned and pvt and you will find all types of buses too from simple to luxury volvos. And yes they leave every 30min or so...

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steven_ber

Sorry Alan, I have a few to reply to, but I'm averaging about 30 minutes a day on the net lately, so finding it difficult to even read them, I'll probibly get more time at the weekend.

capt_mahajan

On buses, also look at www.redbus.in

dunno if they ply those areas.

AvidTrekker

There are airconditioned "Share a taxi"-s plying between Pune and Mumbai. You can also try one of them.

However, buses are better and give more leg space, especially the aircon Volvo models.
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AlanJ

Thanks so much, Steven and Amarshah and Avidtrekker and Captain Mahajan! You have really solved my problem in the best possible way, and it hardly needs to be said that "your way" will be the way we'll do it.

Actually, it is the perfect solution in another way, too: this Hubli-Mumbai train journey is actually the second part of a longer train journey which takes us, in one large dose, from Mysore to Mumbai, and it was the one really long train journey we had been forced to schedule. I love Indian trains, but after a night in one, I like it best when we leave it and spend the next day and night on "dry land", so to speak. So I have tried to keep all our journeys down to about eight or ten hours... this one, however, stubbornly refused to be cut down, and ran from 2040 Thursday to 2340 Friday with only a 90-minute break in Hubli. Now, with this new plan, we get a break in Pune also, and a change of transport... a really satisfactory outcome in every way.

Now, fellas, what do you think: should we just get off the train, head for the bus stand, and go straight to Mumbai, hopefully arriving between 11 p.m. and midnight, having seen only a 100-metre stretch of Pune.... or should we use this opportunity to spend the evening strolling around Pune, stay in a hotel near the bus stand, and then catch the first Volvo the next morning to Mumbai? I note that Steven mentioned that the commuters crowd the buses and trains in the morning, and that's something to consider... but the benefit of commuter buses (here in Aussie, anyway) is that they make a special effort to be on time... and we could avoid some of the crowds, possibly, by being up VERY early and taking the first bus of the day (I find early morning travel in India is a plus purely because of the heat factor... by 2 p.m. I am starting to feel enervated).

I suppose it all boils down to this: with about four hours to stroll around Pune, in the evening, would we be able to do anything or see anything that would make us glad we stayed there? (I expect accommodation might be cheaper than expensive Mumbai, so that's one factor in favour).

I am, as always, open to your suggestions and grateful for your expert advice. Many thanks!

aadil

You can book online with www.redbus.in and get the ticket printed off the computer and then use it at the bus counter for checking in on the bus. I have used it in Mumbai and they even talk to you on the phone to solve any problems you may have with the online booking and for seat adjustments if necessary. Payment is by credit card on a secure site so no problems regarding safety.

In your case, buses from Pune to Mumbai are running all the time so there is no problem even if your train is late and book it on the spot since you may not be sure when the train will actually arrive in Pune.

Like I said in my personal reply to your query on TA it is not worth staying in Panvel or Kalyan.

Cheers,
Aadil.

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AlanJ

Yes, Aadil, I remember your saying that about Kalyan and Vasai, and I am relieved now that it seems that I'll be able to take your advice and still be refreshed enough to Make the Most of Marvellous Mumbai!