I had travelled with my parents and a son (I'll be 50 this year in sha Allah) during the last days of 2023. Here's my experience and trip details:
Vehicle: Kia Sportage FWD
Fuel: Rs.54,500 (including within Lahore but not much city driving to be honest)
Fuel average: 13.5km/l
In-Transit Food: Rs.7,000 (Going Up breakfast & Lunch, Coming down Lunch, and Dinner)
Time: 16:00 hours door to door (Millennium Mall Karachi to DHA Phase 8 Lahore and 17:15 hours coming down)
Stops: 2 and ½ stops going up and 2 and ½ coming back (2 for meals and 1 short break for washrooms).
Interval: 120-140 minutes total
We had started our journey on Saturday 23rd December, 2023 at 1AM. It was a spur of the moment trip made in haste as my daughter studies in Lahore, my wife was in Lahore for her official work, and my elder son was travelling to Lahore for an event with his university friends on the same day. Before leaving for office on Friday morning, I asked my mother if she wants to go to Lahore? My elder brother resides in Lahore with his family so the only question my mother asked was: When? I said tonight. She said "chalo". She told my father about the trip and he too was ready to go.
I saw-off my son from Karachi Cantt at 4:30pm, asked the driver to check the car's wheel alignment, and air pressure. We were at the Karachi toll plaza on M-9 at exactly 1:30AM after filling up the tank and the shopper for some munchies from Buraq near Maymar moR. The journey was a slow one till DHA City Karachi as there were too many heavy vehicles on the road, especially on the uphill ramp in front of DHA City because the newer, less heavier trucks/trawlers were overtaking the tortoise speed older trucks and, in that process, occupied all the lanes of the M-9. Once cleared though, there weren't any such thing and we drove peacefully till Hyderabad. Then took left turn towards Jamshoro on Indus Highway towards Amri.
This section has a few road works going on, because of which both sides of the traffic is plying on a single road for a few kilometers here and there. Road conditions were good and it was also an un-eventful drive except the right turn towards Qazi Ahmed. Because of the road work, the upward right U turn (which you take by driving on the left ramp) is closed, so I had to turn the car and go back a little to get on Amri bridge from the wrong side i.e. the ramp which is coming from the bridge to Indus Highway. The drive was quite ok, and my plan was to stop for breakfast at Royal Taj Moro, but unfortunately it was closed. The road near Moro has a small patch or two where the road condition is bad with some potholes etc, but they were too small like less than 500 meters or near about. I drove straight to Sukkur and had my first break at Super Pyala Hotel at 7:10AM, right before the U turn for M-5 (Sukkur-Multan motorway). The idea was to have breakfast there but my parents only used the washroom (not recommended) and we drove towards the toll.
Before embarking on this section though, I had topped up the gas tank from PSO, Bedil and then had our breakfast at Qutub Uddin Shah service area. Didn’t try the truck adda restaurant at the back and only had omelet, fried eggs and tea. Our next stop was for re-fueling near Multan even though there was plenty of fuel left, since it was my 1st time on M-3 (Multan-Lahore) so I thought it’s better safe than sorry. But there’re quite a few fuel stations on M-3 so that’s not a problem. We had stopped for lunch at Pir Mahal service area, not a big one but an ok one to have a rest room and lunch break.
Later on, when we reached near the exit for Lahore, we had to decide whether to opt for Babu Sabu (Ravi Toll plaza) or to take Sialkot motorway route for Lahore ring-road. Luckily, I opted for the longer route as my brother called and told me that because of ring-road extension, Babu Sabu is way too congested. I took the exit at Jaranwala-Lahore road, however, I should’ve gone a little further and opted for Sialkot motorway exit, and connected the ring-road from there.
Coming back, my wife was also in the car, so total passengers were 4 adults and a 12-year old kid. We left home on Friday, 29th December, 2023 around 9:05AM and filled the tank at Barki Road near DHA Ph. 8. We took the ring-road and then I took the wrong decision to take the Babu Sabu route. Worst road because of ring-road extension both traffic congestion wise and service road condition wise. It took us nearly 1 hour to cover a distance of less than 10km and we reached Ravi toll plaza at 10:20AM. However, it was a blessing in disguise as M-3 was closed because of fog. But luckily, we did not have to wait too long and M-3 was opened at 10:40AM. We drove non-stop till Multan Service Area on M-5 and had lunch and refueled the tank from there. Our next stop was at Bedil fuel station Sukkur/Rohri around 7:00PM, for washroom (PSO executive washrooms, so-so) had topped up the tank again from there. Next stop for dinner was at a dhaaba after crossing Moro toll plaza. Again, took Qazi Ahmed-Amri road, then Indus Highway towards Jamshoro and connected M-9 from Hyderabad. Reached Karachi toll plaza at 1:45AM and home at 2:15AM.
Because of my timing, I did not have to encounter fog on M-5 or M-3 going up, traffic situation was good because of late night travel. Did not have to worry about M-tag (paid in cash) as the cut-off date was extended till 31st December 2023. I’ll be happy to answer any questions that you may have.