[Zoomsun]

Originally Posted by Fordmanchau

Zoomsun, the situation here has eased quiet a bit. No bandhs in near future now.
So don't worry about it. You can peacefully come to hyderabad now.

@Fordmanchau, Thanks a lot for the quick reply. I am traveling tomorrow.

Originally Posted by himavanth_m

No Bandh, but make sure you fill up the car with petrol/diesel to the brim in and around Kurnool just to be on safe side. Suddenly out of no where these people say close petrol bunks. And Kurnool is about 200 kms from Hyderabad. So considering 550 kms travel range for an average car, you would still have about 150 kms to play with in hyderabad for your stay in case of any petrol bunks bandh.
Apart from this I see no other issues.

Thanks a lot for the advice. Sure, I shall keep that in mind when traveling.

Originally Posted by hyd_traveller

With due respect to you, I appreciate your foresight and advise to all to be cautious and to keep the vehicle tanked up but I beg to disagree that the bandhs in Hyderabad are spontaneous except maybe once in a blue moon

Yes, I do agree with you Sir, as there has also been a Bandh Calendar this time around.

[rishie]

Any update on the road condition? I am planning to travel to hyderabad this saturday, 15th of october.

[hyd_traveller]

Originally Posted by rishie

Any update on the road condition? I am planning to travel to hyderabad this saturday, 15th of october.

Absolutely nothing to worry about the road condition. You will enjoy the drive for sure.

Just keep a close watch on the impact of the ongoing political situation at Hyderabad.

Do bump up the topic again on the evening before your departure to get the latest news pertinent to your travel.

Have a nice trip!

[Zoomsun]

Just back from Hyd after a 3 day stay there. It seemed like life as-usual. And the drive, as always, is just amazing. Airport to Airport in 5 hours should be easy.

[sagarpadaki]

Did this stretch last week.And i was shocked to see the number of vehicles coming in wrong direction.Especially two wheelers that too right next to the divider .I have had few nervous moments. At some place after penukonda traffic was diverted to a single lane and there was this indica who was overtaking a truck in this situaion also.I missed having a head on collision because of hard braking!!

I am seriosly afraid to drive this stretch now.People crossing at random points on the divider.Those high bushes on the divider conceal the villagers until they step on the road.And these two wheelers act as if driving in opposite direction next to divider is their birth right! In fact ,one guy on bike was trying to take a U-turn while i was at 100 kmph about 400 meters behind him.I am sick of them!! .My heart beat was high through out the journey because of the uncertainity of such things and i didnt enjoy the beautiful roads at all.The roads are beautiful but cant be enjoyed stressfree .Infact i was stressed even before i reached devanalli airport!

[rishie]

Any updates on the route / conditions from bangalore to hyderabad, I am planning to start on saturday morning and return back on tuesday from hyderabad.

Also, any recommendations for the best time to start from bangalore, and also from hyderabad?

[himavanth_m]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Did this stretch last week.And i was shocked to see the number of vehicles coming in wrong direction.Especially two wheelers that too right next to the divider .I have had few nervous moments. At some place after penukonda traffic was diverted to a single lane and there was this indica who was overtaking a truck in this situaion also.I missed having a head on collision because of hard braking!!

I am seriosly afraid to drive this stretch now.People crossing at random points on the divider.Those high bushes on the divider conceal the villagers until they step on the road.And these two wheelers act as if driving in opposite direction next to divider is their birth right! In fact ,one guy on bike was trying to take a U-turn while i was at 100 kmph about 400 meters behind him.I am sick of them!! .My heart beat was high through out the journey because of the uncertainity of such things and i didnt enjoy the beautiful roads at all.The roads are beautiful but cant be enjoyed stressfree .Infact i was stressed even before i reached devanalli airport!

Sorry to hear about these incidents. These are very irritating and i can completely understand your anger and frustration.
But which highway apart from expressways do not see such vehicles in opposite directions and people suddenly taking a U turn? It is us drivers in vehicles that need to be careful about handling such situations especially when driving at high speeds.

In order to avoid such situations, travel at night. people coming in opposite directions and bikers are very minimal in the middle of the night, although you have to deal with bright lights from opposite directions.

And when you talk about traffic diversions, all highways have this. This is again not a specific problem for NH7. And if you think Indica coming from opposite direction is a heart stopping moment, consider the vehicles on the famous NH9 - HYD - VIjayawada highway. On this highway, the trucks do not break even if a vehicle from opposite direction is right in front of them when they overtake. Their reason is if they break on that road, the next overtaking opportunity for them is atleast 20 minutes away. (Although I do not approve of these tactics as they cause a serious threat to life of people in opposite vehicles)
But for your point, I can understand why trucks do not break but it is definitely a mistake of Indica person. I hate such people in cars especially for not caring for the vehicles coming in opposite direction.

All the things you have mentioned are a very very serious concern for highway driving. But my suggestion would be do deal with it and be extra careful and take over-precautions to avoid such scary incidents.

Originally Posted by rishie

Any updates on the route / conditions from bangalore to hyderabad, I am planning to start on saturday morning and return back on tuesday from hyderabad.

Also, any recommendations for the best time to start from bangalore, and also from hyderabad?

No problem what so ever.
Best time is to start at 11 PM after Bangalore traffic dies down and reach by 6 AM to Hyderabad. (Depends on speed you maintain)

2 things to note,
Close to Devanahalli (After Bangalore airport and the first toll booth near airport) there are a total of 4 or 5 speed breakers in a stretch of around 5 to 10 kms. If you are travelling at 100 kmph it is pretty difficult to spot these speed breakers uptill the last moment. There is no lighting here and the speed breakers merge with the road so beautifully that you cannot spot them.
Even the speedbreaker sign on the road is not clearly visible. So maintain < 80 kmph speed here. Good way to spot them is they are near the junctions only. Not at random places.
And once your count of 4 or 5 speedbreakers is done you can move upto higher speeds. These speed breakers will be there on the return journey too at the similar spots.
I missed these speed breakers on 2 different occasions and banged my swift and safari but was careful from 3rd time. Luckily nothing happened to the vehicle.

2nd thing is there is an semi constructed defunct toll booth with no lighting in AP side near Anantapur I think(Dont remember exact place). There are a couple of speedbreakers here as well.

3rd thing as mentioned by sagarpadaki, at Penukonda, the road on one side is closed and vehicles from both directions travel through 2 lanes.

If you are driving in the morning, as sagarpadaki mentioned, becareful of people crossing the highway and also vehicles (especially 3 wheelers) travelling in the opposite direction. This happens early morning mostly.

[himavanth_m]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Those high bushes on the divider conceal the villagers until they step on the road.

For this, I would suggest you stick to the left lane of the road and only take the right lane while overtaking or if you see vehicles coming in opposite direction.

[9tMax]

As per my recent experience from quite a few Hyd-Blr-Hyd trips, the best time to travel on this route is 12 midnight to 8 AM. Mid-night to early next morning drive is always my most preferred option, but do it only if you are habituated to this, and don't feel sleepy while at the wheels. This helps you in avoiding all those morons on 2 wheelers coming on the wrong lane and jaywalkers at the villages.
While starting from Hyderabad, now we have a very good option for dinner also at the place called Hill Park, after the 1st toll booth. So start peacefully at around 9 in the evening from your home, have a relaxed dinner there and continue onward to Bangy. Another advantage of night driving is that in the absence of casual unruly traffic, the truckers also mostly move on the left lane and generally follow all the rules.

[bigvishnu]

TBHP Rocks!!

i was planning Blr - hyd trip for a while now and had bought train tickets. i did this route by car a few times before the highway was complete. Now after chancing upon this thread, cancelled the tickets and preparing the car. Driving in less than 12 hours from now, with wifey and 1.5 year old kiddo. will post the details later of how it went

[hyd_traveller]

I am at BLR now for Metallica and had done HYD City to HYD airport in 25 min on 29/10/11 @ 6:15-6:40, had done HYD airport to BLR airport in 5:50 with one b'f break, one fuel halt & two bio breaks totalling approx. 30 min. It took me 1:40 from BLR airport to Koramangala arriving at 14:10. Today, I return!

[MileCruncher]

Drove down today morning after the Metallica Concert. Started at 10 AM from Corporation Circle and with a breakfast break, crossed Devanahalli Airport at 11:38AM. We were at Shamshabad Airport at 6:06PM which included one 45 min lunch break.

Did Kurnool - Shamshabad in 2 Hrs Flat without crossing 120KMPH anywhere.

The only problem is people coming on wrong side near Anantapur.

Cheers

[hyd_traveller]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

Drove down today morning after the Metallica Concert. Started at 10 AM from Corporation Circle and with a breakfast break, crossed Devanahalli Airport at 11:38AM. We were at Shamshabad Airport at 6:06PM which included one 45 min lunch break.

You & Mobike008 did pretty well on the return segment. Looks like you both were very eager to get back home.

I started from Sony World Junction in Koramangala at 13:50, crossed BIAL at 15:15, touched RGIA at 22:05 and was home at 22:35.

Dinner, fuel, multiple bio and another halt (pink grapefruit shopping at Devanhalli) accounted for 55 min. or so.

Faced heavy rains at Chikballapur and that continued right upto Anantpur.

I have driven on a highway at dusk and night after a very very long time and based on this drives experience, can vouch that an early morning start can easily shave off an hour or so of the journey time apart from being so much more relaxing (I had started at 6:15 from Hyd on 29th and had lunch at hotel in Koramangala in a relaxed drive).

[SILVERWOOD]

I did Hyd-Bangalore last saturday in 8 hours 20 minutes with one Dinner break and two bio breaks (lost approximate 1 hour)

Started from Paradise (Masab Tank outlet at 6pm and was in Coles Road, Frazer town by 2:20am. Was caught in a jam for 20 mins before BIA.

I drove all the way as wifey was not keen to drive my 2 decade old Trooper.

[spadix]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

The only problem is people coming on wrong side near Anantapur.

Was it worse than near Kurnool? Strangely enough I've never experienced this near Anantapur in the few times I've driven/ridden this route. Kurnool and vicinity, on the other hand....

Regards,
spadix