Team-BHP - Bangalore - Vijayawada - Vizag - Bhubaneswar : Route Queries

Quote:

Originally Posted by julupani (Post 3259540)

Day 2 is a complete no-no. It passes through some of the worst Mao-ist affected regions and has some of the worst roads out there. It is likely to take you 2 days by itself. For example, a normal Bhubaneswar-Jeypore journey takes you about 10-12 hours, and that would only get you half way.

If you really desparately want to avoid Seemandhra, you can do the following.

Day1: Kolkata-Raipur
Day2: Raipur-Hyderabad
Day3: Hyderabad-Bangalore(as you mentioned)

Day 1 and Day 2 are not exactly super smooth roads, but are ok with some bad stretches. Wont be as comfortable as taking the GQ through Seemandhra, but nowhere near as stressful as the route you suggested.

How is the Raipur-Jagdalpur-Bijapur-Warangal-Hyd route ? I heard that nh7 from Nagpur to Hyd was not in very good shape and wanted to avoid the Raipur-Nagpur-Hyd route.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdp1975 (Post 3259571)

How is the Raipur-Jagdalpur-Bijapur-Warangal-Hyd route ? I heard that nh7 from Nagpur to Hyd was not in very good shape and wanted to avoid the Raipur-Nagpur-Hyd route.

Roads in south Chattishgarh are generally very bad.

Also could you elaborate regarding your route from Jagdalpur-Warangal. There were some new roads coming up, but I dont think all the bridges over Godavari were complete.

The normal road from Jagdalpur-Hyderabad would be via Sukma - Bhadrachalam - Khammam. But roads on this route are not very good either.

Like I said, despite the bad sections between Nagpur and Hyderabad, I think its still the best bet for avoiding Seemandhra.

I was referring to the route via Pamunuru as described in http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2800850 . Google map does show a ferry on this route, so not sure if the bridge is complete or not.

Well the Rayagada route would have been adventurous as I saw from the pics in http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ml#post1561409,and I can do about 20 hrs in a day, but if the road is too bad I'll have to skip it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdp1975 (Post 3259581)

Yes the area is indeed very beautiful indeed. I dont know about the ferries that you are talking about. I think what Google Map is showing is not ferry, but future bridge.

And even if there is a bridge, I dont think it is a safe option, since you would have to pass through the most heavily Maoist control areas at night time, if you plant to do a single day drive from Bhubaneswar-Hyderabad via any routes through that region.

Also, the roads are not good at all. It will be about 20-22hours of practically continuous bad roads, ie 20 hours of avoiding potholes.

Stretches of the Nagpur-Hyderbad sections may be bad, so will sections of Kolkata-Raipur. But you will get good and decent roads most of the way with some really bad stretches.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdp1975 (Post 3259571)

How is the Raipur-Jagdalpur-Bijapur-Warangal-Hyd route ? I heard that nh7 from Nagpur to Hyd was not in very good shape and wanted to avoid the Raipur-Nagpur-Hyd route.

Avoid this at any cost. Roads near Sukma are pathetic and even Boleros hesitate to travel there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by julupani (Post 3259575)

Roads in south Chattishgarh are generally very bad.

I humbly disagree with your statements. I am sure you might not have visited Jagdalpur and the road to Raipur recently. They are much better than many roads in Andhra, Karnataka and almost every road in southern odisha. I was there in Chattisgarh last week.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdp1975 (Post 3259581)

Well the Rayagada route would have been adventurous as I saw from the pics in http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ml#post1561409,and I can do about 20 hrs in a day, but if the road is too bad I'll have to skip it.

In fact I was involved in planning this particular trip with ADC Dada which you are mentioning. He happened to visit my own home too in jeypore. Do not try to take this road. Roads from Koraput till you reach lakshmipur is extremely bad and after that some serious road work is happening and roads have become very narrow. Take this road only if you want to see the untouched beauty of mother nature. I went to Rayagada couple of days back and it took 4.5 hrs for me to travel 130 Km in this road in a Sedan.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sam_boy (Post 3259662)

By south Chattishgarh I meant south of Jagdalpur. I guess even towards Dantewada roads are not too bad, though I have never been beyond Dantewada itself. Its towards Sukma that its really bad.

Old NH43 between Jeypore and Raipur is actually pretty good last I had heard.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sam_boy (Post 3259662)

I went to Rayagada couple of days back and it took 4.5 hrs for me to travel 130 Km in this road in a Sedan.

4-5 hours from Rayagada to Jeypore is pretty much normal. Add to that about 4 hours from Rayagada to Berhampur and another 2.5-3 hours between Bhubaneswar and Berhampur. Thus a total of about 10-12 hours for the Bhubaneswar-Jeypore journey.

Any updates regarding road conditions between Nabarangpur and Bhawanipatna??

How's the overall condition of NH9 from Hyd to Vijayawada ? I was told that the road conditions are good but very desolate. Are there places to eat and more importantly to refuel given the fuel shortages in the coastal Andhra regions ?

I might be doing kolkata-vijawada-hyd-bangalore on the return trip.

Quote:

Originally Posted by julupani (Post 3259686)

Any updates regarding road conditions between Nabarangpur and Bhawanipatna??

After Nabarangpur I heard for some distance the roads are very bad but after that the roads are good. ( Read as not very bad)

Guys, almost return time for me from my home town to Bangalore. Will I have any problems in getting diesel in Andhra ? I drive a KA registered car.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sam_boy (Post 3262131)

I've read newspaper reports on shortages in fuel in Ananthpur town and Vizag. Petrol being sold at 180 per litre. Power cuts are another problem in dispensing fuel. However I'm not expecting refueling problems in Telangana, so the vijawada-hyd-bangalore route may be a better option.

Don't know the situation on the highway bunks. Would suggest carrying extra fuel in the car. Better to be safe than sorry.

Edit - Just noticed that power employees have called off the strike in view of the cyclone. The next 48 hrs are expected to bring heavy rains in Andhra and Orissa, so travel on this route should be done keeping this in mind.

Finally! Im home.. safe and sound.clap:
Taking all your suggestions into.consideration I decided to bypass those affected areas in night it self. Though I dont prefer driving in the night but had no choice either.
So me & one of my friends started on 8th Oct at 1PM from Bangalore. Non stop driving with just couple of short haults, my baby touched Rajhmundhry by 6AM. Checked into Anand Regency and took few hours off. Had a tight sleep. Nice hotel!
Again started at 3PM(9th Oct) for Cuttack. Lost some time crossing the Vizag traffic but after that NH5 was like awesome. Stretched till Odisha border before we had our dinner in a dhaba. Started again at around 12 midnight and reached home at 4:30AM(Today).:)
Didnt face any problem. It was a Hussel free drive all throught out.
1600 Kms on the trip meter and some 75-80 lit of fuel exhausted.
Turn offs - Initial Stretch of NH5 till Vijayawada.
Too many toll booths. Crossed some 16 if I remember correctly.

Anyway it was an experience worth remembering.

Thank you all once again! Will try to upload few snaps if possible.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdp1975 (Post 3261732)

There are plenty of petrol bunks between Hyderabad and Vijaywada, and many of those come before touching Suryapet, which is 130 kms from Hyderabad. The Seemandhra border is near Kodad, which is beyond Suryapet, so you will surely get fuel in Telengana area.

There is a very bigh restaurant at Suryapet attached to a fuel bunk: I think the name is '7', which serves decent food. There are a host of other joints too.

Here in odisha there is a lot of talks going on for the cyclone Phailin. The center of this possibly would be Gopalpur near Berhampur, so any one travelling on this road on 11th and 12th of oct, please be careful and watch out for any flash news.

I am starting on 13th oct, any Bhpian on the road to Bangalore ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by sam_boy (Post 3262305)

Do update on the road conditions on NH-5. You can now consider travelling between Hyderabad-B'lore without any issues as there are no roadblocks being reported, normalcy is restored.