[RollingWheels]

Originally Posted by julupani

In this plan, I would suggest changing day 2 and day 3, as follows:

Day 2: Vijayawada-Bhubaneswar
Day 3: Bhubaneswar-Durgapur. ( you may extend to Asansol or Dhanbad even)

Vijayawada-Bhubaneswar is easily doable in 11 hours as traffic beyond Vizag is thin. Also if you make Bhubaneswar a stop, you avoid the traffic in and around Bhubaneswar Cuttack, if you leave before 8am. Coming from Rambha, you will hit Bhubaneswar-Cuttack section at peak traffic times, and you may end up taking 2 or more hours to cover 40kms.

Of course if you planning to take a small peak at the Chilika lake while at Rambha, that's another story.

Dear Julupani - I have started to look forward to your guidance, and guess am going to follow your inputs and trust your information thoroughly. Thanks for taking such interest in guiding me .
For Day 3, my plan was from Bhubanehswar to Durgpur, however, if I can make it to Asansol or Dhanbad like you are suggesting, would you be able to tell me some decent and safe hotels in either of these places, as not much information is available online.
I do not mind paying upwards of 2500 bucks for an overnight stay since safety and comfort is of utmost concern. I have contacted a few hotels that I found online, but not sure they can be trusted fully because of the kind of response I got. I heard of City Residency on NH2 (although on the opposite side) in Asansol in one of the threads. But no input is available online, except a Google marking. Cheers - Rolling Wheels

[julupani]

Originally Posted by RollingWheels

For Day 3, my plan was from Bhubanehswar to Durgpur, however, if I can make it to Asansol or Dhanbad like you are suggesting, would you be able to tell me some decent and safe hotels in either of these places, as not much information is available online.
I do not mind paying upwards of 2500 bucks for an overnight stay since safety and comfort is of utmost concern.

If you are looking to pay that kind of money for hotels you can look at the following:

Vijayawada: Quality Inn DV Manor, Fortuna Murali Park, Minerva

Bhubaneswar: Sandy's Tower, Pal Heights, Empires, New Marrion

Durgapur: Peerless Inn

I dont think Asansol has many good quality hotels while in Dhanbad you would have to go into the heart of the city with its chaotic traffic. The hotels I have listed in Vijayawada and Bhubaneswar, though not on the highway are pretty easy to find.

Ginger, Bhubaneswar is also a good place to stay.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by RollingWheels

For Day 3, my plan was from Bhubanehswar to Durgpur, however, if I can make it to Asansol or Dhanbad like you are suggesting, would you be able to tell me some decent and safe hotels in either of these places, as not much information is available online.
I do not mind paying upwards of 2500 bucks for an overnight stay since safety and comfort is of utmost concern. I have contacted a few hotels that I found online, but not sure they can be trusted fully because of the kind of response I got. I heard of City Residency on NH2 (although on the opposite side) in Asansol in one of the threads. But no input is available online, except a Google marking. Cheers - Rolling Wheels

Dhanbad:Seventeen Degrees was the best there,but it has run down a bit.The other one being Cocoon which is good for Dhanbad standards.http://www.hotelsushantinternational.com/

In Vijayawada,DV Manor is very average though the exterior of the hotel is deceiving.There are some rooms which have been renovated and the staff must be the most uninspiring in the industry.Murali Park is another disappointment,time Fortune discontinued their affiliation with them.Taj Gateway is excellent (usually available for 3k dbl w/o bf),Minerva is excellent,
Midcity is an excellent business class hotel option.Kay is another good option.

For Bhubaneswar,Julupani has given you the right options imo.In addition you can check these out as well lafranklin.com,http://www.thecrown.in/

Asansol-like Julupani mentioned hardly any good places to stay-best avoided.

[julupani]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

Ginger, Bhubaneswar is also a good place to stay.

Ginger in Bhubaneswar, is a bit overpriced. If you can find a deal for your dates at less than 2000rs its okay. Normal prices of Ginger are about 2500, at which point its a bit pricey for what they provide. Also, Ginger Bhubaneswar has full occupancy pretty often.

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

For Bhubaneswar,Julupani has given you the right options imo.In addition you can check these out as well lafranklin.com,http://www.thecrown.in/

I would stay away from La-Franklin, its service can be a bit off at times, and for the kind of money they charge, you dont want to risk it. It's location is also very crappy.

Crown is good, but prices are a bit high. Even off peak discount rates will be 4000 or more. Their normal tariff starts from about 7000rs.

[sdp1975]

I will be doing a Bangalore->Kolkata trip in October with my family. Will be halting for a night in Vizag.

Looking for budget hotels around 2K close to the highway in Vizag , don't want to spend too much time in entering and leaving the city. Any suggestions ?

[julupani]

Originally Posted by sdp1975

I will be doing a Bangalore->Kolkata trip in October with my family. Will be halting for a night in Vizag.

Looking for budget hotels around 2K close to the highway in Vizag , don't want to spend too much time in entering and leaving the city. Any suggestions ?

I dont think there are too many good hotels in Vizag on the highway itself, but there are a lot of decent hotels in a region called "Diamond Park", which is a straight road about 1-2kms of the NH5.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by sdp1975

I will be doing a Bangalore->Kolkata trip in October with my family. Will be halting for a night in Vizag.

Looking for budget hotels around 2K close to the highway in Vizag , don't want to spend too much time in entering and leaving the city. Any suggestions ?

You can try Meghalaya Hotel. It is at Ram Nagar, just off the central bus stand that is known as APSRTC Complex. You need to travel around 1.5 kms off the highway to get to this point. It is a 15-year old hotel, but I have no recent updates on it.

There are few more hotels on the Station Road nearby. Avoid Sarovar Hotel near Diamond Park---it is very shabby, per recent reports.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by sdp1975

I will be doing a Bangalore->Kolkata trip in October with my family. Will be halting for a night in Vizag.

Looking for budget hotels around 2K close to the highway in Vizag , don't want to spend too much time in entering and leaving the city. Any suggestions ?

The Best Western Ramachandra at Gajuwaka just off the NH5 is the best option.Its the usual stayover place for people travelling the route.Very clean and no major detours into the city.

http://bestwesternramachandra.co.in/

Location from NH5: http://goo.gl/maps/GFkZz

[sam_boy]

Guys, planning to drive to my native Koraput in Odisha via vishakhapatnam. My plan is

Day 1 Bangalore - Vijaywada

Day 2 Vijaywada - Vizag - Koraput

I am still confused on my Day 1 route. Initially I was thinking about Blr-Hyd-Vijaywada but given the telengana protests it seems I would preferably take the Nellore route through Chittoor. How are the roads been off late ? I travelled to Mamallapuram via Chittoor in June and the roads after Mulbagal were not so good. How much time it would take me to reach Nellore given the current condition of the roads ? Can I still do Vijaywada through Hyd ? I am travelling with my family.

Thanks a wagon in advance for your replies.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by sam_boy

Guys, planning to drive to my native Koraput in Odisha via vishakhapatnam. My plan is

Day 1 Bangalore - Vijaywada

Day 2 Vijaywada - Vizag - Koraput

I am still confused on my Day 1 route. Initially I was thinking about Blr-Hyd-Vijaywada but given the telengana protests it seems I would preferably take the Nellore route through Chittoor. How are the roads been off late ? I travelled to Mamallapuram via Chittoor in June and the roads after Mulbagal were not so good. How much time it would take me to reach Nellore given the current condition of the roads ? Can I still do Vijaywada through Hyd ? I am travelling with my family.

Thanks a wagon in advance for your replies.

Both the routes are prone to roadblocks and protests.On NH7 around Anantpur and Kurnool and on NH5 around Ongole,Vijayawada, all have been prone to road rokos in the past week.and there is no way one can predict these as they are all unannounced.The only way to beat these is to leave real early from Bangalore around 3-4am.Blr-Hyd-Vijayawada is going to add up distance,other than that I really dont find much difference in between the two routes.

[rkg]

One need not worry about road blocks in AP on NH5. They are completely non violent and last for 15-30 minutes only.they request you co-operate for some time and then leave you. Try to cross chittoor before 7 AM. In Chittoor district, it is little serious ( only road blocks).If they announce bandh , then it will be serious but absolutely non violent.

Road surface is fine. work is going on between Vijayawada and guntur only. i had traveled in this route between aug 10th and 24-25th. return jouney i do not face any blocks. onward faced it for 30 minute before palamaner

If you want a place to just sleep, try Hotel M on the highway in vijayawada. it is neat and clean bathrooms. AC room double occupancy is around 1300/- it is on the service road , while crossing vijayawada on your left from Guntur side.. no need to deviate any thing

[sam_boy]

Originally Posted by rkg

One need not worry about road blocks in AP on NH5. They are completely non violent and last for 15-30 minutes only.they request you co-operate for some time and then leave you. Try to cross chittoor before 7 AM. In Chittoor district, it is little serious ( only road blocks).If they announce bandh , then it will be serious but absolutely non violent.


If you want a place to just sleep, try Hotel M on the highway in vijayawada. it is neat and clean bathrooms. AC room double occupancy is around 1300/- it is on the service road , while crossing vijayawada on your left from Guntur side.. no need to deviate any thing

Thanks RKG and Ranjit for your valuable inputs. Much appreciated. Again thanks for the info on the hotel. Do I need to book it in advance ?

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by sam_boy

Thanks RKG and Ranjit for your valuable inputs. Much appreciated. Again thanks for the info on the hotel. Do I need to book it in advance ?

You havent mentioned your dates of travel.There is a bandh in the Krishna Districts for 2 days from Sep,10th,2013.It is not a question of the bandhs being violent-you would be stuck for want of fuel if there is a bandh other than that there is no trouble with travelling.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/...cle5100288.ece

[julupani]

Originally Posted by sam_boy

Guys, planning to drive to my native Koraput in Odisha via vishakhapatnam. My plan is

Day 1 Bangalore - Vijaywada

Day 2 Vijaywada - Vizag - Koraput

I am still confused on my Day 1 route. Initially I was thinking about Blr-Hyd-Vijaywada but given the telengana protests it seems I would preferably take the Nellore route through Chittoor. How are the roads been off late ? I travelled to Mamallapuram via Chittoor in June and the roads after Mulbagal were not so good. How much time it would take me to reach Nellore given the current condition of the roads ? Can I still do Vijaywada through Hyd ? I am travelling with my family.

Thanks a wagon in advance for your replies.

Personally I wouldn't be concerned much about road blockades in AP. I recently undertook bus journeys on all the routes that you may take in AP, and all bus drivers said their journeys have been largely unimpeded. If they have, it has never been for very long.

On the other hand I am more concerned about the Vizag-Koraput stretch. The ghat roads are practically non-existent, expect to take about 5 hours to get this stretch done. Also keep in mind that a couple of weeks back some paramilitary forces were killed by a IED attack on this highway. I dont think either APSRTC or OSRTC are running their regular buses on this route yet.

Thus my suggestion would be to keep this stretch in bright daylight. So either stretch day one upto Vizag, or leave Vijayawada very early in the morning on Day 2.