[rajeev k]

Really wonderful travelogue making the reader feel that he is also part of the real time travel. Excellent stuff, making me look for the next chapter every time I log in.

[ST7677]

Thanks Swiftnfurious and Rajiv k, all the effort put in writing the travelogue becomes worth it, with these generous comments.

[ST7677]

Day 3 – 450+ km
We had planned to leave Bhubaneshwar by 5am. The idea was to take a detour from Baleshwar and go to Chandipur beach for few hours. But the incessant rain was still going on, so we went back to bed and left only at 6:30. Crossed Cuttack, Bhadrak and Baleshwar. The drizzle has become pouring and pouring had become downpour, we were being leashed by heavy rains and strong winds. There was no point going towards Chandipur, so we continued towards our main destination – Tatanagar.

The gTechniq nano windshield coating was really helpful during this downpour. Above 65kmph, there was no need to use the wipers and the water was simply falling and flowing up the windscreen. Yes, flowing up due to the wind speed. While the Continental Premium Contact 2 tires were very effectively channeling the water out, preventing any aquaplaning. The rains slowed us down to a cautious 70-80kmph, throughout rest of the day today.

Balsore to Ghiajodi road - very smooth and picturesque route. Could not take many pictures as it was raining in most parts.







Truck Traffic between Ghatshila and Jamshedpur

Baleshwar-Bariapda-Ghiajodi is an undivided road but in excellent condition. Giajodi to Baharagora had some very bad sections, other than that the road was broken but driveable.
Baharagoda – Ghatshila – Jamshedpur road were decent with potholes in patches.

The rain continued only the intensity varied. We reached our destination ahead of schedule. As we parked in the portigo, it was worth noting the expression of relatives who had already arrived. It was a surprise for most of the relatives as no one knew we are driving down 2000+km from Bangalore, some were shocked, some were even angry…

I had read about the extortion racket of OR police of taking Rs.1000 at AP-OR border/Bhubaneshwar/Cuttack/Baleshwar/Jaleshwar. But thankfully as reported this has reduced of late and we didn’t encounter any such issue.

I knew I would enjoy this ride, and the car could handle it too, but I was not sure how children will take it. Going by the past experiences I was hopeful but still not sure. So I had not cancelled return tickets by train yet, just in case. So 2-3 days later I re-confirmed with my wife and kids that did they enjoy the drive or would they prefer to return back by train, and unanimously all preferred to go back by car. In fact, many times I overheard my kids sharing the incidents and fun they had on the way with other relatives. I feel once in a while it is a good exposure for children too, a different way to look at our countryside, see life beyond cities and learn new things. I logged in and cancelled the return tickets with a grin.

While I was there, one day morning newspaper carried the headline news and photo of the pilot engine which was derailed and fell on it’s side in a maoist attack. Basically all trains service between Kolkata and Jamshedpur is halted at night, since last 1.5 years due to maoist attacks on trains. Surprisingly, since last 1.5 yrs none of the train schedules have changed but trains are simply stopped everyday, that’s how Indian Railways work (imagine the amount of inconvenience passengers would have to suffer, at least this can be updated in the schedules)! Everyday morning first a pilot engine along with 1-2 bogies with RPF first cover this route to ascertain the security of tracks and post that passengers trains are released. It is not infrequent when these pilot trains become targets and this was one such incident. The intensity is more in west Bengal around Kharagpur. I was again glad that I didn’t chose to come through Kolkata through flight / train.

[dot]

What a wonderful read. I hope you will describe the way back also. Couple of questions. How much was average distance covered per hour in this journey. Finally, did you face any bottoming out issues, with the subwoofer, luggage and all?

[ST7677]

Originally Posted by dot

What a wonderful read. I hope you will describe the way back also. Couple of questions. How much was average distance covered per hour in this journey. Finally, did you face any bottoming out issues, with the subwoofer, luggage and all?

Thanks.
Yes, I will be covering the return journey also, though route details will be brief as most of it is already covered. Will write this tomorrow.

As per my GPS records the avg speed from morning starting to evening destination is about 57 kmph (going) -55 kmph (returning) on GQ stretch (incl all breaks in between), and 27 kmph between konark and Bhubaneshwar.
I know it is low for GQ, but these roads are not really where you can drive fast, too many uncertainties or too much traffic at most places.

No bottoming issues with all that load. I am quiet happy with Civic suspension, it is very comfortable for long journeys on Indian roads.
We had very minor under chasis scraps at 2 places though, I just about heard it, nothing to be concerned about. (will get the underbody coating refreshed again during next servicing).

[dot]

Originally Posted by ST7677

As per my GPS records the avg speed from morning starting to evening destination is about 57 kmph (going) -55 kmph (returning) on GQ stretch (incl all breaks in between)

This is exactly the range that is possible on our roads. Before GQ, the number used to range around 50, now it has increased closer to 60. Thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by ST7677

No bottoming issues with all that load. I am quiet happy with Civic suspension, it is very comfortable for long journeys on Indian roads.
We had very minor under chasis scraps at 2 places though, I just about heard it, nothing to be concerned about.

Great to know this. I believe your Civic has OEM suspensions, isnt it.

[Alton]

Good Info mate.
Need some info - After Ichapuram and AP/Orissa border cross how's the road condition till Bhubaneshwar? Guess around 170kms .Do any diversions come up? planning for a drive upto Angul after Cuttack to attend to an important task.
Please share.

[ST7677]

Originally Posted by Alton

Good Info mate.
Need some info - After Ichapuram and AP/Orissa border cross how's the road condition till Bhubaneshwar? Guess around 170kms .Do any diversions come up? planning for a drive upto Angul after Cuttack to attend to an important task.
Please share.

After Behrampur you will find many diversions, though road is mostly good.

The NH5 GQ is under construction between railway crossing near Rambha to the railway crossing near Barakul (along the Chilika lake) and we had to go through narrow roads passing through the village. So expect slow speeds.

GQ starts after that and Roads are good , but depending on time and weather you can expect lot of cattle on NH!

It should be about 3.5hrs comfortable drive from border to Bhubaneshwar.
I will be posting my GPS logs, tomorrow, with more details.

Originally Posted by dot

Great to know this. I believe your Civic has OEM suspensions, isnt it.

Yes it is stock suspension. It's been 50k km and still going great.

[ST7677]

Return - Day 1 (950+ km )

The family get-together was great and the good days passed by faster than expected. The day to return back had arrived. The luggage was loaded the day before as expected. This was going to be another long day as we were planning to reach Vizag by night (ofcourse we did have a backup stop at Srikakulam but Vizag was preferred.)

I wanted to leave by 4 am but was advised against it as Jamshedpur is surrounded by the naxalite zone all around. We finally left home by 5 am after daylight had broken. There were long long jams of trucks throughout the highway, we kept jumping between trucks and kept moving ahead at a very slow pace. On enquiring about the jam we realized that all truck traffic is also stopped on this route (between Jamshedpur and Kolkata) at nights and just like railways, every morning an armored vehicle loaded with RPFs is released from both sides. Only once both the armored vehicles reach the other side, normal traffic is allowed to go.

My little one sleeping peacefully.



The armoured vehicles with reserve police force. Many times these vehicles get targeted




And the pileup of traffic waiting to go.

We managed to get ahead in our side of the queue and I managed to click few pictures of these armored vehicles (coming from the Kolkata side). After that the traffic was opened up.
Though we could have zoomed through the empty roads, after seeing the train engine photo and the armored vehicles, I decided to play absolutely safe and let many trucks pass through.
Some were tata steel ones carrying cold rolled steel. These seemed to be more powerful trucks (fast) and are likely to be aware of the roads so I decided to follow these trucks till the unsafe stretch gets over. We lost so much time that by the time we reached Ghiajodi (111km), we were 2 hours behind schedule.

From there to Baleshwar was fast. Between Baleshwar to Bhubaneshwar the NH5 median was being used by cattle as grazing ground. So all the way we had cows crossing / roaming on the road. Again roads were good but speeds were maintained slow.

Huge potholes near Ghiajodi



The Civic - Beautiful outside, beautiful inside

Post Bhubaneshwar we picked up speed, crossed the OR-AP border quickly – there was no jam on this side, but the other side (AP-OR) was still jammed. We reached Srikakulam at 6:20pm, 10 mins before my cut off. Had we reached later than 6:30, we would have stayed back there instead of proceeding to Vizag. Roads to Vizag were excellent and we reached there by 8pm.

Too many cattle grazing on the NH median and even walking on the road

Very hungry again, this time I did not want to take any chance so looked for some fast serving options, searched GPS for KFC and landed up at CMR Central Mall on NH5 itself. And finished the day with some nice lovely, lip smacking chicken…

[laluks]

Great trip there in your Civvy. I was reading about your carputer project some time back, hope your carputer was used to the max in this trip.

[ST7677]

Originally Posted by laluks

Great trip there in your Civvy. I was reading about your carputer project some time back, hope your carputer was used to the max in this trip.

Yes, it was very helpful. Following features were fully utilized:

- Multiple GPS softwares - Google earth, Destinator, with point of interests (atms, petrol pumps, hotels, hospitals, etc)
- Live Run time mileage
- Live Weather updates
- Toll logging
- Unlimited movies and entertainment
- Music tuning - after loading luggage the sound profile changed completely and I could quickly rebalance it with help of the unlimited processing capabilities

I have been using it for almost 30k km now and have done many many long trips and it is really useful. I feel a car incomplete now without it.

[Surprise]

Before I start to write anything on this wonderful travelogue, I promptly marked 5 stars for this thread

Originally Posted by ST7677

We witnessed a live fatal accident ½ a km ahead of us, when one motorcyclist took a U turn from one wrong side of road to another wrong side and came under a speeding truck. It was scary and gruesome. I had to divert my kids attention to the other side.

Not a welcome start...generally such incidents will be a great opportunity for mind to spin stories & make us less present keeping us away from enjoying the drive/scenery. It all boils down to how quick we move out of it.

Did this incident made you alter your driving style in any manner?

Originally Posted by ST7677

Day 2 – about 550+ km
Started next day morning at planned 7am. We had a short distance to cover today.

550 kms & its short distance to cover Appreciate your driving enthusiasm & spirit

Originally Posted by ST7677

As we proceeded the market became narrower and narrower to a point that we got stuck. We couldn’t proceed further or go back (there were some 50 two wheelers honking behind us). The situation was worsened by haphazard parking. I got down and shifted some parked two wheelers to make way for the vehicles stuck behind. My wife got down and eased the traffic behind. Disappointingly not even a single local person offered to help. Finally after some 20 mins of circus (which seemed like hours at that time) we found a lane through which we could escape from the mess, go back to the previous junction and take the correct route!!! Costed me two long deep scratches on the LHS of the car. :(

Had come across a similar incident during my trip to Kerala..Upon inquiring an address, I was directed to a lane by a local. That lane got narrower and narrower as I went into it. I was hoping that lane to get wide open into some other bigger road until I reached a place, where I could not let the car in.

In this process, I had passed couple of sharper turns & squeezed in between the parked vehicles. The guys standing on the way stared at me..probably wondering what the hell am I attempting

Damn...I have to reverse back all the way. During the process, a heavy bang on the side of my car . I thought, I had hit some vehicle or some stationery object at rear, but got relived to find out that a local person has tapped my car heavily to ensure that his two wheeler is safe

Fortunately I was with a friend & not family. Hence he could assist me in reversing back through those fairly tight corners. I could relate how you could have felt during that 20 minutes

Originally Posted by ST7677

very poorly marked, and then there are no markers when to go back to the correct lane. Some times I saw vehicles continuing on wrong side because they are not sure if the correct lane is ready to use.
Few times I went into the correct lane only to find it blocked ahead and to take back a U turn.
This problem happens because in many areas even though the other lane seem to be complete in all aspects, it is not open for use (for some reason).

Been there...experienced that. Sometimes you have to return back all the way to join the wrong route as the right route would have been blocked after 1-2 kms of smoothly laid roads.

At similar next spot, obviously to minimize the risk of traveling back, preference would be to travel on the wrong lane unless the diversion board is very clear. If you find vehicles traveling on the other lane & we are traveling at wrong route, its a hell till you join back the right lane

[BurningHeart]

Wow! Very inspiring. Great planning too. I always felt that the family comes closer together, on long journeys. Whatever others say, we all love it, when its just us, spending good times together.

Marking a well deserved 5 star for taking up the journey and enjoying it.

BH.

[ST7677]

Thanks Surprise and Burning Heart for your ratings and comments

Originally Posted by surprise

Not a welcome start...generally such incidents will be a great opportunity for mind to spin stories & make us less present keeping us away from enjoying the drive/scenery. It all boils down to how quick we move out of it.

Did this incident made you alter your driving style in any manner?

It was more disturbing than distracting. I was even more cautious after seeing the incident. I can probably never forget that gruesome incident in my life. I just wished people were little more considerate about their life. Another point is that I did not see even a single 2 wheeler person wearing a helmet on the highway...

Originally Posted by BurningHeart

Wow! Very inspiring. Great planning too. I always felt that the family comes closer together, on long journeys. Whatever others say, we all love it, when its just us, spending good times together.

Completely agree with you, and it's a different experience.

[ST7677]

A day at Vizag
Vishakhapatnam aka Vizag, is a beautiful old port city and while returning we had planned to spend a day here for local sightseeing. With help of Google Maps I was able to locate a lovely scenic point for some photoshoot. Unfortunately the car could not be washed after the previous days 1000km drive. Though the gTechniq coating had helped it keep itself relatively clean, but I really regretted not having it washed, before this opportunity.

The place we visited here were:
The Kailasagiri (Rs.2): A Beautiful Hill peeping onto the sea with a panoramic sea view and serene atmosphere. A very good place to view the sceninc beauty of vizag...Travel through the ropeway (2 mins, Rs.70) and the view of the city is awesome. Once you reach the top, you have a toy train ride (10 mins, Rs50), idols of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, nice park for children.

The steep climb on the Rope Way







The spectacular view from top








The Toy Train



The Play area






Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati