[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by mooza

Hello friends, I am planning the following trip next month, with family :


Bangalore to Vijayawada : leave at 5 in the morning, reach by dusk.

Stay overnight at Vijayawada.

Vijayawada to Bhubaneswar : Again, leave at 5 in the morning, reach by dusk.


Is the above time schedule feasible / achievable, at my driving speed of 90 to 100 kmph, with minimum breaks ?

Thanks in advance

Very comfortable drive. Be prepared to cool your heels in traffic jams between Guntur and Vijayawada.

[reignofchaos]

I am planning to do Blore Kolkata next weekend. The plan is to leave bangalore at 3am and reach vizag by evening and then the next day would be vizag to kolkata with a stop for lunch at bhubaneshwar.

I'm wondering what the current state of NH5 is in orissa? Can one of the experienced folks please comment.

Thanks!

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

I am planning to do Blore Kolkata next weekend. The plan is to leave bangalore at 3am and reach vizag by evening and then the next day would be vizag to kolkata with a stop for lunch at bhubaneshwar.

I'm wondering what the current state of NH5 is in orissa? Can one of the experienced folks please comment.

Thanks!

Road condition was bad in the AP-OR border, but rest of the route is OK.

[sureshurs]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

I am planning to do Blore Kolkata next weekend. The plan is to leave bangalore at 3am and reach vizag by evening and then the next day would be vizag to kolkata with a stop for lunch at bhubaneshwar.

I'm wondering what the current state of NH5 is in orissa? Can one of the experienced folks please comment.

Thanks!

I did Vizag to Bhubaneswar abt 9 months back. Four laning is still not completed from AP border to Balugaon ( railway crossing after Balugaon).

[sureshurs]

I am planning to do Blr-Vizag on 23rd Dec. Planning to visit Kannipakam, Durga temple, Dwaraka Tirumala and Annavaram temples on the way with overnight stay at Vijayawada. Need help on the following

1. Any restaurants between Nellore and guntur for evening snacks
2. Any good hotel options in Vijayawada ( budget Arnd Rs 3,000)
3.Decent eating joints between Vijayawada and Vizag
4. best timings to visit Dwaraka Tirumala and Annavaram temples

[arindam_xeta]

Suresh,
I went to Vizag from Kolkata in Jan 2010, though you are planning to stay at Vijaywada, I can suggest you a decent stay at Vizag at the Iskon guest house, check it out here, Veg food was also available at the Ashram, in case you are interested
ISKCON Visakhapatnam

and there you can also find the pictures of the guest house, link below
ISKCON Visakhapatnam

I liked it a lot during my visit.

[reignofchaos]

Originally Posted by sureshurs

I am planning to do Blr-Vizag on 23rd Dec. Planning to visit Kannipakam, Durga temple, Dwaraka Tirumala and Annavaram temples on the way with overnight stay at Vijayawada. Need help on the following

1. Any restaurants between Nellore and guntur for evening snacks
2. Any good hotel options in Vijayawada ( budget Arnd Rs 3,000)
3.Decent eating joints between Vijayawada and Vizag
4. best timings to visit Dwaraka Tirumala and Annavaram temples

Not sure about vijaywada but vizag has very decent hotels. I booked this for 3600 rupees for a night halt

Hotels Visakhapatnam | Business Hotels in Visakhapatnam | Hotels in Visakhapatnam | Luxury hotels Visakhapatnam - Fortune Hotels

[rkg]

Originally Posted by sureshurs

I am planning to do Blr-Vizag on 23rd Dec. Planning to visit Kannipakam, Durga temple, Dwaraka Tirumala and Annavaram temples on the way with overnight stay at Vijayawada. Need help on the following

1. Any restaurants between Nellore and guntur for evening snacks
2. Any good hotel options in Vijayawada ( budget Arnd Rs 3,000)
3.Decent eating joints between Vijayawada and Vizag
4. best timings to visit Dwaraka Tirumala and Annavaram temples

Annavaram temple is closed for repairs to garbha griha

[sureshurs]

Originally Posted by arindam_xeta

Suresh,
I went to Vizag from Kolkata in Jan 2010, though you are planning to stay at Vijaywada, I can suggest you a decent stay at Vizag at the Iskon guest house, check it out here, Veg food was also available at the Ashram, in case you are interested
ISKCON Visakhapatnam

and there you can also find the pictures of the guest house, link below
ISKCON Visakhapatnam

I liked it a lot during my visit.

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

Not sure about vijaywada but vizag has very decent hotels. I booked this for 3600 rupees for a night halt

My parents live in Vizag and hence I am not looking at stay options.


My parents live in Vizag and hence not looking at stay options in Vizag.

Hotels Visakhapatnam | Business Hotels in Visakhapatnam | Hotels in Visakhapatnam | Luxury hotels Visakhapatnam - Fortune Hotels[/quote]

[sureshurs]

Originally Posted by rkg

Annavaram temple is closed for repairs to garbha griha

Thanks for the update. Any idea about how long the temple is closed. I am planning to return from Vizag to Blr on 31st Dec and would like visit the temple if it open by then

[rkg]

Originally Posted by sureshurs

Thanks for the update. Any idea about how long the temple is closed. I am planning to return from Vizag to Blr on 31st Dec and would like visit the temple if it open by then

I do not know exactly how long it will take. but it appears some cracks appeared in sanctum hence they shifted the main deity out side to repair the sanctum. check annavaram devasthanam website

[sureshurs]

Originally Posted by rkg

I do not know exactly how long it will take. but it appears some cracks appeared in sanctum hence they shifted the main deity out side to repair the sanctum. check annavaram devasthanam website

The update on the website is that the darshan is available for Utsava Idols and not for main idols. Thanks for the update and the info is very useful.

[reignofchaos]

Updates on this route:

First the good news:

Balasore is completely fixed - no more bad roads. Ichchapuram is also fixed.
Most of the route is in great condition - I took roughly 30 hours to do the entire route in a Honda Brio. I was at 100-110 on most of the route and it was a very relaxed drive.

Now for the bad news:

There's a stretch around Lake Chilika in Orissa which is still not 4 laned and is in horrible condition - roughly 10km or so. However the bigger issue is that there's a level crossing which causes huge traffic snarls. I was stuck there for almost an hour.

The Tirupati to Nayadupeta route (SH-61) has some bad stretches around the tirupati end. The road is being converted to 4 lanes and as a result, the old highway is a mess.

The route between Guntur and Vijaywada is being 6 laned and as a result there are lots of diversions - very manageable but wastes time.

NH60 from Balasore(Baleswar) to Jaleswar has lots of unmarked speedbreakers and some horrible diversions - please be very careful. Also the surface of the highway is in terrible state at some places - especially the bridges. Also they have the guts to charge toll for this lousy highway.

Jaleswar is horrible with millions of trucks parked on the highway and there's hardly any space to maneuver around. This place is completely rotten.

NH6 also has a small stretch just before entering Kolkata where a bridge is not constructed and as a result there are traffic snarls.

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

NH6 also has a small stretch just before entering Kolkata where a bridge is not constructed and as a result there are traffic snarls.

That would be the Kolaghat bridge which is under construction for, I don't know what, maybe 20 years?

That place is notorious for snarls and the existing bridge is also in a pretty dilapidated condition .

[sdp1975]

Any latest updates on this route ? Any bad stretches , detours, etc - especially near Orissa ?

Since Hosur Rd is a lot more accessible for me than crossing over the city to take the Chittoor route - would it make more sense to go via Vellore-Chennai where it's 4-lane all the way ?

Do they still charge the "road tax" in Orissa ?