[CornerCarver]

Prologue:-

Why do we Travel?
What makes us take those leaves, leave our comfort zones, book resorts, take the risk of driving on unpredictable Indian Highways, spend our hard earned money and most importantly, put our family at risky situations on road trips when the same destination could be reached at the same price point in the safety of railways/flights.

My hypothesis is that it has to do with the Nomadic nature of Homo sapiens since its evolution. Through time immemorial, Man has been travelling. Previously, it was for survival-shielding himself from the wild vagaries of nature and animals, then as time passed, down the ages, the purpose was to settle down by the riversides as an agrarian society.
Finally, with the advent of carts and wheels, he travelled to conquer and to explore.

Now, it has come to this. Man no longer travels frequently for these basic purposes. Its vocational and more like a hobby now.

For us TBHPians, its an ITCH. An itch which needs to be scratched periodically to keep the mortal being in us under control so that we can concentrate on the mundane aspects of the life for the very reason we were brought to this planet.

Another reason for such frequent road trips especially among country of ours are the vastly improved Highways and ever dependable automobiles at our disposal. This, coupled with the Great highway restaurants which can provide all necessary amenities and some on par with its urban counterparts has surged the way an average Indian does his vacations.
Hassles of rail booking, bus reservations are long gone.
A Properly serviced well driven car can take of your travel needs and help explore India and its rich cultural and geographical varieties at your own pace.



Chapter 1:- Stoking the Fire.

Now, With this mindset in the background, A Doctor in his early 30's with a small family decided to become a TBHP member in January 2018. But that's just a part of the story.
The actual love affair started way back in circa 2010, when, deciding for a proper replacement for his family car, Maruti 800, he stumbled upon this encyclopedia of travel and automobiles.
He read, and read and devoured each and every car review, drooled over travelogues and so much wanted to be a part of this community.
Tried, he did, several times, and much more than that, that he lost count as to how many times he had to face the dreaded mail
" To try again for the Membership". Still he ploughed on, sometimes half heartedly.
He knew that the membership process is tough and rightly so, to maintain the decorum and sanctity of the website.
But deep in him,along with few other life goals, laid the desire to be a part of TeamBHP.
Days, Months, Years passed. He became dormant and did'nt try for some period as mundane life tasks of Post Graduation, Jobs, Marriage, Family etc kept him occupied.

In the melee he got an i10 for the family and an Alto for himself, sold the latter and then Got a Swift.
Travel wise, he drove to almost all the known parts of South India and flew up north till Manali with few overseas trips thrown in.

But the fire never died.
Finally he gathered all the courage, took one plunge once again and Manna!! Success!! He was a Teambhpian. HOORAY!!!


Chapter 2:- The Itch

As pointed out earlier, the itch takes us over and has to be kept under control.
How often it manifests, and what's its Etiopathogenesis is entirely Idiopathic. It is individual dependent. For some its an year, for few 6 months, Mine, I Don't Know. Maybe once in 3 or 4 months. I Know its quite frequent but it also depends on what work you do and how addicted you are to TeamBHP and how much you love driving.

I admit. I did this drive in February 2018.
Then drove to Yelagiri and Ambur and came back yesterday.
And here i am penning and editing this travelogue with Makemytrip tab besides it,searching for options to stay in Sakleshpur, Yercaud in May.
So, that's me. A travelholic, drive addict, car fanatic who gets the itch at its own whims and fancies.



Chapter 3:- Adobe, The Great.

Way back in 2008 A.D., an article in Sunday Times, TOI, caught my attention. More than the content it was the picture with Photoshopped ( of course) but beautiful nevertheless Azure blue waters and cottages by the ocean. Suryalanka. Those words stuck on to my mind. Initially i thought it to be some far off place near Sri Lanka. But further digging revealed it to be the closest beach which the Hyderabadis could have access to in the Coastal Part of Andhra Pradesh.
10 years went by. Went to many other places and beaches too. But just could'nt get this monkey off my back for one reason or the other.
This was one trip which was long pending.
Finally found time to tick it off my bucket list in February, 2018 ( 4th and 5th ).


Chapter 4:- RedCruiser views Sunrise in the East Coast.

Travellers- 5 including my 1 year old daughter.
Drive- The RedCruiser. Swift VXI. with close to 43,000 on the ODO.
Stay- APTDC Suryalanka Beach Resort. Booked it a month in advance to avoid last minute rush. 2700/- per cottage exclusive of taxes.
Leaves were not a problem with only Monday, 5th February to request for and got it without much ado. 4th being a Sunday.
RedCruiser is always ship-shape and just had to check all the fluids. Checked the tyre pressure the previous day along with Petrol at COCO- Indian Oil, Shaikpet.

As Planned, Started at 5.45 am on Sunday, 4th Feb. from Hyderabad. Went via Vanasthalipuram and reached Suryapet at around 8.30 AM for the best highway restaurant on Hyd-Vjwd highway. 7 Highway restaurant.
Hit the road in an hour after a filling heavy breakfast. The upkeep of this place is fantastic with clean washrooms and well maintained parking.

Were in Vijayawada by 12.30 Pm and here were stuck for atleast an hour asking directions, searching Google Maps and Rerouting due to the ongoing Flyover Construction on the Highway.
Vowed not to return through Vijayawada.
Anyway, were out of here by 1.30 and reached the resort by 2.30 pm.

The route taken was via NH65- Hyderabad- Narketpalli- Suryapet-Nandigama-Paritala-Ibrahimpatnam-Vijayawada and from there onwards it is Ponnur- Bapatla- Surya Lanka Beach.

Beach Resort is APTDC and its a well maintained Govt. property with a very strategic, scenic location. The beach is just 100 meters away from the cottage and is family friendly too.
Restaurant is okay and serves most of the stuff listed on the menu.









Enroute, it was quite hot.
Used the PAYTM Fastag which worked quite smoothly and helped in maintaining predetermined time points.

Evening was spent in relaxing, strolling on the beach, clicking pics and watching India-South Africa ODI.
One thing to be noted, the water supplied in the washroom of the resort is sea water. Use with caution.

Next morning, got up early to catch the sunrise and what better way to relax on a Monday morning than to walk on the beach with your loved ones. The whole place was so serene and tranquil with not a soul in sight.

Ahh. The simple pleasures of life.
This is what you drive for. Surely, Road Tripping is fun!!










Finally Sunrise. And the mere mortals were back to work on their daily rides trying to catch some livelihood.





So it was. Had Breakfast followed by more pics. Then checked out.

Hit the highway and as promised to myself, took a different route via Narsaraopet and joined the national highway after Suryapet.
Had a Late lunch at Viveraa Hotel at Narketpalli.
The route taken while coming back. Suryalanka-Bapatla-Kakumanu-Chilakaluripet-Narsaraopet-Pidguralla-Wazirabad-Miryalguda-and finally joining the NH65 at Narketpalli. From here onwards, it was a straight road to home via ORR.





Chapter 5 :- The Homerun.
From there on a it was a straight drive till home via ORR as wanted to avoid evening traffic at Vanasthalipuram, Dilsukhnagar.
That just concludes a small well deserved break from Hyderabad.

Trip Stats:
Total Distance- 758 Kms
Mileage 20.2 KMPL .Acc. to MID.
Tolls Paid. 600-700 but seriously, I don't remember the exact number as I used a FASTAG and it automatically debits once we cross the dedicated lane for it.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues Section. Thanks for sharing!