[anubhav7286]

Wow, great post and just the think I needed. I am planning to do the same route in the next two weeks. Can you advice which route to take from Bangalore to Vizag - Via Tirupati or via Hyd. I plan to reach Vizag on day 1.

[libranof1987]

Good stuff! Cross-country trips have a charm of their own, you get to see everything: cultures, topography, change as you travel through towns and states. As enriching as it is, driving through states can throw up random challenges (soft target for the cops, language barriers) so it's always nice when things go smooth.

Thanks for sharing!

[SKC-auto]

Originally Posted by anubhav7286

Wow, great post and just the think I needed. I am planning to do the same route in the next two weeks. Can you advice which route to take from Bangalore to Vizag - Via Tirupati or via Hyd. I plan to reach Vizag on day 1.

If you want to reach Vizag on day 1 you should go via Tirupati, if you go by Hyderabad the route is way longer and not possible in 1 day unless you have 2 drivers.

I am also planning for Vizag trip on 10th Oct.

[bigDaddy_In]

Originally Posted by haisaikat

I have two questions, one being on your return trip you entered Odisha around 7am but reached Bhubaneswar only around 11-30am, is the delay due to only breaks? I do take power sleep breaks on my longer travels by road.

Final question, can we have the recipe of the Chicken Paratha please?

Thank you haisaikat, the conversation we had earlier on your thread related travel during COVID gave me immense confidence to take my senior citizen family members out for a short trip. Coming back to your questions.

1. The delay was due to truck traffic and bad roads. After the breakfast break near Kharagpur, we stopped only once for 10 mins or so.
2. The paratha is similar to a Quesadilla(Mexican dish). Just replace the fancy ingredients with our basic Bengali items. Maa will be thrilled to hear that her paratha got noticed.

Originally Posted by RedTerrano

Some quick questions

1. Do they still have those barricades on the highway, especially the Vijaywada-Kolkata patch?
2. Are all toll nakas FASTag compliant?
3. How did you short list the hotels, considering the virus? I suspect people can manage food (home packed or takeways) but over night stay is one major hurdle which is keeping us from hitting the roads again.

1. No, there were no barricades except for the stretch between Kolaghat and Kolkata and at places we crossed small towns in Odisha.
2. Yes, all tolls were FASTag enabled. But the majority of the users pay cash, making things slower. Double charge for cash payment rule should be implemented asap.
3. I just trusted on Marriott. In BBSR, there was no hotel from their chain, so could think of HHI(It was supposed to be a star hotel). Also, we had to keep an eye on the expenses, so we didn't indulge in luxury stay.

Originally Posted by Liverpool

I will be doing an approx 7500 round trip from Guwahati- Bangalore- Old Magazine House(Ganesgudi in Karnataka)-Bangalore-Guwahati trip starting this 21st. Hope to share my trip experiences with fellow BHPians.

Looking forward to your travelogue.

Originally Posted by Stribog

Not just op but others who do this, do you take a few naps on the way, aside from your food / bio breaks? How do you keep your attention 100% focussed?

Thank you! Few things I do:

• Eat light.
• Chew on gums.
• Have redbull once around noon and if required another one around evening.
• Wash my face with a facewash(the ones that gives chills on your face)
• Keeping the speedo between 80-110 helps. You are way more relaxed than what you would be at higher speeds. The trick is to maintain a good speed for a long period, than doing 140 for 2 hrs and then taking a break(saves fuel too).

But when I started such trips on my bike(Rocket), I did it step by step. First a 300km one, then a 500km, then a 1000km and so on. This was a prep/validation trip(fitness is not my forte, must be evident from the pictures ) for a 14 day long road trip from Bangalore to Rajasthan or Spiti, depending on when we get the vaccine.

[AZT]

Good stuff man. Definitely a good advert for the Ford Freestyle too, Goldberg both looks and rides good

[ramjiramu]

Thanks for sharing such wonderful travel experience. It was long drive and would say that it was very well planned, especially with the stay, food and driving.

The moments shared across the travel were really awesome. I am sure this entire trip wouldn't have been fun without supporting companion. I kept wondering how you convinced A for such long journey. Need to take lessons from you here as I have same challenge.

Now, its making me think and instilling confidence to start planning my long pending trip from Pune to Vizag. Happy driving.

[bigDaddy_In]

Originally Posted by anubhav7286

Wow, great post and just the think I needed. I am planning to do the same route in the next two weeks. Can you advice which route to take from Bangalore to Vizag - Via Tirupati or via Hyd. I plan to reach Vizag on day 1.

I do not think via HYD will be feasible. Start early and reach Tirupati by 7 730.

Originally Posted by ramjiramu

I am sure this entire trip wouldn't have been fun without supporting companion. I kept wondering how you convinced A for such long journey. Need to take lessons from you here as I have same challenge.

Now, its making me think and instilling confidence to start planning my long pending trip from Pune to Vizag. Happy driving.

True! Solo long trips in a car is boring. If I have to travel solo, I do it with Rocket. I do not need anyone else when I am with her, neither am I comfortable with A being pillion on a quarter class motorcycle!

But then the point of adding Goldberg to our garage was to travel with A and show her the whole of India by road, most of which I have seen in my childhood when we had time to travel by train. To cut short, I am lucky that she knows well what makes me happy and she enjoyed this trip a lot. So we are all good with the idea of exploring India with Goldberg.

[abhishek_hch]

Originally Posted by bigDaddy_In

Roads were smooth and bump-free till Chittoor. Post that we had to slow down as there was road widening work going on till Tirupati. We stopped at 7:30 am for breakfast & loo break. Started again at 8 am, 65 km post the breakfast stop was state highway which was single lane and there was way too much truck traffic.

Hello bigDaddy, a very good travelogue, hats off

One Question - for a Road Trip from Bangalore to Kolkata which route would you reccomend - via Tirupati or via Hyderbad going purely by the quality of roads (distance, time etc not being a constraint)?

[Thumping Soul]

Originally Posted by bigDaddy_In

We had booked a room at Fairfield Marriott Vizag and since hospitality business has been hit, we were told restaurants are being kept open till 9:30 pm so we ordered some light dinner beforehand. Rains started around 6:30 pm & we were 184 km away from Vizag. Post lunch we did not stop anywhere and entered the hotel at 9:45 pm. Post all the formalities we checked in to our room, after a hot shower & dinner we dozed off.

Hey Buddy! I think we corssed each other at Breakfast table at Mariott, Vizag. I did the exactly same journey as yours, Bangalore to Kolkata on those dates.

However, we had an unfortunate event while entering Vizag, previous night so had to wait for a while before proceeding for Kolkata.

[adv.yzr]

Greetings,

Wonderful travelogue and great pictures too. Wish you many more memorable journeys and miles together and happy and safe driving.

Take care.

Thanks.

[Voodooblaster]

Great Traveloue....

You should definitely put up a Review for Goldberg, right from purchase, handling, comfort, engine performance, niggles if any.

There are very few ownership Reports for Freestyle in our forum

[landcruiser123]

Great TL. I'm hoping to some day do this stretch to Darjeeling/Sikkim.

As someone who drove both routes - would you recommend the route via Hyderabad? I think it might be slightly longer, but would have better traffic conditions throughout.

The last toll at Jala Dhulagori had huge traffic. Took us 15 minutes to cross (Isn’t there a rule which allows cars to pass by without paying toll in case of such traffic jams at toll plazas?).

This is #FakeNews as far as I know. There is no such rule.

[airbus]

Awesome travelogue bigDaddy_In

I am sure you had great experience from this trip with memories for lifetime. Hope someday I will be able to go for a similar drive from Bengaluru to Assam.

[Chinmay]

Originally Posted by abhishek_hch

Hello bigDaddy, a very good travelogue, hats off

One Question - for a Road Trip from Bangalore to Kolkata which route would you reccomend - via Tirupati or via Hyderbad going purely by the quality of roads (distance, time etc not being a constraint)?

Originally Posted by SKC-auto

If you want to reach Vizag on day 1 you should go via Tirupati, if you go by Hyderabad the route is way longer and not possible in 1 day unless you have 2 drivers.

I am also planning for Vizag trip on 10th Oct.

I have this question in my mind too. Although the Tirupati route is shorter, the roads till NH 5 are not good, according to my trusted driver. As far as the added distance is concerned, it should be fine as my driver is going with me. I don't want to stretch myself, as my priority is reaching Bhubaneswar with just a night's stay at Vizag, and I will be accompanied by my daughter and a dog. Thus, a solo drive would be really tough in two days.
I have also started exploring the Chennai route, as the extra distance is almost similar to the Hyderabad route

However, I think I will go via Tirupati for the onward journey, and take the Hyderbad route while coming back.

[adv.yzr]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

This is #FakeNews as far as I know. There is no such rule.

Greetings,

In certain states, there is a demarcation near the toll booth meaning that if the traffic crosses that particular line, the toll booth operator will have to lift the gates and let the vehicles free till the traffic gets managed.

Came across this article

https://www.myadvo.in/blog/waiting-r...onal-highways/

Might answer some of the questions.
Though, a good point has been raised in this thread.

Take care.

Thanks.