[BIL2_HGi10]

Originally Posted by nischaltopno

Thank you, this will certainly help. The drive is towards the end of the year.

To my destination should i take the Google suggested Cuttack -> Panikoili -> Karanjia -> Tata and onwards or Cuttack -> Balasore -> Baripada -> Ghatsila onwards. What you suggest.

Panikoili to Karanjia would not be a good option as your speed will be compromised due to the ghat sections and heavy truck traffic.

I feel, it is better you take the Balasore > Baripada > Ghatsila > Onwards route.

This will be much faster and also safer, considering you are crossing Bhubaneswar at 12 noon , it will be at least 5 PM when you reach Baripada, on the other route it may take longer and it is a little unsafe to do that stretch after dark.

All the best, have a safe and happy drive. Keep us posted.

[Chinmay]

Nice travelogue buddy!
Incidentally, I left Bangalore on 2nd October and reached Bhubaneswar on 3rd October with a pit stop at Visakhapatnam on our Brezza. We drove till Visakhapatnam on the first day itself. The first day's drive was tiring and we covered approximately 1000 kms via Vijayawada. We did it because we did not want to stretch the journey to three days. I travelled with my wife, daughter, and a dog. Post a sumptous parcelled lunch from Billu Dhaba in Berhampur, my journey slowed down drastically. We may have crossed somewhere near Balugaon as I remember seeing a White Creta with KA registration after Balugaon. Even I reached Bhubaneswar around 7 PM. The weather was beautiful that day!
Hope you guys enjoyed the drive! Here's to many more in the future.

[BIL2_HGi10]

Originally Posted by Chinmay

Nice travelogue buddy!
========
Hope you guys enjoyed the drive! Here's to many more in the future.

Hello, Glad you liked the write up.
Wow! Bangalore to Vizag in a day is amazing. What time did you start did you start from Bangalore and what time did you reach Vizag?

Yes, I crossed Balugaon in the evening.
Cheers! to many more to you too.

I am planning my return travel in mid Dec; hope it will be as exciting.

[Chinmay]

Thanks! And apologies for the late reply.
Bangalore to Vizag in a day was a compulsion for us, as I could not find a pet friendly hotel in Rajamundry. Thus, we decided to bite the bullet and drive down till Vizag on the first day itself. The other option was a stay at Vijayawada, but that would have meant a long drive on the following day. The drive was quite hectic, given that we covered 1000 kms in a day. We left Bangalore around 4.30 AM, and reached Vijayawada around 3 PM with a number of breaks for the pet. The journey from Vijayawada to Vizag was crazy, with pathetic roads and heavy traffic. Nevertheless, we reached Vizag at 12 AM, with a dinner break near Annavaram. Needless to say, we had aching muscles, cramps from sitting for long stretches, and also general fatigue.
Frankly, I didn't think I could do it, but we reached Vizag without any major hiccups! Of course, we took longer than usual because of the frequent pet breaks, but even she appeared to have enjoyed the drive. Would I do it again while driving back to Bangalore? No! I have planned a three day return trip in early January with stops at Vizag and Vijayawada. I hope it turns out to be a memorable one!
And I wish you a pleasant return journey too! Typically, coastal Andhra and Odisha are humid, as you would have realized while coming to Odisha. With the return journey being in December-January, a pleasant weather can be expected.

Originally Posted by BIL2_HGi10

Hello, Glad you liked the write up.
Wow! Bangalore to Vizag in a day is amazing. What time did you start did you start from Bangalore and what time did you reach Vizag?

Yes, I crossed Balugaon in the evening.
Cheers! to many more to you too.

I am planning my return travel in mid Dec; hope it will be as exciting.

[josh.machine]

Very nicely written and drafted OP, the pics gave great insights into a wonderful trip and the planning that went into it. thanks

[BIL2_HGi10]

Originally Posted by Chinmay

Thanks! And apologies for the late reply.
Bangalore to Vizag in a day was a compulsion for us, as I could not find a pet friendly hotel in Rajamundry. Thus, we decided to bite the bullet and drive down till Vizag on the first day itself. The other option was a stay at Vijayawada, but that would have meant a long drive on the following day. The drive was quite hectic, given that we covered 1000 kms in a day. We left Bangalore around 4.30 AM, and reached Vijayawada around 3 PM with a number of breaks for the pet. The journey from Vijayawada to Vizag was crazy, with pathetic roads and heavy traffic. Nevertheless, we reached Vizag at 12 AM, with a dinner break near Annavaram. Needless to say, we had aching muscles, cramps from sitting for long stretches, and also general fatigue.
Frankly, I didn't think I could do it, but we reached Vizag without any major hiccups! Of course, we took longer than usual because of the frequent pet breaks, but even she appeared to have enjoyed the drive. Would I do it again while driving back to Bangalore? No! I have planned a three day return trip in early January with stops at Vizag and Vijayawada. I hope it turns out to be a memorable one!
And I wish you a pleasant return journey too! Typically, coastal Andhra and Odisha are humid, as you would have realized while coming to Odisha. With the return journey being in December-January, a pleasant weather can be expected.

Wow, this is really inspiring. I wish my wife knew driving, I could have planned for a stretch drive as well.
I am starting my drive back this week, will reach Bangalore by Weekend. Our Office is reopening from Monday.
I did not find any decent stay at Rajahmundry - I have booked one, let us see how it turns out to be.

Originally Posted by josh.machine

Very nicely written and drafted OP, the pics gave great insights into a wonderful trip and the planning that went into it. thanks

Thank you; I will plan to take more pics and possibly videos during my return journey. I shall keep you all informed.

[BIL2_HGi10]

Dear Tribe -
I just returned from Cuttack on 17DEC; I opted for a relaxed drive and hence my itinerary was as follows:

Day-1: Started from Cuttack at 7 AM and Reached Rajahmundry and checked in to Hotel Anand Regency at 9 PM. It is a decent stay; basically an old property which could have been maintained a little better. Staff were courteous. We carried our own food including Tea/Coffee/Hot Water.
We took the bypass of Vishakhapatnam at Anakapalle - it meanders through narrow village roads and then road expansion work is going on. That stretch is in a bad condition, it will slow you down considerably and very dusty.

Day-2: We started from Rajahmundry at 7:45 AM. Due to a confusion we accidentally took the Google Maps route - and oh dear! it was complete mayhem for about the next 30 odd kms which took us about one and half hour before joining the Highway. Our 2 vehicles - my Hyundai Creta BS6 SX IVT and my friend's XUV500 - both were either in a complete rock'n'roll mode or else in zig-zag cross country mode.
Post Vijayawada - till Hyderabad it was beautiful road condition. We reached Hyatt Gachibowli at 7 PM.
Due to the mysterious sickness at Eluru we avoided eating outside.

Day-3: Post a sumptuous breakfast at Hyatt we started our return journey towards Bangalore at 10 AM. We reached Devanahalli at 7 PM and then the Bangalore traffic welcomed us and accompanied us till we reached home in Electronic City at 9:30 PM.

Worst Thing:
1. En-route Bangalore from Hyderabad - a pebble came flying from a dumper truck and cracked my windscreen. So beware and maintain safe distance from such vehicles carrying mud and sand loads.

2. Dashcam has some issues due to which the memory card(s) have got corrupt. I am unable to retrieve my recordings. So I will not be able to keep my promise of coming up with a video.

[BIL2_HGi10]

Update

I am planning a drive down to Cuttack again on 06FEB2021 and returning on 21FEB2021.
Let me know if anyone would like to join?

I will be taking the route suggested by 4WheelPilot in his Blog:

Bangalore to Bhubaneswar in a Mercedes GLC Facelift

Best Regards

[nischaltopno]

Originally Posted by BIL2_HGi10

Panikoili to Karanjia would not be a good option as your speed will be compromised due to the ghat sections and heavy truck traffic.

I feel, it is better you take the Balasore > Baripada > Ghatsila > Onwards route.

This will be much faster and also safer, considering you are crossing Bhubaneswar at 12 noon , it will be at least 5 PM when you reach Baripada, on the other route it may take longer and it is a little unsafe to do that stretch after dark.

All the best, have a safe and happy drive. Keep us posted.

Thank you for your help on road guidance.

Khurda to Cuttack was a breeze because of the flyovers (most of them complete).

Cuttack onwards, i took the Panikoili Karanjia route - for the satisfaction of exploring the interiors and the ghat section. After having home packed lunch, left Chandikhol by 2:30 and was at Tatanagar by 8:30 - with a 15/20 min tea break at Jashipur. Except for few kms in Karanjia where 4 lane wok is in progress, the roads are all good till Jharkhand border, but are littered with quite a few speed breakers. Roughly 15 kms into Jharkhand is bad, but rest throughout all good.

Return journey was via Keonjhar -> Duburi -> Chandikhol, which was a bad decision. From Duburi 4 lane is in progress till Chandikhol and the progress was very slow for the 40 kms. Dumper and bumper troubled us more than anything else. In hindsight maybe Keonjhar -> Panikoili would have been good, but none the less I was happy to explore the jungles of Orrisa.

[BIL2_HGi10]

Originally Posted by nischaltopno

Thank you for your help on road guidance.

Khurda to Cuttack was a breeze because of the flyovers (most of them complete).

Cuttack onwards, i took the Panikoili Karanjia route - for the satisfaction of exploring the interiors and the ghat section. After having home packed lunch, left Chandikhol by 2:30 and was at Tatanagar by 8:30 - with a 15/20 min tea break at Jashipur. Except for few kms in Karanjia where 4 lane wok is in progress, the roads are all good till Jharkhand border, but are littered with quite a few speed breakers. Roughly 15 kms into Jharkhand is bad, but rest throughout all good.

Return journey was via Keonjhar -> Duburi -> Chandikhol, which was a bad decision. From Duburi 4 lane is in progress till Chandikhol and the progress was very slow for the 40 kms. Dumper and bumper troubled us more than anything else. In hindsight maybe Keonjhar -> Panikoili would have been good, but none the less I was happy to explore the jungles of Orrisa.

I am Glad you had a nice trip back and forth.
Also good to know you had a nice drive through the jungles.
I would certainly plan for a drive through them sometime.
Thanks and Keep Driving!

[Paraag]

Originally Posted by BIL2_HGi10

Update

I am planning a drive down to Cuttack again on 06FEB2021 and returning on 21FEB2021.

Thank you for the detailed travelogue. Please do post on an update on the difference in road conditions between your previous trip and this one, in case you have already completed. I am planning to drive BLR-Cuttack on 12/13 March and return journey on 20/21 March.

This will be my fourth trip on this route, so need an update on the road conditions, especially between Vijayawada and Odisha border. My last trip on this route was onwards in middle of March and returning in first week of Aug 2020 after being stuck there for 4.5 months because of the lockdown.

I usually do the trip in one stretch, approximately 29-30 hours. Reason being my companions are my wife and our dog, thus it is difficult to find pet-friendly stays. I start from near Sarjapur around noon (valuable suggestion by BHPian Ashish), taking the Tirupati route, with a target to reach Vijayawada post 10 p.m. Top-up diesel at Mulbagal before entering AP. On that stretch, I take 2 breaks - Southern Spice on Tirupati Bypass road and then NH5 Plaza near Ongole. Next target for fuel is Ravi Rays IOC bunk on NH16 before entering Vizag. Target is to cross Vizag city by 7 a.m. sticking to NH16 throughout, ignoring repeated re-routing prompts from Google maps. From there, I reach Cuttack usually before 6 p.m.

I always carry light snacks along, not stopping for meals anywhere. I also carry an electric mug to heat up water (does it very nicely) and premix tea or coffee sachets. Also Tic Tacs and mint chewing gum are helpful for those times when a bit of drowsiness sets in. In the dead of night when I feel overpowering sleep, I park the vehicle on a wide road section or near a fuel bunk and take a nap in the vehicle - usually about 45 minutes maximum, post which I resume driving. The 5-6 breaks over the entire journey are for feeding our pet and taking it for a walk for nature's call and bio breaks for ourselves or for splashing water on the face, etc.

Thanking you in advance for the updates.

[BIL2_HGi10]

Originally Posted by Paraag

Thank you for the detailed travelogue. Please do post on an update on the difference in road conditions between your previous trip and this one, in case you have already completed. I am planning to drive BLR-Cuttack on 12/13 March and return journey on 20/21 March.

I am so sorry for the delayed response.
Hope you have not started already.

Originally Posted by Paraag

This will be my fourth trip on this route, so need an update on the road conditions, especially between Vijayawada and Odisha border. My last trip on this route was onwards in middle of March and returning in first week of Aug 2020 after being stuck there for 4.5 months because of the lockdown.

From my observation - the road condition from Vijayawada to Rajahmundry on your way to Odisha would be troublesome with huge crater shaped pot holes (as of OCT2020). Be careful and drive slow in that stretch. Given your timelines you would be driving this stretch at night. Hope your car GC would be able to deal with this.
The return journey is rather more peaceful, they did repair the roads (as of DEC2020).
Other than this stretch most of the other roads are good; with the diversions where the NH Expansion work is going on.

Originally Posted by Paraag

I usually do the trip in one stretch, approximately 29-30 hours. Reason being my companions are my wife and our dog, thus it is difficult to find pet-friendly stays. I start from near Sarjapur around noon (valuable suggestion by BHPian Ashish), taking the Tirupati route, with a target to reach Vijayawada post 10 p.m. Top-up diesel at Mulbagal before entering AP. On that stretch, I take 2 breaks - Southern Spice on Tirupati Bypass road and then NH5 Plaza near Ongole. Next target for fuel is Ravi Rays IOC bunk on NH16 before entering Vizag. Target is to cross Vizag city by 7 a.m. sticking to NH16 throughout, ignoring repeated re-routing prompts from Google maps. From there, I reach Cuttack usually before 6 p.m.

I always carry light snacks along, not stopping for meals anywhere. I also carry an electric mug to heat up water (does it very nicely) and premix tea or coffee sachets. Also Tic Tacs and mint chewing gum are helpful for those times when a bit of drowsiness sets in. In the dead of night when I feel overpowering sleep, I park the vehicle on a wide road section or near a fuel bunk and take a nap in the vehicle - usually about 45 minutes maximum, post which I resume driving. The 5-6 breaks over the entire journey are for feeding our pet and taking it for a walk for nature's call and bio breaks for ourselves or for splashing water on the face, etc.

Thanking you in advance for the updates.

WOW!
You're really a seasoned driver then, keep up the confidence.
I am not sure if I can try this. I need to sleep at night come what may.
Anyway, that is me and I am sure you have a better experience.
Now with things Unlocked you would get the Tea Shops at places but post midnight even those are sparse.

COVID19 is still pretty much a scare, so do not let your guard down.
Drive Safe and Keep in touch.

SORRY FOR THE LATE REPLY

PLEASE DO UPDATE ON YOUR TRIP AND ROUTE DETAILS ONCE YOU ARE DONE.

Thanks and Good Luck!

[Suryendu87]

Hello All,

Planning for a road trip from BLR - BBS on 1st May. The idea is to break the journey into

BLR - Rajahmundry(1st Day)
Rajahmundry - BBS(2nd Day)

Will be starting from Avalahalli and join NH16 at Naidupetta via Kolar - Tirupati.

The last time I did this trip in 2017, started from BLR around 5 AM and reached Rajahmundry by 9-9.30PM owing to dense traffic post Vijaywada. Upon reaching Rajahmundry, Google maps diverted me from NH 16 and guided through some scary, unlit, desolate routes to reach hotel(Near Rajahmundry kovvur bridge).

Can you please

1) Suggest some good hotel which are right by NH16 in Rajahmundry to avoid the similar experience of last trip?

2) Any recent updates on the road conditions of aforementioned route would be helpful.

3) Last but not the least, if someone planning to start the trip on similar days, we can stick together

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by Suryendu87

Hello All,

Will be starting from Avalahalli and join NH16 at Naidupetta via Kolar - Tirupati.

Try the Puttur route instead. It is faster and better than the Tirupati route.

The last time I did this trip in 2017, started from BLR around 5 AM and reached Rajahmundry by 9-9.30PM owing to dense traffic post Vijaywada.

It should take about 14 hours for BLR - RJY and 12 hours for RJY-BBSR, including breaks and speeds around 100 kmph.

Upon reaching Rajahmundry, Google maps diverted me from NH 16 and guided through some scary, unlit, desolate routes to reach hotel(Near Rajahmundry kovvur bridge).

After hitting Naidupet, stick to NH16 till BBSR no matter what Google says. The only exception would be Vizag bypass via Anakapelle - Bheemunipatnam which is in good shape. If you are passing during day time, you can take this bypass to avoid Vizag city traffic.

Can you please
1) Suggest some good hotel which are right by NH16 in Rajahmundry to avoid the similar experience of last trip?

Very limited options for good hotels in Rajahmundry.

Check out Anand Regency which is ~2 kms from the NH16, within the city and easily accessible (I have stayed there a few times). Another option is River Bay resorts (based on recent feedback from others).

2) Any recent updates on the road conditions of aforementioned route would be helpful.

Refer these threads for latest route and road condition information:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...ueries-50.html (Bangalore - Vijayawada - Vizag - Bhubaneswar : Route Queries)

After reaching Vijayawada, the road is the same and hence, you can refer this thread as well
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...ueries-18.html (Hyderabad - Vizag : Route Queries)

[ssjr0498]

Hi,

a little off topic, I plan on driving down from Blr-Kolkata this month end in my zen! Have been hearing the road conditions are very bad from vijaywada onwards! Can someone throw some light? Shall I continue on this route to Vizag where I plan on taking a overnight halt or does anyone here have any other route suggestions?

Originally Posted by ashis89

Try the Puttur route instead. It is faster and better than the Tirupati route.


It should take about 14 hours for BLR - RJY and 12 hours for RJY-BBSR, including breaks and speeds around 100 kmph.


After hitting Naidupet, stick to NH16 till BBSR no matter what Google says. The only exception would be Vizag bypass via Anakapelle - Bheemunipatnam which is in good shape. If you are passing during day time, you can take this bypass to avoid Vizag city traffic.


Very limited options for good hotels in Rajahmundry.

Check out Anand Regency which is ~2 kms from the NH16, within the city and easily accessible (I have stayed there a few times). Another option is River Bay resorts (based on recent feedback from others).



Refer these threads for latest route and road condition information:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...ueries-50.html (Bangalore - Vijayawada - Vizag - Bhubaneswar : Route Queries)

After reaching Vijayawada, the road is the same and hence, you can refer this thread as well
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...ueries-18.html (Hyderabad - Vizag : Route Queries)