[bhuvan_prasad]

The shady looking title might sounds like an ad by one of those make-believe MBA colleges (IIPM anybody?), but in my case its actually true. After placements were over, and I realized that my joining date is may 3rd, I realised I really would not have much time for a vacation, so why not make a vacation of my convocation. And, what better way to go on vacation, than a road trip.

So I roped in 3 other classmates of mine from IIM, and after convincing dad, we were all set to go, driving down in the OHC from Hyd to Calcutta. But then a problem cropped up, one of my friends father told my dad that for such a long highway trip, the car should have airbags and ABS. My dad too agreed with him, and then came and told me, that since we were anyway planning to buy a big hatch to replace the aging ikon, why not buy one with ABS and airbags which can be taken on the trip. That's how the silver Ritz Zxi came home - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...-ritz-zxi.html

Car all set, we chalked out an itinerary, where we would do Hyd-Vizag on day 1, Vizag - BBSR on day 2, day 3 spend in BBSR at my grand parents place, and BBSR - Kolkata on day 4. Return would be the same minus the extra one day at BBSR. Eve of the day, last minute shopping, tyre pressure checking, fuel filling etc etc, all taken care of.

Day 1: At 5:45AM we meet up and leave liberty junction. It still is quite dark. Traffic is sparse, and we cross ramoji by 6:10 AM. The sun starts coming out, lot of trucks on the way, and returning night buses coming back. The 4 lane highway soon becomes the normal single road. But quite wide, and a very nice surface, no dodging of bumps was needed at all. Till Suriapet, the truck traffic was quite heavy, and at some times it felt like all the trucks in the world where here only. Anyhow, after suriapet, the traffic reduced quite a bit, and we made swift progress to Vijayawada. The car was not being revved beyond 3k RPM in any gear, and this sometimes made the overtaking tricky. We entered vijayawada around 10:30 AM and the roads became a 4 lane highway, with divider. After getting stuck in the city traffic for a around 45 mins, we got out and were speeding down the excellent GQ to Vizag. Stopped at Rajamhundry around 1:30PM for lunch. After eating some spicy chicken and biryani, we filled up the tank. She gave around 14Km/l. Considering the car was not run in, I was fine with this. This anyway improved later on during the trip. It was now, that we noticed the crack in the windscreen, and I posted the pic on T-bhp too.

Despite the crack dampening spirits, we sped on towards Vizag, and entered the city by 4:30 PM and were in the excellent APTDC "haritha' resort by 5:30 PM. Freshened up and went off to the beach for some fun. Came back, had dinner, booked the Ritz for service at the local Varun motor service station and went to sleep.

Day 2 coming up soon. Check back in later.

Pic 1: outskirts of hyd
Pic 2: 4 laning of Hyd- Vja work. There weren't any diversions yet
Pic 3: Traffic on Hyd-Vja highway
Pic 4: Me concentrating hard on the road ahead
Pic 5 : Trees and a factory near suriapet
Pic 6 : Nearing VJA
Pic 7 : Nice shrubs on the divider on the roads before VJA
Pic 8 : Saw quite a few of these
Pic 9: Sunrise
Pic 10 : Sunrise

[bhuvan_prasad]

pic1 : Exiting VJA
pic2 : the camera : Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28
pic3 : traffic before rajamhundry
pic4 : Rajamhundry
pic5 : I just love that tachometer, great to look at and so convenient, you barely take your eyes off the road
pic6 : nice greenery on both sides
pic7 : the grin on my face says it all, roads were brilliant
pic8:Lovely roads from VJA to vizag
pic9 : Vizag
pic10 : Ritz standing in the APTDC haritha hotels portico at Vizag

[Akadian]

Nice story, buddy. That Rajahmundry section seems to have pretty good roads from your pictures. I was in those parts a years ago and the roads were decent back then too but the current situation looks even better

Cheers

[SmartCat]

You look pleased driving that car

What kind of speeds were you doing on the highway? 14 kmpl seems to be on the lower side.

[srikanthpotluri]

well, looking good so far, lets continue

[bhuvan_prasad]

@ Akadian : Well, there wasn't a single pothole in that section. One only had to slow down a little when entering or exiting bridges.

@ smartcat: well that was the first 1000kms, so was fine with that. The next full tank gave us 16.3 Km/l. Thats decent right? 4 people + little luggage + A/C

@ Srikanth: Day 2 and 3, I will put up tonight

[bhuvan_prasad]

Day 2 : Got up at 7:30 AM, and drove down to the Varun Motors service station in Vizag by 8:15AM. He checked the car, and said he would have it done by 12 noon after which we would start for BBSR.

Came back to the hotel, had a leisurely breakfast, and packed up and reached the service centre by 11;30. Checked that all the work specified was done properly and left by quarter to 12. We were soon speeding down to srikakulam and getting set to leave A.P. A slight drizzle also greeted us and cooled down the surroundings.

We stopped at Icchapuram, ate a bit of the fruits and other stuff we had, and planned to go non-stop till BBSR, thinking the roads would be as lovely as what we had just seen. Just 5 mins after starting we came across a huge lineup of trucks near the border. We lost an hour, in finding our way around them. going off road, on the wrong side, asking trucks to wait etc. Luckily the conductor of a mini bus was getting his bus through the jam, and we followed them and soon came out. Then the nightmare started. The fairy tale GQ was over. Single lane roads, badly potholed, speed-breakers cropping up out of nowhere, level crossings, diversions every 2kms, it was quite bad. The pics speak for themselves. Thankfully after around 80-100kms it got over, and we covered the last 80km to BBSR quite quickly, but cautiously as it was night time.

Pic 1: Just out of Vizag, couldnt ask for more
Pic 2 : 378kms more for the day
Pic 3 : Coconut trees on both sides, a lovely sight
Pic 4 : The passing scenery
Pic 5 : Straight, smooth tarmac
Pic 6 : Srikakulam
Pic 7 : Slight drizzle as we were nearing the border
Pic 8 : Berhampur and its myriad of colleges
Pic 9 : The roads and the people
Pic 10 : These boards were just everywhere

[bhuvan_prasad]

Pic 1 : None of the bridges were not complete in Orissa, construction is still going on
Pic 2 : India
Pic 3 : The first level crossing we got stuck at
Pic 4 : The small ghat road before chilka. It wasn't a road, just stones in mud
Pic 5 : Overturned truck, was forced to go off the road to the right(ouch) as the other side of the road was still being made
Pic 6 : I wonder who paints these on trucks and why
Pic 7 :
Pic 8 : The 2nd level crossing, 2 long goods trains went by
Pic 9: BBSR, i really like these street lights

[ampere]

Did you drive to Calcutta during the Running-in period ? Thats not good sir!
Hope you did not cross 60-70 ! (I hope not )

Ritz (K-Series ) should give you a mileage in access of 18-19. Some folks even have obtained 21 without AC on the highway.

Any it does not matter to me!
As I get to see your snaps on the road .
Must have been one hell of drive.

[srikanthpotluri]

so the roads in Orissa didnt improve a bit in the last 3 years i guess then. Is there a bypass to berhampur now?

[bhuvan_prasad]

Originally Posted by ampere

Did you drive to Calcutta during the Running-in period ? Thats not good sir!
Hope you did not cross 60-70 ! (I hope not )

Ritz (K-Series ) should give you a mileage in access of 18-19. Some folks even have obtained 21 without AC on the highway.

Any it does not matter to me!
As I get to see your snaps on the road .
Must have been one hell of drive.

I read quite a few running-in instructions for petrol engines including the manual and none of them specified a 60-70 km/h speed limit. The limits were on the engine speed, which was not to cross 3k RPM, which we followed. Another was don't break hard for the first 300kms, which was up by the time the trip began. Also, as soon as 1000km came up, the car went in for its first service at Vizag.

We were traveling mostly with A/C, as its peak summer and I'd rather be comfortable than get 2km/l more out of the car. Lets see how much I get on the way back, now that the car has done 2k Kms and is almost fully run in.

P.S : Why are you 'sir'ing me? I'm just 23, and in all probability younger than you

[bhuvan_prasad]

Originally Posted by srikanthpotluri

so the roads in Orissa didnt improve a bit in the last 3 years i guess then. Is there a bypass to berhampur now?

I did BBSR - Behampur in may 2008, and frankly it was worse this time, as they are just concentrating on building the new roads, and zero maintenance of the current road, which has become quite horrible to drive on. Yes, Berhampur now has a bypass.

[arindamray]

Originally Posted by bhuvan_prasad

We stopped at Icchapuram, ate a bit of the fruits and other stuff we had, and planned to go non-stop till BBSR, thinking the roads would be as lovely as what we had just seen. Just 5 mins after starting we came across a huge lineup of trucks near the border. We lost an hour, in finding our way around them. going off road, on the wrong side, asking trucks to wait etc. Luckily the conductor of a mini bus was getting his bus through the jam, and we followed them and soon came out.

Then the nightmare started. The fairy tale GQ was over. Single lane roads, badly potholed, speed-breakers cropping up out of nowhere, level crossings, diversions every 2kms, it was quite bad. The pics speak for themselves.

Both are well known facts in TBHP

[sachinj12]

Nice travelouge Bhuvan. Keep them coming.

Also see the uploading pictures FAQ on how to post in-line, i.e the description of the pic right at the top/bottom of the pic. More convenient than scrolling up and down for picture and description.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by bhuvan_prasad

P.S : Why are you 'sir'ing me? I'm just 23, and in all probability younger than you

"Saaring" is way of life in Bangalore !

When I got my dad's Ritz, the guy at the showroom asked me not go above 60/70 and rest as you mentioned. He also mentioned not be in same RPM for a long time, so that the engine gets to see all the RPMs during the RI period.