Well, this drive was due for quite some time. Vizag is my native and my mother has been asking me to bring my Innova there at least once ever since I bought it. I have been putting it off mainly coz of the distance that needs to be covered. I finally decided to drive down to Vizag on occassion of my bro’s son’s naming ceremony. After lots of browsing of internet and especially the team-bhp forums, I got confidence that Bangalore to Vizag can be covered in 1 day itself.

After lots of deliberation on how to reach Tirupathi from Bangalore, I decided on going via Hosur–>Krishnagiri–>Vellore–>Chittor (via NH7,  NH46) than the shorter Bangalore–>Mulbagal–>Penamalur –> Chittor (NH4). This decision is mainly based on my experience with NH7 and NH46  as I have driven earlier on this route. In addition, I stay near Electronic City and it made lots of sense. The only reason I was skeptical was is that I had no idea on how to reach Chittoor from Vellore. None of the internet forums really helped on this aspect. I had no idea if the roads are in good shape and I was afraid I would be spending more time searching for the road to Naidupet from Vellore. But I decided to take a chance.

Finally, here is the route I picked -

Bangalore –> Hosur –> Krishnagiri –>Vellore –> Katpadi –> Gudipala –> Chittor –>Putalapattu –> Tirupathi–>Sri Kalahasti –> Naidupet –>Nellore –>Ongole –>Guntur –>Vijayawada –> Eluru –> Rajahmundry –> Tuni –> Anakapalle –> Vizag.

I started on May 16th morning 4:30 am exact from my house. I have set the odometer to zero and started the engine. I was hoping to reach Vellore  max by 7:00 AM. But alas, the first dampner came in form of rain. It was raining and I could not really dare to go high speed in darkness when it is raining. I crossed Hosur and got the tank filled in BP around 5:00 AM. After resuming the drive, the second dampener - there is huge traffic piled up on the road to Krishnagiri. I was stuck there almost for an hour till 6:00 AM. I was really disappointed on this - as the entire plan is upset even before it really started. Any case the traffic jam slowly cleared (needless to say, it was caused due to an accident) and I finally reached Krishnagiri tollway at 6:30 AM!!! 2 hours to reach from Bangalore to Krishnagiri!!!

Took right turn on to NH46. Zoomed to Vellore by 7:50 AM. Took the exit into the city and left turn towards Katpadi. Crossed Katpadi, Gudipala and joined NH4. Slowed down significantly as had to pass thru Vellore and Katpadi traffic and also I had to stop and ask for direction to find out Chittoor bypass road  and find way to Putalapattu. Also, since it was election results day, lots of police pickets were forcing me to slow down. Reached Putalapattu only by 9:30 AM (also had to stop and get down to find directions couple of places as I was not sure - now I know that I need not have got down at all and continued on the NH4 till I get directions for Tirupati).

Reached NH5 - part of Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) at Naidupet at 11:10 AM. Road from Putalapattu till Naidupet is a two lane highway but easily drive at 100+ kmph. You bypass Tirupati town, Sri Kalahasti (watch out for speed breakers after one crosses Sri Kalahasti) to reach Naidupet. At the end of the road, near the T junction, take left on to a narrow road, cross a railway gate and drive further to hit the GQ).

Stopped for fuel exactly at 11:10 AM at  the Indian Oil petrol bunk at the  Naidupet - GQ intersection. Resumed the drive exactly at 11:20 AM. GQ - a dream to drive - crossed Nellore, Kavali, Ongole, Guntur and entered Vijayawada at 3:25 PM. I was keeping hourly targets of 85-90 km to cover in an hour so that I do not getting bogged down by the total distance to cover. On the entire stretch, pulled over only once for 3-4 minutes near Guntur to get out of the car and do some stretching .

Continued on NH5 thru Vijaywada, to reach Eluru (lots of traffic). Got refill of fuel, reached Rajahmundry around 5:45pm. Felt really strange and proud to cross the road bridge on River Godavari. I crossed the rail bridge many times in my childhood during my journeys between Vizag and Vijayawada. Was somehow always enchanted by the river (and by the bridge). Lots and lots of traffic due to evening hour. Took a while to get out of the city traffic. There are some small stretches of NH5 which is still under construction between Rajahmundry and Tuni. By the time I had to negotiate them, it was dark - and it made the matters slightly worse forcing me to slow down. In addition, fatigue had started. So, the speed had reduced considerably and I was doing only 70+ with occassionally hitting 110+. I had to really push myself  to keep the motivation levels high. Crossed Annavaram around 7:00 pm. Crossed Tuni and reach Anakapalle around 8:45 pm. Once I crossed Anakapalle, I was all charged up and excited as Vizag is less than 30 KMs. Reached Gajuwaka (Vizag Steel Plant area) by 9:00 PM. As if welcoming me to Vizag, out of the blue started raining with very high winds.  Most of the NH5 from Tuni onwards till Vizag is beautifully lit with Sodium lamps. the GQ really looks Golden in light. Took left near NAD Road from NH5 towards Simhachalam (my house) . Reached my house exactly at 9:30 PM in heavy down pour (and no power!). Since I planned not to stop for food anywhere, I packed some cookies & chips and a few bread pieces along with two water bottles. I was muching some thing or other thru out the drive. Drank water while waiting at toll gates (there are total of 15 toll gates!) to optimize time

Total time of non-stop driving - 17 hours

Total distance covered - 1096.8 KMs

Total fuel (diesel) consumed - around 100 liters

Satisfaction out of driving & my Mother’s happiness - Priceless.

Filed under: India, Travel