[masterChief007]

Originally Posted by arjab

You may be sitting too close to the steering wheel...

Also it is not a wise thing to drive long stints on highways with the driver's seat raised to its maximum height position.

I am at fault with both of these points. I have the habit of sitting on top of the instrument cluster as much as possible so that my knees dont touch the cluster, and I get a "better view" of the road. Need to relearn these aspects, for collision cases too this type of sitting will be dangerous. Have to relearn my new driving position !

[4WheelPilot]

Completed Bhubaneswar - Bangalore over the weekend.
Day 1 - Bhubaneswar - Vijayawada
Day 2 - Vijayawada - Bangalore

Encountered extremely heavy rainfall in few places due to the cyclone/low pressure alert over Bay of Bengal. Roads were good throughout except for somewhere near Anakapalle Bypass.

[Game_of_Roads]

Originally Posted by 4WheelPilot

Roads were good throughout except for somewhere near Anakapalle Bypass.

Did you take the Anakapalle byepass or go through Vizag ? Is the Anakapalle byepass terrible or is manageable ?

Thanks in Advance ! Doing a long Bangalore-Chennai-Kolkata drive soon, so checking for gotachas along the way..

[4WheelPilot]

Originally Posted by Game_of_Roads

Did you take the Anakapalle byepass or go through Vizag ? Is the Anakapalle byepass terrible or is manageable ?

Took Anakapalle bypass. It is ridden with potholes but manageable if you go very slow.

[chembilath]

Route Update: - Bhubaneswar to Kochi

Had travelled from Bhubaneswar to Kochi on 10th December.
Since I reached Vizag around 08:30am, thought of taking the Anakapele Bypass to avoid the Vizag City rush hour. I would say strictly avoid Anakapele Bypass, the roads are so bad with huge crater like potholes, you might scrape your bottom as the roads are very narrow and there isn't much space to go around the potholes with the heavy oncoming traffic

Route Query - Bangalore to Bhubaneswar

Wanted to know which route I should be taking from Bangalore to enter NH-16. Will be starting early morning on Sunday

Map shows Bangalore -Kolar - Chittoor and I could not find any recent threads about this route. Hence, wanted to know about this route
I've always travelled from Kochi to Bhubaneswar, hence always taken Krishnagiri-Vellore-Tirupati route

[4WheelPilot]

You can go ahead with Kolar-Chitoor route. The hill view on both sides of Chitoor highway will be amazing on Sunday morning.

[sarbagna]

Completed my Kolkata to Bangalore trip. I will try sharing a detailed experience in a week hopefully. But here is a summary.

Took the journey in 4 days (tried to spread the distance):

• Day 1: Kolkata to Bhubaneswar
• Day 2: Bhubaneswar to Vizag
• Day 3: Vizag to Ongole
• Day 4: Ongole to Bangalore

Road was a mixed bag. At a very high level, it was spread at a ratio like:

• GREAT Road: 30% <--smooth, carpet
• Good Road: 30% <-- often concrete patches, good but noisy
• Ok Road: 20% <--somehow manageable
• Horrible Road: 20% <--these were nightmare (e.g. as you take right turn from NH16 to NH71)

Interestingly, Google Map worked very well till the last day i.e. the final stretch to Bangalore - where it gave multiple wrong advises (not sure why) to take turns towards almost non-existing roads or private properties etc. I got saved by using the common approach of asking locals for guidance. May be the continued work on NH & several diversions confused Google's sense.

Few challenges faced:

• Not enough decent eateries till Vizag (or did I miss?)
• Afterwards, there were numerous Dhaba et al
• But unless close to city, not enough "clean" places for eating or even washrooms for the matter (perhaps I am bit fussy)
• Numerous toll plazas & even more speed bumps (& some are literally like mini mountains)

[sarbagna]

For those who are planning similar journey, here is a list of Toll Plazas that I went through:



Total came down to: Rs. 2813/-

[hyper-VTEC]

Planned for a Kolkata drive on 1st April in a sedan. Starting point will be Bomanahalli. Planned route is KR Puram, Kolar till Tirupati and touch NH16 at Naidupeta. Day 1 break at Vizag and second day reach Kolkata (South City).

Any particular areas to be careful of being on a sedan (low GC)?
How are the road conditions in general?

[JC_Redstreak]

I did BLR-Bhubaneswar(+Southern Odisha)-BLR during mid Feb. The road conditions were good to excellent primarily baring some parts from Tirupati-Naidupet and about 30 kms for the bypass for Vishakapatnam from Annakapalle.
You are planning to drive close to 1000 kms/day on both days, which could be a stretch.
A factor worth taking note is, you'll be driving towards the east so more driving without daylight when you are getting tired.
My suggestion, if time is not of essence would be to divide the drive into 3 days.
Day 1: BLR-Rajahmundary (~12.5 hrs)
Day 2: Rajahmundary - Bhubaneswar (~10 hrs)
Days 3: Bhubaneswar - Kol ( 8-9 hrs)

Drive Safe

[hyper-VTEC]

Originally Posted by JC_Redstreak

My suggestion, if time is not of essence would be to divide the drive into 3 days.

Agreed. While going to Kolkata I will have another person who can drive hence we plan to stretch it. On return, I will drive solo, and will break over in 3 days as you suggested

[sarbagna]

Originally Posted by hyper-VTEC

Planned for a Kolkata drive on 1st April in a sedan. Starting point will be Bomanahalli. Planned route is KR Puram, Kolar till Tirupati and touch NH16 at Naidupeta. Day 1 break at Vizag and second day reach Kolkata (South City).

Any particular areas to be careful of being on a sedan (low GC)?
How are the road conditions in general?

Most of the stretch is good roads. Initially when you get on the highway from Bangalore, and later on particularly at Odisha - you will have to handle few bumpy patches. But as long as you notice the speed bumps and drive carefully across those patches, it should be fine.

Have a safe and pleasant trip!

[Altrozed]

The Anakapalli - Anandapuram section which bypasses visakhapatnam is fully opened now.
Total 2 tolls enabled and the road is terrific.
One can cross this new bypass section in 30mins.
Happy motoring.
In total, Vijayawada - Rajamundry 4th Bridge - Anakapalli- Anandapuram (vizag bypass) - Srikakulam road is now fab who are traveling from South towards Odisha and WB. Enjoy the great drive.

[gurminder_81]

Team: Need some advise about my trip from Bhubaneshwar to Kolkata during the Puja holidays.

I'm travelling by car from BLR to BBSR and setting up my base there for 7-8 days. I wanted to do a 2 day Kolkata trip as per below, but is struck with wait-listed train tickets. I underestimated the rush and did not book tickets early.

Original Plan:
1. 18th Oct 2023: Travel from BBSR -> Kolkata by Shatabdi Train early morning (Got confirmed tickets)
2. 20th Oct 2023: Travel from Kolkata -> BBSR by Vande Bharat Train early morning (Got WaitListed 98+ Ticket). All other trains (including night trains and different AC classes) are in waitlist category due to Puja rush.

Am travelling with my wife and a 9 year old kid, and do not want to make this trip if tickets are not confirmed. Hotels etc are also booked with free cancellation till 72 hrs from checkin date. Don't want to travel by bus too.

Alternate Plan
Extend the road trip to Kolkata and travel by car.

Wanted help/advise with these queries:
1. How are the road conditions from BBSR -> Kolkata (~440 KMs Hotel to hotel). Is this a relaxed drive or a stressful one with diversions etc. roads are 4 lanes / toll / single lane?
2. Approx how much time I should account if I start by 5:30 AM from both locations to/fro. Gmaps says approx 9 hrs drive time.
3. Anything major to worry about: like pothole ridden sections or heavy truck traffic or lack of food options and clean restrooms?
4. Anything special to watch out for as it will be Durga Puja holiday time.

Please help. Of course all this will not be needed if tickets get confirmed, but I wanted to be prepared.

Tx

[ssjr0498]

BBSR to Kolkata roads are a mixed bag! Some good some not so good. All of this till Kolaghat! After which you are on the F1 grade road and you'll reach Kolkata in no time

I had done BLR-CCU a few months ago, but I trust the Orissa government completely, hence the roads will be a mixed bag and have diversions!

IMO you will take about 7-8hrs to get to CCU from BBSR!

Originally Posted by gurminder_81

Team: Need some advise about my trip from Bhubaneshwar to Kolkata during the Puja holidays.

I'm travelling by car from BLR to BBSR and setting up my base there for 7-8 days. I wanted to do a 2 day Kolkata trip as per below, but is struck with wait-listed train tickets. I underestimated the rush and did not book tickets early.

Original Plan:
1. 18th Oct 2023: Travel from BBSR -> Kolkata by Shatabdi Train early morning (Got confirmed tickets)
2. 20th Oct 2023: Travel from Kolkata -> BBSR by Vande Bharat Train early morning (Got WaitListed 98+ Ticket). All other trains (including night trains and different AC classes) are in waitlist category due to Puja rush.

Am travelling with my wife and a 9 year old kid, and do not want to make this trip if tickets are not confirmed. Hotels etc are also booked with free cancellation till 72 hrs from checkin date. Don't want to travel by bus too.

Alternate Plan
Extend the road trip to Kolkata and travel by car.

Wanted help/advise with these queries:
1. How are the road conditions from BBSR -> Kolkata (~440 KMs Hotel to hotel). Is this a relaxed drive or a stressful one with diversions etc. roads are 4 lanes / toll / single lane?
2. Approx how much time I should account if I start by 5:30 AM from both locations to/fro. Gmaps says approx 9 hrs drive time.
3. Anything major to worry about: like pothole ridden sections or heavy truck traffic or lack of food options and clean restrooms?
4. Anything special to watch out for as it will be Durga Puja holiday time.

Please help. Of course all this will not be needed if tickets get confirmed, but I wanted to be prepared.

Tx