21st January 2021, 19:19
| #1 |
| Newbie  Join Date: Mar 2019 Location: Kolkata
Posts: 20
Thanked: 99 Times
| Kolkata to Puri : My First 500+ km Drive Prologue:Ever since I started driving, a long inter-state road trip was always on my Bucket list. After reading numerous travelogues here in Team-BHP and watching videos on YouTube, made my urge unbearable. Anytime we would make a vacation plan to some other destination, be it Odisha, Sikkim or Himachal, we(me and my parents) would not be alone and other family members(uncle, aunts and cousins) would accompany us. While it is very enjoyable to travel together with your family, the itch for a road trip would go left unattended. Seeing my pain, my parents agreed for a few road trips. But only within the State and not more than 300 km in a day. While these road trips did provide some relief(once a year), it left me wanting more. Fast forward to February 2020, we had just returned from our road trip to the district of Purulia. On our way back, Father had finally agreed to a trip to the mountains. It would be at least 500 km on the first day to Siliguri and then into the mountains. Yahooo!!  . Month later everything closed. We were on a lock-down. All plans down the gutter.  Come July, Lock-downs turned to Unlocks. People started moving again. Since public transport was down and major tourist spots were opening up slowly, I became ecstatic. As soon as few travelogues started appearing in the forums, I restarted my planning for the road trip. Being stuck at home for almost 6 months, parents did not need any convincing. Sikkim was yet to open, but Darjeeling and Kalimpong Hotels had started opening. Worried about the virus in large gatherings in Kolkata during the Durga Puja, we decided to skip the Pujas this time and head for the mountains. Booked a clean looking hotel in Kalimpong. We would stay there for 3 days and explore nearby places. Again Disaster stuck, Mother got ill just a week before the trip. Even though she tested negative, we weren't taking a chance in her weakened state. Father exclaimed "Bhagwan jo karta hain, bhale kiliye karta hain"(Translation: Whatever God does, it's for your own good). October being when being my mother got sick, I also had the very good fortune of getting a better job with a another MNC. By the time she got better, winter had set in. I had wandered to a few places on a single day weekend trip to nearby places, first to the beaches of Digha and then to the ruins of Kurumbera Fort. You can find videos for both these trips on YouTube. Oh I forgot to mention my Lock-down hobby. Making YouTube videos. Take a look if you can. Digha Video: Kurumbera Fort Video: Carrying on. Starting a new job, with only a couple of vacation leaves in hand, a long road trip to the mountains was out of the scene. The next best thing was Puri, 500km of wonderful highways. Christmas being a long weekend, cleared the leaves with my Manager, Crossed my fingers and booked the hotel. Having frequented Puri quite a few times in a last few years, very few things was left to be explored. This was going to be an relaxing vacation. My faithful steed 'Vorg'(2013 2nd Gen Swift LXI) had already gone through a checkup in October before our failed trip to the mountains. Couple of days before the trip, tanked him up, Tyre Pressure checked and we were ready to go.  Vorg somewhere before Kharagpur Last edited by SkyWraith : 25th January 2021 at 23:59. |
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21st January 2021, 21:00
| #2 |
| Newbie Join Date: Mar 2019 Location: Kolkata
Posts: 20
Thanked: 99 Times
| Kolkata to Puri : My First 500km+ Drive Day 1(25th December, 2020): Kolkata to Puri:Finally the day had arrived. Expecting a bit of traffic at the toll plazas while exiting the city, we had planned to leave by 4:30 AM. Actually started at 4:45 AM. Not too bad. Only 15 mins late. As the car rolled out from our alley into the main road I had a grin from ear to ear. It was finally happening. 20 mins later, that excitement had turned to rage. The Nivedita Bridge Toll had a 2-3 km long queue of trucks. I had expected a queue, but not this long. With no way to go, slowly crossed the toll after an hour.  Starting Odometer Reading  Starting Shot of Vorg  Stuck between trucks at the Nivedita Bridge Toll Plaza Around 6:15 AM, we had started on the NH-16. I had expected a lot of fog. But to my surprise, visibility wasn't too bad. Started cruising at 80 kph. After seeing the condition at Nivedita Toll Plaza, my mind had started calculating the time it was going to take me to cross the Dhulagarh Toll Plaza which had lesser booths. Anyhow, to my surprise, we crossed it in 10 mins.  A few kilometres before Dhulagarh Toll Plaza Since we were leaving home so early, we had packed sandwiches for breakfast. 10 kms before Kharagpur, stopped on the side of the road and had breakfast.  Breakfast Location before Kharagpur After that lazily drove at 80-90 km/hr. Road conditions till Balasore, was good with a few exceptions at some patches with shoddy patchworks on Culverts. From Balasore to Bhadrak, there are numerous diversions. Suggested by many BHPians over the years, stopped for lunch at the well-known Hotel Orion at Bhadrak. Good food, clean washrooms and proper parking.  Some missing Tarmac before Kharagpur  NH-16 After Kharagpur  Single Lane on one such Diversion  Somewhere between Balasore and Bhadrak Work for flyovers over the town crossings and some road widening work are being carried out through out this section. The road conditions on the diversions are quite good. But the issue comes out to the speed breakers at the start and end of the each of these diversions. For a SUV or truck it isn't much of a challenge, but for a fully loaded hatchback, it's an issue. Progress was slow. But the excitement was not diminished. We were enjoying every bit of the journey. This was all new to us. We usually traveled to Puri in overnight trains. By the time we crossed Cuttack, the sun was nearing the horizon. After the diversions ended, we were greeted with smooth 6 lane highways till the exit for Puri.  Between Bhadrak and Cuttack  Setting Sun provided us with a wonderful Golden Hour  Crossing the Mahanadi River Traffic increased as we neared Cuttack. The exit for Puri is clearly demarcated on the Highway with a Brown board with White writing. The Google Maps directions were also helpful here. 4 Lane State Highway all the way to Puri. The famous 'Welcome to Puri' Blue sign is after the Pipli toll on this road. Stopped once for Tea on the way and also for a transition break. Did not enter Puri through the main road, took the new Puri Ring Road(Dipak Mondal Road), which connects the highway to the Marine Drive Road from the Lighthouse end.  Happy Us!! (Mother in Passenger Seat, Father in the rear seat and Yours Truly at the wheel)  The famous blue 'Welcome to Puri' Board 7:15 PM. Checked into Hotel Niladri. Yes, it took me 14 hours for a journey that usually takes 10 hours. But, it does not matter how long it took me, how much my right leg was aching, how I wished my car had cruise control, I was happy. I had safely completed my first 500+ km drive. My parents weren't tensed and had enjoyed themselves. My sedate driving had returned a Fuel efficiency of almost 21 KMPL.(Calculated Tank-full to Tank-Full later).  Vorg Parked in front of the Hotel Relaxed at the hotel for an hour and went out for some snacks at the beach. The Hotel staff were following all the rules of sanitation, Masking and Social distancing. Our room was sanitized in front of us, which was quite ensuring. Even though the restaurant was open, it was quite cramped and thus we took all our meals in our room. Had our dinner by 11 PM and ended our day. Last edited by SkyWraith : 26th January 2021 at 00:11. |
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21st January 2021, 23:13
| #3 |
| Newbie Join Date: Mar 2019 Location: Kolkata
Posts: 20
Thanked: 99 Times
| Kolkata to Puri : My First 500km+ Drive Day 2(26 December, 2020): Jagannath Temple :This was going to be a relaxing day for us. We lazily woke up at 8 AM. The weather was foggy till about 9, so no chance of watching the Sunrise. Had our breakfast by 9 and headed out. Jagannath Temple was not yet open to all. It had only opened for the Odia people from that day. We contacted our priest and arranged for some Prasad and Puja. Being the priest and a local he could enter and offer the Puja on behalf of us. Gave him all the details after breakfast and went on a walk on the beach. The sun was shining, a cold breeze was blowing. Overall, the weather was very pleasant.  Glistening Sun on the Bay of Bengal  Waves Cresting  Waves Rolling  A lot of fishing boats on the beach, some selling their morning catch  The rides waiting for their riders  Take only food crumbs, leave only footprints We walked along the beach from the Lighthouse to the main market area of 'Swargadwar'. Had some wonderful coffee from this boy near Swargadwar(I forgot his name).  With almost all the shops open, my mother went into a shopping overdrive. Started with the famous 'Khaja' from Gangurams. Around noon walked back to the Hotel. After lunch, napped for a while and around 4 PM, left for the temple. The area surrounding the temple has been totally transformed. The entrance has been surrounded by barriers and an open section has been created for all the tourists to stand and see an Idol of Lord Jagannath placed at the main entrance gate. Our priest met us here and handed over the Prasad and showed us around a little regarding the new arrangements.  The main entrance to the Temple  The newly paved side road leading to the main entrance  The screening tunnel in front of the temple  A selfie in front of the temple As per my knowledge, all tourists would be able to enter the temple after 3rd January, 2021. Walked back to the Swargadwar market area from the temple. Start of 2nd round of shopping. Around 8 PM went back to Hotel. Had some snacks and spent the rest of the evening on the hotel lawn. After Dinner went to sleep. Day 3(27th December, 2020) : Chandrabhaga Beach:Almost repeat of Day 2 till noon. Had initially planned to go to Satapada jetty in the morning, and to Chandrabhaga beach in the evening. But dropped the Satapada plan, as parents wanted a relax rather than travelling 100 kms.  Long walks on the beach  After a late lunch, set out for Chandrabhaga beach. The road to Chandrabhaga beach is very good once you exit the city. The road is quite scenic with trees lining the road on both sides.  Crossing the Swargadwar Market  Most of the road is lined with Greenery on both sides The last part of the road runs parallel to the sea where you will find people parked on both sides of the road and enjoying themselves on the beach. While all these was very good, we had the bad idea of visiting on a Sunday. While we expected tourists to be flocking this place, like we had seen before or in other travelogues, most of the people here were locals on their Winter Weekend picnic. At some places, it was quite crowded.  Crossing the entrance of the Lotus Resort, Konark  Parking next to the beach Found a good spot on the edge of the beach and parked. It was almost at Sunset. Enjoyed a wonderful relaxing sunset at the beach. Finally took out my DSLR and clicked some pictures.  Vorg in the setting sun  Sunset on the beach with your car, B-E-A-U-T-I-FUL  I never met a sunset I didn't like.  You can never watch too many sunsets.  My Parents enjoying the scenery  And a Selfie to go with that scenery Drove in the dark back to Hotel and stayed in. Had a little early Dinner and crashed.  Dark unlit roads on the way back to the Hotel Last edited by SkyWraith : 26th January 2021 at 00:27. |
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25th January 2021, 22:46
| #4 |
| Newbie Join Date: Mar 2019 Location: Kolkata
Posts: 20
Thanked: 99 Times
| Kolkata to Puri : My First 500km+ Drive Day 4(28 December, 2020) : Puri to Kolkata :It was time to go back. Following a quick and small breakfast, we started our journey back. We started around 8-30 AM and took the Puri Ring Road(Dipak Mondal Road) to exit the city. We were one of the few cars plying on this road.  Empty roads of Puri Ring Road(Dipak Mondal Road)  Another capture of the empty roads of Puri Ring Road(Dipak Mondal Road) Faced a little traffic before joining NH-16 at Cuttack.  The iconic 'Welcome to Puri' board from the other side  Overtaking Inception The road condition as usual was very good. Apart from the numerous diversions and the speed breakers on them, we made good time. Humming to the hit songs of Kishore and Lata(My Mother's favorite), we steadily cruised at 80-90 kph.  Colourful Flowers and Greenery along NH-16 after Cuttack  The Wonderful people you meet on the Indian Highways  Reached Hotel Orion at Bhadrak around 2 PM. After a quick lunch, started again at 3 PM. Stopped for a few times for bio-breaks and to stretch our legs. We carried a lot of snacks with us, so did not have to stop for food before Kolaghat.  Vorg parked in front of the Hotel Orion  Rear suspension laden with the numerous rounds of shopping and the Kilos of Khaja for all our relatives  This beast parked in front of the Hotel  Cruising on the Highway before Kharagpur  Sunset on the highway Around 7-30 PM we reached Express Food Plaza in Kolaghat. Getting out of the car realized, I was missing one wheel cover. Probably lost it to one of the badly done patchworks on some of the culverts.  One such culvert with sections of patchwork missing. Even the Fortuner ahead of me had to slow down.  Parked in the near-empty lot of the Express Food Plaza. Weekdays. After some snacks and tea, started our final leg of the journey and reached home at 10 PM.  Final dash towards home  Final Odometer and Total Tripmeter reading Thank you for reading. Can't wait for the next time. Last edited by SkyWraith : 25th January 2021 at 23:47. |
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26th January 2021, 05:20
| #5 |
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26th January 2021, 07:06
| #6 |
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26th January 2021, 18:29
| #7 |
| Senior - BHPian  | |
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