[Artyom]

It had been almost 8 months since last we went on a road trip and every time I initiated the conversation it used to end up inconclusive.
Moreover, TN and Kerela were not accepting tourists so the options were anyways less known to me.
Then out of nowhere, my cousin called in stating that he had some official work in Vishakapatnam and was planning to stay there for few days.
It was an opportunity I could not miss to meet them and to have a road trip and so the planning started.
Vishakapatnam as such is not a tourist destination but some research found that in and around Vishakapatnam there were numerous hill stations and worth a visit.
The plan was made such that we cover Vigaz(Vishakapatnam) and Araku valley(nearby hill station)
2 Families + Unknown place + Monsoon what else you want eh.

Preparations
***********************************
From my previous trip to Punjab last September most of the necessary things were already in stock like

1. Iftex Clean System G to keep the injectors clean(Recommended by Anurag)
2.AmazonBasics Jumper Cable
3.Windek Digital Tyre Inflator
4.amiciAuto Tubeless Tyre Puncture Repair Kit
5. Spartan T-12 T-Type Handle Socket Wrench Deep Reach Nut Driver
6. PROKLEAR Wash Additive Concentrate
7. Inalsa Electric Kettle
8. Healthgenie Pepper Spray
9. Multipurpose Alcohol Based Disinfectant Sanitizer Spray
10. Sanitizer
11. Pain killers and generic medicines.

Getting "Artyom" ready for the Trip
------------------------------------------------
1. The vehicle had gone through the 3rd service in July,21 so nothing major was pending as such.
2. I got the Wheel Balancing and Alignment soon after the servicing
3. A thorough cleaning in and out was done a day prior.


Initial Plan decided WAS:-

1.6th we leave from Bangalore to Vijaywada(Halt for Night)
2.7th we leave from Vijaywada to Vishakapatnam(Stay for 3 nights)
3.10th we leave from Vizag to Araku Valley(Stay for 2 Nights)
4.12th we leave from Araku Valley to Vijaywada
5.13th we leave from Vijaywada to Bangalore

Change in Plans:-

Due to some last-minute work commitments in my cousin's family, our trip was cut short and he had to leave Vishakapatnam on the 10th Morning.
This made us change our plans as well and we mutually decided to drop the plan for Araku and head back home.
My nephew(15 Year Old) was traveling along with us and with 2 days spare in hand we decided to have a detour and travel to Hyderabad and then back to Bangalore.
We could not miss an opportunity to relish Hyderabadi Biryani along with a visit to Ikea so the final plan decided upon was:-

1.6th we leave from Bangalore to Vijaywada(Halt for Night)
2.7th we leave from Vijaywada to Vishakapatnam(Stay for 3 nights)
3.10th we leave from Vizag to Hyderabad(Halt Overnight)
4.11th we leave from Hyderabad to Bangalore

Time & ODO reading
*******************
Started-13753
Ending-16107
Total Km Travelled->2354
Average->11.20(With AC)

-------Arrival-----------
1. Bangalore to Vijaywada(Sep 6th)-(6:13 am-6:11 Pm) 10 Hours/653 Km
2. Vijaywada to Vishakapatnam(Sep 7th)-(8:00 am-06:48 Pm)7.45 Hours/376 Km
------Departure-----------
1. Vishakapatnam to Hyderabad(Sep 10th)-(9:32 Am -9:11 Pm)11 Hours /683 Km
2. Hyderabad to Bangalore (Sep 11th)-(2:05 Pm -11:54 Pm)10 Hours /571 Km


Routes Followed
**************
We stayed on NH16, NH65, NH44 through and through and blindly followed Google Maps.

Hotel Stays
***********
Vijaywada->Lemon Tree Premier
Vishakapatnam->Dolphin Hotel, The Gateway Hotel
Hyderabad->Red Fox

Fuel Consumption
*****************
1. Being a Petrol 1.6NA I was mentally prepared to see some huge bills.
2. Every alternate top-up was accompanied by a dose of Iftek G.
3. Fuelio app was used to keep a track of the expenses and below are the numbers
4. The refilling at an HP petrol pump at Vijaywada was something fishy i suspect. My calculation showed that the top-up should take roughly 40-41 Litres max however this refill was for 45.89 liters.
My calculation has been pretty accurate so far in the last 2 years so I am confident there was some hanky panky activity going on at this fuel station. Plus there was the typical attempt
of engaging me in a conversation before filling so that I cant confirm the meter reading is at Zero. Please beware.
5. The very next refilling was done at an Essar Petrol Pump and it was bang on and in Sync with my expectations.

Refills->4
Total fuel-> 210Litres
Total Cost-> 18130INR

Fast-Tag Expense
**************
Approximately 2500 INR for the Whole Trip

General Observations/Caution
******************************
1. The beauty of Vishakapatnam in my opinion is that on one side you have the beautiful sea and on the other side you have hills. (Best of Both Worlds)
2. It's humid in Vizag so Bangaloreans will feel a little uncomfortable.
3. The scenic beauty throughout the trip was the best I have encountered in my life. This added to the fact that it's monsoon the experience was even better.
4. Roads, as usual, were good
5. The only thing which annoyed me was while coming back from Hyderabad to Bangalore we had to cross Vijaywada and this small stretch was a nightmare with
potholes the size of craters where even the trucks were losing balance while passing them.
6. The route that google was showing didn't seem to be accurate only on one occasion where we had to take a detour and hence had to take help from locals to get on the right
track.
7. While Exiting Vijaywada towards Hyderabad we encountered this rough patch full of potholes and the same patch we had to cover again while going from Hyderabad to Bangalore.
8. I usually don't travel at night but this time we had left Hyderabad around 2 Pm and it was dark soon. NH44 was surprisingly dark with very few patches having street lights or roadside markers.
Please do correct me if I am wrong but I found it really concerning that a national highway was not well lit.


Places Visited in Vishakapatnam
********************************
Since the trip was confined to Vishakapatnam we visited the below places:-

1. Kursura Submarine Museum
**************************
1. This Submarine was the one used to bring down the Pakistani warships. Remember the movie"Ghazi Attack". This is the same submarine that won us that conflict.
2. Once you are in the submarine you get to appreciate and respect the men in uniform for what they do to protect the nation.
The moment you enter the submarine you realize how difficult it is to live in that close quarter environment for months in the stretch. The size of the quarters is so compact that I for one cannot even imaging staying there for more than 10 minutes. Hats off again.
3. The sheer size of this thing is ming blowing and the number of controls it had was infinite. Perfecting the art of operating a submarine is a feat in itself.
4. These subs were all analog in nature and as such didn't have any digital technology to detect other submarines. As a result, the operators were trained to listen to the pulses outside and determine if the source was a fish or another submarine just by the nature of the pulse it generated.
5. The crew was trained to stay submerged for months in the stretch.

2.TU142 Aircraft Museum
************************
1. The TU aircraft present in the museum was dismantled and assembled again in the Museum. I can't put all the tools back in the tool kit in a single go and these guys assembled this whole plane.
2. This museum mostly has artifacts about the TU model which was named after the designer Tupelov along with information about the different ranks in the Navy and their designated roles.
3. It also hosts different parts of the plane for a closer look.
4. These planes were primarily used to detect and neutralize the submarines by zeroing in on the coordinates and then releasing a missile to destroy them.
5. These air crafts were in service for 90 years after which they were decommissioned. Nowadays Indian fleet has the Boeing ones which are multipurpose planes that can be used to carry troops for reconnaissance and more.
9. A crew of 9 operated this massive thing with each member having a designated duty.
10. The museum has a section that has specimens of survival kits that the soldiers carry in an event they have to survive in enemy territory.

3.Vishakapatnam Port Trust
**************************
1. Vizag is primarily known for its port and we got an opportunity to ride a jetty and get a feel of how it looks and feels.
2. We came across multiple ships some carrying oil , CNG, Coal.
3. The size of the cranes which load and unload the containers are HUGE and we were lucky to encounter a ship carrying 5 of these cranes approaching the docks for installation.
4. The oil containers carry crude oil which gets transported to the HPCL oil refinery through underground pipelines which span across a few kilometers.
5. The naval base is also adjacent and gave us an opportunity to view the warships of the Indian Navy. (No Photos taken for obvious reasons)
6. HSL (Hindustan Shipyard Limited) has the hangar where the ships are assembled.
7. We came across ships that had cranes fixed on top of them which have been in service for the last 50 years.
8. A lot of crude exports(Coal and other minerals) are transported directly from the ships to the conveyor belts which carry them to processing units.
9. The approach to the port is through a passage that ensures that all the ships can be tracked and monitored for activities. It's one way in and one way out.
10. There are small ships that are used to channel or maneuver bigger ships in and out from the port as the water is shallow once you enter the port and another way around. The size of these ships is small however they have more powerful engines which are capable of pushing heavier loads.
11.Not posting pictures due to obvious reasons.

Hotel Stays Experience
**********************
Lemon Tree Premier
********************
->Clean and hygiene maintained.
->Rooms were clean and tidy
->The property was right in the middle of the city
->Food was really good especially the muffins and donuts

Dolphin Hotel
***************
->Clean and hygiene maintained.
->Rooms were clean and tidy
->The property was right in the middle of the city so the commute was easy
->Breakfast was good but the spread was relatively smaller than others
->Dinner was just OK with nothing special to mention.
->Exceptional customer service by the staff.

The Gateway Hotel
*******************
->Clean and hygiene maintained.
->Rooms were clean and tidy
->The property was right in the middle of the city
->Breakfast & Dinner was too good. Special Mention to Ashok dada who served us exceptional fish fry and chicken tikka.
->Exceptional customer service by the staff and special mention to Mohammed at the front desk who catered to all our requests.

Red Fox
********
->Stricly budget hotel
->Rooms were not that clean especially the washrooms with leaking taps.
->Breakfast was less than average
->For the price, I paid it was a complete ripoff, and would not book any of their hotels again.


The Sub in all its glory

Locked and Loaded

Accomodation for the crew

Narrow Alley within Sub with multiple controls

Hydro Suit

Some More Controls

Main Diesal Engine

Washrooms

Massive Propellers

TU AirCraft













Contents of Survival Kit

This stretch has a lot of potholes

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues section. Thanks for sharing!

Going to our homepage today

[Artyom]

Monsoons make the drive so memorable

View from the Hotel

Click at The Gateway Hotel

Officer at work
Attachment 2206856




Spotted this Beauty at Novotel





These vents are used to throw flares which are used to confuse the incoming missiles thereby avoiding an impact

Car getting all messy

Bangalore to Vijayawada

Hyderabad to Bangalore

Vijaywada to Hyderabad

VijayWada to Vizag

[StrikerK]

Great post @Artyom, glad you enjoyed Vizag.

I would personally have suggested a day trip to Araku valley since that's the highlight of all the Vizag trips for me, especially in the monsoons. Dindi is another place enroute (somewhat of a detour to be honest), which gives you amazing stay amidst coconut fields and on bank of river Godavari. A couple of pointers for your future travels along the route.

For anyone going from Vijayawada to Vizag, blindly go on the NH. The Google maps route as Artyom mentioned suggests a straight route near Rajahmundry which shaves 20+ kms, but have potholes that could easily damage your car. Just stick to the NH.

[jithin23]

Vizag is a beautiful place to visit and the roads/scenic beauty is seamless for a bustling city. Araku valley is best experienced through Vistadome coach trains and APTDC package. It's safer this way to visit araku. Else it's like a regular hill station with some fear as there's naxal movement and most of them possess weapons.

Lovely pictures though and reminded me back of my Vizag trip in 2018(by train) and 2019 by car. Actually Vizag is doable in 16-17 hours if you start by 5 ish from Bangalore

[Artyom]

Originally Posted by StrikerK

Great post @Artyom, glad you enjoyed Vizag.

I would personally have suggested a day trip to Araku valley since that's the highlight of all the Vizag trips for me, especially in the monsoons. Dindi is another place enroute (somewhat of a detour to be honest), which gives you amazing stay amidst coconut fields and on bank of river Godavari. A couple of pointers for your future travels along the route.

For anyone going from Vijayawada to Vizag, blindly go on the NH. The Google maps route as Artyom mentioned suggests a straight route near Rajahmundry which shaves 20+ kms, but have potholes that could easily damage your car. Just stick to the NH.

In fact, others suggested the same but since there was a change in the plan couldn't accommodate Araku and Dindi. Well looks like I have to make it up by visiting Ooty or Kerela again( I just need a reason to travel I guess)Had I known about these craters I would have blindly followed the NH but again lesson learned. In fact, when we were waiting on the Godavari Forth Bridge as there was traffic ahead I could feel the vehicle wobble while we were stationary. It was the exact same feeling you get when there is an earthquake. That sent chills down the spine. I will share some dashcam footage of the craters as well . I was happy that Artyom managed to pass that patch without hitting the underbody.
We were even scheduled for a visit to the naval base through one of my friends who is stationed there and this had given us an opportunity to see the warships and Subs live but this change of plans ruined it. Maybe Next Time

Originally Posted by jithin23

Vizag is a beautiful place to visit and the roads/scenic beauty is seamless for a bustling city. Araku valley is best experienced through Vistadome coach trains and APTDC package. It's safer this way to visit araku. Else it's like a regular hill station with some fear as there's naxal movement and most of them possess weapons.
Actually Vizag is doable in 16-17 hours if you start by 5 ish from Bangalore

True That. We did visit the Vistadome. I guess you are talking about that cable car that passes through the valley. It was kind of closed with no one in sight to enquire. We waited there for half an hour but with no luck returned back.

[Highh5]

Originally Posted by Artyom

The plan was made such that we cover Vigaz(Vishakapatnam) and Araku valley(nearby hill station)

Thank you for sharing this travelogue. I will be travelling with my family to Vishakapatnam next week, and your travelogue helped me plan better. How was the route from Vishakapatnam to Hyderabad, anything i should be careful about like speed guns?

[Artyom]

Originally Posted by Highh5

Thank you for sharing this travelogue. I will be travelling with my family to Vishakapatnam next week, and your travelogue helped me plan better. How was the route from Vishakapatnam to Hyderabad, anything i should be careful about like speed guns?

The route between Vizag and Hyderabad is acceptable to say in terms of the road conditions.
For the most part the roads are good however the last patch of the journey there was some construction going on and the roads condition were bad so you have to be vigilant.
I did not encounter any speed guns during my travel.Happy and safe journey brother.