Quote:
Originally Posted by hvkumar Good drive! Surprised to hear of the new bad road sections, especially between Nellore and Madras. BTW, did the cops stop you at Jaleshwar to extort road "tax"? Where did you sta at Balasore and Barakul (I suppose that was on the banks of the Chilka Lake)? |
I stayed at OTDC in Balasore and Barakul. OTDC Balasore is good but nothing great. OTDC Barakul was better. Deluxe rooms cost around 650.
There was no cop at Jaleswar this time. However during my earlier trip in October before diwali, I had to pay the so called tax. I think they are out there on festival seasons and weekdays. This time I crossed on sunday afternoon.
The road between Nellore and Chennai is not very bad, but the surface is broken and not smooth in some stretches. Also, there are multiple diversions as the six lane work is going on.
BTW, your GQ travelogue was extremely detailed and very helpful.
Quote:
Originally Posted by akroy Wow nandy da (there is another suman da from delhi so addressing u as this), was looking forward for this travelogue.
The condition of ORissa stretches seems to be never ending. Both Congress and BJP govt couldnt address them. God knows who will solve the issue.
I never felt the need to GPS in these routes. A good map does help a lot.
Waiting for the detailed travelogue and pics.
Abhi |
Yes, this time the road between Balasore and Soro was better, but the stretch between Balugaon and Berhampore was not that good. However, the four lane work is partially complete in most of the stretches, so if you are driving carefully during day, you should not have any issues.
The original plan was to follow thw route you had taken, but due to the problems in AP, we decided to drive through Chennai.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sanjayc Hi Suman, looking forward anxiously to your detailed travelogue. Am myself planning towards a Chennai-Kolkata trip coming Jan. Once I go through the detailed travelogue, may bother you with asking for some specific details.
While driving thru AP, is there any concern with respect to the Telangana issue? |
You are welcome. We did not find any issues in AP except some problems at Ichapuram and somewhere near Ongole. But usually they do not create problems for private vehicles and as long as your are on NH5 you should be alright. NH5 bypasses most of the major cities anyway, so any problem is unlikely.
Do plan for Ichapuram and Jaleswar borders. We found long queues at Ichapuram and Jaleswar. Trucks park/wait on the road blocking the lane and you may have to drive through the other side/lane. The problem is more at Ichapuram as it is a two lane road there and the road condition is also not good.
You may get in touch with vikram and hvkumar for the latest conditions and alternate routes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sutripta Ah. So you found that elusive alternate connector. Great. By flyover in Balasore, you mean the Rail overbridge next to the station? If I'm on the RoB, how do I get to the connector?
Why a night halt at Baleswar? Did you start very late?
When are you driving back?
Regards
Sutripta |
We wanted to visit the places nearby. However, we started late and reached Balasore only in the evening.
I am not sure about the railway bridge as it was dark. If you are driving from kolkata, after you cross the milepost that says 10 kms to Balasore, look for a place called Faluri. There is a bridge at Faluri, and the exit is on the left. GQ is mostly complete there, and people drive on both sides of the road. You need to be on the left side of GQ. At first it seems like a dead end in a market, but you can drive through for about 7 kms through 2 narrow bridges and not so good road. After about 6-7 kms, the road goes straight under a flyover. Do not cross the flyover. There is a broken road which kind of goes by the side of the flyover on your right. The road is blocked by iron roads so that heavy vehicles cannot enter. Go through the road, and when the flyover ends, take a left and get on the flyover. Keep driving straight and you will hit NH5.
We were not sure about this road, but the hotel guys directed us to this road.