Hi. Not really sure whether this qualifies as a travelogue, but I'm sure the mods will keep me honest.
Having taken a mid-year resolution to explore the environs of Bangalore more seriously, I decided to start by setting out every Sunday morning to explore the city and nearby areas of the city, and slowly move further afield. Started two weeks ago with a drive to BIAL to explore the Hoskote approach (briefly touched upon in this post :
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ake-nh207.html ), thereafter went up to Ooty for a quick trip last week (comments here :
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ty-coonor.html ), but decided that it was time to start a thread and start slowly building up on it week by week.
For this week, I decided to keep it simple. A circumnavigation of the city, to get my bearings right, as it were. The initial plan was to do a chukker of the ring roads, but a quick glance of the Google Earth picture revealed that the ring roads between Silk Board Junction and Tumkur Road were not as clearly demarcated as the ones I normally use (Hebbal to Marathalli). So, expanded the scope a bit, and decided to do the following route :
Marathalli Ring Road > ORR to Sarjapur Road > Hosa Road > NICE Road > Tumkur Road > ORR to Hebbal Interchange > ORR to Old Madras Road > ORR to Marathalli.
The wife had already indicated non-availability due to some maid turnover issues. Offspring was approached, but was loath to give up her last day of getting up late before school reopened. The dog was keen and willing as always, but was vetoed by GHQ on account of new car being taken. Finally asked my father-in-law whether he would come, and was happy when he agreed, as he is always great company.
Set course from CV Raman Nagar at 0700, and made it to Whitefield in 20 minutes. Stopped at the Shell bunk at Thubarahalli on Airport Road to top up, and was disconcerted to find a good seven bucks difference from the regular outlets. Anyway, Shell is Shell, so topped up and set off.
Had a fairly hi-tech layout of stuff in the car. The old BT-328 GPS (working well) - running Google Earth on laptop on car charger / AC adaptor was the main Navigational aid, with my trusty Nokia E71 running Google Maps and MMI as the standby kit. Needless to say, as always, the Nav Systems worked flawlessly for the first ten minutes, and collapsed the moment we required them at Sarjapur for reasons unknown. (Snag analysis in progress as we speak). The E71 continued to retain lock, and was called upon to provide assistance wherever required.
Leg 1 : Marathalli to Sarjapur Road was absolutely clear except for some crazy weaving traffic. At the Sarjapur Road intersection with the ORR there is a flyover under construction, so we had a little bit of negotiating rough road to do before hitting the service road and the eventual left onto the Sarjapur Road. Signposting of this bit was barely adequate.
Leg 2 : Sarjapur Road was surprisingly busy at 0800 on a Sunday morning. The short stretch to Hosa road was full of all sorts of traffic and pedestrians, and made it interesting. The Hosa road turnoff was not marked as such, but was clearly marked for Electronic City. The first kilometer on the Hosa Road was narrow and full of an amazing plethora of speed breakers, single, double and even one triple specimen. A quick look at the roadside shops revealed that we were on Kasavanahalli Main Road, so needed to stop and recheck Google Maps to indeed confirm that this would become Hosa Road shortly. That did happen. The use of Hosa Road to come out at Hosur Road close to the NICE junction was convenient, and would have been great if it wasn't for the over-generous use of speedbreakers on this stretch.
Leg3 : This was to be a short leg, turning left onto the Hosur Road and a quick turnoff in less than a kilometer onto the NICE road. Hitting the Hosur Road was easy enough, and the left turn was executed with no problems. In fact, things were so smooth that the GPS et al was stowed neatly away. This was the cue for things to go wrong. The road under the elevated highway was dead clear, and the only doubt was whether to stay on the main road or keep to the service road. In the event, I chose the main road, which was probably a mistake. I noticed the sign for Mysore Rd / Tumkur Rd etc to the left, but missed the actual exit ramp for the NICE road itself, and continued for another km in the general direction of Hosur. With a general sense of disquiet at the fact that the turnoff should surely have come by now, we pulled up and consulted the trusty GPS. Seeing the elevated highway coming to an end, we realised we were at Electronic city, and had come too far. Carefully pulled back in to the right lane, and waited patiently at a red light to make a U-turn back in the opposite direction. Come the green, carefully turned round, and were promptly flagged down by a cop who could barely contain his glee at getting the first catch of the day. Handed over my license and tried to explain that U-turn Verboten was not posted. He listened patiently, and pointed out through a surprisingly understandable mixture of Kannada and Hindi that I had turned at the straight green, but actually should have waited for the right green to turn. I finally got it, apologized, was Blackberried and paid up without further demur. He waved us on our way, and was kind enough to explain the way to get back on the NICE road. A km or so down we saw the NICE turnoff and were through the gates in a flash.
Leg4. The NICE road was great. If I was to quibble, the road condition could have been a tad better, but all in all it was a great experience. Was surprised at the number of two wheelers on the road, but I suppose it's a free country. Saw quite a few serious cycling enthusiasts getting their exercise in as well. Two bits marred the experience, the chaos at Gottigerehalli (Bannerghatta Road), and a small stretch after Kanakpura Road. To cut a long story short, the NICE road was nice, and the i20 got to stretch her legs in 6th gear at a rock steady 120 almost all the way through.
Leg 5. Tumkur Road was a shock, especially after the NICE experience. Lots of work on for the entire stretch from Nelamangala all the way till the ORR turnoff. I'm sure when it comes up the road will be great, elevated highway and all, but right now it is hell on wheels. Fortunately this bit lasted for only about 8 km. The signposting for the turnoff for the ORR was poor, with just a sign indicating a left turn for Hebbal and Yelahanka being the clue.
Leg 6. The initial bit of the ORR looked like a village road, and led to some doubt whether we were on the right road after all. Crossed a couple of railway tracks (that must be real fun in rush hour traffic !!) and suddenly things looked a bit better. The rest of the road till Hebbal Interchange was reasonable, except for a large number of traffic lights which slowed things down a bit.
Leg 7. The ORR from Hebbal to OMR was reasonable, except for a bit of work on at two or three places for underpasses. Sunday morning traffic was okay, and eventually I suppose the work will lead to things getting better, but I know the potential for absolute chaos at the crossings from bitter experience.
Leg 8. OMR to the ORR was the ususal chaos at the KR Puram Hanging bridge in spite of the pedestrian walkway, and the KR Puram railway station (which nothing can improve). Once we got onto the ORR it was smooth sailing to Marathalli except for a little trouble where the work for the new Mahadevapura flyover has commenced.
Marathalli to Marathalli was 97 km on the clock, and achieved in a total on road time of just under two hours. The only major mistake I made here was not to top up again at the Shell bunk and check mileage.
All in all a nice Sunday morning effort, with us back in time for a hearty Sunday breakfast. Didnt get the cam out to take pics, which I shall surely do (and geotag) the next time around. If anybody wants the KMZs for the various junctions, let me know and I can upload them.
Watch this space !