3 days & 1835 km: My road trip from Puri to Mumbai in my Honda City

The plan was to reach Mumbai but had to take a halt at Pune. I started from Hyderabad at around noon which was a mistake.

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In continuation to the previous post of my purchase experience at Bhubaneshwar, it was followed by a trip to Jagannath Puri Temple. The road trip started on the following day:

Date: 21-May-24 [DAY 0]:

• Route – Puri to Vizag
• Distance ~435 kms

It was just the second day of ownership and she was ready to set out on a long trip. We started at around 1500 hrs and reached Vizag in the early hours of 0100 on the following day. I was the only driver and thoroughly enjoyed the smooth tarmac. The road conditions from Puri to Odisha-A.P border is good. We have travelled on this route multiple times earlier as we frequently visit Puri temple. One of the previous clicks of an earlier trip is shown below. In this trip we covered the journey from Vizag to Bhubaneshwar in less than 5 hours (owing to an early start). This was on the City Manual. That’s faster than the fastest train running on the route till date.

Coming to the current trip, as soon as we entered A.P, the roads turned from good to great. It’s a proper 6/8 lane highway and the road works is something that one is bound to appreciate. It’s a very calm drive with windmills installed in and around Ichchapuram (A.P Border). The journey was a smooth one and we got an astonishingly high mileage as can be seen below. I agree, there might be error but even if the real mileage is lesser by even 3kmpl, I was more than happy with the performance of the car.

One point to note here for future travelers is that if one plans to visit Puri, I would suggest them to go via Bhubaneshwar. There is State Highway as well which bypasses BBS. However, the road is broken and takes more time than the longer NH route

Date: 24-May-24 [DAY 1]:

• Route – Vizag to Hyderabad Via Rajahmundry-Vijaywada
• Distance ~650 kms

This trip was special to me because my mother accompanied me in the first leg of the trip till Hyderabad. Started at about 0600 hrs from Vizag. I am shorts of words to describe how good the roads were. The roads are amazing and continues this way till Rajahmundry. The roads from there are excellent all the way to Hyderabad. We reached our destination at around 1730 hrs and my mother boarded the train back to Vizag. Took a night halt at Hyderabad. The mileage received for the trip was an impressive ~18kmpl. Some snapshots of the trip are below –

Date: 25-May-24 [DAY 2]:

• Route – Hyderabad to Pune
• Distance ~600 kms

The plan was to reach Mumbai but had to take a halt at Pune. I started from Hyderabad at around noon which was a mistake. However, keeping in account the driving fatigue, I wanted to be completely rested before taking on a new trip. It took around 2 hrs to reach the exteriod of Hyderabad. The ORR of Hyderabad is amazing. Absolutely amazing!
The roads turned from brilliant to average as soon as I entered Maharashtra. Plus, I also faced sandstorm somewhere before Solapur. The food outlets are not in plenty and it was only when I entered Maharashtra that I realized the roads in A.P and Telangana are exceptionally good. Reached Solapur in the evening and had early dinner. Then, moved ahead towards Pune and took a halt. I found a tree decorated beautifully and clicked a picture of my companion as can be seen below.

Date: 26-May-24 [DAY 3]:

• Route – Pune to Mumbai
• Distance ~150 kms

Started from Pune after lunch and the drive was a very smooth one. This was the first time I drove on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. My complaints of road being average in Maharashtra faded away as I drove through the expressway. It took around 3 hrs to reach my residence in Mumbai. There was no traffic and the drive was a continuous one. I wanted to avoid the traffic on the WEH in the evening hours and could do so comfortably.

Conclusion:

This has been a memorable trip to me. Also, was offbeat to take a new car and set out on a road trip and that too an extensive one. The car performed brilliantly. No issues, exceptional mileage, supreme comfort. I became more confident about my purchase of buying a sedan and Honda City especially. It has stood the test of time and I am one among the many happy customers of this vehicle.

My Message:

Thank you for your time and reading through the post. I would be happy to share any more information in case someone is planning to take the trip along this route. The route is safe and one can definitely take this trip with family/friends/solo. THANK YOU!

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