Hyderabad to Sikkim road trip

[Ranger 5,266]

Hyderabad to Sikkim road trip :

Four  BTech friends,

Proper reunion after a decade.

 

Crossed two borders, (Nepal and Bhutan)

Drove around 5.5k kilometres.

Hanging around with old friends and saying "Remember when..."(15 days of memories)

Trusted steed

 

Menu

Day 1 : Hyderabad to Vishakapatnam

Day 2 : Vishakapatnam to Puri

Day 3: Puri to Kharagpur

Day 4:Kharagpur to Malda

[Ranger 5,266]

Day 1 : Hyderabad to Vishakapatnam

Road condition : Complete 4-lane, overall road condition is good.

Start time: 6AM
Reached: 7PM

 

Accommodation :

Hotel : keys select vizag
Rating: 4/5
Cost: 3000/- (three members)

 

Food options enroute

Breakfast : Village Aharam (3.5/5)
Lunch : Srikanya (Rajahmundry) (4/5)
Tea break : Coffee day (After crossing Annavaram)(5/5)
Dinner : Keys select (4/5 expensive side)

 

Note : All the pictures were taken from mobile 

 

First picture of the day

Setting up action camera,

3M Mount point is strong, held up well through out the trip.

Roads between Vijayawada to Vizag improved a bit.
Village traffic is still high on the highway.

Testing the YI action cam(wide angle)

Quick break round Annavaram 

Coffee day at Annavaram is maintained very well.
We spent around an hour here.

Much needed picture of the day.

We reached Vizag around 7PM, Keys hotel is decent for the price.

 

To be cont..

[Saikishore 52]

Nice pictures. 
 

[hsudhir 221]

Nice one so far @Ranger.. We are waiting for the next

[Ranger 5,266]

On 1/9/2019 at 12:54 PM, Saikishore said:

Nice pictures

 

On 1/9/2019 at 2:05 PM, hsudhir said:

We are waiting for the next

 

Thank you,
 

[sagar 3,662]

Missed this legendary trip.. Keep it coming @Ranger. Waiting for your log on Bhutan and Nepal.  

[ksa171983 870]

@Ranger will wait for the complete travelogue and the splendid picture which you guys would have taken for sure..

[Sridhar Tandra 1,010]

Waiting for more! btw very decent pictures @Ranger that too when you end the day at 7pm   

[vinz 119]

Nice pics.. the word 'reunion' with college friends itself guarantees a great trip 😎

Definitely waiting to both see and hear more about the trip 

[Anand Singh 113]

Good Clicks.. Waiting for the next one  

[Ranger 5,266]

On 1/9/2019 at 6:30 PM, Sridhar Tandra said:

very decent pictures

 

Used only mobile for the entire trip.

 

On 1/9/2019 at 4:31 PM, sagar said:

Missed this legendary trip

 

On 1/9/2019 at 5:54 PM, ksa171983 said:

will wait for the complete travelogue

 

You guys gave hand.

 

On 1/9/2019 at 6:30 PM, Sridhar Tandra said:

you end the day at 7

 

We always respect the Monk magic

 

On 1/10/2019 at 12:27 AM, Anand Singh said:

Good Clicks

On 1/9/2019 at 8:42 PM, vinz said:

Nice pics

 

Thank you.

[ksa171983 870]

22 minutes ago, Ranger said:

guys gave hand. 

lol I could have joined if the dates were after 22nd ... but still there is always a next time ... 

[Sridhar Tandra 1,010]

1 hour ago, Ranger said:

We always respect the Monk magic

😁

[Ranger 5,266]

Day 2 : Vishakapatnam to Puri

Impressed by Vizag City.
Very clean and neat roads.

 

Today our primary aim is to drive away from Phethai Cyclone :)

We experienced strong winds across the coastal area.

 

We did not book any beach side resort in Puri since heavy rains and strong winds are expected.

 

Road condition :

Mix of 2-lane and 4-lane.

Can maintain 100kmph without any fuss.
Few diversions(road work) kill the overall average.
Overall road condition is good.

 

Start time: 11 AM
Reached: 6 PM

 

Hotel : OYO Gangotri Puri
Rating: 3.5/5
Cost: 1500/- (value for money)
Newly constructed.

 

Very few food options from Vizag to Puri.
Most of the area is remote.
Better to avoid night drive on this section.

 

Breakfast : Vizag beach road(food truck)(5/5 for the beach view)
Lunch : We skipped
Dinner : OYO Gangotri (veg)(3/5)

 

We decided to do this trip leisurely,

No early morning/late night drives.

We could have directly driven towards Kolkata but we avoided it.

 

Ready to roll, Keys Vizag. YI wide angle.

Started exploring Vizag beaches.

It is definitely one of the cleanest City in the country.

Roads are clean, dust and pothole free.

 

I'm not sure about internal roads.

Roads around beach and our accommodation are too good. 

Wide angle shot, RK beach,

It is windy and gloomy due to Cyclone.

Mandatory selfie

We drove along the coastal  line till Bheemli beach. 

Vizag to Puri roads are good,

There are few diversions near bridges which kill the overall average. 

Duster is literally shaking on speed above 100, due to strong winds

Some smooth sections and

Dense forests.

Sunlight started to fade away after 4PM,
We thought due to cyclone effect,
Later we realised that we are driving towards NE.

Once we divert from the highway,
It is single lane road to Puri.

 

Roads are average, most of the places we pass through are very backward.

Finding a proper tea/washroom/hotel  is a uphill task.

 

Around 10 kilometres of road is like this..

It looks beautiful, I'm sure these roads are not safe.

 

We were stopped on this section due to some elephants crossing,
They released us after some time.

But we couldn't find any elephant.. 

Hotels in Puri are extreme,

They are priced either 10k + or below 2k.

There are no mid level options 

OYO room in Puri

 

To be cont..

[Anand Singh 113]

8 hours ago, Ranger said:

Once we divert from the highway,
It is single lane road to Puri.

 

Around 10 kilometres of road is like this..

It looks beautiful, I'm sure these roads are not safe.

 

We were stopped on this section due to some elephants crossing,

 

These road remind me of some horror serials or movies and it looks scary  too. 

Nice Pictures.

[Ranger 5,266]

On 1/11/2019 at 11:23 PM, Anand Singh said:

These road remind me of some horror serials or movies and it looks scary  too. 

 

Yeah, we felt the same. 

 

On 1/11/2019 at 11:23 PM, Anand Singh said:

Nice Pictures.

 

Thank you.

[Ranger 5,266]

,Day 3: Puri to Kharagpur

 

Explored places around Puri and Konark.

Personally, I had high expectations on Puri but the place is pretty average.

 

If you want to enjoy the night life in Puri, only proper option is Lotus resort Konark(starting at 5.5k per day)

Konark sun temple is a must visit,
Pictures can't do justice to this place.
Would rate it 5/5.
It is unesco heritage site. No idol inside the temple, It is more about architecture and history.
Cameras are allowed inside.

 

Even though we have driven away from Phethai Cyclone path.
Our average took a hit, Due to heavy rainfall and gusty winds.

After crossing Puri, Sunset time is between 4:30PM - 5:00PM.

 

Driving around 8PM feels like midnight. :)

We couldn't reach Kolkata(as planned), We decided to stay in Kharagpur.

 

Road condition :

4-lane (few two lane sections near Konark/Puri)
Few diversions on highway.
Overall road condition is good.

Start time: 12 PM
Reached: 9 PM

 

Hotel : Green land towers
Rating: 3/5
Cost: 3500/- ( not value for money)

 

Very few hotel options in Khargpur,
Better to avoid stay in Khargpur.

Limited food options between Puri and Khargpur.

 

Breakfast : OYO Gangotri Puri(3/5)
Lunch : Sai Anand Bhubaneshwar (4/5 )
Dinner : Green land towers Khargpur(3/5)

 

Plan was to drive down to Kolkata,

Due to weather conditions and late night sleep,

We decided to start in the mid day.

We started drive towards Konark.

Enroute to Konark, Beautiful roads.

Beaches in Puri are over crowded,

Around Konark, it is zero crowd. 

They are maintaining zero plastic policy at the beach,

There is a team, who are picking up all the left over plastic. 

Pictures cant do justice to this place, Konark sun temple.

You see this pictures on day to day basis. Any guess on which item?

Architecture is mind boggling.

Hiring a guide is a must,

You will understand the story behind this place. 

As a road trip enthusiast we love wheels.

Much needed picture of the day

Cyclone effect is still present. 

Railings fell off the truck,

And the restless auto driver got stuck on them.

We took a u-turn and managed to get into the opposite lane. 

Reliance fuel stations are very reliable and has good washroom.
Most of our highway fuel stopovers are at Reliance. 

Accommodation for the day at Karagpur.

 

 

[sagar 3,662]

@Ranger The main pack of pictures and details of this road trip are yet to fall out. Waiting for the complete post  

[Ranger 5,266]

7 hours ago, sagar said:

The main pack of pictures and details of this road trip are yet to fall out. Waiting for the complete post

 

Will start posting from tomorrow. 

Caught up in work. 

[Ranger 5,266]

Day 4:

Kharagpur to Malda

 

Today all we did is driving, driving, driving..
We felt like truck drivers :)

 

Heavy rains, traffic jams and poor roads.
We couldn't make much progress.

 

Plan was to reach Siliguri by night.
But we have faced a huge traffic jam at Farakka barriage.

 

Maintenance work is going on and rains made the situation from bad to worst.

Very few cars on this section,
More than 95% vehicles are trucks.

 

We got stuck in a 10 kilometer long traffic jam.
It took us 3 hours to cross the barriage.

 

There is no lane system,
All the trucks are blocked by cops (barricades)

Cars and bikes are allowed on the wrong route.(by cops)
Zero traffic sense.

 

We met a truck driver who is in the traffic from the past 9 hours.

We couldn't reach Siliguri as planned, we decided to retire for the day at Malda.

Malda has many stay options,

 

Problem? Most of them did not have any online booking option.

It took us some time to find a proper stay that fits our budget/requirements (some hotels quoted 6k per night)

 

Sunset time is around 4:30PM.

 

Road condition : 4-lane and 2-lane (1:1)
Few diversions on highway.
Overall road condition is average to bad.
Progress is very slow.
Numerous villages enroute.

 

Some sections have crater like potholes.
Duster took few under body hits 🙏

 

Start time: 10 AM
Reached: 7 PM

 

Hotel :

Hotel Golden park, Malda
Rating: 3/5
Cost: 2500/-

It is on highway, no diversions required.
Not an ideal place for families.

 

Strictly limited food options between Kharagpur and Malda.
It took us four hours to find a good dhaba.
Our lunch break is around 5PM.

 

Breakfast : Green land towers kharagpur(3/5)
Lunch : Some random village (2.5/5 )
Dinner : Golden park, Malda(4/5)

 

We started on a 4-lane highway from Khargapur

Turned to single lane, Duster needs a wash

20kmph speed limit on a NH?

Even cars like Duster cant survive these potholes,

We took one under body hit. 

Potholes through out the journey

The famous Farakka barrage,

Get ready to stuck for 3 hours(Cars)

 

For some trucks,

It is more than one full day!

We reached hotel,
We are the only guests in the entire Hotel.

Rooms are strictly average

Finally a much needed wash!