The start got delayed from 6 AM till 8 AM and further till 830 after the little one decided to stall us. Then we ran back and got the gifts which were for the marriage that we were headed to attend. Two cars were tricky to begin with and I had my doubts trying to maintain pace with the Indica, which came through soon enough. So I let the Indica start at 8 AM. 830 start meant that we were in the thick of Hosur road IT traffic. Senseless directions by BBMP to keep to the service lane to go till Hosur were ridiculous, simply because there was no service lane after a point of time. What’s the use of such a drastic notice I do not know.

Food stop right after Dharmapuri

Car was not tanked up so the search for IOCL Extra Premium started soon after we hit clear roads. Found one gas station and filled the car to the brim. Now we were all set to get till Thrissur on 1 tank, I knew that was easy to do. Bt traveling with mom, wife kid can be a lot of unexpected fun, things spill in the car and you have to stop every now and then for a clean up.

Had asked the Indica driver to wait near the turn off towards Chennai. He had done so. We reached that spot just 15 minutes after them. Needless to say that all FE went out of the rear window the moment we hit NH7 empty patches, all 6 inviting lanes of it towards Krishnagiri. And yes, we were in 5th and above the 3400 RPM mark for most of the time. AC on and windows rolled up. It was a hot and humid day today on top of that.

At Krishnagiri, asked the driver to stop at the nearest Dhaba possible so that the old folks could stretch and relax a bit. I took off, and despite keeping a light foot on the throttle, the Indica just lagged behind. I realized how inept I am at keeping the car permanently below 80 at all times. Gave up and went on.

Found a decent looking Dhaba but the Indica failed to spot us. Called them, and the driver said there is a good eating post right after Dharmapuri on the right hand side of the road. Got in, started off, caught up with the Indica, leaned the chair back and got into relaxed mode. Eating cake, lays etc. Stuck to the left lane and let everything pass by. Soon this place came up and we stopped for some good old Idli, Vada Sambar, Dosa, the works. Took very long to get through all that. Then there was a photo session with the grandparents and the kid. Started off after one and half hours. Going was slow as the Indica guy knew the turn off point towards Mettur.

The route from Bangalore to Thrissur. Map courtesy Google.

After the turn off, the roads are a bit messy. They are no longer 4 lanes and a median, instead they are 2 lanes and things hurling at each other at breakneck speed. Stayed behind the Indica for a while but that was not helping. The ride was too jarring at such low speeds. Went off ahead and started finding my own road. Had a print of that Map with me so was confident of finding the appropriate turns. Did not have any problems, except that now the other car was way behind and out of touch. Stopped, decided to wait, take a walk, asked everyone else to do the same as well.

Saw the Indica pass by after about 10 minutes. Started another 10 minutes after that in the same direction. The roads were lovely, the scenery was pretty and there was not much of a traffic (initially). Soon it became a little crowded. The numbers were about 3 vehicles to overtake every 5 minutes, which gets a bit tiring very soon. You cannot go slow as the chap in front of you is too slow. You cannot go fast as you do not have enough time and space to pull a 4th gear overtake. Solution is to drop down and zip out. In fact, stuck behind a regular bus, it was hard to maintain 4th gear most of the times.

Got a call from my father in the Indica that they were 30 Kms from Coimbatore. They had no idea where we were. We were 40 Kms from Coimbatore at the same time. Pressed on to catch up with them. Passed Coimbatore only to realize that they were still in the process of crossing it. That’s how bad the miss-match was between the two cars.

Went straight on till I got into Kerala and stopped at a respectable tourism Dhaba. Some photos, walks, general loitering later, the Indica arrived. Everyone had their fries and tea coffee. We started off a good one and half hour after we had arrived. The sun was coming down fast, the road got even narrower, and the sun was right in the eye on the East – West straight road. Indica soon got left behind and I decided not to really keep pace with it. It was really testing my patience by this time.

The Coimbatore – Palakkad – Thrissur section is crowded with trucks headed to and from Chennai to Cochin. Its a mess, specially at dusk when the headlamps come on. By this time I had a Gray fusion ahead to keep pace with. Unladen, it soon disappeared as it looked like it was on familiar roads, not to worry, now I had a CRV to give me company right behind our tail. I was surprised at how long the car takes to shoot off after an overtake, probably an Auto Tranny.

I must admit that at this point, things were very rash, I really wanted to actually be in that Indica instead of this at it would readily go slow and not demand such finesse from the right foot prodding the pedal. At 70 and in 3rd, you are in dangerous territory as any push on the Pedal would make the car lunge forward. At 70 and in 4th, you are way out of the power-band to attempt any serious overtaking with delicate timing. I chose 3rd.

Things got really messy after this. Every single small bike, car, auto coming from the other side was shining full beams of 100+ watt lamps at us making it impossible to see what’s behind them. I passed a truck as I could spot a bike coming from the other side from its headlamps. The moment I gunned the 1.6 in 3rd, a truck right behind the bike switched on its headlamps (he never had them on). This got a bit messy with me brushing the front left nose on the truck tyre in front, light rub and no damage. Enough was enough, switched on all lamps and just drove on.

“When in Rome, do as Romans do”

Now that I was on high beams, even though 60 watts each, the Fogs and the High Beams can blind anything in the front forcing them to slow down, move away or dip beam in the hope that I would comply. Worked very well and soon after the white on green said “Thrissur, 6KM on the right”. After taking the right at some awkwardly unmarked junction and continuing on for another 6 KM, we were safe and set in the Hotel rooms. The Indica arrived about 30 minutes later, the driver looking equally hassled. Touch down, 640 PM.

Start to end time of 10 hrs with breaks (for Fusion) of about 4 hours (ridiculous). FE was not great either as I was mostly in 2nd, 3rd after Coimbatore. I think its 460 Kms and a full tank of Gas, thats 10+ with AC.

Checked in. Checked for wifi. And there was one, not belonging to the Hotel though, but some generic open network of some good soul.

On our way to Chavakkad from Thrissur (another post, later)

The Return

As always, the initial plan to start early and return back never worked. We had to attend a lunch and then start on our way back. Since it was 10 Kms out of Thrissur and on NH47, I decided to pack everyone in and check out from the hotel and continue straight on after the lunch.

By the time we started it was 230 PM, getting the cars out of narrow lanes on the outskirts was a challenge, but did not take much time. It did take a lot of reversing the car.

The Indica promptly stopped for some diesel at the next available pump. I had tanked up the Fusion 2 days back and had done about 120km so I was not in a hurry to tank up again. In fact I was pretty confident on doing the distance without having to stop for gas. Tall order as we were going to have the AC on all the time (kid and grandmom), and NH47 is not a very 5th gear friendly road. If you check the accidents thread on Team BHP, its got a lot from this particular road that connects Chennai and Cochin. Two ports and lots of trucks with barely enough space to fit two trucks.

General landscape after Coimbatore

A solitary tree next to the road

Within no time we were up to speed. Given the road condition, the amount of traffic and the Indica I was in no mood to exceed the 80 kmph mark. Assumed that it would be the speed limit as well. I was wrong, soon I was stopped by a couple of cops with a speed cam, they claimed I was doing 90 kmph, the speedo was definitely showing stuff around 80, and their claim was that in was a 70 kmph zone. Did not wish to waste my time, paid the Rs 300/- and got on my way. Maintained 80 even after that, wondering at what speeds I was actually taking the bends on NH4 on the Pune trip where the speedo showed 140 kmph.

By this time the Indica was lagging far far behind. Stopped for a tea to dilute the effects of a heavy lunch. Waited for about 10 – 15 minutes and yet the Indica never caught up. Simply headed on.

Things went by much faster after that (still at 80, occasionally hitting 90 to overtake), Coimbatore bypass came and things were looking up. The road condition improves from here till Bhavani.

Cat in the System

Just about to get off the newly constructed section of NH47 from Bhavani, halfway till Coimbatore, a cat pounced in front of the car without warning. Braking hard meant that the Sumo behind me would never stop and hit me, braked soft, dropped the speed to about 30 kmph before hitting the cat, never know what happened to that poor fellow but pretty sure it never went under our wheels. A km down some fellows on a bike flagged us down saying there were things dangling. Not surprised I went to the front fearing another major damage, found the center cladding under the bumper dangling. Ripped it off and put it in the boot and drove on for another few kms to stop for some tea.

The Indica finally caught up with us. There was a short pit stop without tea and we took off for Dharmapuri for a dinner stop.

The Route

I was not familiar with the route as SH20 from Bhavani, all the way till Thoppur through Mettur was unknown territory with signages only in Tamil. My only hope was to follow the Indica. Unfortunately started a little late and got stuck behind some tractor trailers trying to make turns. Costed us time and the pilot car for the section. Decided to just drive off and use the local GPS (the chai guy).

Stopped at Poolampatti for some coffee, and chatted up with the shop owner. Turns out he stays in Vijayanagar, and was helping out folks on his holidays at the family shop. Got detailed directions. Picked up speed after Mettur doing 80 – 90 kmph on the now empty SH 20. By 930 we landed up at the dhaba right outside Dharmapuri. Dinner followed and we stopped for about an hour.

Last leg

The last leg was fast. The lovely golden quadrilateral is hardly populated by anything in these areas and locals prefer to avoid the toll road. Result was a steady 100 – 110 without stressing the car at 2500 RPM and 5th. Truck traffic got thicker after Krishnagiri occasionally bogging us down in 2nd but overall time was good, things were looking under control to reach home by 1130.

The kid lost it soon after and got extremely cranky for reasons completely unknown. This made us stop a couple of times trying to figure out the problem while finally the Indica was ahead and we were trailing. Reached home at 1200 midnight after almost 10 hours on the road.

The Fuel

Yep, the car never needed refueling till we stopped and left the car idling outside our house. I normally do that after very long drives. Thats 460 Kms of return and 120 kms of local travel in and around Thrissur. A total of 580 kms + 6 kms in Bangalore done in 38 liters when I got it back to the Auto Cut level at a Gas Station. That’s 15.4 kmpl with AC on at all times and less than perfect roads.

Shortcoming were the lights on the less than perfect NH47 from Palakkad till Thrissur (while going) and SH20 from Bhavai till Thoppur (while coming back). I really wished that the car had a headlamp that it deserved instead of guessing where the next bump or pothole might be. In is not an issue with the wattage, but how everyone else manages to blind you without any effort. The other problem is when you have a good throw on the high-beam, your visibility up front gets highly compromised forcing you to switch on the Fog Lamps. This in turn illuminates almost everything around making the foreground (objects nearer) much brighter than the background (objects far away), a balance is somehow missing.

Overall a good outing. Heading off to Puttaparthi on 16th morning and returning the same day. That’s next.

1. A Compass. This is absolute necessity on highways as detours are almost always un-expected and are always through narrow winding village roads. A compass will help you in these situations to maintain bearings. A GPS may or maynot help, as most of these by-lanes on the highway are uncharted, and mostly un-paved.
2. A Windscreen Wash and Shine. These are available at almost any local auto dealer. And they are helpful. A lot of mud will be thrown on your windscreen from Trucks in front of you and Passing Vehicles. If you have a washer fitted in your car, chances are that will run dry in 200 Kms. Carry extra and refill, specially if you are driving through Dusk or Dawn.
3. One small set of folding table and chairs. Not an absolute must, but if you do want to experience the occasional Alu Puri from a nearby dhaba. This is the best option to have along. Just unfold and you have your own private eatery right next to the highway.
4. Tubeless tires and a puncture repair kit. This is just a matter of choice and peace of mind. Tubeless tires are more resistant to the occasional rogue nail and thorn than the regular Tube Tires. A puncture repair kit allows you to fix that nail easily without running to a repair shop.
5. Water. Carry lots of water when you travel. Either filtered or mineral. Ideal way to carry is in a Plastic Jerrican. A 20 Liter or 2 x 10 Liter is enough for a 1000 Km trip. Water available locally may or may not suit everyone’s city stomachs easily.
6. Get a Local Newspaper. If you are venturing out from one state to the other, get a Local Newspaper of that area as soon as you enter. It gives a good idea of any Political disturbance or Bandh that may foil your plans for the day.
7. Cash and Change for Toll. Any major highway in India is Toll Operated. You will pass at least one Toll Booth in 100 Kms. The Toll value ranges from Rs 30 to Rs 70 one way for a four wheeler. Having change speeds up the process, having cash is mandatory. Calculate about Rs 50 for every 100 Km you travel. Also be prepared to surprise RTO tax collection booths on the highway. This is not necessary for vehicles passing through a state, but it never hurts to be prepared. Tax Value is based on the weight of the vehicle and can vary from Rs 600 – Rs 1200 for a four wheeler.
8. A Map with Highway Numbers clearly marked. It is not necessary that the Map has to be accurate. But it is necessary to have a map with all the road names and numbers marked clearly. Indian Highways are named in Single digits for main roads and three digits for its Bypass or tertiary roads. (Like NH7 and NH207 here). TTK Roadmaps are good to navigate around cities.
9. A Torch. Absolute necessity if you are traveling in the night. The highways do not have any illumination what-so-ever. If anything does go wrong with the vehicle, you will definitely need one to get to the bottom of the problem. Its also a good tool to attract attention in case of trouble.
10. Cash for Gas. Although ATMs and Gas Stations that take credit cards are common in city limits, on highways they are very rare. Maintaining the same brand of fuel is necessary to maintain a better mileage and overall sanity of the engine. Carry some cash extra for those emergency fills. Do not carry too much extra. The chances of theft are very real as well.

Carry a Camera to capture all the moments. Most highways have 80% picture postcard value during ideal weather like Monsoon. Enjoy the drive!

Here’s how you can minimize the damage to your time from the Notorious Bangalore Traffic during the daytime.

Approach from NH7

A little outside of Bangalore is Chikka Ballapur, leave NH7 at this junction and get on to the regular (non 4 lane) NH207. Created as a bypass long back, the NH207 runs alongside Bangalore touching NH4 at Hoskote and through Sarjapur finally touching NH7 again at Attibele after Electronic City. The road is fairly well maintained and has very little traffic during the daytime.

Turn into NH207, at Chikka Ballapur and continue till Attibele to get back on NH7 avoiding Bangalore completely

Approaching from North – West on NH4

If you are approaching from NH4 in the North, chances of avoiding traffic completely is minimal. However you can minimize the damage by getting on to the Ring Road right after crossing Peenya Industrial Area. Continue on the Ring Road till Marathalli Junction. Take a left here and get onto NH207 to avoid the Hosur road construction zone completely and get back on NH7 at Attibele.

Turn on to Ring Road after Peenya Industrial Area and continue straight till Marathalli Junction. Take a left to get on to NH207 near Varthur lake. Areas marked in dark circles are heavy traffic zones.

If you do have to get into the city. The recommended time will be before 7 AM and after 11 PM. Anything in between can cause a lot of time, specially if the roads are unknown to you.

Any other tips on avoiding and bypassing Bangalore are welcome.

Round One

Not long ago I used to be a Hyderabadi, or a person who stays in Hyderabad, India and behaves in a certain way. Going to Pondicherry was something I attempted first from Hyderabad, and that too with success and ‘on road’. Hopped in a Volvo from Hyderabad and landed up at Kalasipalayam bus station near Majestic in Bangalore. Did I mention that I really did not plan the trip through? I guess I did not. So here I was, at Kalasipalayam, wondering what or how to get till Pondicherry from here. The only people I knew in Bangalore at that point of time, were In Pondicherry waiting for me. Kind of futile to go looking for a place to stay in this expensive place after that. I also had the option of going straight to Chennai from Hyderabad and then get to Pondicherry. Wonder why I did not do that!

Kalasipalayam is a place where you get things easily. First thing I needed after the overnight travel was to freshen up, visit the loo, take a shower etc. Even before that I needed to sort out the whole travel plan which at this point was kind of haywire. Went from ticket shop to ticket shop, and nothing was available before late evening. At this point I realized that the bast bet for me was Karnataka State Transport. Got myself a ticket, which was not easy, had to get an agent who could then go and get the ticket. Now that the agent was off to get My Ticket, I had time to do the rest, freshen up, loo, bath etc. Finding a loo was the next challenge, finding one large enough to park my bag and take a bath was bigger challenge, finding one that was clean was impossible.

Did what I had to do, did a few rounds of the shopping / office complexes nearby and located a toilet large enough to park my bags and take a shower. Got hold of a guy to get it cleaned, once done I sent him off to get the State Transport Bus Ticket. He is a local to that area and will not have to face harassment from the agents as well. Plus he gets to make a harmless extra buck. In one hours time I was all set with a ticket, bathed, shaved to hit the road. This was summer so a RayBan was mandatory. Once in the bus I parked myself firmly on a central driver side seat next to a window and just tried to merge with the people around. Although no one understood a word that I could speak (Hindi, Bengali and Little Gujarati) still they tried and so did I. Found a lot of fellows that were making the Journey all the way. The present NH7 (Hosur to Krishnagiri) was getting constructed in those days and the ride was bumpy with one diversion after the other. State transport buses stop generously and for longer duration and getting a Tea every now and then with Wada Sambar was great. Starting at 8 AM, the bus took a staggering 12 hours to reach Pondicherry. The route map is on the attached image.

The road from Bangalore to Krishnagiri

Round Two

This was a year after that. And this time I took the most non-interactive option of Road Travel from Bangalore. I got into a Volvo from Sharma Travels and I travelled cocooned in Air Conditioned Luxury till Pondicherry without even realizing when or where the Bus made a stop. This was a very boring ride from a Road Trip point of view. From comfort point of view it was great. Given the circumstances, don’t remember much apart from getting into the bus and getting off the bus early next morning. But who wants to travel this way!

The main difference from Round One was, people knew how to communicate with me, but somehow no one (including me) made any effort.

From Bangalore, the tricky turn off to Pondicherry on NH66 is after Krishnagiri

While coming back, there is a confusing left at Tandivanam. Best is to ask for Tandivanam and be prepared.

Round Three (Holi, 2008)

What I did not mention in the first two rounds is that in the first one I was going to meet my Girlfriend, in the second I was going to meet her parents. In the third one, we were married and were going to the Bank on a Saturday. On reaching the bank we realized that it was a holiday and well, it was shut. I work from home and have little or no clue about public holidays, most of my clients work from home as well.

While coming back, there is a confusing left at Tandivanam. Best is to ask for Tandivanam and be prepared. So here we were, a perfect saturday morning, around 10 AM and the only thing we had planned for was not possible. Got back home and decided to head for Pondicherry. Grabbed the Map Book, and the Copy of 52 Weekend Getaways and headed off after filling the tank. Bang, and 11 30 AM we were crossing Silk Board Junction and were on a crowded Hosur Road. Once you cross Attibeli on this road, things ease out a lot, and speeds become a lot faster. There are two reasons for this, One: it was a holiday and there were very few vehicles on the road. Two: The going is mostly downhill and the car just glides on. Before we knew it, we were at the Toll Gate and asking for directions. The chap at the collection booth was very helpful, somehow they all are, he clearly said go over the first Flyover and under the second. Turn left and immediately take the First Right. Did exactly that and was on the Krishnagiri Chennai road. Although the road looked very inviting, we had to take a right almost immediately onto NH66.

A tanker in front of us. I somehow have a talent to stop right behind them at toll gates.

Leaving the toll gate behind

NH66

NH66 is not one of those swanky Golden Quadrilateral roads. Its just a simple basic National Highway. It does not have a lane divider, does not have the white markings at most places, and has very little population around it as well. What it is though is a gem of the track to drive on. The road was perfect for an unladen heavy hatch doing 3 digit speeds. Also for the fact that there was hardly any traffic from either direction on the road. At around 2 PM, Tiruvannamali came up, we stopped at the first available road side shop and sampled Fish Curry and Rice. All charged and slightly heavy, we headed on and reached Pondicherry at around 4 30 PM.

On NH66. Gives an idea of the road.

Pondicherry

After battling the minor city traffic we headed off to Sri Aurobindo Ashram, parked the vehicle nearby and continued on foot. Thats the best way to roam about within Pondicherry. If you have to go a little outside, you can always hire a Kinetic or a Scooty of take your own vehicle. After a darshan at the Ashram, we headed to the beach, had some Gol Guppas, some Chat, and did all the Beach Things that we don’t get to do in Bangalore. At 7 30 we called it a day and started heading back.

Looking for a parking spot in Pondicherry

Pondicherry has a lot of Good (bordering on very good) places to stay near the Beach road. These are mostly 3 – 4 Floors of small hotels with ample amount of amenities to let you live and enjoy the city. Not very expensive either. You can also opt for staying at the Ashram Guest house, but that would surely need advance booking and known contacts within the Ashram.

Heading Back

We had our doubts weather we will find our way back in the dark or not. Weather we will be tired to drive back and may have to stay over and head off only the next day. We had many questions. Decided that after a few Kilometers we will have the answer anyway. heading back we were not alone. There was a Hyundai Accent before us who clearly was local (number plate) and I decided to follow him happily shielded from the task of navigating hard. There was a problem though, the fellow in the Accent would brake at almost any light that he saw on the horizon and so did we. After about 50 times of such false alarm, I decided to get ahead and make my own track. Overtaking the Accent was a breeze, just went behind him (not too close as he could brake again) and blinked. As expected, he did not move out of the way but braked, I took this opportunity to pass him from the Right and say goodbye. The next 70 Km was calm. It was us, the Music from the iPod playing though an irritating FM transmitter, still it was good. And there was moonlight, from a Full Moon. The drive was getting better but we were loosing time trying to travel on unknown roads. Though we were faster than when sitting behind the Accent, we were not as fast as we had hoped to be.

A blink on the rear view gave me the shudders. Have I been traveling so slow that the Accent actually caught up with us?

Nope, this was a Maroon Innova with a Yellow Number Plate. Yesss!!! This was our answer to make up on lost time. I let the Innova pass and quietly tucked in behind him. He was fast and doing healthy 100 + speeds on roads that were obviously well known to him. We dod not follow too close, but maintained enough distance to just have his tail lamps visible to us. A lot of fast Mile Crunching went on and we were back in Tiruvannamali, this time for Dinner.
After having a basic dinner and tea, we were back on the road. The Innova was no where to be found, but we kept up the momentum never the less. The sparsely populated roads were now deserted and absolutely dark. Nature paid us a visit soon after. To my horror the car was filled with Large Ants near the driver area and we had to get them cleaned out. We stopped and soon were questioned by Police Patrol. They asked us not to stop on the deserted section and only stop after reaching Krishnagiri, which was a few Kilometers away. We cleaned up good at Krishnagiri and topped up Tea and Coffee, and headed straight out.

Barring minimal truck traffic, the road was empty till about Attibeli where a lot of Large Trucks carrying windmill components were blocking most of the road. This delayed us a bit but not much. At around 1245 we were at our doorstep.

Onward (4th Sept, 2008)

Now, there are many who have written on this route on Team -Bhp and other blogs and claim that they finished the whole thing in 8+ hours, one way that is. Which is entirely possible if you take very minimal breaks and drive almost continuously. Else, a leisurely drive will cost you about 11 hours and will be a lot less stressful. Plus you can stop at all the small towns on the way and sample Indis, Vada Sambar, Coffee, Tea and the occasional Mutton Curry, Fish Pulusu and Rice. We took the second option. Travelers were two bachelors, one of them driving, the other putting the camera to use, and the DJ. A stereo equipped with an iPod is mandatory on such long rides as they can get very very boring otherwise.

NH7 and the route till Hyderabad from Bangalore. (Image Screenshot: Courtesy Google Maps)

I started out pre dawn at about 3 AM, by 4 I was picking up my friend near Mekri Circle, and by 5 we were through with Bangalore and well away from Devanahalli Airport. There was rain, the road had frequent diversions, and the onslaught of Volvos coming from the other side didn’t leave much for us to see of the road. Now both of us were practically watching the road, driver on the right and passenger on the left. A little after sunrise, things got a lot better, speeds were up from the 60 we were managing till about 110 kmph. Going was good and the first Tea Stop came about real fast.

Tea stop a little after sunrise on NH7

The state of the road is quite pathetic wherever work has not been completed. It is possible to drive a couple of kilometers only to realize that you are supposed to travel on the wrong side. lack of oncoming traffic makes it difficult to judge where one has to take a dievrsion.

Roads were moderately good, they had finished at least one side of the surface but we were still prone to on-coming traffic. The good thing is, traffic is minimal on this road during daytime. Anantpur came up fast in about 3 hours, about 10 AM. Tea, little food and restart. We were also on a tight meeting deadline, so avoided any unnecessary photographic stops.

A pink temple about 140 Kms from Bangalore

A little ghat section comes up after Anantpur and before Gooty, where managing high speeds are possible. A Logan, probably a regular on the road was cruising and we tucked behind. But unknown roads and the suddenly popping ‘XL Potholes’ told us to back off. It’s not worth the risk, after all we had to come back with the same car. Gooty came up in the next 1.5 hours. There are plenty of places to eat here, specially at the NH63 and NH7 junction. Mutton, Rice and Fish is a possibility. Look for a Dhaba on your left right after crossing the junction, the food  is good, the name of the Dhaba was not there. The place looks like a ‘Xerox Shop’ from outside, but opens up nicely once you are in. Very easy to miss, and misinterpret the place.

Rest of the route was pure mile crunching,  Kurnool came up fast. Navigating out of Kurnool took a while, we were on some wrong road.

Mehboobnagar comes up soon after, the roads are nothing to write home about, but good. The NH7 work being complete in most sections makes it a lot easier. There are parts where you drive on the old NH7 and things can get a little scary there. We saw some large size potholes that were good enough to hide an Alto / 800 comfortably. It was already about 1 PM at this time. By the time we crossed Shamshabad Airport turn off, it was 1.30. No regrets, it was still a good drive, and neither of us were tired. Thanks to ample amount of signage, navigating through Hyderabad was a breeze. Plus the fact that I stayed there for about 6 years helped.

Reached target in Somajiguda at 3 PM. Got ready and drove off for the meetings.

Rest is simple, meet people, eat Biriyani, have Haleem, it was pre Eid. Crash out and get up by 4 AM. Yep 4, coz we wanted to avoid the Volvos shining their glossy bulbs at us.

The ride back (5th Sept, 2008)

This went like how we expected, except that we got a little delayed at start and got out only by 5 AM. Filled gas, topped up. Headed out of the city, again was not a major issue as roads and signage (although in a state of construction) were well directed. First stop was right after the turn off for Shamshabad Airport. Tea, Idli, well only tea happened. Idli was not yet out of the oven. Continued out, and faced some extreme truck traffic till  Mehboobnagar. No worries, there was enough music on the pod and enough places to stop by for the idli and vada sambar, we did exactly that. By the time were out of Mehboobnagar, it was almost 8 AM. That was some slow going.

The next few hundred kilometers went fast, this time we knew the roads and were extremely confident.

Except for stops to attend to nature’s call at a Dhaba, stop to shoot the scenery and the ‘devoid of any human’ road. (see attached panorama)

Panorama of NH7 under construction. The car is parked on the un-constructed side of the road. When this is done, it will be a pleasure to drive till Hyderabad from Bangalore

Gooty was our stop for lunch which came up at about 12, Mutton, Fish, Rice etc followed. It did take us a while to locate a good place to eat. Food was good and highly recommended at any Dhaba near this crossing.

After lunch the going got a little tiring. The front driver side window switch malfunctioned (Ford Fusion) when we re going towards Hyderabad. While coming back it completely gave up. As a result we were stuck with the AC on all the time. Not that it would effect the already Frugal mileage, but it was kind of irritating to not have the option. 2 hours later and after many tried to make the window work, we passed Anantpur. We desperately tried locating coffee / tea places but were completely un-successful in doing so. Thankfully the semi completed roads after Anantpur were a breeze to drive. With nothing in the car except for the 2 people, we were able to hit 160+ speeds between each diversion (about 2 – 3 Km gaps). This was fun for the driver (me) and not so much for the passenger, who was by this time in the middle of full-on business emailing with his mobile phone (and taking photos at the same time).

The road is a gem where it is almost complete. White marking were still not in place (Sept, 08) but once they are, it will be like road-heaven.

There was one problem while coming back, we did not compensate for the AC and absolutely forgot to fill the tank somewhere in the middle. As a result, while approaching Bangalore, the reserve lights came up. Now that’s nothing unusual as the car still holds about 10 liters. Which should translate to about 160 – 180 Km on the highway. But my mad runs between diversion to diversion testing the 0 – 100 in 11 seconds (Go Fida!) part saw to it that it lasted just about 110 Km, which was Hebbal Flyover. It kind of felt like the AXN Ad a while back which said “Need that buzz!”.

Filled up on Bellari road after Hebbal Flyover, at about 4 PM and headed home after dropping my friend off at Mekri Circle. The rest of Bangalore took a drastic 3 hours and I was home by 7 PM.

Verdict: Lets do this again.

(Photos: Srikanth Vellore, Shubhodeep Das)