Please read the Prologue if you have not already

Plan Summary

13/4 – Wednesday – BLR Home to Naidupeta toll (330 KMS)
14/4 – Thursday – Naidupeta toll to Vizag (700 KMS)
15/4 – Friday – Vizag
16/4 – Saturday – Vizag to Bhubaneshwar (440 KMS)
17/4 – Sunday – Bhubaneshwar
18/4 – Monday – Bhubaneshwar
19/4 – Tuesday – Bhubaneshwar to Konark to Puri (150 KMS)
20/4 – Wednesday – Puri
21/4 – Thursday – Puri
22/4 – 23/4 – 24/4 – Return to BLR Home TBD (1400 KMS)

The Lead-up

Finally, the D week had arrived. I got the pollution certificate, filled the tank, and checked the tyre pressures. No red flags and we were set. We completed the packing over the weekend. Since it was going to be a multi-city trip, we planned with multiple trolleys to not pull out all our luggage at all the places. Especially for just a night’s stay, we packed our stuff in a duffel bag. The night before we loaded the luggage in the car.

Day 1 – 13/4/2022 – Wednesday

The D-day… My wife and I were supposed to work till noon. At exactly 12 PM, we closed our laptops, had our lunch, and without wasting any time, got into the car and said GO !!!

The plan for the day was to get to the ECR NH16, the highway connecting Chennai and Kolkata. Considering it is just an overnight stay and the next day was going to be a huge one, we booked our stay at Hotel Kinnera K45 which is right on the NH16 highway.

Until the Hoskote toll, we experienced quite a bit of traffic, and manoeuvering the bull inside the city was not that easy. Once the traffic eased, we gained speed and in no time, we reached the Chittoor bypass. It was scorching heat. Out of nowhere, in a matter of minutes, it became cloudy and started raining – A much needed blessing for our trip.

The road beyond Chitoor bypass was a nightmare when I traveled last time. This time around it was pure bliss until we neared Tirupati. I was able to maintain consistently above 100s. The stretch between Tirupati and Naidupeta via Sri Kalahasthi is still a mess with lots and lots of trucks. We needed to be extremely careful during overtaking. We reached the important landmark of entering NH16 around 5 PM which was going to be our lifeline for the next 10 days.

The Hotel Kinnera K45 was just on the highway. I filled up the car’s tank and checked ourselves into our room. It was a comfortable room with a good air conditioner and hot water geyser.

There was a fantastic play area within the campus and my daughter enjoyed every bit of it. I was worried that how am I going to take her back from here.

With the reason for dinner, I pulled her out and had our dinner in the same in-house restaurant. Considering we were in Andhra, I asked them to not make it spicy. Soup, Chapathis, and paneer butter masala were all too good. With nothing much to do, we retired for the night.

Day 2 – 14/4/2022 – Thursday

Hotel Kinnera K45 to Vishakapatnam (700 kms)

This was one of the principal days of the trip. From the time, I started planning, Day 2 was always going to be significant wherein I had to cover the larger part of the distance to Odisha (700 out of 1400 km).

Two major landmarks for the day are Krishna River Basin (Dry river bed) and the Godavari River Basin (Surplus Basin where there is water even in summer).

Preethi and I woke up at 4 AM. Initially, I was planning to carry a red bull to keep myself energized. But after having read many of the experts at Team BHP, I decided against it. Instead, as suggested in the forum, I went with a steaming hot shower. It actually worked and I was really relaxed and energized at 5 AM. With just a duffel bag to dump, we bid goodbye to the hotel and were straight back on NH16. Our plan was to cross Vijayawada (first 350 km) by lunch.

My daughter had seen many sunsets but this was her first time on the east coast, that she was seeing the sunrise. It was a surreal moment with different hues of pink and orange. She enjoyed it a lot but by the time the first rays of the sun fell on us, she and Preethi fell asleep.

I slowly picked up the pace and maintained a steady speed of 110-115 km/hr. I had covered close to 140 km in the first 90 minutes. We packed bread, jam, and peanut butter for our breakfast so as to not waste time. With a quick bio-break and breakfast, I covered 180 km in the next two hours. By around 10 AM, I was at Vijayawada which was at least two hours ahead of schedule. Getting out of Vijayawada was still a pain, but the road after got better and after about an hour, we decided to take a photo break finally.

Delightfully decorated medians

Not only do they avoid night glare, but they make the drive heavenly during the mornings.

Cooling his heels

At around 11 AM, we decided to take a break for brunch. Though we listed many restaurants enroute, there was none in the vicinity for the next two hours. Out of the blue, Preethi found a food court. It was indeed a savior. It had abundant parking spaces and clean washrooms. The food was even better and the coffee was bitterly delicious. Their signature dish Rasam Idly was extremely spicy but yummy.

Garuda Food Court

Frothing Coffee. There’s nothing sweeter than a cup of bitter coffee.

Now the next bigger landmark for the day was to cross the Godavari river. The last time around, it was flowing in full flow and had an immense underwater current. This time, though the flow was not that much, still was flowing from one corner to the other. Truly, this is a surplus basin.

Godavari River Bridge – The road to heaven?

Truly, Live to Drive

As we were always ahead of schedule, we reached Vizag town in broad daylight. I was planning to be in town by 7 PM. Here I’m driving around 5 PM, and we saw a beautiful landing of an A320 just next to us. My daughter then just realized how big an aircraft can be. We reached our stay at Hotel Winsar Park and it had sufficient parking to safely park the bull.

Though the room size was small, the hospitality was excellent. Be it from the housekeeping staff, or the restaurant waiters they made us feel special.

Bizarrely, I was not feeling tired. After a hot shower, we decided to step out and get to the beach.

Vizag RK Beach

Children’s park on the beach

After getting a bit of fresh breeze from the beach, we went to a nearby aquarium, and again the first time for my daughter. Though it is not a big one, whatever it had, she enjoyed it a lot. Post dinner, we retired for the day.

Day 3 – 15/4/2022 – Friday

We woke up leisurely in the morning as we were planning the day at Vizag only. There was a clock tower visible from our lobby. Though it was not functional, it became a landmark thing for my daughter. Every time, she was checking if it was indeed not working.

We had our breakfast at the in-house restaurant. The buffet had a good spread with Dosa, Idly, Aloo Paratha, Vada, and a sweet.

After breakfast, we decided to head to Kailasagiri hills. Last time around, we just spent a few mins at the top, before going to Araku. So decided to explore more this time.

En route to Kailasagiri: Behind the camouflage, there is a buzzing city and a roaring ocean.

Radar station

The Indian equivalent of the Great Ocean Road. Gorgeous Location.

Another huge clock in the middle of a garden. My daughter had developed some interest in these bigger clocks.

Lord Shiva and Parvati in an unruffled posture

Well-maintained Garden.

But for the scorching heat, one can sit here and enjoy this view forever.

Zoomed-in. Awesome location with ocean and mountains on either side

Another children’s play area. Though it was pricking heat, my daughter said she cannot come without playing. After sweating profusely, she decided to get back into the comfort of the car.

Again, this view is inviting. We got to the place and the breeze was truly dreamlike. Preethi and I sat there on a bench and rewound some of our memories together.

Looks like even the Bull likes this view and the surroundings.

Because of the heat, we came back to the room and had our lunch. We decided to take rest and then explore a little later in the evening. This became our pattern for the rest of the trip. Wake up early, see some places, get back to the room for lunch, take some rest and explore again in the evening. We went to submarine and aircraft museums in the evening. Preethi loved these museums.

Submarine Museum – INS Kursura (S20) – A diesel-electric submarine of the Indian Navy. She was India’s fifth submarine. Kursura was commissioned on 18 December 1969 and was decommissioned on 27 February 2001.

Awe-inspiring

Unused Torpedo from the submarine

Inside the submarine – Dining hall, Operator’s room, Captain’s room, Dormitory

This is the actual connector between the submarine chambers. Even a five-footer has to crouch and move across. Imagine the actual six-plus guys. They have replaced them with actual steel doors for easier movements of tourists

Heart of the submarine – The engine

We also went to the aircraft museum opposite the submarine museum. This is another must-visit place if you are visiting Vizag wherein you get to see the actual Tupolev Tu-142 aircraft. The aircraft served 29 years with the Indian Navy and had 30,000 hours of accident-free flying by the time of its retirement in 2017. The aircraft was flown in from Arakonam to its final resting place. Also, if you are not familiar with Telugu, there is a pre-recorded English audio guide available.

Fighter Jet

Majestic Tupolev Tu-142

Colossal in size

We found an Organic Icecream shop nearby and thought we will give it a try. My God !! It was so delicious. For people, who visit Vizag, this has to be in your must-visit places.

After spending quality time in the beach and the sand, we returned back to the room and had our dinner. Day 4 was the D-Day of our trip as we were going to enter a new state in India, Orissa, an uncharted territory. With those exciting thoughts, we slept for the day.