Today we are going to focus on the three route options we had at hand Option 1 : Hyderabad to Chennai via Kurnool, Kadappa & Tirupati in that order – 12 hours and 49 Minutes Option 2 : To Chennai Via – Peddavoora, Ongole & Nellore – 13 Hours Option 3: The easternmost route also via Ongole & Nellore – 12 Hours 22 Minutes. We decided to go with the third option The sun had set by now and it just about started to get dark, we did pass a few towns and villages on the way, but the condition of the road was generally good, driving through the evening was effortless. By around 9 in the night we had covered 300 kilometers, which is a little under half the total distance from our hotel in hyderabad to our destination in chennai. important to remember for those of you driving through the night, Dinner is almost always never a good idea, if you are the only one driving, it doesn’t exactly help especially when you need to stay focused and awake through the drive. After having crossed some more toll booths, the road was just getting better and better, for someone who talks so highly about karnataka roads, Andhrapradesh was putting up a tough fight, these are the type of highways that make driving with our country an absolute pleasure. Now if you are a regular as far as Highway Driving Goes, you will know better than to expect well lit roads through most of your drive through the night. but one thing thats commendable about the drive from hyderabad to chennai and particularly the route we are on is the way that the highway is lit up, the roads look like they really want to be driven on. Now obviously we are still very much in India, and the one thing that you cannot do any thing about no matter how good the roads are is the traffic situation. it was around 11:20​ in the night and we had to cover a little under 260 kilometers still, to get to chennai. this is when we ran into, almost an hour long traffic jam. after all that fantastic driving, we came to a complete stand still for a while. Thankfully for us the ordeal was short lived, at least as compared with prior experiences. we were on the highway once again and were greeted by what appeared to be the last toll booth before entering tamilnadu It was past 1 Am now and we were back on excellent roads once again, this was the last leg of our journey, albeit a little delayed due to the traffic jam, we had no problems what so ever when it came to making it up, my leg was on the accelerator pedal and very much in the direction that we were headed to. We are genuinely thankful to CCD for being there when we need them the most. we stopped off for a quick cup of Coffee , and our last pitstop before getting to our destination. like I’d said earlier we had done 550 kms by now and spent 12 hours on the road .. 150 km is not exactly a big distance but after 500 plus kms behind the wheel it can start to get to you.. I wasn’t exactly sleepy but was most definitely a bit on the tired side …. any way I’m glad I did not part take in dinner .. because if I had eaten … we wouldn’t have been able to make it that night. the last 100 or so kilometers on any drive aren’t really the best by any stretch of imagination If there is anything other than the will to drive, only the nostalgia of coming back to a city you know will keep you going at most times.
Category: SOUTHERN CONQUEST
To tell you the truth i do not quite remember this trip as vividly as one should 26th march 2019 we set off on an adventure , one that would eventually take us to places we’ve never been. the initial plan was to go from mumbai to hyderabad and then to chennai on account of work, normal people would have chosen to book tickets and get on a flight, but we .. we aren’t normal so we decided to pack our bags and dump them in my s-cross, the rest is as they say “history”
26th march 2019 : 7:30pm (goregaon mumbai) packed up and began dumping stuff into our dickie 26th march 2019 : 9:30pm (turbhe mumbai) our first halt for dinner at navi mumbai before exiting to the pune mumbai expressway a by chance encounter with coolberg non alcoholic beer .. a potential client for us at that time alongside starters and much needed nutrition. 26th march 2019 : 11:30pm (still turbhe mumbai) having eaten much more than we’d anticipated, as usual 🙂 .. we decided to hit the road in the company of our friend oliver schories. 26th march 2019 : 11:45pm (Pune Expressway) In Spite of the heavy food and whatnot, we’ve managed to hit the Expressway now. this marks the first 50 km of our journey. 26th march 2019 : 11:57pm (Pune Expressway- Toll 1 ) a whole ten minutes later we’ve hit the first toll on the expressway. 27th march 2019 : 00:05am (Pune Expressway- Toll 1 ) albeit technically the next day, a whole 8 minutes later we’ve decided to take our next pitstop at the new food court en-route pune on the express way. this was a Starbucks / Bio Break. 27th march 2019 : 00:42am (Pune Expressway) by now we’ve managed to clear out of the expressway traffic and finally hit the expressway, it now feels like the expressway. 27th march 2019 : 01:09am (Pune Expressway- Toll 2) we are now at the talegaon exit toll and proceeding towards pune city. 27th march 2019 : 01:29am (Pune city) 20 minutes later we’ve managed to enter pune, and are driving towards god knows where 27th march 2019 : 02:00am (Pune city Exit toll 1) we have driven through pune and are on our exit toll towards solapur. 27th march 2019 : 02:35am (PitStop) three hours later and enroute solapur we’ve taken our second major pitstop. 200 kms done. 500 kms left 27th march 2019 : 02:45am (Solapur Highway) ten minutes later we’re back on the road and well on our way to solapur. 27th march 2019 : 03:05am (Solapur Highway Toll 1 ) We encounter our next toll not so much time later. 27th march 2019 : 03:15am (Solapur Highway ) I’ve never really seen this stretch of the highway before, nothing interesting as such, we’re just cruising along. 27th march 2019 : 04:05am (Solapur Highway ) 300kms done now, that leaves us with 400 to go. Hyderabad we’re coming 27th march 2019 : 04:30am (Solapur Highway PitStop) Who wants to see rabbits at 4:30​ in the morning, WE do 🙂 .. say hi to these guys.. i personally dont appreciate caging them, but at this hour there is not much else we can do, quick bio break and back on the road. 27th march 2019 : 05:30am (Solapur Highway ) Can we please stop calling this a Highway ? trust me this road doesn’t make sense paying any sort of a toll for. 27th march 2019 : 05:45am (Solapur Highway Toll 2) 15 minutes later there is another toll this one i guess was worth it, 27th march 2019 : 06:05am (Solapur Highway) the night is almost. over and we can see the sun coming up slowly but surely, it’s also cold obviously colder than bombay. 27th march 2019 : 06:30am (Solapur Highway – PitStop) we’ve been driving through the night now, and the sun is finally showing up, we’re tired now and getting a little cranky so i think its time to take a break. see some flowers. Trust me this road is also getting to us now. 27th march 2019 : 08:15am (Solapur Highway – Fuel PitStop) a while later later and after a really shitty patch of road i spot a Fuel Pump, its time to tank up and take a break. 27th march 2019 : 08:35am (Solapur Highway – Maharashtra Exit) half an hour later we’ve come to the state border, im assuming that we’ve managed to live through the worst patch of the highway, Onward to better roads i guess. 27th march 2019 : 10:55am (Breakfast Stop – AP ) it’s 11 am now almost but it feels like 3 in the afternoon, we’ve stopped to have breakfast, i dont know if i have pictures but the dosai and upma were heaven .. it honestly felt like lunch 🙂 remember that we should have been at our hotel by now according to google maps .. but then when you’re driving interstate in India always make sure you multiply time by 1.5 or 2. 27th march 2019 : 11:15am (AP – Toll ) 15 minutes later and after gobbling down lunch, sorry breakfast we’re back on the road. 27th march 2019 : 12:50pm (reaching our destination ) after a long drive and with the scorching heat above our heads, we’ve managed to cross the outskirts of Hyderabad and relieved that we’ve reached our hotel.