It was in the October of 2015 when my new Ford ecosport was proudly parked in my garage and something within me wanted to just sit behind the wheels and drive out and be on the long highways . just drive, drive and drive.
And then in came the invitation from my in laws in Chennai for their house warming ceremony
I immediately expressed the idea of the thrill that one would experience in driving from one city to another, and to my utter disbeleif my wife (Lekha) added the fun quotient of being on the roads for a long drive extending for more than a day. That she also loved to travel along with the roads on a self driven car, was a totally new dimension of her in my 19 years of married life.
As crazy as it may sound, but we had decided to travel 1700 km on the bay of bengal across the southeastern coromondal coast to Chennai.
So the planning of my first road trip started with my wife, who herself is a very good driver and loves to drive, and with my children. My daughter EKTA 15 and son VANSH 12 were ecstatic, and so was I.
The story begins with a two day plan to reach Chennai. Being my first road trip I was very excited and the excitement took away the sleep. Could not sleep even for a minute the night before and we were on the road at 4am in the morning.
Day1: Kol-Bhubaneshwar-Vizag (850 km)
We set off on the morning of 20th October 2015 at 4am from my residence on Chowringhee Road, Kolkata.
The plan was to reach Vizag on the first day
The drive chalked out for Day one was
Kolkata _Bhubneshwar_Bramhapur_Vizag a total distance of 850km, was further broken down to cover 440km to Bhubneshwar first and then Bramhapur 175km, onwards to Vizag, 280km.
The start was amazing. With Durga puja and the navratri period the air and the mood was very festive. In no time the Ecosport was zooming on the high roads of NH 6 (now NH 16) and crossed Kharagpur in two hours.
The start on NH 16 was awesome. It is super smooth and I was at the wheel. We crossed Kharagpur in 2 hours. After Kharagpur we crossed over to NH 60 where the road was smoother and sparse in traffic so our pace quickened. The progress was fast and the pace was relentless. The 1497cc, 123 bhp, 3 cylinder 4 valve DOHC Direct Injection, Manual Transmission petrol engine of the Ford Ecosport was revving nice and smooth.
But fatigue set in immediately after crossing Kharaghpur. The moment we turned over to NH 60 (now changed to NH16) towards Jaleshwar I strongly felt the urge to stretch myself. At this point Lekha took over the wheels.
The children were fast asleep and within no time I was struggling to keep my eyes open, whereas Lekha was thoroughly enjoying driving the car. She suggested me to take a power nap and not bother much. I knew we were in safe hands. So much so that I went into a state of complete relaxation. It was around 7am now and the kids were fast asleep at the back seat. Lekha drove the car well past Jaleshwar and into the outskirts of Cuttack. I was in and out of my slumber while Lekha maintained a very decent speed to cover the kms. When i came back to my attentive senses i realised that the mighty Mahanadi was being trespaased from above the bridge. It was like fying in the sky with only the blue water beneath you. I rolled down my windows and leaned my head against the door frame, listening to the wind rush by on my face along with the smell of water and wet soil. The bridge seemed like never ending, and my romance with nature was abruptly ended when the peaceful sleep of my daughter was disturbed by the sound of the gushing winds.
Concentrated Driving – Lekha’s First on the high roads and mine too
Still serious
Crossing the Mahanadi River
Windows rolled up again we cruised past Cuttack and crosssed the Kathajodi river and in no time crossed the city of Bhubneshwar.
The home packed tit bits of the tour were consumed before Bhadrak and it was around 10.45am now. The Ecosport and us also had a much deserved break at A1 Plaza, some 460 km away from home, at Jagannathpur, 30km away from Bhubneshwar. A one hour break with a round of refreshments at the plaza we were back on the roads towards Vizag.
An hour’s rest at the A1Plaza
It was now my turn to test the roads.The tarmac was very smooth with hardly any traffic on the roads, all the way to the Chilka Lake. The roads in Andhra pradesh were of superb quality, and it required a great deal of self-control not to overspeed on these roads. I was now cruising at 120 – 140 kms with good music to listen, with tasty snacks to munch, with very pleasing roads to drive on and with great company. Covering 300 km in three hours we left behind Srikakulam and now were only 100 odd km away from Vizag. Reached Vizag at our relatives place at 5.30pm in the evening. The Ecosport runs very firmly with a nice road grip and minimal body roll and with the superb roads conditions the journey did not let our body get tired.
The Chilka Lake
Quite hard to resist the temptation
It was a delight to drive on these roads
Just following
Vast stretches of empty roads
Train chugging along with the roads
Just be on the roads
Just Drive
Day 2 Vizag_Guntur_Nellore_Chennai
The drive was chalked out as Day two
Vizag_Guntur_Nellore_Chennai a total distance of 800km, was further broken down to cover 390km to Guntur first and then Nellore 245km onwards to Chennai, 175km.
The first leg did not go as per plans chalked out and we were pretty much sure that day two is not going to be any different. After Tea and biscuits we started at 5am in the morning towards Rajahamundry, and crossed the Godavari from the Puskar Ghat over bridge covering 250 kms in two hours. The roads were a delight to drive upon. Enroute we found a huge statue of Lord Hanumaan standing tall exactly 2 kms from Vizag on the left of NH5 (new NH16) after Krishnavaram toll plaza.
And Swami Vivekananda’s statue on a hillock on our right at Tuni, NH5 between Vizag and Rajahmundry.
The Vivekananda Statue
Standing tall on the higway
Lekha couldnt resist the temptation of taking over the controls and towards Vijayawada the ship was in her command. The government of AP had announced the new Capital city of Amravati and the PM was scheduled to lay the foundation stone. Right from the time we entered the outskirts of the city the car started crawling. Huge crowds with banners and life size placards of the the two leaders Naidu and Modi greeted us putting a brake in the speed.We too stopped for meals. Crossing Vijaywada was slow, but then on we did not encounter any problems. There on it was smooth sailing into the city of Chennai
Picturesque
Green all around
Wife and daughter enjoying a break
With my son Vansh
Companions on the road
We started our return journey on the 26th of October. My mother in law also accompanied us in the drive back. Driving back is always very sad and does not light up the interest of jotting down the details of the drive. We did not encounter any problem on our way back but this time the children had all the enthusiasm to maintain our travel logs.
The kids did a good job
Some important observations in the road trip can be summed up as follows
• The Santragachi Kona Expressway was a big disapointment in the overall smooth journey
• Jaleshwar turned out to be the easiest toll plazas to cross over to orrissa
• Each and every tarmac of the roads in Andra Pradesh were in excellent condition
• Lekha’s favourite drive was the all-concrete high roads of the Kharagpur-Balasore Expressway. The tyre noise on the concrete stretch of the road was like music to the ears.
• This drive gave me and my wife, a sense of achievement & pleasure with a lot of confidence to embark upon more challanging drives in lesser known territory. Infact the drive tested our focus and energy of driving for 14 hours and more at a stretch.
Some random pictures
It was an amazing experience driving on the Golden Quadrilateral made up of NH 60 and NH5. In 5years time more people would be traveling by road to even greater distances. The sheer driving pleasure on the high roads cannot be described in words. It has to be experienced driving along with the roads.
Next in line is
Kol_Lucknow_Jaipur_Ajmer_Pushkar_
SawaiMadhopur(Ranthambore)_Orchha_Panna_Khajurao_Varanasi_Kol
Travel Along With The Roads 