BHPian andrewsbruce recently shared this with other enthusiasts: Hello Everyone, this is my first post on this forum and I’m going to share one of my special journeys that I’ve taken recently. I definitely wanted to start expanding my horizons after finishing my first year of college successfully. And that’s where, as the title indicates, this unplanned journey has taken me-from one side of India to another. I stay in Hyderabad and have taken these journeys with a layover. The plan was to drive from Hyderabad to Visakhapatnam along with my family . And for this we’ve chosen the mighty tata punch. We’ve left Hyderabad at 6:20 AM on May 24 and entered the city outskirts within 40 minutes. We took the Hyderabad-Vijayawada-Rajahmundry-Vizag Route for this drive entering NH-65. The road conditions were good and we arrived at Vijayawada at lunchtime in the midst of traffic, and it took us about an hour to escape its chaotic traffic. From there we’ve catched the NH 16 and thus the lovely roads began, offering us some eye – catching, Lushful greenery spread on the either sides of the highway and its lanes being stretched across 6-8 . In addition, there wasn’t any heavy traffic, so I could pleasantly cruise and listen to the music without being bothered. The car also performed well on the highway although on some occasions it felt a bit underpowered while overtaking but overall it had done it’s job. We arrived at Visakhapatnam around 7:30 p.m. and decided to end the day there. The next day we started exploring the iconic places which included the visit to the well-known RK Beach, and the various museums surrounding it and ended the day at kailasagiri. After that In the following 5 days our time was proportionately spent on the other gems that this city offers such as the Rushikonda beach, Dolphin’s Nose lighthouse , Simhachalam temple and a mini trip to the Araku valley. Even though my heart was still in Vizag, we had to return to Hyderabad after completing the trip in six days. Here are some of the pictures: Neverthless, We have decided to do another road journey to Maharashtra after taking a week off and preparing. However, for this journey we’ve decided to take the Innova crysta rather than the Tata punch and the decision seemed right after encountering numerous potholes, unfinished roads and the crysta tackled those roads with ease. So, our itinerary of Maharashtra included Shirdi, the Ellora caves , and Mumbai. We went via Zaheerabad-Omerga-Naldurg-Tuljapur-Osmanabad-Aurangabad and then hopped on sammrudhi Mahamarg till Shirdi. As far as I’ve observed the road conditions till Karnataka border were good. After entering into Maharashtra the condition was not alright till tuljapur. Encountered several potholes , traffic and some part of the road is having rework. After crossing tuljapur, the roads till Aurangabad were pretty decent and I cruised easily till 120 kmph. We left Hyderabad at 8:30AM and reached to Aurangabad at 5:00 PM with some tea breaks, lunch and fuel stops. Then took the Ellora entry of the samruddhi mahamarg and travelled on it for 110 kms, exiting at Shirdi . It was my first time driving on the samruddhi mahamarg and I’ve truly enjoyed driving on it. The surprising part however was the road reworks that are happening after taking the Shirdi exit. Sometimes the two lanes were to the left and after several minutes it abruptly shifted to the right without even indication. So, it was a bit of a turmoil.Through that road we’ve entered Shirdi at around 8:00 pm and called it a day off. The next morning, we’ve taken the baba’s blessings and went on to visit the ellora caves. The ellora caves were mesmerizing and I’ve enjoyed thoroughly exploring the caves. The following day we woke up early and I felt excited because its time to hit Mumbai! Had our breakfast, packed up all ready to leave Shirdi. For this too we’ve decided to take the samruddhi mahamarg again. And we’ve entered through the Shirdi entry point and travelled till the last stop which ended at”Igatpuri”. After entering Igatpuri as google maps shown we drove through the Mumbai-Agra road till thane and after crossing thane There was a smile on my face as I’ve started to see the tall structures in the far distance because we entered Mumbai!!! Here are a few pics while on the way to Mumbai: It took us 5 hours to drive from Shirdi to Mumbai and we stayed at the ISCKON guest house located at Juhu. After taking the blessings of lord Krishna and some rest it was sunset and we decided to drive to the gateway of India. It was my first time driving on the Bandra-Worli Sealink and as I glanced at the Mumbai skyline while driving It felt like that I’ve been transported to another country. The next day we’ve spent our morning at the Juhu beach. And decided to spend the whole day at Southern part of Mumbai exploring the Gateway of India for a second time, Colaba causeway, marine drive , CST , The Mahalakshmi Temple and Siddhivinayak Mandir along with a sightseeing of the famous houses at Altamount road and bandstand. The next morning, we decided to head back home and travelled through a different path this time via Navi Mumbai catching the Mumbai-Pune Expressway passing through the Lonavala and Khandala ghats. It took a lot of time to get out of the Pune traffic as we entered the city in the middle of morning rush hour. We exited Pune and continued on the NH-65 till Solapur-Naldurg-Omerga-Zahirabad and finally reached Hyderabad at 1:00 AM. I hope you guys have enjoyed reading this thread. As this is my first thread and new to this forum if there are any suggestions and corrections feel free to let me know. Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
