Bangalore – Pondicherry (via NH7/NH66) (321 km)Pondicherry – Bangalore (via ECR/SH58/NH46/NH7) (426 km)
This trip was more of a preparation/training trip.We called up hotels/resorts and all were booked or overpriced beyond our budget. My favourite Banyan Beach Resort is closed; St. James only had a suite available. Kailash, Ashok, Ajantha Sea View and Dune were beyond my budget. Finally got a nice guest house near Auroville called GAIA’s Garden with a nice AC cottage with kitchen but only drawback is no food available and it is not near the beach. Anyway the purpose of this trip was more of a long drive with the baby rather than roaming around there. I had already been to Pondi twice before (once by bike and another by PTC Volvo). This was the first occasion that my car will take the road to Pondi.
Day 1 (19th Jul, 2008): Bangalore – Sarjapur - Hosur – Krishnagiri – Uttangarai – Chengam – Thiruvannamalai – Gingee - Tindivanam – Pondi
Sarjapur/SH35 route: At 5:30AM sharp, I set the tripmeter to 0 and started the journey. It was drizzling outside. We crossed DRDO phase II and hit the ORR and slowly reached Bellandur signal and took left and came out at TOTAL MALL on Sarjapur Road. I didn’t push the car and was driving in 60-70kmph range.
This was the first time I will be taking this route as Hosur Road till Attibele is under construction mode. Taking Hosur Road can be a pain anytime now. This route turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Another 15km on Sarjapur Road we reach Sarjapur circle, it is marked right for Attibele and straight for ChikkaTirupati(13km) and Devanahalli(67km). My Tripmeter reads 26km. We took the right turn onto SH35. It was a beautiful 2 laned road and another 9km we reached Attibele junction took left and in 2 km went passed Karnataka border check post. With such leisurely drive we were in Hosur in 1 hour and which I thought was fast and we could not have done that on Hosur Road via Electronic City. It is actually a great route for people coming form North and East Bangalore and even for HSR layout and Koramangala residents as well.Once passed Hosur flyover (which was in repairing mode and not in good shape now) the GQ becomes a dream and my speed starting to hover at 120kmph. I overtook a Zen Estilo and he got personal and started racing with me. A car like Estilo with stock tyres could not take those curves on the Hosur – Krishnagiri stretch which I was taking at 120-130kmph and finally gave up the chase. I must admit that the Michelins in my car do perform very well in rain and corners.It was by 7:15AM and trip reading 72km, when we reached A2B (BPCL Ghar outlet). I did not tankup the car from Bangalore which I always used to do in the previous trips. With the steep fuel price rise I lost my obsession for Shell/Reliance and hence planned to tank up with cheaper fuel in TN and BPCL COCO Ghar outlet was the best point for a refill. We tanked up the car at the Ghar outlet.
This was the first time I will be taking this route as Hosur Road till Attibele is under construction mode. Taking Hosur Road can be a pain anytime now. This route turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Another 15km on Sarjapur Road we reach Sarjapur circle, it is marked right for Attibele and straight for ChikkaTirupati(13km) and Devanahalli(67km). My Tripmeter reads 26km. We took the right turn onto SH35. It was a beautiful 2 laned road and another 9km we reached Attibele junction took left and in 2 km went passed Karnataka border check post. With such leisurely drive we were in Hosur in 1 hour and which I thought was fast and we could not have done that on Hosur Road via Electronic City. It is actually a great route for people coming form North and East Bangalore and even for HSR layout and Koramangala residents as well.Once passed Hosur flyover (which was in repairing mode and not in good shape now) the GQ becomes a dream and my speed starting to hover at 120kmph. I overtook a Zen Estilo and he got personal and started racing with me. A car like Estilo with stock tyres could not take those curves on the Hosur – Krishnagiri stretch which I was taking at 120-130kmph and finally gave up the chase. I must admit that the Michelins in my car do perform very well in rain and corners.It was by 7:15AM and trip reading 72km, when we reached A2B (BPCL Ghar outlet). I did not tankup the car from Bangalore which I always used to do in the previous trips. With the steep fuel price rise I lost my obsession for Shell/Reliance and hence planned to tank up with cheaper fuel in TN and BPCL COCO Ghar outlet was the best point for a refill. We tanked up the car at the Ghar outlet.
In about an hours time we finally got stuck at the Samalpatti Railway crossing. The railgate opened after 15min and immediately after Uttangarai we found that the road was heavily potholed but the good sign was the patchwork was on. It was only about a km of potholed road we reached better roads and our speeds too increased. I could easily do 90-100kmph from Chengam onwards till Thiruvannamalai.
Passing Thiruvannamalai: We reached Thiruvannamalai at 10:30AM. I kept left on the highway till we reach the huge shiva temple in the right side. Once we cross that temple the road is blocked (it is made oneway), we immediately turn left. Actually there is a U turn from road to the highway to Pondi but I took the first right and hit the main road immediately. After about a km we stopped under a tree for about 5min. It was food time for the kid so my wife moved in the rear seat with the baby. Once the navigator seat is stretched forward fully there is enough space in the back to prepare food and feed the kid. By the time it was very hot and it was better to be in AC environs of the car. So I decided to start the journey.
We passed Gingee fort in no time and reached Tindivanam by noon. Took the Tindivanam flyover where NH45 from Chennai meets NH66 at the top of the polo-mint shaped flyover.
We passed Gingee fort in no time and reached Tindivanam by noon. Took the Tindivanam flyover where NH45 from Chennai meets NH66 at the top of the polo-mint shaped flyover.
At 5PM, we decided to check out the beach. We drove down to ECR and went to a nice beach (behind Soorya beach Resort). Spend the evening there until it was sunset. After sunset we drove down to beach road and had nice walk along the road and we drove to the other end as well. The atmosphere was really very good and it was fun enjoying the evening breeze on beach road.During this time we decided to cut short our trip and return the next day. Reason was it was very hot and as planned we wanted to cover Chunnambar Island the next day. With a 6 month old kid in this heat I thought it would not be advisable to do it now. May be sometime later.We had a nice dinner at Soorya Beach Resort before returning back to Cottage by 10PM.Day 2 (20th Jul, 2008): Pondi – Mahabalipuram – Chengalpattu – Kanchipuram – Ranipet - Vellore – Krishnagiri - BangaloreAfter a very nice sleep we woke up at 6AM, packed our belongings, prepared the kid and after a nice shower started from cottage by 8AM. Immediately we took the ECR (East Coast Road) towards Mahabalipuram. Soon realized to tank up the car in Pondi so entered into an IndianOil outlet next to Pondi Engineering Collage and did a tank full. Fuel cost Rs48 at Pondi, a good Rs10 more than Bangalore.
ECR experience: This was the first time I was driving on SH49 (popularly known as ECR) and must say it was truly a great experience. It reminded me of another such 2 laned road, the SH61 (Putalapattu – Tirupati - Naidupet). I was consistently doing 110kmph but I must also add that some of the curves are quite steep and negotiating those in lesser speeds is advisable. They also charged me Rs35 till Mahabalipuram.
We broke off for breakfast at Midway restaurant at about 9:20AM. Although the ambience was ok and their chutneys and ghee roast was fine but the ottapam and chai was poor. Overall the restaurant was much overpriced. We paid Rs110. (chais(Rs30) + Ottapam(Rs35) + GheeDosa (Rs40) + Tax). I expected better taste at that price. It was nowhere compared to the beautiful Kamat chains in Karnataka.
I was speeding very fast and enjoying my maiden ECR drive. It was very hot to say and we were sweating even in the restaurant.
It was 10:30AM when we turned left from ECR near Kalpakkam Township and entered SH58 towards Chengalpattu. This was a nice highway too but with small villages enroute the drive was getting slower. Somehow I managed to reach Chengalpattu by 11PM and took the Kanchipuram route. NH45 passes by Chengalpattu as a flyover at one corner of the town. Chengalpattu to Kanchipuram was a very fast drive. With lesser traffic and better roads I was consistently doing 100-110kmph and reached Kanchipuram outskirts by 11:30PM. I did about 40km in about 30min.
Stuck at Kanchipuram: I knew there was a left turn to hit Vellore road onto GQ from Kanchi but don’t know somehow I missed it and upon asking locals they directed me a wrong road which leads to the GQ on the Chennai side. I lost a good 45min in this jugglery.
I went past Kanchipuram Railway station and in another 4-5km hit the GQ. Not only I lost some kms but in all this process I lost a good one hour. It was 12:30Pm when I hit GQ at Kanchipuram BP. Car started to hit 120-130kmph and also I got an S-Class doing similar speeds and kept on following it. This helped me make up the lost time and did about 95km in the next hour. Vellore and Ranipet passed in no time.Tamil Nadu was baking outside as we were passing Vellore. Lesser traffic also helped maintain the speeds. In no time we passed 2 toll booths and were nearing Vaniyambadi. At Vaniyambadi I had to stop to fill some water from the watertank in the boot. I have been driving nonstop from ECR till now.Qualis at 140: I was doing 120kmph after the Vellore BP. Suddenly I see this Qualis overtaking me. I was amazed the way it took off. I am sure it was doing atleast 140kmph speeds with 5-6 people inside. It was surprising to me as I never expected Qualis to attain those speeds.I had to stop after Krishnagiri Toll booth for baby change over session. I calculated the distance was amazed that I covered 210km in 2hr 15min which also included 3 minor stopovers at Toll booths and a 5min break to fill water. Thanks for the amazing GQ we could cover such distance so fast.After that the drive was regular and we reached Attibele by 3:20PM. Took a right turn and reached home in another one hour.
Total tripmeter read 426 km.
About the Car: We covered 765km in 2 days and the car returned 15+ kmpl approx. (need to check the exact mileage after a tankfull here) with about 90%AC usage.
Signing Off
Vijay
