After a lot of debate and discussions with a number of guys,
I got into come confusion about taking my car from Bhubaneswar to Kochi.
Honestly, most of the people discouraged the idea of driving it alone. So the
options left were either to hire a driver and then drive or send it by a packer
and mover. I checked with Agarwal packers and the quote was 34k, however it
could be negotiated down to around 30k. However I wanted to bring some luggage
and the packers don’t allow that in the car. So that would bear some additional
cost as well. And then I read from the net about the possible other problem
with the movers and packers; damage to the car, long delay in delivery,
difficulty in reaching out to them in case of any issue etc. So I dropped the
idea of sending it by movers and packers.
Getting a reliable driver is always a challenge. So I
finally decided to drive it alone with a target to reach within three days and
started on October 3, 2014. I checked with google map to get an idea about the
route and decided to follow the route Bubaneswar to Visakhapatnam to Vijaywada
to Nellore to Naidupet to Turupati to Vellore to Salem to Palaghat to Thrisur
to Kochi.
Day 1: Bhubaneswar to Vijaywada
I had a Chevrolet Sail petrol. The vehicle is good with good
safety features like ABS, EBD, Airbag etc, so that gave me some confidence. I
went to bed a little early and decided to start little late in the morning
without any hurry. I was little tense as well. The only comfort for me was my
previous experience of making to Bhubaneswar to Chennai.
I started at around 7.30 in the morning and set a target to
reach Visakhapatnam at 1 PM and Vijaywada. I put some food stuff in the car and
few bottles of water. The initial couple of hours were little discouraging as I
could make hardly 100 km. However after that it was easy and smooth. The border
between Orissa and Andhra is seamless and the road is good. However there are
certain patches where the skin of the road is taken off and that make the ride
little rough. I didn’t try to press the accelerator too much, rather preferred
to maintain a speed of around 90 to 100 km/h. I reached Vizag at exactly 1 PM,
but it took nearly half an hour to cross the city. Be careful about the buses
there, but not a difficult part to drive. After crossing the city, I stopped for
lunch and then started within half an hour. I reached Vijaywada at around 6 pm,
the distance covered was around 850 km. I then searched for a hotel after
crossing that city and got one on the high way. Although little expensive,
worth that considering it provides AC room and parking for car. Had a good
sleep there after watching some TV and making a few phone calls.
Day 2: Vijaywada to Salem
I followed the same principle of not trying to get up very
early. Again started at around 6.30 in the morning. The road from Vijaywada to
Chennai is excellent. There I pressed to around 140 km/h for half an hour, but
soon realized that it was straining eyes. So preferred to continue at around
100. After driving almost 100 km, I hit bad stretch of road. Lot of repairing work
and so diversions at every one km perhaps. That disturbed my schedule a bit. 55
km after leaving Nellore, I reached a small place called Naidupet and from
there, I took a diversion to right that goes to Tirupati. A few meters after
the diversion, there is another diversion to left that goes to Tirupati. The
road is two lane type without any divider. So overtaking was difficult. After
reaching Tirupati, there is a bypass that takes you to Chittoor and then to
Vellore. Be careful about the diversions, one goes to Bangalore and the other
to Chittoor. The city Chottor is a small one, but the traffic is messy. The 3
km stretch will take some time. As I reached there at around noon time, traffic
was less. Then Vellore is almost same, but just after the city of Vellore end,
there is a right turn that takes you to the Chennai Bangalore highway. It is probably one of the best highways in
India. Then Salem is further 200 km away. This road took me to Krishnagiri and
from there, there is a left diversion towards Coimbatore. I reached Salem at
around 5 PM, but instead of staying there, I moved towards Coimbatore. Where
the city of Salem ends there is a right turn to a road that goes to Coimbatore.
After driving for around 30 km on this Salem Coimbatore road, I found Saravana
Bhavan. Decided to have some food there and night halt as well. This Saravana
Bhavan offers good AC rooms and also secured place for car parking. Now from
this place, Kochi is around 350 km away. So I was little relaxed and confident.
Day 3: Salem to Kochi
Saravana Bhavan offers complimentary good breakfast. I had
that and then was on the road at around 8. I was driving towards Coimbatore and
at a point almost 40km before Coimbatore, I noticed a signboard indicating
Pallaghat. So I stopped there to check, and someone told me that that road is
extremely bad and should be avoided. So drove towards Coimbatore and just a few
km before reaching Coimbatore, there is a left diversion that goes to
Pallaghat. Immediately after taking the diversion I hot a toll gate and after
crossing that gate, I probably had to show that toll receipt at 4 or 5 places.
Then the challenge comes, gradually the road condition deteriorates. Almost 30
km before Pallaghat, real bad stretch starts. It is a National highway and work
is going on. So I hope the road will be good after some time. But right now it
is pathetic. There is a particular stretch of around 10km that probably took an
hour. Be careful of the buses, Lorries and also cars. The whole 50 km stretch
to reach Thrisur is extremely bad. But once I reached Thrisur, then it is again
a good four lane road and I reached Kochi at around 1 PM. So finally on the
third day I reached Kochi, drove it all alone and without anyone giving me any
company. The odometer showed 1,902 km and petrol consumed was 108 litre and
total toll gate charges Rs. 1,560/-
So my experience says that with proper rest and planning, it
is not at all difficult. The vehicles now a days are reliable with lot of
safety features, tubeless tyres plus good roads with toll gates, all these make
it safe and easy.
