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One of our friends who had recently driven down to Calcutta from Bangalore mentioned that the stretch of highway running through Odisha was really bad with lots of diversions and we should be prepared for congestion and delays. So just to hedge our bets, I made a separate cancellable booking for the first day. Since 2 pm was the cancellation time, that would give us adequate time to change our plan if we saw that we were nowhere close to reaching Vizag even after 10 or 11 hours of driving.

So with that safety net and with a lot of optimism, we started our journey early in the morning of 18th December. In any case, the route was quite straightforward - we just took the erstwhile NH6 which is now NH16 that goes from Calcutta to Chennai. Day 1: Saturday 18th December The target was to leave after getting at least 5 hours of sleep, considering the long drive of kms ahead.

So we went to bed early at about 9 pm on Friday night and got up with enough time in hand to get out of the house by 3 am. However, cleaning the car and checking that we did not leave anything behind meant that we could only leave by about am, with the Odo reading kms. We made pretty good progress as luckily the roads were devoid of traffic and in just about an hour's time reached Kolaghat, which is some 70 odd kms from Calcutta and has many dhabas and roadside eateries, and usually takes close to two hours to reach.

One of the roadside eateries had just opened, and we stopped for a quick cup of tea and also stocked up on chewing gum. I have found that chewing gum helps me stay alert on long drives. We did pretty good time till Jaleshwar covered kms in less than 3 hours but after Belda the roads took a turn for the worse.

Not only were there numerous diversions, but even where the road was fairly good, the bridges had horrible craters wherever the bitumen layer had worn off.

Unfortunately I just have the one pic of this stretch as I was too busy navigating it, but most of the road from Belda to Cuttack is bad plus the speed limit in Odisha is also 80 kmph and in some places 75 and even 50 even on the NH.

This slowed down our progress and we also took a short break for breakfast. We eventually crossed Bhubaneshwar at about 11 am and decided to carry on till the OTDC Panthaniwas in Rambha where we would have a stopover for lunch. We duly reached Rambha at pm just when we were feeling hungry. Service was also a bit tardy. The strange thing is that while most government resorts are usually in the best possible location, this property was actually not that close to Chilka lake.

Or is it that the lake has receded? This is the view of Chilka lake from the boundary wall of the property. After having a pretty ordinary lunch, we were on our way again and decided to take things slow as the stretch from Gopalpur to Brahmapur had numerous 50 kmph speed limit signs plus these cameras on high masts. Are these speed cams? I didn't try to find out the hard way. But they were a dime a dozen plus there were also cameras on the median. A little after Brahmapur, we entered Andhra Pradesh.

The roads had improved quite a bit after Bhubaneshwar, except for the odd diversion, but the roads in Andhra Pradesh were completely in a league of their own. Butter smooth surface with very little traffic and we quickly made up for the time lost in Odisha. The sun was setting while we were still about two hours away from Vizag.

We finally reached our hotel in Vizag after covering It had ample covered parking, rooms were great and so was the food, but service was atrocious. There was no bell hop available and after a 16 hour drive, we had to carry our luggage to our rooms by ourselves.

The hot water took an eternity to come you have to leave the tap open and waste water till the time it comes , housekeeping forgot to clean the room or even the cups, room service forgot to send plates and cutlery with the food, and on day 1 we got two 1 litre bottles of water which were promptly downgraded to ml bottles from day two. The complimentary breakfast was great but for some reason they were loathe to give the salt and pepper cruets on the table.

Despite all these shortcomings, I would still recommend this hotel simply because of the location. Just be prepared to make multiple calls to housekeeping and room service to make things happen.

The hotel is situated in a happening place on the Beach Road, and an unexpected bonus was that the state boxing championship was happening just opposite our hotel and it really gave a festive flavour to our stay. There were also numerous street food options available. These looked like permanent stalls and not temporary ones put up only for the championship. After spending some time on the promenade, we ordered food in our room and called it a day. Day 2: Museums, Kailasgiri, Thotlakonda and Rushikonda After a hearty breakfast, we walked to two of the unique museums of Vizag.

They were hardly a five minute walk from our hotel. On the way we passed the monument dedicated to victory at sea in the Indo-Pak war. The Eastern Naval Command in Vizag had played a major role in that victory. It was later decommissioned and converted into a museum that is one of its kind in India. The Torpedo tubes form a part of the most potent offensive equipment on the sub.

The last two tubes also double as escape hatches. The entire length and breadth of the sub is full of equipment and it is really astonishing how ingenious humans are, to design something this complex. It is also a testament to the training of the 75 member strong crew that they could run something this complex for upto 60 days at a time.

Apart from the very difficult job of running and maintaining the sub, the crew also had to deal with extremely cramped quarters plus a total ban on bathing due to the limited fresh water availability. There was also the very real possibility of tripping or banging their head if they were not careful.

A sub is a study in hardship, I realized. Right opposite the submarine museum is the TU aircraft museum which features a decommissioned Tupolev aircraft. The Tu is one of the fastest turboprop planes anywhere and this particular model could be used in both defensive and offensive roles. There was even provision for a gunner at the rear of the aircraft. From the TU museum we decided to drive down to Kailasgiri which is on the way to Rushikonda and has a nice park on a hilltop and a ropeway with excellent views of the bay.

The view of the bay from the ropeway. Unfortunately, it wasn't a very clear day. Also, there was a huge line at the ropeway and most people were not wearing masks. Kailasgiri is a nice place for a picnic with excellent views all around. It also has a nice statue garden. Even at pm it was absolutely choc-a-bloc While Raju ka dhaba is known for its sea food, we were almost totally out of luck.

The only things that were available were chicken biryani and fish fry. The biryani was pretty much standard but the fish fry was excellent.

Looks like this is one place that I will have to go back to, to do justice. BHPian TurboNath had suggested that we visit Thotlakonda and Bheemili and while we did not get the time to visit Bheemili as it was almost 4 pm by the time we finished lunch, we did get the time to go to Thotlakonda, which has the ruins of a year old Buddhist monastery on a hilltop.

Not very far from Thotlakonda is Rushikonda beach, which is a nice lagoon and was packed to the brim with people when we reached in the evening. We spent some time at Rushikonda beach and then made our way back to the hotel. The drive from Rushikonda beach is quite nice with the sea on one side and the hills on the other side.

Last edited by Neversaygbye : 5th January at Day 3: Trip to Borra Caves and Araku Valley Borra Caves are one of the most impressive cave systems in the world and are at a distance of about kms from Vizag. We strive to provide a safe environment for patients and caregivers. We inspire our team members, our patients and their families to lead fulfilling lives. We advocate for our patients, the services we provide and work to decrease health disparities in our communities.

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