Road trip from Bangalore to Jamshedpur by Sriram Shankar in October 2024

Impromptu Bangalore Jamshedpur drive  - October 2024 

Date of Travel -  October 19th & October 20th, 2024. 

Total toll - 2,982/-

Diesel - 8,300 /- (images of bills attached as in the past few millenials thought I was exaggerating about mileage of my car)

Car - Hyundai Venue

Total kms - 1,828.5 (home to home)

Route - Bangalore - Tirupati - Vijaywada - Vishakhapatnam - Bhubaneshwar - Balasore - Baripada - Baharaghora - Jamshedpur 

The festival spirit of Deepawali ignited the fire within us to be home with parents to celebrate Diwali. On 17th October my wife and I requested for Work from home flexibility since long week is not possible at this point of time. To our surprise both of our requests were approved on October 18th. Flight tickets had to be super expensive considering the short notice and festival season so the next best option was to drive down. 

The rain gods did not seem very impressed with our sudden plan and had planned a surprise for us. Considering the weather alerts and rain situation in AP we did not want to delay our travel. It's purely considering the weather situation we hit the roads on Friday October 18th night itself around 1130pm. Left our home in Electronic City Bangalore Around 1130pm and filled up the tank at Shell Intermediate Ring Road opposite to Embassy Golf Links Tech Park and resumed our drive.

Post TC Palya signal after KR Puram market it started with Intermittent rains however after crossing Chittoor there was a heavy downpour. 

For reasons unknown the flyover construction post Tirupati bypass which connects Naidupeta is already open for public use but does not appear on MAPS. 

I followed a APSRTC bus and reached Naidupeta junction with ease. Reached Nellore and parked at HP COCO for a break. Slept in the car itself for close to an hour and resumed our drive. Stopped at Padmavathi Villas in Manubolu for breakfast. Post breakfast resumed our drive. Reached Garuda food courts in eluru around 1240pm and stopped for lunch. Since we were carrying homemade parathas we just picked up some curry from Garuda and had our food in our car itself as Outside food is not allowed in Garuda food courts. 

Resumed our drive and reached BP Ghar in Kasimkota around evening. The first tank filled at Bangalore lasted until Kasimkota. Though the range would have lasted for another 150kms I did not want to take the risk and filled up at BP GHAR in Kasimkota. Had our dinner at Punjabi Dhaba which is attached to BP Ghar in Kasimkota. Resumed our drive and reached Bhubaneswar around 1am and checked into a hotel in Patrapada since it's close to highway so exit would be easy the next day. 

Day 2 - October 20th

Started our drive towards Jamshedpur by 530am from Hotel. Stopped at Chhatia post Manguli Toll plaza for quick breakfast. If one loves Samosa, Kachori and Rasogolla this place is a must stop on the drives. 

The roads around Bhadrak Soro are far better compared to how it was in April 2024. There are still some minor rough patches on that stretch but most of the work is complete and drive was much peaceful. Since state elections in Jharkhand are due we were stopped at Jamshola for normal routine check. Stopped at Sandhu Billu Dhaba in Dalbhumgarh for lunch and reached home safely at 225pm yesterday afternoon.

Credit: Narrated in the first person by Indian Roadie Sriram Shankar