Hyderabad to Bangalore in Six and a half hours

I have had the pleasure of going to Bangalore last year by a Volvo bus and it took me to Bangalore in 6 hours or so - 11.30 p.m. was take off at Lakdi-ka-pul and we were at the Hebbal flyover at 530 a.m. - a break for dinner thrown in between. Though I eulogised the wonderful ride in my blog then, I slept through most of it and had no clue what the road was like. I had a chance to correct that last Saturday when my friend Hari Rao, the maker of the most wonderful biryanis and kebabs and panneer, and I decided to drive down to Bangalore in his Verna.

At 545 a.m. we left my place, and zoomed down the Bangalore highway and stopped at a joint that came up barely an hour from the Shamshabad airport. It was a new place but nicely done and serving some hot stuff pretty early in the morning. One can't miss it; it's the best joint in the whole road now with a car embedded into its front. Hillridge or something like that.

Lots of parking, easy to turn into, good food, service, clean loos. Some coffee and vadas (huge ones) and we were back on the road. Another stop after Kurnool for tea and that was it. We were at Hebbal flyover by 1 p.m. The road was smooth as butter. We averaged 100 and 120 max and never more. Several cars zoomed past at high speeds and we lost sight of them pretty soon.

The drive is fantastic. the road is four laned all through and has a huge divider in between, with plants and trees that protect you from the lights of oncoming vehicles. There are several breaks in the road for traffic to crossover and that is the one you need to watch out for. Ideally stick to the left side lane so you avoid any surprise springing out of the break like autos, two wheelers etc. The countryside was green and pleasant. However the toll is expensive and you end up shelling up a lot (close to 500 bucks I'd think) on various tolls in the car/jeep category.

If you have the time, Hyderabad and Bangalore is best by road. A good car and you could even beat the time that a flight would take.