Drive from Hyderabad to Tirupati

  After the epic drive in May, I did not feel the craving to take the car out for a long drive anytime soon. Then came a wedding reception for a friend in Tirupati and I got another reason to take the car out again. When we got this Audi A4 in Nov-19, Tirupati was the first long drive that we did. And here again after 3 years, we are about to make that trip again.

Earlier Trip from Hyderabad to Tirupati

We have the new set of Pirelli Tyres this time and I was eager to see how it performs. To be honest. I did not find any significant change in the driving dynamics compared to earlier Continental Sport. The tyres are supple and very comfortable, with very minimal road noise and with zero harshness. Combine that with the ultimate suspension setup of Audi, which to me personal preference is far better than the BMWs and Mercs. The fine balance between firmness and softness of suspension which Audi has been able to achieve, I don’t find that anywhere else.

As always, we left early morning from Hyderabad at around 6 AM and reached Tirupati before lunch time. Booked our stay at Taj Tirupati and it is definitely the most comfortable place to stay in Tirupati if you feel tired after a long drive of 8 hours. Stayed there for a couple of night and drove back to Hyderabad via the same route. The route that we took was the same as we did 3 years ago. Hyderabad – Kurnool – Nandyala – Kadapa – Tirupati. The road condition is decent and on most occasions it is with a divider.

Total distance driven: 564 + 8 + 564 = 1136 km

Total time taken: 8 hours onward and 7 hours 45 min return 

Average fuel economy: 14.5

Car: Audi A4 Petrol

Total Toll Tax:

Passengers: 3 adults

Luggage: 3 suitcases

Drive from Kalimpong to Hyderabad

Total distance driven: 2189 km

Total time taken: 40 hours 2 minutes 

Average fuel economy: 13.8 km/l

Car: Audi A4 Petrol 

Total Toll Tax: 

Passengers: 2 adults 

Luggage: Packed to the brim 

Route: Kalimpong - Siliguri - Kolkata - Bhubaneswar - Vizag - Hyderabad

Trip Summary

Click here for the onward journey

Day 1: Kalimpong to Siliguri - The onward journey to Kalimpong was done with only 2 stops, Vizag and Kolkata. That kind of driving works for me but not for Supriya. So, we decided that for the return journey we would take 4 stops instead of 2. The first stop was supposed to be in Siliguri, I did my research and found that there is a Marriott Bonvoy in Siliguri. Booked our stay there for 1 night. On the d-day, had proper breakfast, packed our stuff in the car boot and left well past 9 AM.  The route from Kalimpong to Siliguri has a lot of car and taxi traffic, though it was only for a couple of hours. We reached Siliguri, check-in the hotel, had our lunch, relaxed for the rest of day, getting ready for the toughest leg of the journey – Siliguri to Kolkata – the most dreaded road trip in this entire stretch. 

Day 2: Siliguri to Kolkata - As expected this part of the trip was supposed to be the toughest. The primary reason was the pathetic road conditions, pathetic traffic and the highways going through the villages in the entire stretch. I can confidently say that out of all the road trips that I have done till date, my worst experience has been in the roads of West Bengal. Every other state seems to be better than this one. I somehow managed this journey and by evening reached Kolkata. I was dead tired by the time we reached and knowing so I booked our stay in Taj Bengal, Kolkata so that, if not anything else, atleast the stay part should be good. We left Siliguri at 5 AM and reached Kolkata by 6-30 PM. 

Day 3: Kolkata to Bhubaneswar – While booking for a night stay in Bhubaneswar, I came across a few good names. I booked our stay in Taj Vivanta, as that was exactly beside the highway and was almost at the other end of Bhubaneswar, making our exit form BBSR next day a lot easier. The hotel was very nice, I think one of the best Vivantas I have seen out of the entire chain. The food was very nice and the staff was excellent. The drive from Kolkata to Bhubaneswar was very cool and even though we left after breakfast from Kolkata at around 8 AM, we managed to reach Bhubaneswar by 2-50 PM. The road condition was decent and the traffic was also not much.  

Day 4: Bhubaneswar to Vizag – This was undoubtedly the best stretch in the entire journey, not just about the road condition but also about the density of the traffic. While leaving from Vivanta BBSR, the TPMS of the car started showing warning signs. Check the tyre pressure and there was a drop in pressure in the left rear tyre. Immediately pumped up the pressure using my double barrel air pressure pump, reset the TPMS and started the journey again. The puncture was not big enough to cause sudden drop in pressure, but I might have to pump up the pressure once again when I reach Vizag. I planned that if I can manage pumping up the pressure once or twice in the entire trip, then I will get the puncture checked only when I reach Hyderabad. Luckily the TPMS did not show any other sign until Vizag. We had our proper breakfast at Vivanta and left at about 8 AM and reached Vizag at 2-30 PM. We booked our stay at Marriott Vizag. I would definitely not recommend anyone staying at the hotel. The color shades that they have used inside the room are absolute disgrace, the staff / manager at the front desk were the worst I have seen till date. They have absolutely no regard for the customer. I would rather recommend people to stay at The Park, Vizag. I think that is the best hotel out of the lot. Even the Taj Gateway does not come any close to The Park. Marriott Vizag is best avoided if you want peace of mind. 

Day 5: Vizag to Hyderabad – Left after breakfast around 7-40 AM. The Vizag traffic was also in its full swing. Although the road condition is decent between Vizag and Hyderabad, the traffic is a lot. Besides you also have to go past Vijaywada though the city which adds a needless hour to the entire drive. Luckily the entry to Hyderabad is always cool as the last stretch of the journey happens through the international class ORR, which makes the end of the journey peaceful. Reached home at about 5-30  PM. 

At the end of the journey, the car completed 36,000 km. The tyres were almost worn out, got them replaced. The OEM tyre was Continental Sport, this time Audi workshop recommended me to get Pirelli. Got all the 4 replaced for about 70k and asked them to do the 3rd servicing too as I completed 15,000 km after the 2nd service, although it was only 7 months since I got the last servicing done. 

Bird Watching in North Bengal

The super rich birding location that North Bengal is, it is indeed one of the most sought after birding locations. Primarily because of its proximity to Kolkata  and connectivity through Bagdogra. Also being the entry point into Sikkim, this location always plays a very crucial role for birding trips. When we decided to stay in Kalimpong for 3 months, our primary objective was to cover all the parts of North Bengal as extensively as possible. So we decided to plan our birding trips covering all the locations one-by-one. We plan to cover the below locations and I will keep updating this post as and when it gets covered. 

1. Singalila, Senchal 
2. Kalimpong (our base camp) 
3. Latpanchar, Shivkhola, Rongtong 
4. Lava, Neora, Dooars, Lataguri 

BIRDING IN SINGALILA: (April-2022) 

This one is a very famous trekking location and one of the most popular to sight the Red Panda. We did not focus on the Red Panda though, as our objective was only birding. The 4 nights and 5 days that we spent there could have been much better if weather supported a little and if our bird-guide was a little more efficient. All the 5 days were covered with dense fog and there was hardly a window of 1-2 hours in the entire day that we managed to do some actual birding. 

I would definitely want to caution my readers about our bird guide, who was not at all effective in his job. He was Sandeep Chakraborty (owner of Passerine retreat in Rishop - Lava) and we had to do this trip as there was nobody else with whom we could go. At the end we regretted going with him for umpteen number of reasons. I can list down all those reasons here, but it will be a waste of my time going through it. Don't get fooled by the pictures that Sandeep and his friend Rishabh post on the facebook. They might be good for amateur and beginner birders but they are definitely not at all good for advanced birders like us. Stay away from them at all cost. Having said that, I realized the best way to do birding in Singalila is to hire a local who can help you with the birding. I will provide the best contact info for whoever is interested in doing birding there, His name is Tashida and his number is 08670972772 (available on whatsapp) He owns a few vehicles himself and knows everybody in Singalila. He will be your best bet to find the best possible place of stay, the best possible local guide, and the best possible itinerary. 

The locations that we covered for birding were Tumling, Gairibas, Kalipokhri, Sandakhphu and Senchal enroute to Kalimpong. Our place of stay for all 4 nights was Tumling but we came to know later that even Gairibas has good places of stay. 

Green Shrike-Babbler 

Red-throated Thrush male

Red-throated Thrush female

Rufous-fronted Tit

Plain Mountain Finch

Hume's Leaf Warbler (lifer)

Alpine Thrush

Black-throated Parrotbill

Rufous-vented Tit

Fire-tailed Myzornis (lifer)

White-collared Blackbird male

Olive-backed Pipit

Common Stonechat male

Yellow-billed Blue Magpie

Hodgson's Redstart male

Hodgson's Redstart female

Griffon Vulture

Eurasian Jay

Bar-throated Siva

Satyr Tragopan male (lifer)

Grey Wagtail (br)

Green-tailed Sunbird female

Grey-crested Tit

Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush male

Common Rosefinch male

Common Rosefinch female

White-throated Laughingthrush

Grey-sided Laughingthrush (lifer)

Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush

Hill Partridge male (lifer)

Hill Partridge female (lifer)

Verditer Flycatcher

Green-backed Tit

Eurasian Cuckoo

Hoary-bellied Himalayan Squirrel (Irrawady Squirrel)

Yellow-throated Marten

@ Tumling

BIRDING IN KALIMPONG: (March-22 till May-22)

Please click and refer to this link if you want to know more about our trip to Kalimpong. For this post, I will list below only the bird pics that we clicked staying at Kalimpong. For the rest of the pics and trip details, click the above link. 

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch

Lesser Yellownape female

Grey-winged Blackbird male

Yellow-bellied Warbler

Greenish Warbler

Crimson Sunbird male

Crimson Sunbird female

White-bellied Erpornis (lifer)

Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher male

Common Tailorbird

Red-vented Bulbul

Himalayan Bulbul

Maroon Oriole male

Jungle Babbler

Oriental Magpie Robin female

Asian Barred Owlet

Red-rumped Swallow

House Swift 

Green-billed Malkoha (lifer)

Greater Yellownape female

Black-faced Warbler

Lesser Yellownape male

Oriental Turtle Dove

White-rumped Munia

Yellow-vented Warbler (lifer)

Blue-throated Barbet

Blue-winged Siva

Red-tailed Minla male

Red-tailed Minla female

Chestnut-crowned Warbler 

Little Pied Flycatcher female

Large-billed Crow

Whiskered Yuhina

Great Barbet

Common Myna

Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush (lifer)

Oriental White-eye

Grey-headed Woodpecker female

Taiga Flycatcher male 

Blue-whistling Thrush

Long-tailed Broadbill

Scarlet Minivet female

Black Bulbul

Spangled Drongo

Grey Treepie

Orange-headed Thrush

Chestnut-winged Cuckoo (lifer)

Grey-hooded Warbler

Grey-headed Woodpecker male

Leopard Cat (lifer)

Common Green Magpie (lifer)

Puff-throated Babbler 

Collared Scops Owl

Blue-throated Blue Flycatcher male

Greater Yellownape male

Oriental Magpie Robin male

House Crow

Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher

BIRDING IN LATPANCHAR: (April-22) 

After completing the Latpanchar Trip (which included Mahananda, Rongtong and Shivkhola), I have finally come to the conclusion that the potential of a location is determined not by the birds but by the bird guides. Here in Latpanchar, the guides are all overly complacent with their jobs. We went with one of the best ones there (Parag) but even he comes no close to the likes of the other guides we have been with. He is good no doubt, but as I said earlier, they all are too complacent with the fact that Rufous-necked Hornbill is sitting in their backyard and the entire Indian birding population is visiting their place only because of that. That and a few more of the kind, like Black Baza, Green Cochoa, Hodgson's Frogmouth, etc. 

This North Bengal location, especially the Latpanchar area, has such tremendous potential, only if the bird guides were a little more enthusiastic. We finished the trip with some good memories and also with some disappointments to miss out the Cochoa & Frogmouth. 

Of late, we have noticed that we usually become a little lazy in picking up the camera, if the bird is something which we have seen before. So we end up getting not-so-good shot of the bird as we know we already have a better shot earlier. Yet, I am compiling below our sightings from this trip. Enjoy the pics below. 

Rufous-necked Hornbill male

Rufous-necked Hornbill female

Great Hornbill male (lifer)

Great Hornbill female (lifer)

Little Pied Flycatcher male

Mountain Imperial Pigeon

Himalayan Shrike-babbler

Golden-naped Finch

Chestnut-tailed Starling

Blue Rock Thrush

White-browed Scimitar Babbler (lifer)

Black Baza

Besra

Greater Goldenback female

Common Hill Myna

Orange-bellied Leafbird male

Orange-bellied Leafbird female

Scaly Thrush (lifer)

Pale Blue Flycatcher

Black-winged Cuckooshrike

Himalayan Giant Squirrel

Himalayan Giant Squirrel

Sultan Tit

Speckled Piculet

Nepal Fulvetta 

Striped Blue Crow

Rufescent Prinia (lifer)

Ashy Bulbul 

Hodgson's Frogmouth male (lifer)