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Guntur -> Suryalanka -> Chennai (1.11.24)

480 km travel today, which is slightly more than what I am happy doing in a day. What served as an immense boost was the superb condition of the national highways in Andhra, be it NH16 which runs from Kolkata to Chennai, or its younger brother NH216, which we used for 100 km since we made a diversion to Suryalanka beach. While NH16 is a full-fledged 3-lane expressway with service roads, NH216 was a 2-lane highway running from Suryalanka to Ongole. In both cases, the maintenance was immaculate and traffic very predictable and disciplined. I drove at 100 kmph for around 150 km with no stoppages or slowing down. Purbanchal expressway or the Delhi-Mumbai expressway are newbies compared to the highways of the south, who have been carrying traffic with buttery aplomb for ages.

Today also our POA of stoppages were like the last two days:
Leave Guntur at 7.00 am.
Breakfast at Suryalanka beach at 9.00 am.
Coffee on the way at 11.00 am.
Lunch near Nellore at 2.00 pm.
Tea break at 4.00 pm.
Reach Chennai by 5.00 pm.
Some things delayed us on the way, as we shall see.

We left Guntur at 7.10 am after making sure our insides were fortified with tea and biscuits. The hotel had been very clean and comfortable, and we were looking forward to the drive. Last night Panna had stubbed her left toe against the bed, and the nail had risen in protest, emitting blood (-curdling screams). Recalling my CPR training, I had dressed the wound with tissue paper and a couple of rubber bands (what? It was Diwali night...), and a pain killer in the morning had made her ready to face the day.

Suryalanka beach (9.00 am)
We had originally thought of spending a night here but being a resort type of place, it was way beyond our budget, so we had settled for Guntur instead. However, we still wanted to take a gander at this place, and so stopped here for breakfast after a drive of 2 hours. 

Following Google Maps, we had actually reached the public beach, which was also pretty nice. There were slobbering camels and Quad bikes scooting around, and lot of families were lolling on the flat flat beach like mirthful mermaids. Unlike at Vizag, where most of the beaches were off-limits for swimmers, here in Suryalanka bathing in the sea was what people came for.

Answering the call of nature (and I mean tummies rumbling with hunger), we repaired to one of the small shacks lining the beach for a spot of breakfast, viz egg-dosa. This time, the lady had two daughters, and therefore the pricing was slightly higher than our earlier breakfast by the roadside where only one daughter had to be educated. The girls were just finishing school and their bright young faces and sprightly talk made our day.

Agape hospital (11.00 am)
After our beach visit, we were driving full throttle towards Chennai when Panna's toe started acting up, and we decided to visit a clinic or hospital to get it properly looked at and dressed. Agape Hospital on the way came to our rescue, where the staff were literally agape at having received a patient that day. The doctor who dressed the wound, the two attendants who kept assuring me that Panna will live, the nurse who kept dropping her syringes, and the receptionist who stood at the door blocking the light - all were very caring. The two attendants told me repeatedly to drive carefully, as if that was the root of the problem.

Lunch at Nellore (2.00 pm):
We stopped on the highway around 10 km before reaching Nellore, at a place aptly the named Nellore Grand Hotel. This would be our last meal inside Andhra so can you guess what we had? Right you are - the Andhra Thali with some Loose Prawns (can see the rotten tomatoes belong thrown by our crowd of readers!).

Entering Chennai (5.30 pm)
I never thought that we would ever drive into Chennai, and it was an exciting moment to pass Anna Nagar where we had lived for 3 years. The city had changed so massively in the last 35 years that the highways like the 100 Feet Road and the surroundings of Anna Nagar where practically unrecognisable. There was actually a flyover running through the arch at entrance of Anna Nagar, for gods sake! Nelson Manickam Road, Poonamali High Road, Parry's corner, Harrison Road, Cathedral Road -all familiar names and music to our ears.

We reachd our friends' place at 6:00 p.m. on the dot after the day of very satisfactory driving. 

We are going to be in Chennai for the next 4 nights and will be leaving for Pondicherry on 5th morning. Till then, ta-da.
 

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