At last I did my first ever drive to Chennai from Bangalore for Deepavali. It was on the superb Golden Quadrilateral via Hosur.

Chennai Bangalore GQ

Left Bangalore on Friday morning at 6:15 AM. Took the Varthur, Sarjapur, Attibele route to Hosur and reached A2B,Chinnar at 7:30. There was a heavy rush as every car going to TN from Bangalore seemed to have stopped there. We could leave only close to 9 from here. Reached Chennai outskirts by 12:15 passing thru’ 5 toll booths. I missed Poonamalee bypass and got stuck in traffic near Poonamalee bus stand. Could reach home at Velachery only an hour later.

After celebrating Deepavali with family and had a lot of city driving in Chennai with hectic visits to firends and relatives in Chennai. It was pleasant to drive in a city without too many speed breakers but scarily the drivers in Chennai seem to love driving so close to each other. Return was on Monday morning leaving a quarter past seven. Had to make a detour to Vadapalani and got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic till Koyambedu. With two breaks for breakfast and lunch, reached home only by 3 PM. Inspite of this being my first highway drive in India, I could maintain constant speeds of 100 -110 occasionally touching 120 - 130. I also gained the confidence for many more driving trips.

The highway is fabulous and tolls are totally worth it. Although we bypass the towns enroute, Hosur, Ambur and Vellore have spread to the highway and will require a bit of cautious driving. Apart from some slow moving bus and truck drivers blocking the right lane (and some times both lanes) there was not much to complain. Reminds me to update my Chennai - Bangalore road travel guide which is now in serious need of overhaul.

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