Back in this thread after a long time.So sorry for that.
I want to thank hvkumar, akroy, thebagchi, ADC, senindra and all the others who have given me guidance and route information for this drive.
I took this particular drive on 23rd January 2009.I had it in the planning stages for quite sometime,but work related problems made me defer it time and again.
Starting the journey:
Took car to workshop the previous day and got everything checked.Got a service done.Bought CDs,cigarettes,mouth-freshners,cold drinks,chips and other snacks and filled the tank upto the brim late in the night.Mum insisted I get a good nights sleep,but I was on Team-bhp till quite late in the night,getting last minute advices.
Although we planned to start the earliest,we could not start till about 7.30am.I got up late actually.
The Journey:
Drive from home upto Kona Expressway was a breeze.Kona was in a bad shape with numerous craters and potholes all over.And,boy,oh boy! Kona was full of weekend and holiday traffic.Scores of Innovas and Taveras and Sumos were jostling for spaces on this stretch.Actually it was a 5 day long holiday weekend and I guess everyone was trying to get out of the city at the same time.
NH-6 was in good shape as always although traffic was quite heavy.We decided to have home-made breakfast at the Reliance A1 plaza just beyond Uluberia,as there was the infamous Kolaghat bridge traffic jam coming up shortly.I drove at about 130ish and reached Reliance A1 dhaba pretty soon.The parking lot was sparsely filled up at about 9am.Had breakfast and saw most cars whizzing by on the highway.Started from there sedately in about 40mins,and reached the long queue of cars and trucks at kolaghat.We did the right thing to have food first,and then get stuck in the jam as there is no bathroom or food shops available at kolaghat,and people were seen running here and there for their needs,and plenty disappearing behind trees and bushes!Kolaghat itself has only a handful of chai-ka-dukan and few people selling local home-made chops.The famous Sher-e-Punjab dhaba is a little further away beyond the bridge.
Second Hooghly Bridge Toll Plaza-Kolaghat: 57.6 Kms.
We were stuck there for about 40 minutes,although standing in queue on the other side.The trucks are allowed on the up side,and private cars allowed in a single row on the down side.As soon as traffic was thrown open on this side,there was a mad rush to reach the bridge and cross it.We crossed the bridge and zoomed on,whereas loads of cars and SUVs stopped on the other side eateries for food.
The highway beyond Kolaghat thermal power station is lovely and in no time we reached a junction where the road gets divided into two.The left one goes straight through Panskura into Midnapore whereas NH-6 is the one on the right.We reached Kharagpur junction and took the right exit,which is the right exit.As because the left goes straight through Kharagpur town and is a long detour.I was a bit confused here and so rang ADC da.He guided me to the correct road and we were spared the ordeal of getting into Kharagpur town.
Upto Kharagpur: 112 Kms.
From here onwards,its NH-60 right upto Bhubaneshwar,and not NH-6. After crossing Kharagpur,the road surface changed to concrete and it was a pleasure to drive.I pushed upto 145+ Kmph and was frequently admonished for that.We crossed Belda in no time and fast pushing into Jaleshwar.
Upto Belda : 151 Kms.
Jaleshwar is basically Bengal-Orissa border and we were warned by everybody about the stupid toll Orissa Govt. was collecting.As we reached Jaleshwar,there was a long queue of trucks on both sides of the highway,but I honked my way through thanks to the pair of Hella Red Grills.I reached the barricade and had to get down to go into a shanty (yes,its a shanty made of dried leaves compared to the amount of toll these persons are collecting daily!) to pay toll.I managed to pick up a verbal fight,but they were pretty adamant.Either pay toll or go back.The other option is to go through a long detour through Baripada and quite a bit of jungle to avoid this tax.I finally paid Rs 800 and was given a receipt in Oriya for the same.This particular receipt is valid for 6 months from the date of issue.It is issued by Additional RTO,Balasore.
Upto Jaleshwar: 179 Kms.
We did start from there pronto to make up for the lost time.Road condition was pretty good except innumerable diversions here and there.These diversions are very prone to accidents,especially at night.We infact saw two trucks in a grissly head-on collision,which had allegedly happened 2 hours before we passed the spot.Police was there,bypassing the spot for traffic on the highway.
We finally drove into Balasore at about 1.45pm and stopped at a Assam Oil petrol pump.The owner,a very very nice young chap named Ravi Saraf,whom I befriended immediately took us to another petrol pump he owns about 300 yards away.He offered us nice chai and we sat in his AC office for about half an hour.He has a splendid collection of rare books and guns.He promised that next time we come this way,he is going to arrange a visit to Simlipal for us.We had lunch there,and started at about 2.30pm finally.
Upto Balasore: 236 Kms.