Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 in Full Detail

[phamilyman]

loll. I concur.

Nice pics - u came back by rajdhani?

That beggar thing is quite interesting.

[anupmathur]

Wonderful, DocSS!

And that is one thing I have never seen to date: a beggar in the middle of the highway!
BTW, is that how he came to be the way he is?

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

...I have never seen to date: a beggar in the middle of the highway!
BTW, is that how he came to be the way he is?

And that's why I said the 'tamasha' begins in Bihar!

Next time I go that way, maybe I'll stop and ask him your question!!! Maybe even give him your name to send the answer directly to.

@ phamilyman: Wish I could... I love a Rajdhani ride. Had to fly back.

[ghpk]

Sir, great pics and thanks for sharing your experience with wonderful narration.

There's one more beggar who jumps in front of car on NH during day its near kanpur, at KHAGA to be exact, he puts his head down, while you approach him, most truck drivers do recognize him and give what they could spare, I've seen him doing so since last 10 years atleast,

Lastly what connectivity you were using to connect your laptop and upload images while on the move ?

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by ghpk

Lastly what connectivity you were using to connect your laptop and upload images while on the move ?

I normally use an Airtel PCMCIA datacard to connect to the internet on the move. But this thread had a lot of pics, which take ages to load on that connection. So I uploaded from home, where I use a 2mbps MTNL broadband connection.

[sriturl]

Wonderful post. Came here from Varanasi post of B Tirthankar.
Came to know a few things about you...
You are a travel freak, with multiple travels to and fro Delhi-Kolkata
You are a doctor
etc etc...

I wish to a few such journeys sometime.. but will see how it works out. As of now, my bigger journeys are between Bangalore - Hyderabad. my work and native.

Regards...

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by sriturl

Wonderful post. Came here from Varanasi post of B Tirthankar.
Came to know a few things about you...
You are a travel freak, with multiple travels to and fro Delhi-Kolkata

Well, here's a link to one more for you!
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...-roadtrip.html (Delhi-Pune-Shirdi-Mt. Abu-Delhi - A 4000-km Roadtrip)

[vijaythacker]

SS sir, what a wonderful journey you took me along with your travelogues starting from Delhi to Kolkatta, wonderful experience to know the route,food joints,distance, perfect review to go through, superb.Also the pictures shared are perfectly describing your experience, keep them coming for your pune trip too, eagerly waiting for that experience to read sir.CHEERS!!

[harishnayak]

Hi SS , Went through your entire trvelogue , what a way to spend the weekend enjoying such a well written travelogue ( i was not following it though ).

Very nice to see a gentleman from Delhi being such a road freak , Lets meet up some time over a cup of coffee. Even i've extensively travelled by road on my car all over India so it would be great fun to share some experiences. Cheers!!

Looking forward for your Pune trip!!

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by harishnayak

Lets meet up some time over a cup of coffee.

Sure Harish, anytime. Just PM me with a proposed time when you're free.

[milindajp]

A really nice, awesome travelogue. Enjoyed every single line - read the whole travelogue twice - still want to read more.

I am also planning to drive from delhi to kolkata coming nov-dec but in a bike. Noted a lot of information from this travelogue.

Great experience - thanks for sharing.

[Dry Ice]

Great great travelogue!!! Was a pleasure reading through!! Just one question, where exactly the NH2 enters in Kolkata? I believe its the same as the GT road?
How does one proceed to Salt lake from there?

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

...where exactly the NH2 enters in Kolkata? I believe its the same as the GT road?
How does one proceed to Salt lake from there?

The NH2 leads up to a fork after Dankuni - left goes to city, straight loops back to NH6 (Bombay Road). Take the left fork. Next, there's another fork - left goes to the old Dakshineshwar bridge, right goes via a toll gate on to a brand new bridge over the river, and then along an access-restricted expressway corridor to the back end of the Dumdum Airport (Jessore Road). From there, Salt Lake is a hop, step and jump away... Takes half an hour max from the toll gate to Salt Lake.

[Dry Ice]

Thanks SS for the directions. Appreciate it!!
Am really keen on taking the road to Kolkata, lets see how it turns out.

[SS-Traveller]

Trip #27 (CCU-DEL) happened to be part of our pan-India trip (Hawk-on-fours on a pan-India tour: Delhi-Mumbai-Goa-Manipal-Coorg-Kolkata-Delhi), and I had been looking forward to driving on the Allahabad bypass ever since I learned that it was open to traffic.

The changes:

• The Isri Bazar diversion has gone, and the expressway is operational there. However, toll is not being charged yet.
• One small diversion of 1 km remains in JH, near Dumri (IIRC) - the diversion is through a deserted stretch and not through populated areas, so traffic jam is minimal, though the road surface is horrible and trucks take their own time to pass through.
• The BR-UP border diversion has gone - the expressway runs straight through, though there is still some difficulty in passing through due to the large number of trucks parked alongside the road. Not the incorrigible traffic jams of yesteryears, though.
• A number of sections of the expressway through small towns like Bagodar & Chouparan used to be single carriageway - now it's divided carriageway.
• The NH2 between the Ganga bridge near Benaras to about 50 km before Allahabad, is in bad shape (especially the west-bound carriageway). The road surface has become grooved where the trucks run, the tar has rolled, and it has left a nasty hump running along the road between two grooves. Low GC cars have a tough time here - if one keeps the tyres in the grooves, the risk of bottoming out is high, while if one tries to ride the hump, that's equally bad because it's not smooth. Overtaking manoeuvres become difficult. Some of the sections are under repair, resulting in traffic being forced to use east-bound carriageway only.
• Allahabad bypass (85 km long - adds about 30 km vis-a-vis going through Allahabad city) is good, but not great - at least, the surfacing is not as good as the NE1 or Mumbai-Pune expressway. One section of about 5 km is still single carriageway, construction on the other side not being complete. No toll being collected yet, though toll gates are set up on either end and at the exits (about 6 of them IIRC). No facilities of fuel bunks or eateries on the bypass - you need to take an exit and then find one).

Surprise situation: Toll gate near Allahabad 77km mile marker.
The road is so bad, I am irritated enough to tick the guy off when he asked for the Rs.45 toll fee. The fellow doesn't relent. I tell him it's not justified for him to charge so much for such a poor quality of road. Jokingly tell him, saare log discount de rahein hai, tum bhi discount doh. And guess what? He promptly asks for Rs.20, doesn't issue a toll receipt, and lets me go. No wonder the roads are in the condition that they are, given that the toll money doesn't find its way to the company that built, maintains and operates this section.

Surprise situation: Following an Innova about 30 km before Agra.
There's a big traffic jam at the toll gate, and the Innova manages to manoeuvre to the left and gets to an accessory (untarred) road, leading up to the toll gate. No toll collection booth here, just a fellow peering in at each car while it goes through. My guess, it's built that way to let VIP cars go through, which are exempt from paying toll. The Innova gets waved through. Even I get waved through. That was quick!