[jhaji]

Originally Posted by BoneCollector

Here is another one from our own forum.

Thanks a lot BoneCollector. Just did a hefty recharge of my fastag, before I saw the link you posted saying ALE is not fastag enabled.But it was good to know for sure that there are petrol pumps now on ALE.

Our programme has also changed. Some have left early, some are leaving later. We will be just one car with 4 adults and a baby. Booked couple of rooms at UPTDC hotel at Kushinagar for 10th night, since my cousin with the baby wants to have a break. Honestly, I am also not too sure of my old legs holding out for a drive in excess of 1200 kms without a break.

So all set now and am looking forward to the first really long drive with my Baleno RS.

[jhaji]

Thanks for all the tips and help for my long driving trip.

Here is a brief report on the trip I took from Delhi to Saharsa and back between 10th and 18th November occasioned by a death in the family.

On the way up, we started at 5 AM on the 10th from Delhi with two other cars going together. All cars were fully loaded with people and luggage and we took frequent breaks. We were in Lucknow by 1 AM or so and on a Saturday crossing through the outskirts of Lucknow was not such a problem. We reached Kushinagar around 9 after a drive of 845 Kms and we stopped at Rahi UP tourism lodge. Two non-AC rooms at Rs. 950 apiece. It is a nicely laid out property with lawns and open spaces. A nice place to arrive for rest after a long drive. Other two cars carried on and reached Saharsa at 6 in the morning.

Next morning I noticed a thick nail in a rear tyre and it took some time to repair the puncture because it was a big hole. Finally started at 8 and reached Saharsa at 5.30. EW corridor was mostly smooth except the diversions at Gopalganj and a stretch around Muzaffarpur Darbhanga for 50-60 kms where the uneven joints in the road and bridges give major jolts and one has to keep slowing down every so often. Fortunately, the same road on return journey was free of these.

The worst was as we approached Saharsa. Huge car-sized craters and dangerous pot holes compounded the chaotic traffic conditions. It was ironical to negotiate the huge craters on a road studded with various car showrooms like Honda, Maruti, Mahindra with their bright neon signs.

Return journey was on 18th when we left the village near Saharsa at around 7.30 in the morning, reaching near Faizabad around 8.30 in the evening. Looking for a hotel we called up UP tourism and were informed that there is a hotel right opposite Faizabad station. On reaching there we found no such hotel there and it turned out that it was opposite Ayodhya station. We checked into another hotel 'Shane Awadh' nearby, a decently priced hotel for night rest. A leisurely start at 8 in the morning, saw us home in Delhi by 6 in the evening.

A few words about the car Baleno RS for which this was first such long trip. Unlike the Liva in which I had covered the same territory 3-4 years back, the underbelly of the car did not scrape at any point, even though it was fully loaded. (Both have the same GC 170mm). The power available at almost any rpm made the drive very enjoyable. I do not drive at very high speeds, but rather briskly. I keep slowing down for any breaks in the median though and do not take risks. When in heavy traffic driving from 50 to 100 kmpl I kept the car in fourth gear and accelerated effortlessly for frequent overtakes. When roads were a little clearer I cruised in 5th between 70 to 120. On the return journey I let myself go on ALE for a bit. You can cruise nicely at 120-130, if you wish, listening to songs. More than that, it gets a little noisy. At 120, it is cruising at 3000 rpm. Driving comfort is also good and passengers were not too tired. So I am happy. Mileage was not that great, around 17 kmpl for the whole trip.

Agra Lucknow Expressway (ALE) is really a pleasure to drive on, by the way. Coming on to the Taj Expressway (Agra-Delhi) after that is a downer.

[bj96]

Originally Posted by BoneCollector

Updating this thread after a long while. I did this stretch again from Muzaffarpur to Gurgaon with a stop over in Lucknow...

Guys,what is latest update on this stretch?

I am embarking on a solo motorcycle ride from Pune during upcoming Christmas holidays. Will enter this stretch from Kanpur/Lucknow side. Planning a night halt at Lucknow. Considering fog situation towards end December I may not be able to start early from Lucknow. How should I break my journey to Darbhanga? Also, pls advise some safe hotels, if I need to park overnight, on the way. I will be riding HD FatBoy and considering it is eye candy, really worried about mischiefs :(

Thanks in advance,
-BJ

[BoneCollector]

I did a Muzaffarpur to Gurgaon return trip last month. It was a planned trip but mainly to test waters whether my 2 year old son would like such a long road trip or not. And thankfully, he thoroughly enjoyed it.

I would like to report the road conditions on the stretch of NH27 (earlier NH28) from Muzaffarpur to Lucknow via Gopalganj and Gorakhpur, and thereafter from Lucknow to Gurgaon on the Lucknow Agra expressway, Yamuna expressway, NH19(earlier NH2) and KMP expressway.

Muzaffarpur to Lucknow -

The roads are pretty much fine till Pipra where one has to take a left turn towards Gopalganj. On this road, there are depressions like rail track on the fast lane due to heavy truck traffic. It's better to drive on the left lane so as to avoid losing control of car due to the tracks. The bridge on river Gandak is still 2 lane with no sign of the parallel bridge being made. It has been like this since last 8 years. The roads post the bridge is also fine except a couple of incomplete flyovers in Gopalganj. But road conditions have improved a lot. The sole railway crossing near Kuchaikote has got a flyover now. Infact while going, it was in final stages of road laying work and while coming back, one lane was fully functional. Once you cross into UP, the roads are much better, but traffic remains of similar kinds. Thanks to Gorakhpur bypass, one saves atleast 1 hour. There are 8 toll booths till Lucknow and I'm pleased to say that all have working FasTag in all lanes. Another pleasant surprise was well made out highway nests or break points with snacks and loos for males, females and disabled. The loos are very clean in Bihar but not so well managed in UP. This helped us in taking breaks at toll plazas without stopping anywhere on the side of road. We were carrying home made food so there was no issue at all. Lucknow entry was also easy and Google Maps directed us to our place of stay in Cantt. There wasn't anything wrong during this leg other than poor roads initially. The car gave an excellent average of 21.1kmpl with full time AC and it wasn't switched off anywhere in between even when we were taking a break. I never crossed into triple digits except maybe on 3 occasions for overtaking. The temperature hovered around 42℃ to 43℃.

Lucknow to Gurgaon -

We had a late night so our start was of course delayed. We left Cantt at 9am and exited Lucknow via VIP road onto the Lucknow Agra expressway. On the expressway, I set the cruise on 95/96 kmph and stuck to the 2nd lane. Traffic was sparse. We crossed the first toll booth where I had to tell the operator that I have FasTag. He asked me the registration number of car and we crossed it. We did not feel like taking a break so we continued without stopping on the expressway. Although the 2 stops on expressway have petrol pump also both ways. Once we reached towards the end, we came to the 2nd toll booth. There also I had to tell them the number. And we passed without paying cash. A total of Rs.585 was deducted from FasTag. On the Inner Ring Road of Agra, FasTag is not accepted. So it was the first place I paid cash. The we kept on maintaining 90kmph on Yamuna Expressway and paid toll of Rs. 140 as we were supposed to leave at Vrindavan. Lunch break was at the rest stop but food is nothing to be talked about. We left the expressway at Vrindavan and followed the route as given by Google maps. It took us through new roads with negligible traffic on to the NH19 (NH2 earlier). The NH19 had heavy traffic with a few flyovers under maintenance leading to jam like situations. Kosikalan has a bottleneck just after the railway over bridge. We took the KMP expressway from Palwal. This road is also good but has maximum truck traffic. It's a 4 laned road with speed limit of 100kmph. It has a toll booth at entry point and I was handed over a slip which was given back to the operator once leaving the expressway near Manesar. Toll paid was Rs. 75 cash. No FasTag here also. Then we hit the NH48 (NH8 earlier.) and continued our journey to Gurgaon. The car returned an average of 20.2kmpl on this leg. Speeds were in 2 digits with occasional burst to 3 digits.

Gurgaon to Lucknow -

The start was again at 9am and route taken was NH48 to KMP and then NH19. We were routed through a barricaded road in Vrindavan but were directed by the police to Yamuna expressway. The entry to expressway was in very bad shape. Once on expressway, there was no issue. We took a break at the first break point on Agra Lucknow expressway. Didn't check the restaurant but the loo was fine. The loo for ladies is non functional in the first stop. So we used the one at IOCL Petrol bunk just next to it. Second stop has a functional loo for ladies also. Reached Lucknow at 4:15pm. The average mileage was 19.8kmpl.


Lucknow to Muzaffarpur -

We started early after a good night's rest at 5:45 am. We encountered little bit of rains for about 10 mins. Return journey was uneventful and we reached home at 2:30pm.


The total trip was of about 2600kms which includes around town drive in Gurgaon also. I was the solo driver, my wife couldn't drive as my son wouldn't let her go. Our main aim was to check how our son would handle it and after completion of trip, I can very well say that we will take more longish road trips.

I'll attach a few snaps. Throughout the trip, my wife and kid were on the rear seats, kid was either in his car seat or in wife's care. The snaps were clicked by her from rear seats, whenever she had little free time. So snaps are less.

Grooves on road on NH27.


Grooves on road on NH27.


Picturesque KMP.


KMP


140% Veg Dhaba on NH19!


Strange entry to Yamuna Expressway.


Beautiful Yamuna Expressway.


Entry to Agra Lucknow Expressway.


Entry to ALE.


Burnt Ecosport on ALE.


First toll gate.


Thanks to FasTag indeed.


The stop on ALE.


Emergency contact on ALE.


Beautiful ALE.




Runway on ALE.


Panda enjoying the trip.


Cheesy lines on a truck.


Road grooves on return leg on NH27.


The Machine.

[Kandisa]

I am planning to drive down to Malda from Noida next week with my family and intend to take this route. Since the start from Noida will be slightly late, planning to make the 1st night halt at Lucknow and 2nd one around Muzaffarpur. Any suggestion on a decent accommodation on the outskirts of Lucknow (around ALE) and same for around Muzaffarpur or any nearby place would be highly appreciated. I hope the recent flood condition in Bihar didn't have any consequence on the stretch through the state.

[BoneCollector]

Originally Posted by Kandisa

Any suggestion on a decent accommodation on the outskirts of Lucknow (around ALE)

The answer to your question lies here in quoted text. We found this hotel to be ok but costly. If you search Google Maps, you'll see many hotels around the Avadh Chauraha. Many Oyo rooms are also available but do check regarding availability of parking.

Originally Posted by BoneCollector

We stayed at Hotel Piccadilly in Lucknow. Although it's costly, the ease of accessibility from the Agra-Lucknow expressway and the NH28 is good. It has a good parking area but in open. Here is the location - The Piccadily
Kanpur Road, Sector B, Bara Birwa, Sector B, Bargawan, LDA Colony, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 226005
0522 409 6000

https://goo.gl/maps/ocW6kAiyxd72

and same for around Muzaffarpur or any nearby place would be highly appreciated.

In Muzaffarpur, most of the decent hotels are located inside the city. The NH takes a left for Darbhanga before entering the city so you'll not find any decent hotel on the highway.

I hope the recent flood condition in Bihar didn't have any consequence on the stretch through the state.

This area might be spared but can't say the same for further up. Sheel may have more answers to this.

[BoneCollector]

Updating this thread for people visiting North Bihar for Chhath. A relative has just come from Ghaziabad with a stopover at Lucknow. He started from Ghaziabad at 5pm and reached Lucknow at 11pm. Then he started next day at 5:30am and reached Muzaffarpur at 2pm. Roads are in fair condition this side, just like what I had driven on.

[niteshbids]

Restarting an old thread.

I will be going to Kanpur from Patna after Holi (Finally after 3 years of my plans being shot down by either parents or In-laws!). This journey will be done in my GT TSi.

Have repeatedly consulted Google maps for the route options, and strangely it always suggests different routes for the Onward and Return legs. For Patna to Kanpur it suggests Patna-Gopalganj-Gorakhpur-Faizabad-Lucknow-Kanpur. But for the return from Kanpur to Patna, it always suggests Kanpur-Prayagraj(Allahabad)-Varanasi-Arrah-Patna.

The second route is about 50Km shorter, but the road between Arrah to Koilwar is under construction. But am getting confused why Google is suggesting the different routes for the UP and Down journeys.

Anyone who has recently done either of these routes, please throw some light o it and suggest which one I should take.

Thanks in advance.

[bj96]

Originally Posted by niteshbids

... For Patna to Kanpur it suggests Patna-Gopalganj-Gorakhpur-Faizabad-Lucknow-Kanpur. But for the return from Kanpur to Patna, it always suggests Kanpur-Prayagraj(Allahabad)-Varanasi-Arrah-Patna...

I did both sections about 6 months ago (during chhath 2020) on my Fat Boy. Most part of the Arrah - Mohaniya - Varanasi section was under construction (4 laning and road widening) with heavy truck traffic and long queues near toll plazas. I had a hellish time manoeuvring 400 kg beast between trucks, two wheelers and uneven road surface. In car probably you don't have to jostle so mutch, still, I would pick the Gopalganj - Gorakhpur route. Latter had some top tarmac chipped off but nothing to worry about. However, after Varanasi all the way up to Pryagraj and Rewa was excellent road.

-BJ

[niteshbids]

Thanks. Will take the Gopalganj route then. Really appreciate the feedback.

[niteshbids]

Just returned from the journey. Took the Gopalganj-Gorakhpur route. Overall conditions of the roads are good and one way takes about 10 hours of driving time (apart from the breaks and stoppages). Left around 6:30 in the morning both ways to avoid the city traffic.

There are some depressions on the road as mentioned by Bone Collector in his earlier post. Some points about the route and the journey:

• Road surface going westwards (Gopalganj-Kushinagar-Gorakhpur-Ayodhya-Lucknow-Kanpur) is way better than the road surface going east. While the tarmac is almost completely fresh on the former, there is a lot of patchwork on the latter. The latter also boasts of chipped-off top layers (waiting to be patched) and more depressions than the former.
• One way toll costs 625
• The toll plaza between Lucknow and Kanpur is the worst with half the lanes shut down even with a higher vehicle load.
• Gorakhpur bypass feels a bit like a controlled access highway(It's not), but has the worst surface depressions on the fast lane going westward
• Lots of 2 wheeler and 3 wheeler traffic for about 20Km after Gorakhpur towards western side - probably due to the industrial areas in that area.
• People really like to hustle their way into your lane for overtaking a commercial vehicle. Forget the big SUVs, I found several Altos and WagonRs hustling their way as if there is no tomorrow.
• Crossing Gopalganj can be slow depending upon the traffic situation as the flyover being constructed to avoid the traffic is still not constructed - and by the looks of it, wouldn't be anytime soon.
• Interestingly, didn't find a single MG vehicle on road during the entire drive.
• Similarly, encountered just one other Polo and one Skoda Kodiaq from VAG group.
• While entering Bihar, it would be a lot better for you if you are traveling with family (have female members in your car, preferably kids too). The police tend to focus on cars with stags and stop them at the border for checking - most commonly looking for contraband alcohol in your car. They thankfully tend to go easy on cars with families. At the time of my crossing the border, one KWID was stopped and was being thoroughly searched. My car was stopped by the hawaldar, but the person in-charge saw that I was traveling with my wife and a small kid, he waved us through.

[Samratrek]

Dear BHPians
I would like to apprise you of an attempted robbery that was tried on me while my return from Siliguri to Raxaul.
The place was Jokihat just near the bailey bridge on NH327, NH327 is newly black topped & now a marvel to travel.
Jokihat is around 30kms after Araria if you are coming from Darbhanga side & going towards northeast.
After Jokihat comes Thakurganj & Bahadurganj & then you enter West Bengal.
What happened was exactly like this....
1)It was just after the bailey bridge I had to slow down as a bike ahead was suddenly braking & again moving.
2)A 2nd bike from behind just hit my rear bumper very lightly & I ignored it as it would hardly even scratch & since I had another 400 km to reach home, I decided to move ahead without getting into an altercation.
3)But the 2nd bike who hit me from behind started abusing me at which I stopped my car.
4)Immediately the biker from behind got down from his bike & started hammering my side window which I could not take any more & I gauged out this guy’s physical structure which was short & thin, so I came out of my car.
5)Before getting verbal that guy gave a punch to my face which broke my specs & I also hit him hard so he fell on the ground.
6)Then I realised that bike at the front also was there & immediately another 3 bikes came & around 5 persons put be down on the road side.
7)One guy wanted to open the passenger door as he saw 2 mobile sets on the passenger seat.
8)Since this was 8.30 in the morning though this place was lonely other bikers stopped to see what is going on & some bikers tried to help me but they were also threatened.
9)I had got up from the ground & found that these bikers had suddenly escaped without further harming me.
10)There was front camera DVR in the camera but it was not active probably they escaped seeing the camera

A guy told me to immediately leave the place which I did & after 10 minutes I saw a police car which I stopped & and narrated the incident.
There was an ASI who was sympathetic but also told me that they are willing to take an FIR but it would take time & I have a long way to travel. So, I went off & the next 2 hours I drove being shaken & disturbed, nothing was stolen from my car.

I had talked to some of my colleagues who belong to Darbhanga /Purnea side & they said that this area is troublesome & not to venture solo but again some saying that you can drive solo but with some basic SOPs in mind.

Sheel since you are from Purnea any idea about this route being unsafe??

Regards

Samrat