[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by Carcrazy60

There was some accident due to road conditions. Normally they take action fast but you should be prepared for delays.

Which road? Darjeeling can be reached via 4 to 5 roads - Peshok, Rohini, Hill Cart, Lebong, Pankhabari.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by Carcrazy60

Please carry the pollution certificate. I had my DL checked after a very long while when i went to Siliguri a couple of days ago. I did not have the pollution certificate , but the inspector graciously allowed me to get it done and did not fine me. The fine in West Bengal is a whopping Rs 1500/00. Even new cars are fined after three months.

Originally Posted by Sheel

I will say thank your lucky stars.

We had gone to Tarapeeth in '02. The Car's PUC had expired by just 3 days. The Officer (despite pleading) seized the papers & asked it to get them from Court after paying fine.

Boy, am I glad that it was a rented Car

Sad to say, but the traffic police in WB, esp Calcutta, of late, are just goons in uniform. Maybe something to do with the fact that the bankrupt state has told them that their performance evaluation (and maybe their salary) depends on the number of cases they can tot up. Add to it ambiguous (or nonexistant) signage and signalling, and other subterfuges designed to make a law abiding citizen a lawbreaker, and you get the overall picture.

So out of state visitors, be very careful.

Regards
Sutripta

[Carcrazy60]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

Which road? Darjeeling can be reached via 4 to 5 roads - Peshok, Rohini, Hill Cart, Lebong, Pankhabari.

The road straight from Siliguri I think. It was quite a few days ago so must be open now.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by Carcrazy60

I had used my wife's pan card in the New Cindrella hotel in Siliguri. Which are the other reasonable places to stay in Siliguri? The food even though vegetarian is rather good there.

There are quite a lot of options as far as accommodation goes.

As soon as you enter Siliguri & hit the Hill Cart road, you shall find tons of Hotels to your left. This goes on for at least the next 2 kms.

Here is a list of the Hotels Link

There are host of others as well. When traveling next time around, you may buzz me, I might suggest a few. We very rarely stay @ Siliguri nowadays because of the lovely roads between Purnea - Siliguri & few friends do own flats, so the Hotel stay option gets further reduced.

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Sad to say, but the traffic police in WB, esp Calcutta, of late, are just goons in uniform. Maybe something to do with the fact that the bankrupt state has told them that their performance evaluation (and maybe their salary) depends on the number of cases they can tot up. Add to it ambiguous (or nonexistant) signage and signalling, and other subterfuges designed to make a law abiding citizen a lawbreaker, and you get the overall picture.

Thanks for the heads up advise Da. I was apprehensive of cops @ Siliguri & my few brief stays at Calcutta suggested that cops were tolerant compared to the ones at Siliguri. Seems things have taken a turn for the worse.

I do get The Telegraph (Siliguri edition) & understand what you are hinting at.

[erlebrito]

Well I must thank everyone for the advice as I am now fully equipped for the route. Have the entire travel kit and the car is set and raring to go. Got the wheels aligned and balanced today and am glad I did because all the wheels were out by about 20~40 gms, even though I had changed them only about 5K ago. So am now at a great peace of mind. Also have a new tubeless puncture repair kit and cleared all old debris from the treads. My Yeti has just done 35K and was serviced at 30K so she is good to go for 10K more but got her checked nonetheless. Route up is confirmed thanks to HVKumar and Sutripta and many thanks to them both. I am going to commence a travelogue in the relevant forum with inputs as and when I can get them in.

Fingers crossed and really excited to leave in the morning.

Will keep everyone posted.

[rahul4640]

Originally Posted by manmohanmaan

I planned Kharagpur - Bankura - Ranigunj - Suri - Dumka - Bhagalpur - Purnia and join NH 34 at Dalkhola. Planned with the suggestions on this thread and tracked on google maps. is this OK ? Any suggestions on Better Hotels in Kharagpur ?

Take the Kharagpur-Bankura-Durgapur route instead. When I drove through this route some two months ago, it was in fair shape. Between Kharagpur and Bishnupur, the top surface has been peeled off at stretches, so the ride is little bumpy. And the patch repairs are not smooth either. Please never take this route after dark, specially if you are driving an out of state registered vehicle. Take good caution to cross Bishnupur level crossing gate, as the stretch of the road over the railway level crossing is in very poor shape. The road continues to be really bad for at least twenty KMs, till you cross Onda village. Then the road is good all the way and now after the road over-bridge has been opened, the traffic held up has been eliminated.

[manmohanmaan]

[quote=1100D;3119732]Good that you mentioned this upfront, that you have a thule box on your SUV. Do not take take the byepass at Bhagalpur, go straight to the flyover through the main city/railway station. The Byepass route at Bhagalpur goes under 2 railway u/p's which a thule box atop a SUV wont make it.

An option to stop over, to stopping at Kharagpur is Sher-e-Punjab at Kolkaghat around 60kms on NH6 towards Kolkata, though a little noisy due to heavy restaurant business they run there. Otherwise drive another 40kms or so to Dhulagarh, for Motel Midway as HVK suggested. Its just after the Toll-plaza on the right side, so you have to drive down about a km, take a u turn and head back to Midway.


Thank You Sir, but looking at the heavy rains in Sikkim and Bhutan I have chickened out and fallen back on the old dependable Zanskar / Leh / Spiti loops. I am actually keying this reply enroute from Vadodara.

Have scheduled the north-east for next year in the months of September October. Thanks for all your advice and meticulous details of the route, shall pick your brains soon.

Regards,

Manmohan.

[manmohanmaan]

Originally Posted by rahul4640

Take the Kharagpur-Bankura-Durgapur route instead. When I drove through this route some two months ago, it was in fair shape. Between Kharagpur and Bishnupur, the top surface has been peeled off at stretches, so the ride is little bumpy. And the patch repairs are not smooth either. Please never take this route after dark, specially if you are driving an out of state registered vehicle. Take good caution to cross Bishnupur level crossing gate, as the stretch of the road over the railway level crossing is in very poor shape. The road continues to be really bad for at least twenty KMs, till you cross Onda village. Then the road is good all the way and now after the road over-bridge has been opened, the traffic held up has been eliminated.

Thank You Rahul, but I have changed my Plans as above. Are you referring to Police harassment of outside vehicles or something else ?
However my Heart felt Thanks once again.

[rahul4640]

Originally Posted by manmohanmaan

Are you referring to Police harassment of outside vehicles or something else ?

No Sir. Even under the previous left front government a part of this road, specially the stretch falling under the jurisdiction of Midnapore district authority was very much extremist infested. The situation has changed totally after the new government run by Didi has come into power. And I have personally seen that trucks and lorries have started to ply in this stretch even late at night. But IMHO to remain safe, it is better to avoid this stretch at night, specially with out of state vehicles.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by rahul4640

Take the Kharagpur-Bankura-Durgapur route instead. When I drove through this route some two months ago, it was in fair shape. Between Kharagpur and Bishnupur, the top surface has been peeled off at stretches, so the ride is little bumpy. And the patch repairs are not smooth either. Please never take this route after dark, specially if you are driving an out of state registered vehicle. Take good caution to cross Bishnupur level crossing gate, as the stretch of the road over the railway level crossing is in very poor shape. The road continues to be really bad for at least twenty KMs, till you cross Onda village. Then the road is good all the way and now after the road over-bridge has been opened, the traffic held up has been eliminated.

Why would one not want to take the lovely high-speed 4-laned KOna & Durgapur expressways between Kharagpur & Durgapur - 24x7 safety, great facilities, excellent roads, considering that you can do the longer drive (via Dankuni, Bardhaman) in 3-4 hours anway?

[black_panther]

For those who intend to take the NH 34 route and want to bypass Kolkata, might take the Belgharia expressway and use the road shown above to get on to the Kalyani highway. The link is official and wide enough for even trucks and buses. This avoids the 3 km road through Birati to get on to the highway at Majerhati More.

[Sheel]

Discovered a dhaba after Hansdiha. The tea is heavenly. I can't exactly pin point the distance, but maybe 15-20 kms after Hansdiha, just before a diversion (the tarred one & probably the first diversion after Hansdiha).

You will see at least 4-5 trucks parked always.

[black_panther]

With the recent undesired incidents in Jharkhand, is the Dumka route to Siliguri still preferable?
Most of the stretches after Beharampur of the NH34 are due for completion soon. What is the actual condition of the road?

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by black_panther

With the recent undesired incidents in Jharkhand, is the Dumka route to Siliguri still preferable?
Most of the stretches after Beharampur of the NH34 are due for completion soon. What is the actual condition of the road?

Those were one-off situations, the Dumka route remains the best route. Construction is still underway in NH34 and traddic jams terrible in some spots.

[rahul4640]

Originally Posted by black_panther

With the recent undesired incidents in Jharkhand, is the Dumka route to Siliguri still preferable?

Most certainly! A friend of mine drove to Siliguri by NH-34, to spend a few days at Temi Tea Garden. It was almost a month earlier. He had reported potholes and broken roads almost all the way. And with the arrival of the monsoon, road condition will surely degrade more.