[gearhead_mait]

Originally Posted by noidea

I have just returned from a trip to Bhutan. Drove up all along NH34 and returned by NH34 and SH7.

Took SH7 from Moregram. The first 10 odd kilometers were quite uncomfortable roads, potholes and local traffic. After it is mostly great roads all the way to Bardhaman. And of-course brilliant roads on NH2.

Had a load of fun in Bhutan, and the roads there are uniformly great.

Cheers.

Congrats! A travelogue is a must this time..

What about the broken bridge near Narjja village in SH7 route? Is it repaired now? I was forced to take the Suri-Rampurhat route as the bridge was broken in January 15. BHPian Drivetrain faced the same issue, but he managed to re-enter SH7 after Guskhara, but his reports were negative on the condition of the road. Whereas, when I last returned on this route in November 2014, there was lots of construction work in progress.
Please share more info on SH7 (with sections divided and their condition) if possible.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by noidea

And one more thing, there is this HUGE crater on NH31, just before Islampur, where the road changes from a 4 lane to a 2 lane with no divider. If you fall into it you will need 4X4 to get out, for sure.

Regulars on this route will know what you are mentioning about. Problem is, it isn't permanent. NHAI fixes it from time to time, but temporarily. I know of at least a dozen accidents happening there, some were fatal :(

In monsoon, the problem will be aggravated as that ditch filled with water won't be visible.

[noidea]

Originally Posted by gearhead_mait

What about the broken bridge near Narjja village in SH7 route? Is it repaired now?
Please share more info on SH7 (with sections divided and their condition) if possible.

I was looking for the broken bridge after having read your post about it but couldn't locate it on ground and, for sure, I did not have to got off SH7 as shown by the GPS.
I did see a broken bridge but it had a perfectly good bridge parallel to it, but at that time my wife and daughter were having a serious disagreement about the kind of music to be played and therefore I did not notice the place/ location.

From the Moregram end up to Kuli crossing the road has a lot of potholes and is crowded. After that it is excellent barring some small sections which you can live with.
There is some construction work at the culverts towards the Burdwan end of SH7 but that is not a reason to worry.

And of course there is the ever-present extortion on the roads for local club festivals -- total damages this time, Rs. 15 /- after bargaining.

Overall it is much much better than taking NH34 presently.

[gearhead_mait]

Originally Posted by noidea

I was looking for the broken bridge after having read your post about it but couldn't locate it on ground and, for sure, I did not have to got off SH7 as shown by the GPS.
I did see a broken bridge but it had a perfectly good bridge parallel to it, but at that time my wife and daughter were having a serious disagreement about the kind of music to be played and therefore I did not notice the place/ location.

Then,alternate bridge is already in place!

Originally Posted by noidea

From the Moregram end up to Kuli crossing the road has a lot of potholes and is crowded. After that it is excellent barring some small sections which you can live with.
There is some construction work at the culverts towards the Burdwan end of SH7 but that is not a reason to worry.

And of course there is the ever-present extortion on the roads for local club festivals -- total damages this time, Rs. 15 /- after bargaining.

That's good news. Actually this route has one of my wife's and mine favorite road, as it passes through some of the lush green cultivated rice fields of Bengal. It's soothing to the eye.
What about the roads in the Mangalkot area. Is was in bad shape too. Is it repaired now?

[gmhossain]

We drove back today using NH-2B/NH-2 from Ahmedpur. The new irrigation canal bridge near Orgram (Gushkara) seems to be ready now as layer of mastic asphalt on new bridge is done. It's not yet open to traffic but it will eliminate a headache on this route soon.

New canal bridge near Orgram


I was told that a part of Bolpur-Suri road has been now dug up for SH-6 widening work. So expect some delay and diversions on this stretch. Also, I noticed a crazy thing on NH-2B today. After Sriniketan More and towards Burdwan, around 15 or 16 new speed bumps have been put up and that too within a span of around 500 meters .

Originally Posted by gearhead_mait

...only if the stretch of NH60 between Suri and Dubrajpur has been repaired now. When I last travelled in January 2015, the NH60 stretch between Suri and Dubrajpur was horrendous. On the contrary, the same stretch from Suri onwards till Rampurhat was super smooth.

While driving to Ahmedpur from Malda on Friday, I noticed some amount of new re-surfacing work on NH-60 post-Rampurhat towards Nalhati. However, a stretch of 6-7 kms of bad roads of NH-60 between Nalhati and Rampurhat has further deteriorated. So it's not clear whether repair work of NH-60 is being done fully or only in parts.

[PapaBravo]

Had a discussion with fellow bhpian Sheel on whether to take Darjeeling more to Suri or the turn after Renaissance Society towards Bolpur. The only disadvantage I can see in the Darjeeling more route is crossing Panagarh.

I think if a person leaves before 4 am from Kolkata & crossed Panagarh by 6 am, then the Panagarh jam can be avoided. In one my recent trips from Kol to Lucknow, I had crssed Panagarh at 5.50 am & it was a breeze. But if one crosses Panagarh at 7am+ it is better to turn from the Renaissance go via Bolpur in order to avoid delay at Panagarh.

Regards,

Pawan

[themagicclicks]

Originally Posted by rahul_kej

The route exactly from Kolkata is:

Kolkata-Durgapur-Asansol-Deoghar-Sultangunj-Bhagalpur-Purnea-Kishangunj-Siliguri

Been and back from the Dooars using the suggested route with the suggested changes by Sheel, Google too suggested the Banka Amarpur route so that was what I opted for. Must say that this is a really scenic and smooth route, albeit a bit longer. So if for someone the journey is as important as the destination, this is the route to follow, relieved some of my childhood landscape memories of Rachi and the surrounding hills while passing through the Jamtara- Sarath section. Since I was travelling just me and my wife, I decided the night halt to be at Purnea instead of Siliguri and thus the forward journey the next day crossing Dalkhola was pretty smooth too. Leaving a few stretches and a deep crater somewhere after Baisi where after the previous nights rain in Purnea, a truck was found stalled with a broken axle, JHarkhand and Bihar roads are really pretty smooth.

Originally Posted by Sheel

Regulars on this route will know what you are mentioning about. Problem is, it isn't permanent. NHAI fixes it from time to time, but temporarily. I know of at least a dozen accidents happening there, some were fatal :(

In monsoon, the problem will be aggravated as that ditch filled with water won't be visible.

Yes, faced these very much and at high speeds these are really tough to negotiate, and in attempts to ride around the deep craters, quick steering can result in loss of control. One more peculiar problem was oddly shaped speed breakers at the base of most of the flyovers in this section.

On a general note, on the onward journey leaving my Tollygunge home at 6 AM, rode up to Chittaranjan before time, but made the inevitable mistake of missing that fork after Jamtara and went ahead straight, but fortunately corrected course soon and was back on route.

Didn't find much traffic either in Panagarh or in Deogarh and Vikramsila Setu was slow but moving. The only major congestion faced were next morning at Islampur annd Kishengunj, but reached Chalsa in estimated time despite these traffic snarls.

On the return journey, decided to drive straight till Deogarh and stop there, but do not know how made the poorest navigation error of taking the left turn after Vikramsila Setu instead of the right towards Banka and was given a preview of hell for 34 kms through the Bhagalpur road! the craters all along the stretch through Ghogga, Sinholla till Godda Panjwara road, my god, the toughest to negotiate if you are driving a sedan, in fact for a stretch of 34 km there was no road, and a couple of pretty hostile market places added to the stress. But beyond these two market places, people in Bihar and Jharkhand were too are very polite, and helpful, and got as much guidance as possible and the streets through villages and forests never look to lack security at all.
Back to that road I willfully entered, it has been discussed in this thread I guess, from the opposite end, someone warned not to enter the Bhagalpur road after Chopa more and warned about these craters, but I do not know how I made this mistake, actually I missed to locate the right turn that Google was calling the Kanisk Road, and after I missed it, Google rerouted through this road. So for first timers, never miss that status of a moustachiod man after Jamtara, because you need to take the left fork from there towards Sarath, and on the return journey, never ever take any left turn after Viramsila Setu, unless you want to take a sneak peak at hell

Overall, I loved this route as mentioned earlier, and would take this route again, but yes never take that left turn again.

regards,
Neelanjan.

[noidea]

Thanks for the update Neelanjan, and we expect a travelogue... and to meet you at the Kolkata summer meet, 2015.

I think, and hope, we shall be able to drive along NH 34 in about a year and a half. That will make our trips up north a lot more peaceful.

[themagicclicks]

Originally Posted by noidea

Thanks for the update Neelanjan, and we expect a travelogue... and to meet you at the Kolkata summer meet, 2015.

I think, and hope, we shall be able to drive along NH 34 in about a year and a half. That will make our trips up north a lot more peaceful.

Thanks, will add up some inferences from this journey for future reference, and yes if NH34 is fully functional, although it is not as scenic as the Jharkhand Bihar route, but for people travelling a lot more hours ex-Siliguri than Chalsa/Dooars, that would always be the best option.

[scorpio25]

First, a big hello to everyone here at TEAM-BHP. This is my first post in this forum, having dedicatedly watched and read TEAM-BHP since 2009.

I am going to Dooars from Kolkata on this June 25th. After going through the various posts in this thread, I am more inclined to take the Kolkata-Asansol-Chittaranjan-Jamtara-Karmatar-Sarath-Deoghar-Katoria-Banka-Bhagalpur-Kishanganj route, for better overall road conditions and surrounding landscapes in comparison to NH34. Kindly advice!

I will be driving my Linea TJet+, riding on the brand new Michelin Primacy 3ST tyres! I will be the lone driver and my passengers will be my wife, 6 months old daughter, and my parents-in-law.

All suggestions are welcome, specially considering the monsoon and road conditions!

[themagicclicks]

Originally Posted by scorpio25

First, a big hello to everyone here at TEAM-BHP. This is my first post in this forum, having dedicatedly watched and read TEAM-BHP since 2009.

I am going to Dooars from Kolkata on this June 25th. After going through the various posts in this thread, I am more inclined to take the Kolkata-Asansol-Chittaranjan-Jamtara-Karmatar-Sarath-Deoghar-Katoria-Banka-Bhagalpur-Kishanganj route, for better overall road conditions and surrounding landscapes in comparison to NH34. Kindly advice!

I will be driving my Linea TJet+, riding on the brand new Michelin Primacy 3ST tyres! I will be the lone driver and my passengers will be my wife, 6 months old daughter, and my parents-in-law.

All suggestions are welcome, specially considering the monsoon and road conditions!

This is a beautiful route and if a few simple pointers are kept in mind, nothing better than this if you are travelling with family. I travelled just me and my wife with my dZire petrol and the route is good for a sedan, i'll post my experience on 29th May and back in the morning if that is of some help.

[scorpio25]

Thanks a lot Neelanjan (aka themagicclicks)!
It was precisely your post that helped me narrow down on the Asansol-Deoghar route! I did travel till Chittaranjan on that rout just a couple of months ago; and found it to be great till that point. After that I will take your experience as the guide!
Just a request, if you could post your travel experience before 25th! Thanks!
Regards,
Shayan.

[rahul4640]

Originally Posted by scorpio25

I am going to Dooars from Kolkata on this June 25th. After going through the various posts in this thread, I am more inclined to take the Kolkata-Asansol-Chittaranjan-Jamtara-Karmatar-Sarath-Deoghar-Katoria-Banka-Bhagalpur-Kishanganj route, for better overall road conditions and surrounding landscapes in comparison to NH34. Kindly advice!

You may safely take the Calcutta-Burdwan-Sriniketan-Purandarpur-Siuri-Messanjore-Dumka-Deoghar-Katoria-Banka-Bhagalpur route, which is shorter. The road is good for sedans.

[scorpio25]

Thanks a lot rahul4640!
Yes that route is shorter. But is the road condition, particularly in the siuri-dumka-deoghar section good enough vis-a-vis the chittaranjan route? That's my only concern.

[themagicclicks]

Scorpio25 Here it goes.

To start with this is the Google Map Route that you can map on to other GPS Maps like MayMyIndia per section too... Find the Map HERE

Now the journey... I started a little late at around 6 and drove at a stretch till Asansol for about 4 hours, took a breakfast break of about an hour, and then drove straight 8 hours with only two short 5 minutes break attending to nature to reach Purnea. You can leave much earlier like the experts here suggest, i.e. around 4:30 AM.

Here is my onward journey in steps:
1.Started at 5:55 AM from my home at Bansdroni, Tollygunge and reached Vidyasagar Setu Toll Plaza at 6:17 AM.

2. Filled up the tank at Satragachi and were at the Dankuni Toll Plaza at 6:52 AM.

3. Reached Palsit Toll Plaza at 7:42 AM, as expected Durgapur Express Way is smooth despite a few diversions, but was taking it easy since the journey was long.

4. Crossed Panagarh at 9:00 AM and luckily didn't face much traffic there.

5. Crossed Ranigunj at around 9:54 AM and Asansol at 10:07 AM then had to ask a local to locate a dhaba on the same side of the highway, Shivam Hotel was good and we had breakfast there.

6. Started from Shivam at 10:58 AM and entered amtara District, Jharkhand at about 11:25 AM, you have to pass through Mihijam and pass through a level crossing that luckily again, at 11:25 AM was light on traffic, ( we faced some traffic here on our way back )

7. We reached the Jamtara Level Crossing at 11:56 AM and have travelled about 310 km till then.

8. After the Second Level Crossing i.e. the one after the Jamtara town,there is a town chowk where we were having a doubt, Google was suggesting the straight road ahead where as MapMyIndia wanted us to take the right turn, we asked the traffic guard, he said both routes are correct, ans also suggested that Google's straight route was shorter, but we took the MapMayIndia route which proved to be a bit longer.

9. The route now will take you through quaint villages and frequent open fields with small hillocks visible here and there, the road is a double carriageway, with a beautiful tarmac but is a bit narrow, so you can't really reach speeds beyond 120kmph if you are not willing to fight too hard. Also beware of goats, ducks and most importantly the calves! They are treacherous.

10. After Jamtara there is a point where the road forks, both takes you to Deogarh but the one that goes straight is a lot longer than the one that forks to your self towards Sarath, so always navigate towards Sarath, not directly towards Deogarh.

11.This fork is identified by a bust of some local hero/leader, a picture of which I'll upload in the next post.

12.Refilled at small Indian Oil station just before Deogarh, no CC so carry cash all along, the petrol fortunately was good it seemed.

13. Reached Deogarh in the middle of the super heat wave and found the town almost deserted, which on the return leg was hell to navigate in the evening.

14. Stopped for 5 minutes after crossing the main Clock Tower Chowk area of Deogarh and asked local vegetable vendors and buyers sitting by the road side to confirm the route with the locals. We left Deogarh for Bhagalpur at around 2:40 PM.

15. Drove head on as Google Map was prompting by now, (MapMyIndia lost track when we missed that fork mentioned in point 10 and drove a couple of kilometers straight on before asking a local Trekker Driver, helpful people driver and all passangers eagerly pointed me to either turn back and take the route towards Sarath or follow them, I went for Sarath.) and passed Banka and Amarpur without any trouble and were heading for Bhagalpur, took a small water and leak break 45kms outside Bhagalpur, this part of the route is often single carriage way and cos slow you down a bit, but the quality of the road compensates for everything.

16. Towards Bhagalpur there is a place called Kajreli Bajar where you'll find a truck parking area, and really there were so many that after 70 we lost count, but that doesn't slow you down.

17. Reached Bhagalpur at 4:50 PM and distance covered till the Railway Underpass that takes you away from the town center was 520km.

18. After Bhagalpur the Vikramshila Setu which I measured was about 4.5km long comes and we crossed that with a moderate traffic load, had to crisscross, bully and honk a few grain loaded tractors and mini trucks out of the way but nothing serious work here, nothing like I have to do on NH34

19.This VikramShila Setu Road continues for about 8km before merging onto NH31.

20. Reached Purnea Toll Plaza around 6:15 PM, asked a few locals for direction to Hotel Center Point ( a really superb hotel ) and halted for the night. Since we were heading for Chalsa, pushing for Siliguri was unnecessary.
21. After a good nights rest and a good complementary breakfast and some cleaning of the car and pressure checking and doing some pumping with the foot pump ( previous day the heat was so unbearable that the tire was getting too hot, so had the pressure reduced a bit below what I usually prefer for highway, which is a notch lower than for city already ), left for the Sinclairs Retreat at 9:10 AM
22. The next day was cool and cloudy for it rained heavily at Purnea all night. Purnea town was a bit crowded and took me 15 minutes to negotiate, but nothing serious or unbearable.
23. After Purnea, at Baisi there is a stretch that is generally water logged after a rain and is treacherous, it is an approach to a fly over, and we mistakenly went ahead into the water only to find a truck with a broken axle stranded in the water, local people warned us to not to go further ahead and take the opposite carriage way instead, we turned back cautiously into the water and took the other carriage way which was being shared by both on coming traffic and us now.

24. We reached Dalkhola BP Petrol Pump at 10:25 AM, refueled again although tank was 3/4 full but I made it a point ti refill at 3/4 whenever possible to avoid tension later. Distance so far was 668km including those detours.

25.Passed Kisanganj fairly quickly but was stranded a long while at Islampur, wasted about 45 minutes or more there and finally left Islampur at about 11:50 AM and the rest is straight ahead, we reached the Sinclairs Retreat Dooars at about 2:30 PM, within time for a shower and lunch.

A few Notes: Cows and Goats of course, secondly the small mistaked that the Map Apps do, might ask you to take a turn for Purnea through a newly built narrow left turn through dense weeds, a Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna Development, but the next wider and more regular left turn would be much better and so on, if in doubt, ask someone. Do not rely entirely on the maps... It took me 4+8 hours on day 1 and about 5 1/2 hours to reach Chalsa on day 2, I think since you are traveling with a baby and elderly people, you should take it easy and might need more breaks.

I was traveling through immense heat, but you might be driving through rain, so you might slow down to be safe, so take some lead time and I think since you too are heading for Dooars, no need to push for Siliguri, Purnea is a better choice.

Another point of immense importance, carry all food and water that you can, a cooler for the baby and a cooler with some cans of Coke or ThumsUp for you and the rest and plenty of water, avoid caffeine power horses like Red Bull. You won't find much to buy on this route.

After Dalkhola there is a stretch which has its top layer eroded off so be careful, specially now that those pot holes might be filled with water, this stretch is still good, the problem is the entire stretch till a point where the concrete road starts, this stretch is even more treacherous... treacherous for two reasons.
1. On almost all the fly overs, at the base of each you'll find a very steep speed breaker and these are not at all good for your shockers and tyres, so slow down while approaching and while descending.

2. The turf is good, the scenery beautiful, and you are fresh, so you'll speed, but then there you go, suddenly a pot hole at least as deep as 6-8 inches will appear from no where and you have to either let it destroy your car's shockers or quickly maneuver around it, but some are so wide that you have to let at least one side of the car take the shock, and most importantly, as was in my case after a few such holes I slowed down to below 100 but then didn't know when I was back at at least 120kmph and then this massive pot hole just at the approach of a culvert appeared and I had to brake, release turn and do what not to get past it, but then I realised that it was something very foolish I did because I knew now that I slightly lost steering control for a moment, and that's dangerous. so take it easy on this stretch.

So, this is all that I could write home about, bon voyage to you

I'll post a few photos soon and before you leave of course.

regards,
Neelanjan