[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by wanderer4x4

To go to both Tezpur or Dibrugarh, I'd recommend going via Jorabat - Nagaon from Jalukbari point.

Agree. Also driving through Mangaldai during working hours is not pleasant.

Regards
Sutripta

[DriveTrain]

Thank you all for helping me piece this together , based on what I learnt so far , here is my plan. As a driving habit I start very early on each leg and avoid driving during late evening or night. Please have a look and share your thoughts on the feasibility of this plan.

Plan

There are 2 main routes to Falakata from Siliguri , which one would be better and faster ?

A > Siliguri – (Jalpaiguri) - Maynaguri – Dhupguri – Falakata (100 Kms) OR

B > Siliguri - Sevoke - Mal Bazar - Nagarkata - Binaguri - Birpara – Falakata (130 Kms)

(I have driven the second one in 2012 on my way to Bhutan , roads were mostly excellent with Tea Gardens on both sides)
Depending on the better of the two routes , here is what I plan :

Day 1

Kolkata – Siliguri Via Bolpur , Siuri , Dumka , Bhagalpur (650Kms) if A is the better Option OR

Kokata – Bolpur – Siuri – Dumka – Bhagalpur - Fulbari Ghosh Pukur Bypass road – Jalpaiguri (670 Kms) if B is the better option.

Day 2

If I want to make it to Tezpur on the same day (assuming I have my permits done in Kolkata) , the best options seems to be :

Jalpaiguri - Maynaguri – Dhupguri – Falakata (55 Kms) - > Alipurduar – Gossaigaon - Bongaigain - Nalbari - Rangiya - Baihata – Mangaldai – Tezpur (435 Kms) , a total of nearly 500 Kms with halt options at either Mangaldai or Tezpur depending on the time I reach. In this route there does not seem to be any shortcuts to bypass the border , are there big queues on the border in this route ? This is what HVK recommends.

The other option recommended by SumitB would be Falakata - Cooch Behar – Tufanganj (take detour for the Jam at Boxirhat Border) - Gauripur - Chapar - North Sialmara - Crossing over Bhramputra - Goalpara - Dudhnai – Boko – Jalukbari – Jorabat – Nagaon – Tezpur (560 kms). Need to add 55 Kms if I stay in Jalpaiguri or about 130 Kms if I drive the Siliguri – Malbazar – Birpara – Falakata route. Given the distances , it doesn’t seem like I can make Tezpur in a day , what would be alternate night halt options on this route ?

(After crossing Bhramaputra , from Pancharatna there seems to be a straight route to Dudhnoi through Solmari , Agia & Salpara . Is this not recommended over the Pancharatna – Goalpara – Dudhnoi leg ? )

Day 3

Tezpur - Jamugurihat – Monabari – Gohpur – Narayanpur – Bandardewa - North Lakhimpur – Dhemaji – Shilapathar – Along. (450 Kms)

(From Narayanpur , there seems to a marginally shorter route via Bihpuria and Laluk to North Lakhimpur)

Day 4

Along – Mechuka (190 Kms)

Day 5 & 6

Mechuka and surroundings

Day 7

Mechuka to Pasighat via Along , this is about 280 kms with about 190 Kms on the mountains , not sure whether this can be done in a day , alternate would be to stay in Along.

Day 8

Pasighat to Roing via Dambuk with ferry crossing assuming the ferry operates .

Else Plan B would be Pasighat to Dibrugarh . Is there a Ferry available to cross near Pasighat or do I need to come back and take the ferry via Silapathar ?

Day 9

Roing to Mayudia Pass FH if I get the Dambuk Ferry OR
Dibrugarh to Mayudia Pass FH, in case I need to make the Dibrugarh detour (again not sure whether this can be done in a day)

Day 10

Mayudia to Anini

Day 11

Anini

Day 12

Anini to Sally Lake resort near Roing (not sure whether this is doable in a day)

Day 13

Roing to Dibrugarh

Day 14

Dibrugarh to Night halt ? , what would be a good night halt option enroute to Siliguri / Jalpaiguri ?

I intend to drive on the Dibrugarh – Jorhat – Nagaon – Jorabat – Jhalukbari – Dudhnoi – Goalpara route and I am thinking that if I take the Falakata - Bongaigaon – Nalbari - Tezpur route while coming in and take the Goalpara – Tufanganj – Coocbehar route while going back , I would have essentially driven on both routes from Bengal to Assam.

Day 15

Night halt place - Siliguri / Jalpaiguri

Day 16

Siliguri / Jalpaiguri to Kolkata via Bhagalpur , Dumka , Siuri and Bolpur

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by DriveTrain

Plan

There are 2 main routes to Falakata from Siliguri , which one would be better and faster ?

A > Siliguri – (Jalpaiguri) - Maynaguri – Dhupguri – Falakata (100 Kms) OR

B > Siliguri - Sevoke - Mal Bazar - Nagarkata - Binaguri - Birpara – Falakata (130 Kms)

Option B is better and faster.

[DriveTrain]

Originally Posted by SumitB

If you leave at 3-4 am and plan on driving towards Dibrugarh, stay at any of the many hotels in Kaziranga sector. If I was on an adventure/leisure trip, I would dedicate a day to go for an elephant safari in Kaziranga but you'll have to book in advance. If you leave at the intended time from Siliguri, you should reach Kaziranga at about 7pm or 8pm in the evening depending on how you drive and how many halts you make. Think about it.

Good suggestion , I had visited Kaziranga earlier and clubbed it with the Tawang Bomdilla sector , did not drive myself in that trip though.

Originally Posted by tacho9000

Dear Drive Train I'd travelled to arunachal in 2010. Don't know the current conditions but when we'd done it in January 2010 the roads were in okay condition with us going through Sadia. Mayodia pass was accessible and as we had reached the top it had started to snow.Hence you can pretty much drive to Roing and then onto Mayodia pass too.

Good to know , where did you stay in Mayodia / Roing and do you have contact numbers from your earlier trips ?

Originally Posted by wanderer4x4

To go to both Tezpur or Dibrugarh, I'd recommend going via Jorabat - Nagaon from Jalukbari point. On a bad day near Saraighat bridge, one can lose upwards of 2 hours just to reach Baihata which otherwise is 20-30 mins at the most from the bridge. And traffic snarls in that area from Jalukbari to Baihata is increasing every day especially during morning and evening hours.

Thanks , will keep this in mind if I am coming in from the Goalpara - Dudhnoi - Jhalukbari sector.

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

Option B is better and faster.

Thank you , so I will go for option B and stay the night in Siliguri instead of Jalpaiguri.

[tacho9000]

Originally Posted by DriveTrain

Good to know , where did you stay in Mayodia / Roing and do you have contact numbers from your earlier trips ?

Sorry for being so late in responding was off team bhp for quite sometime. I don't have the contact number from the earlier trip. But we had stayed at Roing this side of the river at a hotel just opposite to the bus stand. One warning though the hotels near bus stand didn't get much electricity back in 2010. Infact power cut post 6pm till early dawn next day wasn't uncommon back then. Our driver didn't know but across the river which had small boulders then through which cars can pass with ease was a resort sort of the name of which I'd conveniently forgotten which was much better in the sense it had electricity and restaurant within the property. Try to enquire and stay there if possible. And on 1st January you won't get any shop open after 12pm because that's when everybody goes for picnic. We made the mistake then and had to spend a day there with no heavy food survived only on bakery cakes biscuits et al. So keep them in mind when you're going for the trip.

Dear Drive Train Dibrugarh to Mayudia isn't possible in a day because of the distance road condition and your vehicle being an out of state vehicle. Also if you reach dibrugarh on your return trip by 3pm then take another 1.5hour drive to reach till sivsagar or even better if possible reach jorhat which takes another hour or so from sivsagar which though a bit long route will be better incase you wish to visit Majuli too. An excellent place to see some quality avian life.

Cheers,
Subhra

[DriveTrain]

Originally Posted by tacho9000

Sorry for being so late in responding was off team bhp for quite sometime. I don't have the contact number from the earlier trip. But we had stayed at Roing this side of the river at a hotel just opposite to the bus stand. One warning though the hotels near bus stand didn't get much electricity back in 2010. Infact power cut post 6pm till early dawn next day wasn't uncommon back then. Our driver didn't know but across the river which had small boulders then through which cars can pass with ease was a resort sort of the name of which I'd conveniently forgotten which was much better in the sense it had electricity and restaurant within the property. Try to enquire and stay there if possible. And on 1st January you won't get any shop open after 12pm because that's when everybody goes for picnic. We made the mistake then and had to spend a day there with no heavy food survived only on bakery cakes biscuits et al. So keep them in mind when you're going for the trip.

Dear Drive Train Dibrugarh to Mayudia isn't possible in a day because of the distance road condition and your vehicle being an out of state vehicle. Also if you reach dibrugarh on your return trip by 3pm then take another 1.5hour drive to reach till sivsagar or even better if possible reach jorhat which takes another hour or so from sivsagar which though a bit long route will be better incase you wish to visit Majuli too. An excellent place to see some quality avian life.

Cheers,
Subhra

Thanks Subhra for this great piece of information. Unfortunately I had to shelve this plan for the time being , will try to do this in 2015 now.

[Amukherjea]

Hello I have just come back to kolkata from a trip to Tawang. two cars one Duster 2wd and a LR Discovery4. We took Kolkata Bardhaman SH7 Moregram NH34 to Siliguri with the diversions to avoid Kaliachack and Dhalkhola as has been discussed many time in the forums.Imho this is a very reasonable route in day time with about 40km on SH7 still being widened so sometimes one has to stop for opposing traffic. Some bits of NH34 are pathetic as has been mentioned many times. After we took the Sevoke road and NH31C via Chalsa Hasimara Borpeta road Bongaigaon Rangia then straight to Tezpur. Speeds were approx 60kmph with stops. on this road some bridges are not complete. Otherwise one can keep up on the speed. Diesel was not an issue. NRL or IOC pumps were in plenty. and we did not suffer any loss of performance. was never stopped by any cops or others other than late in the evening near a bridge under construction where the cops wanted to know the destination. which of course we did not reply truthfully.
I will not talk about Tawang portion as it is not related to the querry.
My experience with Arunachal office at Saltlake area in Kolkata was painless. if you carry the original documents and enough number of copies and 2 photos per sector for all members then you can get ILP for multiple sectors. Each are issued separately. and cannot overlap and can only be for 14 days at a time per sector. The form issue and acceptance is in the morning till I think 1PM and one collects the ILP next eve at 1530. Smile at the old man and the other staff and they are helpful. We had collected for Tawang/Tezpur, Mechuka via Itanagar and Along via Pasighat. Just read the online help pages. Inquired at Tawang for further clearances. One would spend 4 5 hours just for that. At Tezpur the wait is for the day.
our experience was that if you sought help from any nearby Army post you would get positive response. Had two tyre flats on one car and Army helped near Sela Pass.
Hope this helps

[gmhossain]

Originally Posted by Amukherjea

Hello I have just come back to kolkata from a trip to Tawang. two cars one Duster 2wd and a LR Discovery4. We took Kolkata Bardhaman SH7 Moregram NH34 to Siliguri with the diversions to avoid Kaliachack and Dhalkhola as has been discussed many time in the forums.

Pardon me for being OT. It would be wonderful if you could update the Kolkata - Silguri route thread by sharing your experience for this section. Specially, which parts are still in bad shape and how much time did you take to cross different waypoints.

Thanks,

[DriveTrain]

Originally Posted by Amukherjea

Hello I have just come back to kolkata from a trip to Tawang. two cars one Duster 2wd and a LR Discovery4. We took Kolkata Bardhaman SH7 Moregram NH34 to Siliguri with the diversions to avoid Kaliachack and Dhalkhola as has been discussed many time in the forums.

Thank you so much and congratulations on your trip , hope that you have a trip log to share soon. Did you only do Tawang , or did you travel to Mechuka as well ?

By the way , I am aware of the Botolbari diversion for Dalkhola , I was not aware that there is a diversion for Kaliachowk as well . Can you please describe the Kaliachowk diversion in a bit more detail please ?

[graaja]

Hi all,

Bumping up an old thread.

I am planning for a road trip to North East in December. The high level route is Bangalore -> Nagpur -> Varanasi -> Kalimpong -> Dooars -> Tezpur -> Pasighat

As this is the first time I am visiting this part of India, I request inputs for the best routes for each leg of the journey between Varanasi to Pasighat. I don't want to rely on the routes provided by Google.

Day 1: Varanasi to Kalimpong
Day 2: Kalimpong to Dooars
Day 3: Dooars to Tezpur
Day 4: Tezpur to Pasighat. For this leg, a friend suggested Tezpur -> Jorhat -> Tinsukia -> Roing -> Pasighat to be faster because of long stretches of 4 lane roads.

I am planning to start the drive by 5:00 in the morning as soon as daylight and reach the destinations by dusk. Are these stops practical considering this timings?

Thanks in advance for all the inputs.

[pyrodrive]

Originally Posted by graaja

Hi all,

Bumping up an old thread.

I am planning for a road trip to North East in December. The high level route is Bangalore -> Nagpur -> Varanasi -> Kalimpong -> Dooars -> Tezpur -> Pasighat

Day 1: Varanasi to Kalimpong
Day 2: Kalimpong to Dooars
Day 3: Dooars to Tezpur
Day 4: Tezpur to Pasighat. For this leg, a friend suggested Tezpur -> Jorhat -> Tinsukia -> Roing -> Pasighat to be faster because of long stretches of 4 lane roads.

Any particular reason to include Kalimpong? Day 2 is not actually needed unless you want a rest day.
On day 4, it would be faster to take the north bank from Tezpur to Pasighat, the roads are better now except one stretch around Gohpur and Lakhimpur. If you take the Jorhat road then you lose a lot of time due to speed restrictions in kaziranga national park, plus you will be taking a big roundabout via Roing.
I would take the mangaldoi orang road to tezpur from baihata chariali instead of going via guwahati. Yes it is not 4 lane but will be shorter

[graaja]

Originally Posted by pyrodrive

Any particular reason to include Kalimpong? Day 2 is not actually needed unless you want a rest day.
On day 4, it would be faster to take the north bank from Tezpur to Pasighat, the roads are better now except one stretch around Gohpur and Lakhimpur. If you take the Jorhat road then you lose a lot of time due to speed restrictions in kaziranga national park, plus you will be taking a big roundabout via Roing.
I would take the mangaldoi orang road to tezpur from baihata chariali instead of going via guwahati. Yes it is not 4 lane but will be shorter

Thank you so much for the inputs. I will consider the north bank to Pasighat instead of the Roing route.

I missed a day at Kalimpong in my post. Planning to spend a day at Kalimpong and leave Kalimpong early on day 3 and do some sight seeing at Dooars before checking into the hotel for the night. Below is the corrected plan.

Day 1: Varanasi to Kalimpong
Day 2: Halt at Kalimpong and some sight seeing
Day 3: Drive early morning from Kalimpong to Dooars. Half a day of sight seeing at Dooars
Day 4: Dooars to Tezpur
Day 5: Tezpur to Pasighat.

[ABHI_1512]

Originally Posted by graaja

Thank you so much for the inputs. I will consider the north bank to Pasighat instead of the Roing route.

I missed a day at Kalimpong in my post. Planning to spend a day at Kalimpong and leave Kalimpong early on day 3 and do some sight seeing at Dooars before checking into the hotel for the night. Below is the corrected plan.

Day 1: Varanasi to Kalimpong
Day 2: Halt at Kalimpong and some sight seeing
Day 3: Drive early morning from Kalimpong to Dooars. Half a day of sight seeing at Dooars
Day 4: Dooars to Tezpur
Day 5: Tezpur to Pasighat.

Hey Graaja,

Day 1 looks feasible till Siliguri since that alone will take around 13-15 hours. The road to Kalimpong from Siliguri will be a stretch because of some steep gradients for someone driving for the first time on that route and that too during the night. You can halt at Siliguri for the night and then leave early morning for Kalimpong.

Tezpur to Pasighat is a good drive despite being two laned and should not take more than 8-10 hours. Also, Dooars is huge and have several pitstops, check the places across and decide.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

Hey Graaja,

Day 1 looks feasible till Siliguri since that alone will take around 13-15 hours. The road to Kalimpong from Siliguri will be a stretch because of some steep gradients for someone driving for the first time on that route and that too during the night. You can halt at Siliguri for the night and then leave early morning for Kalimpong.

Tezpur to Pasighat is a good drive despite being two laned and should not take more than 8-10 hours. Also, Dooars is huge and have several pitstops, check the places across and decide.

Thank you ABHI_1512 for the inputs. How about the below modification?

Day-1: Varanasi to Patna via Bodh Gaya. This is 360km. Spend some time in Bodh Gaya on the way.
Day-2: Patna to Kalimpong
Day 3: Halt at Kalimpong and some sight seeing
Day 4: Drive early morning from Kalimpong to Dooars. Half a day of sight seeing at Dooars
Day 5: Dooars to Tezpur
Day 6: Tezpur to Pasighat.

Is Patna to Kalimpong feasible in one day?

[ABHI_1512]

Originally Posted by graaja

Thank you ABHI_1512 for the inputs. How about the below modification?

Day-1: Varanasi to Patna via Bodh Gaya. This is 360km. Spend some time in Bodh Gaya on the way.
Day-2: Patna to Kalimpong
Day 3: Halt at Kalimpong and some sight seeing
Day 4: Drive early morning from Kalimpong to Dooars. Half a day of sight seeing at Dooars
Day 5: Dooars to Tezpur
Day 6: Tezpur to Pasighat.

Is Patna to Kalimpong feasible in one day?

Patna is little off route, if you don’t have anything specific in Patna then you should rather stay at Bodh Gaya. Bodh Gaya is just around 30kms from NH2 off Sherghati.

Now, you can do Bodh Gaya to Siliguri surely in a day. Should not take more than 12 hours via Gorakhpur. I would recommend you to do Kalimpong the next day morning. It’s around three hours drive from Siliguri.