[DWC]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Depends on which route you plan to take:

Route 1: Calcutta-Kharagpur-Keonjhar-Sambalpur-Raipur-Bhandara-Nagpur-Amaravati-Akola-Jalgaon-Dhule-Nashik-Bombay?

Route 2: Calcutta-Kharagpur-Jaleswar-Baleswar-Bhubaneswar-Brahmapur-SRikakulam-Vizag-Rajahmundry-Vijaywada-Hyderabad-Solapur-Indapur-Pune-Bombay?

Variation of ROute 1: Calcutta-Kharagpur-Jaleswar-Baleswar-Choudhwar (before Cuttack)-Angul-Sambalpur-rest of Route 1 route (to avoid the bad roads in JH & OR)

Variation of Route 1: Calcutta-xxxx-Nagpur-Amaravati-Karanja-Mehekar-Jalna-Aurangabad-Ahmednagar-Pune-Bombay (faster Nagpur-Bombay route)

Was planning a Mumbai - Kolkata - Mumbai road trip in December with the wife and dog and came across this thread.

Looking to reach the destination in as short a period of time possible. This means that im primarily looking for good roads through out the journey even if it means I have to cover a little extra distance. It seems Route 2 has better roads and traffic conditions even though it is a tad bit longer.

Would you suggest Route 2 for an aggressive driver? Or does it make better sense to do the variations mentioned in Route 1?

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by DWC

Was planning a Mumbai - Kolkata - Mumbai road trip in December with the wife and dog and came across this thread.

Looking to reach the destination in as short a period of time possible. This means that im primarily looking for good roads through out the journey even if it means I have to cover a little extra distance. It seems Route 2 has better roads and traffic conditions even though it is a tad bit longer.

Would you suggest Route 2 for an aggressive driver? Or does it make better sense to do the variations mentioned in Route 1?

Both are OK, but much will depend on the respective road conditions at that time. Dec is too far away.

[subirdas]

Am planning for a round trip Pune - Kolkata - Pune this October with family.

Reading through forums and looking at the google maps, have zeroed in on the following routes with two night halts en route to destination :

Pune-Ahmednagar-Akola-Amravati-Nagpur (Night Stay )-Bhilai-Raipur-Sambalpur-Kendujhar (Night Stay ) -Kharagpur-Kolkata

Kolkata-Kharagpur-Jaleswar-Baleswar-Bhubaneswar-Brahmapur-SRikakulam-Vizag (Night Stay )-Rajahmundry-Vijaywada-Hyderabad (Night Stay )-Solapur-Indapur-Pune

I'd be grateful for any thoughts/suggestions around the following :

a) Feasibility of the above plans
b) Any suggestion to amend the route, depending on road condition, safety, etc.
c) Hotels, tariffs of the places where night stay is intended ( as above )
c) Detailed travel logs of the above routes, if available - great, if done recently
d) Any other suggestion will be most welcome

Regards,
Subir

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by subirdas

Am planning for a round trip Pune - Kolkata - Pune this October with family.

Reading through forums and looking at the google maps, have zeroed in on the following routes with two night halts en route to destination :

Pune-Ahmednagar-Akola-Amravati-Nagpur (Night Stay )-Bhilai-Raipur-Sambalpur-Kendujhar (Night Stay ) -Kharagpur-Kolkata

Kolkata-Kharagpur-Jaleswar-Baleswar-Bhubaneswar-Brahmapur-SRikakulam-Vizag (Night Stay )-Rajahmundry-Vijaywada-Hyderabad (Night Stay )-Solapur-Indapur-Pune

I'd be grateful for any thoughts/suggestions around the following :

a) Feasibility of the above plans
b) Any suggestion to amend the route, depending on road condition, safety, etc.
c) Hotels, tariffs of the places where night stay is intended ( as above )
c) Detailed travel logs of the above routes, if available - great, if done recently
d) Any other suggestion will be most welcome

Regards,
Subir

Nagpur:Peanut Hotel is a good place

Keonjhar:Shreekhetra Intl is the only place to stay at Keonjhar,and is bang on the NH6,its nothing more than a lodge,have stayed there and the locals say its the only hotel in Keonjar

You could try the OTDC Panthnivas http://panthanivas.com/keonjhar.htm

Vizag:Best Western Ramachandra is ideal and just off the NH5 bestwesternramachandra.co.in

Hyd:Plenty of hotels in Kukatpally area like Swagath Grand etc.Do not take the ORR while coming from Vijayawada as it does not connect to NH9 yet.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by subirdas

Pune-Ahmednagar-Akola-Amravati-Nagpur (Night Stay )-Bhilai-Raipur-Sambalpur-Kendujhar (Night Stay ) -Kharagpur-Kolkata

Things might have changed, so please do enquire, but till recently KGP - Sambalpur was best done by KGP - just before Cuttack - NH42. Longer but faster, and safer.

Regards
Sutripta

[subirdas]

Many thanks Ranjitp1/Sutripta for your inputs - much appreciated.

Sutripta, can you please clarify whether this is the route (Sambalpur, Charmal, Angul, Cuttack, Bhadrak, Jaleswar, Kharagpur) you had in mind while referring to NH42 route ? Please feel free to amend as appropriate.
Were your apprehensions owing to security reasons or road conditions ? I'll be travelling with my wife and kid and hence security is something with which there is no compromise.

Would anyone be aware of any decent accommodations in Sambalpur please ?

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by subirdas

Am planning for a round trip Pune - Kolkata - Pune this October with family.

Reading through forums and looking at the google maps, have zeroed in on the following routes with two night halts en route to destination :

Pune-Ahmednagar-Akola-Amravati-Nagpur (Night Stay )-Bhilai-Raipur-Sambalpur-Kendujhar (Night Stay ) -Kharagpur-Kolkata

Kolkata-Kharagpur-Jaleswar-Baleswar-Bhubaneswar-Brahmapur-SRikakulam-Vizag (Night Stay )-Rajahmundry-Vijaywada-Hyderabad (Night Stay )-Solapur-Indapur-Pune

I'd be grateful for any thoughts/suggestions around the following :

a) Feasibility of the above plans
b) Any suggestion to amend the route, depending on road condition, safety, etc.
c) Hotels, tariffs of the places where night stay is intended ( as above )
c) Detailed travel logs of the above routes, if available - great, if done recently
d) Any other suggestion will be most welcome

Regards,
Subir

Why dont you consider going via this route,albeit slightly longer but majority of the sections are 4 laned.

http://goo.gl/maps/PFIY1

Mumbai-Pune-Nagar-Dhule-Indore-Kolaras-Bhognipur-Allahabad-Kolkata.

Mumbai-Indore:approx 8-10hrs/600kms
Indore-Kanpur:Approx in 12hrs /700kms
Kanpur-Kolkata:Approx 12hrs/900kms (if you want to break this up,stay at Varanasi and continue further)

[yogesh.janghel]

Originally Posted by subirdas

:
Pune-Ahmednagar-Akola-Amravati-Nagpur (Night Stay )-Bhilai-Raipur-Sambalpur-Kendujhar (Night Stay ) -Kharagpur-Kolkata

I think you will not able to reach from Nagpur to Kendujhar in 1 day. If you really want it, it will be very long tiring day. Before Kendujhar, you have to cross kanji paani ghaati. Beautiful road but single ( may be lonely in night). I suggest you avoid it in the night. Halt in Sambalpur. Good Hotels in NH itself. Start early from Sambalpur. You should be able to reach Kol by evening. You will get much better roads if you go from Sambalpur to Bhubneshwar and then Kol. Extra distance will be around 120/130 Km. But the road will be fast and less tiring.

[subirdas]

Originally Posted by yogesh.janghel

I think you will not able to reach from Nagpur to Kendujhar in 1 day. If you really want it, it will be very long tiring day. Before Kendujhar, you have to cross kanji paani ghaati. Beautiful road but single ( may be lonely in night). I suggest you avoid it in the night. Halt in Sambalpur. Good Hotels in NH itself. Start early from Sambalpur. You should be able to reach Kol by evening. You will get much better roads if you go from Sambalpur to Bhubneshwar and then Kol. Extra distance will be around 120/130 Km. But the road will be fast and less tiring.

Thanks Yogesh . Taking into your and Sutripta's comments, reckon it won't be prudent to pursue the route via Kendujhar. So, will be taking the detour from Sambalpur via NH42 to Cuttack.

This is how the plan pans out now for the Pune to Kolkata leg.

Day 1 : Pune - Nagpur (740Km)
Day 2 : Nagpur - Sambalpur (560Km)
Day 3 : Sambalpur - Cuttack - Kolkata (710Km)

[yogesh.janghel]

Originally Posted by subirdas

Day 1 : Pune - Nagpur (740Km)
Day 2 : Nagpur - Sambalpur (560Km)
Day 3 : Sambalpur - Cuttack - Kolkata (710Km)

Small Tips:
1. After Crossing RajNandGoan( before durg), take a right in Anjora and follow old highway to Durg. The new by pass has lot of trafiic.
2. CH-Orissa border check post has generally long truck queues. Follow a local car or trax. They generally go on the wrong side, but then thats the only solution.
3. Most probably you will have your lunch in Durg. Hotel Dhillon is right next to highway, near Nehru Nagar Cross.
4. Nagpur-Raipur is super busy road. Enjoy the drive safely.
Enjoy, your Puja.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by subirdas

Sutripta, can you please clarify whether this is the route (Sambalpur, Charmal, Angul, Cuttack, Bhadrak, Jaleswar, Kharagpur) you had in mind while referring to NH42 route ?

Correct. You don't have to enter Cuttack proper (which is a nightmare).

Were your apprehensions owing to security reasons or road conditions ?

Both.
Must add though that there were two lovely ghat sections on this route: near Pal Lahara, and Bisoi.

Contact Rahul4640/ HVK/ ADC (and others) for more details.

Regards
Sutripta

[subirdas]

Originally Posted by yogesh.janghel

Small Tips:
1. After Crossing RajNandGoan( before durg), take a right in Anjora and follow old highway to Durg. The new by pass has lot of trafiic.
2. CH-Orissa border check post has generally long truck queues. Follow a local car or trax. They generally go on the wrong side, but then thats the only solution.
3. Most probably you will have your lunch in Durg. Hotel Dhillon is right next to highway, near Nehru Nagar Cross.
4. Nagpur-Raipur is super busy road. Enjoy the drive safely.
Enjoy, your Puja.

Thanks Yogesh. Very useful - please keep them coming.

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Correct. You don't have to enter Cuttack proper (which is a nightmare).


Both.
Must add though that there were two lovely ghat sections on this route: near Pal Lahara, and Bisoi.

Contact Rahul4640/ HVK/ ADC (and others) for more details.

Regards
Sutripta

Thanks Sutripta. Its quite alluring, must admit but given that its around security, I'll listen to my head this time and leave the beauty of the ghats to be explored for another day.

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Why dont you consider going via this route,albeit slightly longer but majority of the sections are 4 laned.

http://goo.gl/maps/PFIY1

Mumbai-Pune-Nagar-Dhule-Indore-Kolaras-Bhognipur-Allahabad-Kolkata.

Mumbai-Indore:approx 8-10hrs/600kms
Indore-Kanpur:Approx in 12hrs /700kms
Kanpur-Kolkata:Approx 12hrs/900kms (if you want to break this up,stay at Varanasi and continue further)

Thanks buddy. I know these roads are superb and intend to go down this route some time.

[Sommos]

Originally Posted by yogesh.janghel

Small Tips:
1. After Crossing RajNandGoan( before durg), take a right in Anjora and follow old highway to Durg. The new by pass has lot of trafiic.
2. CH-Orissa border check post has generally long truck queues. Follow a local car or trax. They generally go on the wrong side, but then thats the only solution.
3. Most probably you will have your lunch in Durg. Hotel Dhillon is right next to highway, near Nehru Nagar Cross.
4. Nagpur-Raipur is super busy road. Enjoy the drive safely.
Enjoy, your Puja.

With all respect to what Yogesh has said, I would like to differ on a few points :
1. The route through Anjora will also take you through the middle of the twin cities of Durg and Bhilai that will again eat up your time. Since Yogesh knows the local roads very well you may not enjoy the same advantage. Hence I would suggest you stick to the four-lane highway, also the traffic is dense throughout the Durg-Bhilai-Raipur-Arang streach and avoiding only a small part of the streach does not make great sense for me.

2. CG-OR border is a problem sometimes but there is a small village road to avoid the jam. I've posted it earlier but I'm posting the same here for your ready reference.



You'll coming from the left of the frame and the exit road is shown by the first arrow and it rejoins the NH at the second arrow towards the right. The road is OK and passes through a small village and there is a left turn which you may need to ask the villagers.

3. Apart from Dhillon there are several other hotels, all on the right side of the NH. Namely Hotel Vatsa, Amit International and Hotel Ashish.

4. You may think of staying at Bhilai / Raipur on day 1 by starting early from Pune. Second day from Bhilai/Raipur you can reach Kolkata by late evening.

[subirdas]

Must say that I'm overwhelmed with all the help and support from you all. A detailed log post my return is due on me.

Originally Posted by Sommos

2. CG-OR border is a problem sometimes but there is a small village road to avoid the jam. I've posted it earlier but I'm posting the same here for your ready reference.

Attachment 1266082

You'll coming from the left of the frame and the exit road is shown by the first arrow and it rejoins the NH at the second arrow towards the right. The road is OK and passes through a small village and there is a left turn which you may need to ask the villagers. .

Thanks Sommos. I was trying to look-up in google earth, but couldn't locate this properly. Is there any more details by which I can easily take this detour, i.e. name of village, how far from the last landmark, etc do I take the right. Apologies, as you may have already shared these details earlier.

Originally Posted by Sommos

4. You may think of staying at Bhilai / Raipur on day 1 by starting early from Pune. Second day from Bhilai/Raipur you can reach Kolkata by late evening.

This was my initial plan or rather aspiration. However, as am travelling with family, thought of breaking the journey in 3 days.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by subirdas

This was my initial plan or rather aspiration. However, as am travelling with family, thought of breaking the journey in 3 days.

Pune Bhilai can easily be done in 15hrs,it is all dependant on how early you can exit Pune.