[ringoism]

Hi all,

Something we've thought about doing for years may finally come to fruition this winter, beginning as soon as our sons begin their winter break from school in early December. Their maternal relatives are all in Mizoram and we're here, and there are something like 2,500kms in-between.

Previously, we've always done a combination of buses, trains, planes, automobiles to arrive out there. While several continuous days behind the wheel of a car in unknown places in the midst of the big, bad north Indian plains could be daunting enough in itself (for simple hill folk as ourselves :-) !), these past conveyance combinations have themselves proven complicated, limiting, inconvenient and stressful in their own ways. A private car does provide for a lot more flexibility and convenience, provided there's no trouble and there's time enough to not feel rushed.

So the idea here is to relax, accept that we'll be at it awhile, and try to see and experience some memorable things along the way. We could leave Manali by around 10th December and would want to arrive in Aizawl at least a few days before Christmas. So two weeks. Driving straight and relentless would take maybe 4-5 long days, so I figure we've got comfortably 8-9 more to be potentially spent in stops along the way.

I have heard that the new "superhighways" - for example the one heading East from Agra - are actually (as is generally true worldwide) rather boring... and I'd assume that the state highways and lesser roads would be more interesting. At the same time, points of particular interest MAY prove to be far between and those distances take twice or thrice as long to cover off-expressway - and moreover it's been a LONG time since I've traveled anywhere by road (bus) in UP / Bihar, and just unsure what to expect, also whether the law & order situation is universally good enough to be driving across significant portions via the byways... Saw some real unpleasantness in Gorakpur way back, as one example from my personal history, also read something here in the threads of spurious "entry tax" scams in Bihar more recently... Being that none of us in the car would be (ethnically) north-Indians ourselves does make us stand out a bit potentially, to where unwanted attention would be, well, unwanted.

Other option, of course, would be to drive from here to Uttarkhand's eastern border by whatever route (all of which seem to be relatively mild in my past experience), enter from there into Nepal, and make our way across the Mahendra highway, stopping at Pokhara, Kathmandu, Ilam, etc. - all of which I've done in the past by bus/ taxi, and which I'm sure would be quite lovely. I am not certain, however, about entry formalities / costs of bringing something bigger than a motorbike into that country, so if anyone has info/experience there do let me know.

As far as "attractions" for us go: We enjoy natural beauty, the rural countryside, rivers, local crafts, also history. We're not into temples for their own sakes, though we have enjoyed the architecture (even if in ruins) of both sacred and "secular" structures of all types. Along those lines, Bodh Gaya / Nalanda, and probably Varanasi, perhaps even Patna would be possibilities on those lines.

We know people in Delhi (of course), Lucknow, (a place or two in) Bihar, also along the length of West Bengal from Calcutta to Siliguri, Guwahati and Meghalaya also factor in.

We may decide to leave a car out there in MZ and travel back by flight (in February, when MZ-DL airfares are cheap), or we may choose to drive back (quick or leisurely) as well, we don't feel the need to fix that at this point.

Note that the trip will probably NOT be undertaken in the Marshal (though anything is possible)! Something better for the highways is expected by then.

Any thoughts / advice appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Eric