[lucifer1881]

Originally Posted by Tanmay K

...A point of concern for me is that my car insurance's geographical limit is India only...

Originally Posted by columbus

This exactly has been my querry whenever i think about taking my car to Bhutan...

Valid concerns, sirs.

All that it takes to get insurance for Bhutan is to take an add-on cover for the country. My car is insured by New India Assurance. They are charging me INR 500 for this add-on cover.

[Tanmay K]

Originally Posted by lucifer1881

Valid concerns, sirs.



All that it takes to get insurance for Bhutan is to take an add-on cover for the country. My car is insured by New India Assurance. They are charging me INR 500 for this add-on cover.

Thanks! I presume one can buy this add-on in the middle of the insurance period, or will I have to wait till when my insurance renewal is due?

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by Tanmay K

Hi all

I'm planning on making this drive (from Delhi) next April. A point of concern for me is that my car insurance's geographical limit is India only.
...
Any suggestions?

Cheers,
Tanmay

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ml#post2964152

Regards
Sutripta

[amit0rana]

Everyone,
I am riding from Bangalore to Sikkim and back. I have been going through lots and lots of posts here for past 2 months, very very helpful. I have not found much info about roads/routes in Bihar/Jharkhand hence this thread.

For my onward journey I am taking Bangalore - Vizag - Kolkata - Silguri route but for the return journey I am thinking of taking a different route and considering Bagdogra - Patna - Varanasi - Nagpur - Hyd - Bangalore.


When I break down this route there are different options to reach Nagpur

Route 1: Via Lucknow. Google says this is the fastest route although its 400Km more, assuming this means roads are better
Route 2: Muzafarpur - Patna - Varanasi - Rewa - Jabalpur - Nagpur
Route 3: Purnea - Ranchi - Sambhalpur - Raipur - Nagpur

I am bending towards Route 2. Could you help me with following:

1. Road conditions around Route 2
2. I am riding solo, never ride in dark but still anything I need to know about safety related information in these areas.
3. In Route 2, Instead of Muzafarpur -> Patna -> Varanasi I can also go via Muzafarpur -> Chapra -> Balia -> Gazipur, is that any better?

[amit0rana]

I did the above route starting 1st Dec. I did it in 4 days, could have easily done in 3 days but disappointingly Hyderabad doesn't allow bikes on ORR and I wasted 2 hours crossing Hyderabad traffic.

Day 1: Started from Somboray bazar, dropped my wife at Bagdogra airport + chain tightening (2 hours) and headed towards Muzaffarpur. Reached there around 6 so decided to stretch till Patna. Beautiful roads throughout. Most of it was single lane but good width and minimal traffic. Once you hit NH near Araria its 4 lane throughout.
Only place its dusty and too much traffic is just before Ganga bridge and till you cross Patna.
Map: http://bit.ly/2h9xxoe
I left Bagdogra airport at 1pm and reached Patna around 7:30-8

Day 2: I initially planned to go till Bandhavgarh tiger reserve near Rewa but fog in the morning and then UP roads really slowed me down. I decided to stretch till Jabalpur.
Terrible start of the day with average speed of 35-40kmp for almost 6-7hours. Morning it was due to Fog. Fog continued till I hit NH at Sasaram. It took me 4-4.5 Hrs to reach there. Road condition was awesome, single carriage, no laning.
NH till Bhitti was well laid but one of the worst NHs I have ridden. Almost 20% of time I travelled on the wrong side as our side was blocked by trucks. There were no marking and lot of work pending for bridges etc.
Map: http://bit.ly/2h9rvUO

This stretch took me more than 3.5Hrs to cross. I would never want to go there again. Big craters at places.
Map: http://bit.ly/2h9sHrg

Once you enter MP, its beautiful 4 lanes with no traffic till Rewa. After Rewa roads are good moderate traffic, single carriage, 6 laning work going on all along in MP.
I left Patna around 5 and reached Jabalpur around 8

Day 3: From Jabalpur to Hyderabad.
Road condition is ok, no bad roads. Again started the day with fog. Only bad stretch was near pench national partk. Just when you enter jungle till Mansar. From Mansar its all 4 lane.
Map: http://bit.ly/2h9vjWj
I left Jabalpur around 5am and reached Hyd around 5pm

Day 4: Hyd to Bangalore.
4 Lane. Started around 5 and reached Bangalore Airport by 11

Feel free to PM me for details.

[phani]

Hi every one ,
we did a Bangalore - Bhutan road trip from 15 -Dec 2017 to 1 -Jan -2018 .
It is a 18 days road trip with three families in three cars.
I will put the details in different travelogue .

-Phani

Originally Posted by sriturl

A brief update would really help.
Is it do able? What was the vehicle you used, any learnings, bottle necks etc.

I seriously thinking about it, after this and Chevy_lover's post.
But he didn't drive by himself. So waiting for your update.

thanks.

Hi Sriturl
I Just returned from the Bnagalore - Bhutan Road Trip.
I try to answer your questions.

1. yes it is very much doable , we are 3 families in three different cars, 6 adults and 6 kids ( kids age 3 kids 11 -12 years , 3 kids 5 -7 years)

2. Three Cars : Vento 1.6 TDI ( 2012) ,Innova Crysta (2016) & Jeeb Compass Diesel Limited (2017 November delivered)

Mod Note: Please use the EDIT or MULTI-QUOTE buttons instead of typing one post after another on the SAME THREAD!

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[Sandy28]

Originally Posted by phani

Hi every one ,
we did a Bangalore - Bhutan road trip from 15 -Dec 2017 to 1 -Jan -2018 .
It is a 18 days road trip with three families in three cars.
I will put the details in different travelogue .

-Phani

[/b]

Hi Phani

Looking forward to your travelogue.

I am also planning a Bhutan road trip towards end-March for 14 days (March 29-Apr 11) with my wife, son (8 yrs) and daughter (4 yrs) in my Verna. The tentative itinerary that I have planned is as below. The distance and time are as suggested by Gmaps (added 2 hours in the onward and return drives for stopages).

I have loads of questions and all suggestions, inputs and guidance will be very helpful particularly on road conditions, any bad stretch to watch out for, suggestions for night halt hotels.

Day 1: Bglor-Tirupati (258km; 6 Hrs)
Start from Bangalore around 3 pm and drive down to Tirupati via Kolar-Chittoor

Day 2: Tirupati - Srikakulam (860 km; 17 Hrs)
How is this route? Are there good restaurants for food/bio breaks? Any hotel suggestion for night halt?

Day 3: Srikakulam - Kharagpur (662 km; 14 Hrs)
How is this route? Are there good restaurants for food/bio breaks? Any hotel suggestion for night halt?
I am tempted to take a detour to visit Konark but I think some renovation work is going on.
I am considering Kharagpur and not Kolkatta just to avoid getting into the big city. Is it ok or is it still advisable to go to Howrah?

Day 4: Kharagpur / Howrah - Siliguri (670 km; 17 hrs)
Depending on where I end Day 3, I plan to take either Kharagpur-Bankura-Ramakantapur-Siliguri or Howrah-Bardhman-Ramakantapur-Siliguri route. Any suggestions on this? How is this route? Are there good restaurants for food/bio breaks? Any hotel suggestion for night halt?


Day 5: Siliguri-Phuentsholing-Thimpu (350 km; 12 Hrs)
Which route to take to Phuentsholing - via Jalpaiguri-Falakata or via Nagrakata? How is the road condition?
Is international insurance cover mandatory for getting the vehicle permit? Since its a Monday, I am hoping the permit offices would be open?

Day 6: Thimphu
Get permits for Punakah and Wangdue and roam around the city. Any 'must see' places?

Day 7: Thimpu-Wangdue-Punakha*(200 km)
From my prelimnary research, I understand that the road to Phobjikha valley is in a bad shape and so I am not planning to go there. In which case, I am thinking of just driving around Wandgue for few hours and then proceed to Punakha. Or is it better to do a day trip covering Wangdue and Punakha and return to Thimpu?

Day 8: Punakha - Paro (127 km; 4 Hrs)
Post lunch proceed to Paro

Day 9: Paro
Plan is to treck to Tiger Hill. However I am in double mind to do this trek considering that I have my 4 yr old daughter and 8 yr old son with me. Did you guys do the trek? If I skip Tiger Hill, then is it worth going to Paro? Anything else that can compensate for Tiger Hill?

Day 10: Paro - Siliguri (320 km; 8 Hrs)
Day 11: Siliguri - Kharagpur (670 km; 17 Hrs)
Day 12: Kharagpur - Srikakulam (662 km; 14 Hrs)
Day 13: Srikakulam - Tirupati (860 km; 17 Hrs)
Day 14: Tirupati - Bglore (258 km; 6 Hrs)

For the return journey, is there any alternate ruote that I can take so that I dont have to repeat the route?

Thats a load of questions but please help me with as much details to help me plan the trip.

Thanks
Sandy

[Sandy28]

Requesting all fellow TBHPians who have done Bangalore-Bhutan or any stretch in between to please share their inputs. I have posted my detailed travel plan in the above post. Your inputs will be very helpful for me in planning the trip. Thanking all in advance