[Sheel]

Originally Posted by manmohanmaan

Sheel Sir,

This maybe avoided, please...

Just one more question, do these railway crossings have those height restriction bars ? cos I may mount a luggage box on top of the Fortuner. We have a weakness of over packing stuff and its gonna be a 4 week trip.

While the railway crossing doesn't have, Mokamah bridge has, but it is a bit tall, should not be an issue with an extra 1 meter of height.

Thank you, you have been really helpful.

Thanks & in return, please share & do help others

Thanks

[trucksingh]

Hi, planning to visit home to Siliguri this July. It is gonna be one long drive. Planing to take Bangalore - Vizag - Kolkata - Siliguri route. I am assuming it to be a 3 day drive with early morning starts. I have my old war horse my Safari to keep me company. Please comment on route, recent road conditions, tips etc. TIA

[Judemayne]

Dear Sheel,

Please advice on the route from Ranchi to Siliguri via Patna. Will be visiting Gaya and Nalanda en-route to Patna. Should I follow NH 27 or NH 31? In my last drive from Bengaluru to Bhutan, followed 31 after Bhagalpur and your sound advice. All your pointers were spot on on that drive.

Regards

Col Jude Mayne

[rahul_kej]

Originally Posted by Judemayne

Dear Sheel,

Please advice on the route from Ranchi to Siliguri via Patna. Will be visiting Gaya and Nalanda en-route to Patna. Should I follow NH 27 or NH 31? In my last drive from Bengaluru to Bhutan, followed 31 after Bhagalpur and your sound advice. All your pointers were spot on on that drive.

Regards

Col Jude Mayne

My cousin is doing Kolkata Bodhgaya Siliguri. He started today morning from Kolkata and reached Bodhagaya in 7.5hours . Day after tomorrow he will heading to Siliguri via Patna Muzaffarpur Forbesgunj Thakurganj Panitanki Bagdogra Siliguri, the north route.

Will update you once he is back to Siliguri.

[rahul_kej]

My cousin just reached Siliguri from Bodh Gaya. He came via Begusarai Khagaria Naugachia Purnea Araria Bhadurganj Thakurganj Goshpukur Bagdogra Siliguri.

He took exactly 8hours to reach with couple of breaks.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by rahul_kej

He came via Begusarai Khagaria Naugachia Purnea Araria Bhadurganj Thakurganj Goshpukur Bagdogra Siliguri.

Any particular reason for choosing the Galgalia route instead of the more usual route via Dalkhola - Kishanganj - Islampur etc.

Last I remember, road was narrow. Bengal side was OK. Bihar side wasn't.

Very sorry couldn't spend time with you. Was running really late.

Regards
Sutripta

[Judemayne]

Originally Posted by rahul_kej

My cousin just reached Siliguri from Bodh Gaya. He came via Begusarai Khagaria Naugachia Purnea Araria Bhadurganj Thakurganj Goshpukur Bagdogra Siliguri.

He took exactly 8hours to reach with couple of breaks.

Thank you for the update. That was quite quick? How was the condition of the Rajendra Bridge?

[rahul_kej]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Any particular reason for choosing the Galgalia route instead of the more usual route via Dalkhola - Kishanganj - Islampur etc.

Last I remember, road was narrow. Bengal side was OK. Bihar side wasn't.

Very sorry couldn't spend time with you. Was running really late.

Regards
Sutripta

Hi Sutripta,

This stretch will be preferred soon by anyone coming from Purnea towards Siliguri.

Though i have mentioned in the Kolkata Siliguri thread and still mentioning that Islampur stretch is not in good condition and the condition is detiorating day by day due to rains and condition will be very bad if no repairing takes place.

In the above route traffic was not much, only local traffic and very sparse truck traffic. Couple of Toll booths are under construction and very few patches of bad roads.

I will suggest this route even for people coming from Kol via Bhagalpur Purnea.

Next time will plan a meet surely.

[Sheel]

I was busy traveling, hence couldn't respond. Stroke of luck, I was doing the Nalanda/Rajgir - Patna - Purnia route.

Till Biharsharif [when you, merge into road no 20 from 120 as shown in G-Maps] you will come across sparse traffic. From Biharsharif to Bakhtiarpur, traffic density will pick up. From Bakhtiarpur to Mokamah bridge the road isn't perfectly paved and there will a bit of crowd on the road, take caution & drive slow here.

You might have to wait a bit at Mokamah bridge, try *NOT* crossing it after 9PM till mid night. It is utter chaos because of sand filled tractor trailers.

Baruani zero mile is approx 10 kms away, after you take a right turn, expect traffic for some 15 kms odd. Good enough to waste 30/45 mins. At Begusarai, you may take a lunch break. 2/3 restaurants as well as Dominos are there. Baskin Robbins is there as well. Begusarai to Khagaria, road is a bit narrow and not very decently surfaced. Precisely 40 kms after Begusarai, Khagaria will come up, post that wide & good roads will come up all the way to Purnia and Purnia onwards, you will have dual carriage way.

As mentioned by Rahul, the top layer is missing at places so you got to drive slow for some odd 30 kms.

[Judemayne]

Originally Posted by Sheel

As mentioned by Rahul, the top layer is missing at places so you got to drive slow for some odd 30 kms.

Dear Sheel,

Planning a drive to the NE States to cover all 7 capitals, from Bengaluru. Your advice, during my drive to Bhutan was spot on and helped me to circumvent Kolkata and follow the route via Bhagalpur. This time I will be going via Ranchi as have to attend the Units raising day. So will follow the route as you suggested above.

Any advice as to beyond Gawahati? My plan is to drive to Itanagar-Kohima-Imphal then on to Moreh-Silchar-Aizwal-Agartal (if the road is repaired) -Shillong and back to Gawahati. Way back will come via Kolakata.

regards

Colonel Jude Mayne

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by wanderernomad

@

Originally Posted by SumitB

..

Originally Posted by Judemayne

Dear Sheel,

Any advice as to beyond Gawahati? My plan is to drive to Itanagar-Kohima-Imphal then on to Moreh-Silchar-Aizwal-Agartal (if the road is repaired) -Shillong and back to Gawahati. Way back will come via Kolakata.

I am sorry as I don't have any/much info after Siliguri. Have quoted two gentlemen who should provide the info which you are looking for.

Thanks

[wanderernomad]

Jude sir, what are your dates of travel? Your proposed route seems to be at divergence. Any road leading in and out of Silchar is pure pain and torture. Itanagar , Kohima is doable.

[Judemayne]

Originally Posted by wanderernomad

Jude sir, what are your dates of travel? Your proposed route seems to be at divergence. Any road leading in and out of Silchar is pure pain and torture. Itanagar , Kohima is doable.

Thanks Wonderernomad, the idea is to see all the Capitals of the NE States-I have seen them in my three tenures there but wanted to show the wifey the same. Served in Agartala and Mizoram from 77 to 79 and loved the drives (in Broad Arrow vehicles) so wanted her to experience them. The drive is planned after October, as will be on a drive to Shimla, Dehra Doon and Mussorie in end Aug and first week of Sept. Hopefully the road from Karimganj will be repaired after it has been in the Headlines. In the late 70's and late 80's (my second tenure) the roads were terrible or non existent in the NE.

[manmohanmaan]

Hi Guys, sorry for the delay. I did the Bangalore - Phuentsholing and Samdrup Jhonkar - Guwahati - Bangalore route across May - June, however could not post here as I was laid down with a viral fever soon after our return.
Here is a small synopsis of the road conditions. Basically what I did was follow the advice given by RockyB, Landkruzer,Babuda, Rahul_kej, J Ravi and Sheel. Thanks Guys you made it possible without a hitch.

14th May, Bangalore to Pench. about 1300 Kms, left at 6AM arrived at 9PM after brief meet at Nagpur bye-pass. Superb Roads for the most. Bad Roads from Yavatmal for about 18 Kms, single road due to long pending road-work. Yavatmal to Daroda Toll road starts for this section and is good for the stretch, reverting to a single road again on and off. The Nagpur - Kamptee bye-pass is a blessing. The Road after that is undergoing expansion, except for the Seoni Ghat, and is a continuous mess.

15th May we did Pench - Varanasi, 650 Odd Kms. Left at 8.15am reached at 10.45 Bargi Cross, got stuck at Panagod Town due to ‘Kevat Jayanthi Samaroh’ for about 1.30Hrs. Reached Rewa By-pass at 4.10, Rewa - Hanumana bye-pass about 70 Kms of 4 lane blessing.
Reached UP Border at 5.30 PM still on good roads. Hereafter the road is a mess, single lane passing through all towns / villages till we leave it at Mirzapur to take to NH 5 till GT that is really torturous. The road surface though not great can be transversed by any car without any trouble, rough surface and potholes all over with almost no road side facilities of any kind.
The ride on G T road up to Varanasi is good though it passes through numerous Towns with traffic overflowing onto the NH.
Reached Varanasi at about 8.30.

16th we stayed back to visit the Ghats, Kasha Vishwanath Temple, Sarnath, etc.

17th may after the morning boat ride, post Lunch left for Bodh Gaya via Mughal Sarai to GT Road a distance of 20 Kms, the City traffic is a mess with a mix of Motor, Animal and Manual driven vehicles of all description. G T Road is a relief and then you hit the Traffic Jam at Border Crossing with Bihar. It’s a smooth ride on a 4 lane dual carriageway till you take the turn at Dobhi towards Bodhgaya, here the road turns into a well maintained single road and quiet busy, about 40 Kms away just off the NH we arrive at Bodh Gaya early in the evening.

On 18th May we left Bodh Gaya at 6 am, moving from NH 22 to NH 120 via Hisua, continuing northwards, and taking the Bihar Sharief Bypass. This is very important, if God forbid you make a mistake and enter the town you will have one hell of a Town Crossing. Then on to NH 20 up to Bhaktiarpur where you meet NH 31 and turn East Wards towards Purnea where the Road now reads as NH 27 and you reach Siliguri a total distance of 550 Odd Kms. If you stick to the above route the Roads are OK. Single but manageable in any vehicle except for a few patches here and there. We passed Bihar Sharief at 9 AM, Purnea at 3.20 PM and crossed over to WB at 4.15. Once you approach Bagdogra the traffic density increases and you have to slow down specially in the evening when we reached. We checked into our hotel at about 8 PM.

On 19th May, we covered the last leg of the Journey in India. It was only in the morning we realised that the Poll Results were to be declared the same day, worried that this may cause some issues by one party or the other we left as early as possible. Despite our best efforts we could depart only at about 10 AM. It was raining, the roads were good except for some efforts at widening culverts all along the route which caused small localised bottle necks. The distance was about 160 Kms via Malbazar. We crossed empty towns with activity only at Counting Centres, beautiful country, crossing Malbazar before noon. The intersection with NH 517, just before Birpara brings in some heavy traffic which is absent until then. The road deteriorates a little and the surface which is excellent up till there becomes a little pock marked. We crossed our first International border by Road at about 2PM and joined the absolute chaos and cacophony of the Bhutan Immigration Office.

The change in traffic and the City / Town environment across the border is scarily depressing both at Phuentsholing and Samdrup Jhonkar, we have a long way to go in educating ourselves in our road sense and discipline, town planning, cleanliness .....

31st of May we exited Bhutan. Exiting Bhutan at Samdrup Jhonkar is a shock. You are suddenly hit by the large number of people and animals who occupy our roads in all degrees of irresponsibility.

Its a distance of about 100 Kms, Good Roads actually and a smooth ride that makes you feel a little squeezed after the open roads of Bhutan. The Brahmaputra is really mighty and needs to be seen.

We left Guwahati on 2nd June at about 9 AM to Siliguri a distance of about 470 Kms, via NH 27, completing a loop at Hasimara near Phuentsholing, retraced our steps through Mal Bazaar across the Coronation Bridge running into the traffic jam of Darjeeling. 100 Kms Out of Guwahati the road is superb, though exiting Guwahati is a little confusing due to some ongoing flyover construction, thereafter from a place called Pathshala the road deteriorates and is a mess almost all the way with road construction, poor road discipline making for a stressful drive. We reached Siliguri by early evening.

Thereafter we had broken the return trip to more manageable day drives with stops at Purnea, Bodh Gaya, Varanasi, Jabalpur, Hyderabad and Bangalore. we returned home on 8th June.

Hope that is helpful.

Manmohan.

[wanderernomad]

Originally Posted by Judemayne

Thanks Wonderernomad, the idea is to see all the Capitals of the NE States-I have seen them in my three tenures there but wanted to show the wifey the same.

Finally back after the annual leave and yes the plan is very enticing but I would suggest doing only the Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal. Manipur situation fluctuates drastically and you can keep a 3/4 day buffer ex Kohima to visit Imphal and Loktak and perhaps go to Moreh as well (Maam would love the shopping there). Agartala I would recommend flying in and then seeing the state and the Akhura border, Mizoram I would simply let it be. Nothing to see especially since you are already visiting the Western Himalayan states. If you agree then we can plan out the route.