Team-BHP - Kolkata Meet (Report and Pics Updated)

I can give one more suggession...Take the Kona expressway then NH2 to delhi GQ (as bally bridge is also in a pathetic state)...have lunch in some dhabas in barddhaman, nice mihidana - sitabhog - langchha in shaktigarh and back....high speed driving, nice roads lots of fun...
Forgot to mention, I did drive to Siuri (my sosurbadi) from kolkata, I did Kol - Siuri through bally bridge in 3 hours (230km, 6AM - 9:10AM) with a small break for air check at dankuni....
Return journey was 2.5 hours(2PM - 4:30PM) till bally bridge including a 15min break for langchha - sitabhog at shaktigarh....another 1.5 hours to reach home from bally bridge thanks to heavy rush....

the drive from Bally bridge to Panagarh (darjeeling more) was like a whisker, the highway was straight as it can be....

Abhi

@akroy - why dont you join us for the next meet? i am sure that we can give you a ride as most of the cars will have just the driver!!

take a break and join us man! it will be great! i am sure we will have fun. i guess Rudra Sen, suman and Zappo will be joining us as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by planet_rocker

yupsy. @shuvc & @akroy. thanks a lot. evrything sounds so much exciting. lets just stick to one idea as of now and bang for it.

@1100D - man ...come online and post your views.

gaming for razor's idea is perfect, IMO.

i will try to give a feedback on the "track condition" @ rajarhat. if i think its fine then we can game for it as well.

eagerly waitng for wolf under a sheep's hide @ "whose baby i am"... @1100D i hope you got that!!

guys take care and drive safe.

caught up late .. I use the rajarhat exp daily ... well it is definitely drivable & better than usual calcutta roads .. but has too many pot holes because of the heavy truck movements .. the patch work & craters happen simulatenously!

Kolaghat bridge being blocked must be a one-off incident. I am generally a frequenter, save last 2 months, generally the surface is bad and the new bridge is still some months away from commisioning. There is a lovely resort just off Kolaghat called Nirala, has a swimming pool and a big lawn. However Kona expressway (2nd bridge to NH2-NH6) as of yesterday 1am is in shambles. But once those 10 kms are seen of at snails pace, rest is just 40 mins drive til Shere-e-Punjab at Kolaghat.

@guys why dont we go to Bardhman. its just 128km from kolkata by road. like akroy said it is best known for sweets. burdwan (bardhaman) lodge is best (quality according to a travel guide) but we can try out some dhabas.

i will do a bit of more research and get back soon. but like akroy said, its worth trying (IMO)

other inputs include:
Ibiza
Lake Land country Club
Diamond Harbour
FFort Radison (raichak)
Sher-e-Punjab (Kolaghat)
Sher-e-Punjab (DumDum)

probable dates: Any Sunday (24th december would be best because 25th - monday will be a holiday AFAIK)

keep you ideas coming :)

@suman - i would prefer to stay within city limits....

Ibiza, Lake Land country Club, Diamond Harbour, FFort Radison (raichak) and Sher-e-Punjab are well within reach and good place to hang out. and i guess ride shouldnt be a problem. but Ibiza, Lake Land country Club, FFort Radison (raichak) are quite expensive and i dont know whether it will be ok with everyone. razor is game for all of these. but i dont know about others as yet...

128km is a distance which i dont think my baby will be able to handle at a stretch...but since its winter i guess she will manage somehow. or else i will have to take my dads car.

any date is fine for me...as long as it is a Sunday and a holiday.

hang out joints within city limits:
Park Street (any Restaurant - except Cinnamon for it "poopy" food n its expensive)
Salt Lake - (any restaurant - mishras (booz), Haveli (veggy) and so on.)
Gol Park - (Restaurant On The First Floor, Taro (13) Parbon (Bong food))
Tangra - (again!!!!)
North Kolkata (i will not go - bad roads)

@ Rudra da, suman, Zappo, Johy - when will you guys come to kolkata ???

Me me me.
I am reacing Kolkata on 22nd. Me and my wife would love to join you ppl. I may take the octy or the bolero. So please let me know the road condition and travel distance.
Please post the itenary when it is finalised. 30th is nice for me.

Rocker I will land up in Kolkata on the 22nd evening, friday. I think around 30th sounds fine... as of now... will know only once I am there though, you know. In between got some tentative plans once I am there.

From the looks of it things are surely looking up for dec :D big plans, eh! That baganbari idea was also cool. One place is Kalyani... there is a huge garden of sorts where lot of people go for weekend picnics. Else, as you guys suggest.

By the way, I will have to piggyback with one of you as I won't have a car at my disposal there. Thats ok I hope.

kewl ... @Zappo, suman and sinhsha ...30th is ok with me but its on a saturday....(damn! 31st is on Sunday...can you beat it guys?)

i am glad that things are shaping up well...

@akroy ..try to crash in - if you and your wifey can manage it somehow.

@shuvd - aah! he vanished again....i will get in touch with him later.

@guys - no picnic....IMO it sounds boring....

a nice cool place to hang out (with lotsa parking space) is what i am looking forward to...

and next time somebody please get one handy cam...

30th morning would be good for me. i don't want to wear myself out on 31st morning. need to save meself for the new yrs eve parties et all ;)
venue... i mentioned the baganbari on the outskirts already. i'll ask around to see if i can get hold of one. others... please do the same as well. ask your friends, relatives and colleagues. we can rent out the place for say 3-4 hrs max. would be better than any hotel/club IMO.
@planet_rocker... relax dude, we weren't planning on a "blanket and lemonade" kinda picnic!! i'm sure we can innovate :)

razor