[download2live]

Keep them coming. Love to see the pics of Kolkata.
How did the car perform? Any breakdowns?
One day I also will go on a long long trip. Someday I will.

[Surprise]

Wow! what a travelogue.. Rated 5 stars

Squeezing through heavy vehicles, get struck in between them & hear the worst news that it take 4-5 hrs to clear the mess....Those things add spice to the trip, esp when you look back at them

Edit: +1

Edit: The pic of massive road jam "road jam-1" pic is outstanding.

[Judemayne]

Sree you are a natural story teller-cannot wait to hear about your travels North of Kolkata. Been to Kolkata by road from Bhubabeswar. Its foolish again for me to pre-empt but eargerly awaiting details of the roads, places to stay, eat and see. Any pitfalls enroute-things to beware off or to avoid??

[sree70]

Time to enjoy the renowned Kolkata's Rasgoolas & Chats. Walked to Lindsay street via Sudder street and it resembles Commercial street in Bangy.
Dusserha near by & a National Holiday, the Kolkatans had flocked for shopping & the 'New Market Mall' & surroundings were flooded with people.
The Street was buzzing with all kind of sounds & the aromas of eateries were diffusing in the atmosphere. The Food stalls on the streets were a bit unhygienic but most of them were eating there. We ate Chats, Pucchkas, Noodles, Kulfis etc.,. Strolled around the streets with Sweet Lassi in clay pot.
The Thick Lassi made us drowsy & took us to Sleep Mode.

TOTAL DISTANCE DRIVEN (I20): 321.00KMS
TOTAL DRIVEN TIME:5 Hrs 45Mins
Tariff for Accommodation: Hotel D.K. International, Marquis Street, Kolkata- 3Bed Dlx Room -AC Rs.2650-00

DAY.5 - 03-10-2010

Got up early & as usual early morning rituals. Previous night we had planned to spend 1 more day in Kolkata & chalked out to visit Dakshineshwar Temple (DT) & Belur Math (BM). Energized ourselves with fresh fruit juices.

Woke up I20 & set the GPS Navi to Dakshineshwar Temple (DT). Follwed the directions of the GPS. Since it was 8-15AM, the Kolkata traffic had just woken up. For few KMS it was easy drive, later it slowed down due to ongoing road repairs.The 2lane road had become a single lane.
Reached (DT) @ 10-00AM and the 15KMS drive almost consumed precious 2hrs. Gobbled up hot hot!!! Pooris with Dal curry along with swollen, fatty, sweety & fairy Rosgullas.(We rate these Rosgullas near DT as the best in all we had in WB)
Went around & visited all the Temples ( Kalima, Krishna & Shiva Lingas) in the (DT) premises. Spent few minutes in the Room where Sri Rama Krishna Parahamsa used to reside & preach. Sat, Meditated & came out with the pleasant feeling.

Kali & Krishna Temples & Dakshineshwar



12 Shiva Temples in (DT)



It was Hot & Humid, the open air car parking had converted I20's interior into a semi-furnace. The Super duper Air conditioning system in I20 is definitely not customized for such conditions.

From DT drove to Belur Math & it was 11-50Am. Parked the Car here under a Tree shade. Rushed to the main Hall as it was about to close @12-00noon. The exterior architecture was marvelous & appealing. Saw the Tomb's of Ramakrishna paramahamsa, Sharadha devi & Swami Vivekanada. Had outside glimpse of other structures over there since few were closed at exact noon.
Erection works of famous Belur Math ( BM) Dusserha pandal was in progress. Had Lunch in the Math premises which was served as prasadam.
Left (BM) @12-50PM.

Exotic Belur Math



Dusserha pandal being erected



GPS GUIDED I20


The GPS route took us vis Massive Howrah Steel Bridge. Driving through it was a delightful experience.

DRIVE THROUGH HOWRAH STEELS



FOLLOWING A TRAM



Reached Marquis street @ 1-45PM.
Napped for a while. Left the room @ 3-30pm, & sat in a YT & reached Victoria Memorial. Wanted to do it in a Road Tram, so that we could complete all the 3 modes of transport in Kolkata but could not make it.
Enjoyed the Mausoleum Architectural beauty and went back to Pre- Independence period viewing the exhibited paintings, stauates & old photographs. Spent for almost 2hrs in & around the Memorial.

Photography around Victoria Memorial









Came out of the memorial & had evening light snacks near the entrance.
Son wanted to take Bunki ride near the memorial but was alone & shyed.
Returned to the Room & collected the clothes from the Laundry, packed the baggages & kept it for ready the continuation of the main journey.

It was time to put an end to enjoying kolkata & return back to the main course!!!!.

Had Dinner in a decent restaurant in Park Street & had brief discussions about the future plans before the food was served.

Contd.,

[Reisender]

Awesome Travelogue. Rated 5 Star. Please try to post back 2 back as soon as possible. cant wait.
Excellent pictures and narration.
Keep'em coming

[Saurabh M]

Nice crisp travelogue with good pics. Keep them coming. Reminds me of my trip to Sikkim in Oct 2009.

[manojgautham]

Awesome is the only word I can say. Glued to your travelogue. This will surely inspire a lot of bhpians for a looooooooonnnng drive.

[AvonA7]

Sree70 : Congratulations on completing this l-o-n-g drive. I am sure you have enjoyed and experienced a lot in this long journey, driving to different regions of India, interacting with different people, visiting many places and different country too. Some of the pics in your T`logue are very nostalgic (personally) and am sure there would many more such pics to come

Thanks for sharing your journey details. Shall closely follow your thread, 5*

[sriswe]

Sree,

Wonderful pictures from your cam all the way from BLR to Kolkatha, Request you to post some more pics of your i20. Just wanted to see how i20 looks with such nice background :-)

My rating for the travelogue - 5 *'s

Thanks,
Srinivas.R

[Lightening-Fast]

Sree, what an experience it must have been for you. Everytime i read such travelogues, my definition of a long drive changes altogether! It keeps getting stretched all the time. Had the continents in the world not been separated by oceans today, i am sure a BHPian would have done a road trip around the globe!!

[sree70]

@ reisender, saurabhM, manojGautham, AvonA7, sriswe, Lightening-fast

Thanks for compliments & 5*ratings.
Will post more snaps of Sikkim & Bhuthan.

regards
Sree

[roamingrao]

Sree70,

Congratulations on your massive achievement ! You and your family for sure would remember this for life. I love your signature too and would relate to it.

Please bring on pictures and your experiences in Sikkim and Bhutan - look forward to see these places through your eyes !

Your pictures of Orissa roads and time spent in Kolkata reminds us of our drive to these places almost around the same time ( oct 2010 ) - during our GQ drive. Thank you for sharing.

And yes, a 5 star rating.

[sree70]

@ roamingrao,
Thanks for the compliments & 5*ratings!!!
I had glimpse of your GQ Drive in 13 days thread & its fabulous.
For sure I will complete reading your thread.
regards
sree

[sree70]

Contd.,

It was 8-30PM & while watching the inaugural function of "Kalmadis" Common Wealth Games again had discussions about the next drive.
As of now I had driven 2066 KMS from the start of the journey.

II PHASE OF JOURNEY FROM KOLKATA TO GANGTOK

Kolkata to Gangtok could be driven in 2options.
The 1st being via Krishnagar > Baharampore> Moregram> Malda> Dalkhola > Islampur > Bagdogara > Silliguri > Rangpo > Gangtok
The other Via Panagarh taking NH2 > Rampuhart > Suri> Moregram and then the same as in 1st option.
Due to obvious reason (will reveal later) decided to take 1st option.
I hinted the other team members not to presume the next ~720KMS ride would not be so easy & smooth like the earlier drive.

The next Question was to drive in the same night or next early morning.
This was a big Question with lots of confusion.

During the pre-trip browsing i had read in team-BHP & India Mike.com reviews that driving from Kolkata to silliguri in Night through 1st option would be beneficial as one can avoid the day traffic & jams @ certain junctions.
Even though the 2nd option was little longer, traveling in day was advised.
The ongoing spectacular inaugural function of CWG pepped us & a good afternoon sleep had kept us energetic.
Since the previous drives were made in broad day light, I wanted to experience the night drive (as most of the times i prefer Day driving).

Wifey popped up few FAQ's about Safety, Road conditions & traffic.
Called up the Travel desk in the Lodge to get information about these & got partial. I was also told it would be safe enough in the Night.

Rechecked our energy levels & fixed on night driving to reach Gangtok & this would be the 1st time in the tour.
Rested till 10.30PM. With slight fear and not fully confident unlocked the doors and held the steering of I20. It was 10.40 night on 03/10/2010. Bye BYe Kolkata.

to be Contd.,

[sami316]

Wow!! Cant wait for the next log to unfold. Really good to see the places you have visited so far. The best pic was the Illuminated Howrah Bridge, it never looked better. Thanks again for sharing this beautiful experience.