[mkbksc]

Started from Patna for Jamshedpur on 6th June 2013 at 12:50 hrs. odometer 4501 kms.We decided to go via Gaya-Dhobi-Barhi-Hazaribagh-Ranchi-Jamshedpur

The Patna By pass and the signage at the end.







After taking right turn from Patna bypass just after the overhead road signange, passed PunPun River, Dinarwa, Jehanabad, etc. The road is a state highway but well carpeted and wide enough for two vehicles. Dinarwa is famous for its khoobi ka layee ladoo. you can get it at the roadside. We reached Gaya at 15:45 hrs. Odometer 4610 kms(Patna -Gaya - 109 kms). We crossed Gaya city(missed the bypass, a blessing in disguise) and decided to stop at Bodh Gaya.















After Bodh Gaya where we had reached at 1620 hrs & where we stayed for 40 minutes & which is roughly 14 kms from Gaya city, we reached Dhobhi on NH-2 at around 1720 hrs. Moving ahead on NH2, Barachatti where there were lot of trucks. In fact, we encountered a truck jam on NH2 at Bihar Jharkhand border at 1800 hrs. We took right turn from Barhi at 1825 hrs and left NH2 to move towards Hazaribagh.We reached Hazaribagh at 1930 hrs, ODO reading : 4753 kms Patna Hazaribagh distance : 252 kms.Stayed overnight at a relative's place.

Road from Barhi to Hazaribagh is being four laned and the work is not expected to end soon as per local people. The surrounding landscape is lush green and one also crossed Hazaribagh National Park.

[mkbksc]

Started from Hazaribagh on 7.6.13 at 1005 hrs. After Hazaribagh, four lane is operational up to 10 kms before Ramgarh ( ~ 32 kms) and the scenic beauty is a sight to behold. Thick Green forest and undulating landscape which is visible over a very long distance gives you a high not attainable through other means. Jharkhand is a sleeping beauty. Hope people do not exploit her.See it for yourself.





















More of the breathtaking beauty of Jharkhand.








Crossed Ramgarh and then headed towards Ranchi. Stayed on left side from Booty More and reached Kantatoli Modh in Ranchi at 1200 hrs. There was a big jam at Kantatoli Modh. From there, took a left turn, crossed Namkum via a new flyover and headed straight to Jamshedpur. Again, forest all round and with a beautiful landscape. No four lane but road is wide enough for 3 vehicles. Just before Jamshedpur near Mangho, very bad road for 9 kms. Reached Jmashedpur at 1430 hrs. Odometer : 4967 hrs.

Patna to Jamshedpur via Gaya & Hazaribagh & Ranchi: 466 kms.
Hazaribagh to Jamshedpur via Ranchi : 214 kms.




The last photo is inside Jamshedpur on the approach road to Jubilee Park.

Later we went to Ranchi, Patratu, Johna Falls, Rajrappa Mandir, Bokaro and returned to Noida on 16th June after starting from Ranchi on 15th June and staying overnight at Kanpur on 15th June. Same route was followed in return journey.The car was extremely supportive so were my family members. Overall mileage in XUV was around 12.2 kmpl with 5-7 occupants in different legs of the journey with top speed of 125 kmph. The vehicle was driven for 3252 kms in entire trip and stayed above 100kmph in 75% of the on road time.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to Travelogues. Thanks for sharing!

[samarjitdhar]

Very nice and crisp travelogue. Any news on the four laning work of NH33 between Ranchi and Jamshedpur? Sad to hear that NH33 after Chandil till Pardih (Mango) is still in a bad condition. I drove it almost 1.5 years back and had a harrowing time reaching Jamshedpur specially the last 10-15 kms. NH33 between Jamshedpur and Baharogora is in an even worse state and has been currently outsource to NASA for testing all their next generation Mars Rover prototypes. How many days did you spend in Jamshedpur? Are you from the city? Your travelogue made me nostalgic as I have driven most of these roads.

[Sommos]

Nice and crisp travelogue and thanks for sharing the details.

From what I hear, the NH33 from Barhi-Hazaribagh-Ranchi is probably the best road presently in the whole of Jharkhand. In other areas the roads are in pretty bad state.
Again from what I've heard Bihar has improved a lot under the present govt. be it the condition of the roads or the law & order situation. Did you feel the same and is it possible to do a night journey through Bihar with your family.

A liitle suggestion from my side - please put a caption with the pictures so that it'll be easy to relate with the area, specially for those who're not so familiar with this part of the country.

[mkbksc]

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

Very nice and crisp travelogue. Any news on the four laning work of NH33 between Ranchi and Jamshedpur? Sad to hear that NH33 after Chandil till Pardih (Mango) is still in a bad condition. I drove it almost 1.5 years back and had a harrowing time reaching Jamshedpur specially the last 10-15 kms. NH33 between Jamshedpur and Baharogora is in an even worse state and has been currently outsource to NASA for testing all their next generation Mars Rover prototypes. How many days did you spend in Jamshedpur? Are you from the city? Your travelogue made me nostalgic as I have driven most of these roads.

Thanks buddy. And sorry for the late reply. From what I saw on Ranchi-Jamshedpur section in June this year, looks like four laning work has started on this stretch but it is just that and nothing more. In this country, the deadlines are long dead. Your take on ex Tata roads and NASA thing is very hilarious. It could be actually true, you bet! I was in Jamshedpur for three nights at my relative's place adjacent to jubilee park( and the archery practice area).I am from Bokaro. If only the road were truly four laned, it would have been so much fun driving once in a year from Noida to Jamshedpur and beyond into Odisha. Jamshedpur is a superb city.

[mkbksc]

Originally Posted by Sommos

Nice and crisp travelogue and thanks for sharing the details.

From what I hear, the NH33 from Barhi-Hazaribagh-Ranchi is probably the best road presently in the whole of Jharkhand. In other areas the roads are in pretty bad state.
Again from what I've heard Bihar has improved a lot under the present govt. be it the condition of the roads or the law & order situation. Did you feel the same and is it possible to do a night journey through Bihar with your family.

A liitle suggestion from my side - please put a caption with the pictures so that it'll be easy to relate with the area, specially for those who're not so familiar with this part of the country.

Sorry for the late reply. NH33 From Barhi to Ranchi could become one of the most picturesque road in the whole country if the four laning work is completed in every respect and in every stretch. The roads in other regions of Jharkhand where I went in June last viz. Bokaro, Patratu and Jamshedpur are generally good even if not four laned, except in few spots where they are in terrible shape. On the main highways inside Jharkhand, personally I would not recommend driving at night with family simple because roadside facilities are few and far between. I never drove in night( beyond 9 pm) in my entire trip of 3400 kms through UP,Bihar and Jharkhand. These roads are not what you could compare with say NH1 from Delhi to Ambala where you can travel with family at any hour.

I tried to put the caption but just could not do it. when I was loading the pictures, I wrote a caption and then inserted a picture at the cursor location just below the caption. However, when I submitted the post, all the captions got aggregated at one point and pictures at another. Sorry for this, but would learn in due course.

[mkbksc]

Some more pictures from our June'13 trip to UP, Bihar & Jharkhand in our XUV 500.

At Johna falls near Ranchi, notice the persons (son, daughter and me) as specks in the picture at the bottom of the fall.


On the Allahabad bypass on NH2 while returning to Noida. It was raining hard.


Touched BHU while returning. The front façade of the entrance to BHU.


As written in previous post, learning also to correctly upload pictures.

[saket77]

Hello Manish,

I was anticipating this travelogue. Good to know that everything went on fine and as planned. In fact, I gave you a call when you were in Ranchi but probably you were busy among your relatives, hence missed it.

Liked the pictures too.

Regards,
Saket

[mkbksc]

Originally Posted by saket77

Hello Manish,

I was anticipating this travelogue. Good to know that everything went on fine and as planned. In fact, I gave you a call when you were in Ranchi but probably you were busy among your relatives, hence missed it.

Liked the pictures too.

Regards,
Saket

I realized that I have missed your call and tried to send you a mesage on team bhp afterwards because, would you believe it, my phone conked out in ranchi!!! It is entrirely my loss is not connecting with you at Ranchi.

Do call me on 9312569766 when in Noida next. If I do not pick up, please sms me.When I am in Ranchi again, I would keep you in loop.

Needless to say, loved Ranchi and the places around. From Mesra More to outskirts of Ramgarh, the road is a beauty. Could not go to Mesra though.

I hope everthing is fine at your end. After this trip, I went to Varanasi in my XUV on a weekend trip, in July '13. I was saddened to see that the road quality in NH2 had deteriorated in the initial showers of monsoon. God knows what the conditions could be now if they have not been taken up for repair.

See you soon, take care.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by mkbksc

I realized that I have missed your call and tried to send you a mesage on team bhp afterwards because, would you believe it, my phone conked out in ranchi!!! It is entrirely my loss is not connecting with you at Ranchi.

Do call me on 9312569766 when in Noida next. If I do not pick up, please sms me.When I am in Ranchi again, I would keep you in loop.

Needless to say, loved Ranchi and the places around. From Mesra More to outskirts of Ramgarh, the road is a beauty. Could not go to Mesra though.

I hope everthing is fine at your end. After this trip, I went to Varanasi in my XUV on a weekend trip, in July '13. I was saddened to see that the road quality in NH2 had deteriorated in the initial showers of monsoon. God knows what the conditions could be now if they have not been taken up for repair.

See you soon, take care.

No Problem at all Manish, though would have been great to meet you in person. Glad that you liked Ranchi. Certainly would get in touch with you when I visit Delhi. Also, do let me know in case you plan a trip to Ranchi again.

Regards,
Saket

[Nonstop-driver]

Originally Posted by mkbksc

After this trip, I went to Varanasi in my XUV on a weekend trip, in July '13. I was saddened to see that the road quality in NH2 had deteriorated in the initial showers of monsoon. God knows what the conditions could be now if they have not been taken up for repair.

Is it so? I'm planning a short trip from Noida to Samastipur via Patna after Diwali for Chhatt. I always felt that NH2 was great for traveling as it offers fast traffic and that I could make it in a day.

Seems I'll have to explore NH24-NH28 route this time.

[mkbksc]

It would be better if you find out the road conditions beforehand from someone who has travelled recently.

The long streches post kanpur were good but whenever there was a city/tehsil/village, the road condition was awful in that stretch.

Moreover, the furrows on road, i.e. crest and trough alternatively due to tyre tracks, in firozabad-auraiya section had become deeper in the second trip in July.

[sharninder]

Originally Posted by mkbksc

It would be better if you find out the road conditions beforehand from someone who has travelled recently.

The long streches post kanpur were good but whenever there was a city/tehsil/village, the road condition was awful in that stretch.

Moreover, the furrows on road, i.e. crest and trough alternatively due to tyre tracks, in firozabad-auraiya section had become deeper in the second trip in July.

I'm planning a trim from Noida to Allahabad in November. Anyone knows how is the road right now? The travelogue raised my hopes but the last two updates seem to suggest the road isn't great now.

My 2 year old daughter and wife will be with me so if it's going to take longer than about 10 hours, I'll plan something else.

[Nonstop-driver]

Originally Posted by sharninder

I'm planning a trim from Noida to Allahabad in November. Anyone knows how is the road right now? The travelogue raised my hopes but the last two updates seem to suggest the road isn't great now.

My 2 year old daughter and wife will be with me so if it's going to take longer than about 10 hours, I'll plan something else.

Well, Allahabad should be a cakewalk. The condition of NH2 with deep ruts is probably bad near Varanasi. For Allahabad, if you take the expressway and then continue on NH2, it would be a good drive, and it would hardly take about 8 hours considering that you start early from Noida to avoid traffic at Shikohabad and Firozabad.

Since your little daughter is traveling with you, I'd assume that you'd have considered a child safety seat for her.