[voyageur]

Hello Gearhead,

This is the first thing I check out in the morning and it was wonderful indeed. Every time India and the beautiful greenery she has to offer makes me want to go on more trips. The pictures were all amazing.

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers!

[gearhead_mait]

Originally Posted by voyageur

Hello Gearhead,

This is the first thing I check out in the morning and it was wonderful indeed. Every time India and the beautiful greenery she has to offer makes me want to go on more trips. The pictures were all amazing.

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers!

Thanks to you for going through my travelogue.
Although, the road and other infrastructures are poor in most parts of our country, but the scenic beauty is unmatched.
Diverse landscapes, scenic terrains...and more!

[Wanderers]

Hi Gearhead,

Good to re-visit the Bengal Road through your Travelogue.
We loved to go to Maithon Dam during our childhood and infact it was one of my first car drive (Ambassador) when I gained my DL as Delhi Road to Durgapur use to be one of the better road to drive with lots of Dhabas around. (I am brought up near Dankuni)

Three years back, while driving back from Kolkata during a Bandh (Hartaal), we could only reach Durgapur before stopped by Holigans early morning 5 AM.
(We knew of Hartal & wanted to cross border before sunrise)

I immediately remembered the route through Maithan Dam to Jharkhand and quietly sneaked out on wrong side and turned right towards Maithan.
On Reaching Maithon, we forgot our onward journey and spend 3 hours looking around.

[gearhead_mait]

Originally Posted by Wanderers

Hi Gearhead,

Good to re-visit the Bengal Road through your Travelogue.
We loved to go to Maithon Dam during our childhood and infact it was one of my first car drive (Ambassador) when I gained my DL as Delhi Road to Durgapur use to be one of the better road to drive with lots of Dhabas around. (I am brought up near Dankuni)

Three years back, while driving back from Kolkata during a Bandh (Hartaal), we could only reach Durgapur before stopped by Holigans early morning 5 AM.
(We knew of Hartal & wanted to cross border before sunrise)

I immediately remembered the route through Maithan Dam to Jharkhand and quietly sneaked out on wrong side and turned right towards Maithan.
On Reaching Maithon, we forgot our onward journey and spend 3 hours looking around.

Yes, Maithan Dam is a place to be, specially during Monsoons.
One question though - Maithan is quite a few distance from Durgapur. How did you wrong foot the "Hooligans". Any shortcut?

[gmhossain]

Originally Posted by gearhead_mait

... the scenic beauty is unmatched. Diverse landscapes, scenic terrains...and more!

Indeed! With such marvelous pictures, your travelogue could in fact be used for promoting the so called "Beautiful Bengal" tourism theme of the state!

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by gearhead_mait

So, there were basically four routes for us to choose from:

1) Durgapur Expressway - Ranigunj - NH 60 - Bankura - Bishnupur (298 Km)

This route has roads which, in word, is "awesome", specially considering the other options we had in hand (we experienced this later). DBHPian Sutripta da mentioned this in my route query for Ayodhya Hills once. But I had to ignore it, the main reason being the detour I had to do.


2) Durgapur Expressway - Durgapur - SH9 - Bankura - Bishnupur (256 Km)

Out of question, because of the detour as well as Sutripta da told that he would prefer route 1 instead anyday.

Hi,
Glad you liked the route (and I did not land up with egg on face!)
However one has to keep in mind that route recommendations are not static. (three years back my recommendaions would have been reversed!) One monsoon can change everything. Thus it is up to people like you to keep us abreast of current situations.

Regards
Sutripta

[Wanderers]

Originally Posted by gearhead_mait

Yes, Maithan Dam is a place to be, specially during Monsoons.
One question though - Maithan is quite a few distance from Durgapur. How did you wrong foot the "Hooligans". Any shortcut?

Well we were stopped by Bandh Group (Decent ones) somewhere after Raniganj and not exactly Durgapur and we reversed back few meters and took the wrong side for 6-7 km, only to see tires burning in the middle of Road.

We wanted to catch the Road to Jamuria, which would have lead to Maithon, but Holigans had blocked the NH-2 at crossing itself.

Some local Dabba helped us take the paddy field road (Kachcha Road for tractors) which finally met the Jamuria Road. We were in 2 Scorpios so could manage the way.

The Jamuria Road is narrow 1-2 lane and takes you to Maithon through Domohani. It almost 50 Km and not a shortcut and should not be used as an optional route except in emergency like we faced. There is a tribal belt as well on this route but harmless one.
We picked 3 Desi Chickens, which we cooked later that night at Dhanbad (my in-laws)

[gearhead_mait]

Originally Posted by gmhossain

Indeed! With such marvelous pictures, your travelogue could in fact be used for promoting the so called "Beautiful Bengal" tourism theme of the state!

Thanks a lot! Bengal is beautiful, but the tourism still isn't up to the mark.

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Hi,
Glad you liked the route (and I did not land up with egg on face!)
However one has to keep in mind that route recommendations are not static. (three years back my recommendaions would have been reversed!) One monsoon can change everything. Thus it is up to people like you to keep us abreast of current situations.

Regards
Sutripta

Thanks, Sir!
Your route suggestions are... - No, I will not repeat. Everyone knows.

Originally Posted by Wanderers

Well we were stopped by Bandh Group (Decent ones) somewhere after Raniganj and not exactly Durgapur and we reversed back few meters and took the wrong side for 6-7 km, only to see tires burning in the middle of Road.

We wanted to catch the Road to Jamuria, which would have lead to Maithon, but Holigans had blocked the NH-2 at crossing itself.

Some local Dabba helped us take the paddy field road (Kachcha Road for tractors) which finally met the Jamuria Road. We were in 2 Scorpios so could manage the way.

The Jamuria Road is narrow 1-2 lane and takes you to Maithon through Domohani. It almost 50 Km and not a shortcut and should not be used as an optional route except in emergency like we faced. There is a tribal belt as well on this route but harmless one.
We picked 3 Desi Chickens, which we cooked later that night at Dhanbad (my in-laws)

Atleast you found something more, apart from the new road.
Thanks for sharing your experience! Road trips does bring some diverse experiences.

[gmhossain]

Originally Posted by gearhead_mait

Thanks a lot! Bengal is beautiful, but the tourism still isn't up to the mark.

Unfortunately, that is The Truth It seems that the people in charge of tourism in Bengal are more interested in rhetoric rather than trying to improve even the zeroth level tourism infrastructure such as good road. As you too have mentioned and posted photos, the roads leading to most, if not all, tourist places in Bengal are currently in pathetic conditions.

[sdp1975]

Posting a route query here as I didn't find another appropriate thread. Any latest updates on Kolkata Bankura via Arambagh ? Is the 25 km bad stretch after Arambagh any better ? I've been taking the Durgapur expressway and then a left at Muchipara to reach Bankura from Kolkata but I hate the Panagarh stretch . Would like to try alternatives.

[rahul4640]

Originally Posted by sdp1975

Posting a route query here as I didn't find another appropriate thread. Any latest updates on Kolkata Bankura via Arambagh ? Is the 25 km bad stretch after Arambagh any better ? I've been taking the Durgapur expressway and then a left at Muchipara to reach Bankura from Kolkata but I hate the Panagarh stretch . Would like to try alternatives.

Please rest assured that Kolkata-Tarakeswar-Champadanga-Arambagh route is presently in excellent shape. It is only about ten KM or so after Arambagh bridge in the direction of Kotulpur (may even be up to Vengai) which is slightly bad. But I guess that with some patience and careful driving you should be able to handle this stretch quite well. The road improves again thereafter.

[sdp1975]

Did the Kolkata-Bankura stretch and back over the weekend. Ongoing started @5-30 am , went via Tarakeshwar , Champadanga , Arambagh to Bankura. Reached @10-30am. 10km bad roads after Arambagh, but manageable with slow driving. Some traffic jams at Arambagh.

Return journey took the Bankura-Muchipara-Kolkata route via the Durgapur expressway. Started at 5-30 am and reached at 9-30 am. This woks about 30 km more than the Arambagh route , but is faster by about 1 hr due to 4 laned roads.

Overall, if leaving early , and saving time is the factor, Kolkata to Bankura via NH2 scores. The mess at Panagarh can be avoided if one leaves early morning. There's some truck traffic at the Durgapur barrage toll gate but that's usually manageable.

[black_panther]

I am planning to drive to joypur from Kolkata via burdwan - arambag. Could someone provide an update on the conditions of the arambag-joypur section post monsoons?
I dont want to go via Durgapur as I am not planning to visit Bankura.

[black_panther]

Apologies for back to back posts.
Would taking the diversion via kamarpukur and Jairambati help in avoiding a section of bad roads?

[gearhead_mait]

Originally Posted by black_panther

I am planning to drive to joypur from Kolkata via burdwan - arambag. Could someone provide an update on the conditions of the arambag-joypur section post monsoons?
I dont want to go via Durgapur as I am not planning to visit Bankura.

Originally Posted by black_panther

Apologies for back to back posts.
Would taking the diversion via kamarpukur and Jairambati help in avoiding a section of bad roads?

I visited last August and took Tarakeshwar-Arambagh-Kotulpur route during onward journey. Arambagh-Kotulpur stretch was pretty bad.
During monsoons, this stretch is likely to be broken.

I would suggest you to take Durgapur-Bankura-Bishnupur-Joypur Forest route, but you can give Tarakeshwar-Arambagh route a try with cautious driving for about 10 kms or so.