[shourya_lahiri]

Ahoy there ! all the hands here on Tbhp, Huge gratitude to this forum. If it were'nt for this site it would have been very very difficult for me to have done this. I have successfully completed a lone road trip with 1800 odd kms on the odo, with me and my buddy Newton ( Newton is my Ford figo 1.5 TDCi , 2nd gen).
Please do excuse my novice writing style, and the fact that this post has failed by far from the threads it was inspired from. Also whatever you will read, if you feel is lacking in content, I completely take blame for it. Although I resorted to 'voice recording' while driving, I can assure the future posts will not be so scarce in information, provided i take some one to accompany. This was totally out of curiosity and love for driving, that i attempted a solo run. Ok without further ado, lets launch with a cover pic.
As this was a maiden voyage, I will try to explain into the preparation part much, hoping seniors and more experienced members put their suggestions.



It all started with an idea. Like all great things. An idea that can I sustain a long drive all by myself? Does my acquiring a lifelong dream and utilizing it, have to be dependent on physical company? You see, the journey for me is more important than places to travel. Whether or not would get bored, or frustrated, or inattentive, all these no one could answer, not even me. These I will have to realize once I am actually doing it. Although, failing to comply with all these can have dangerous consequences.

First, destination. At once, it had to be North Bengal. But careful to avoid hilly roads. Why? Because that is how we are hard coded from the day people come to know- you drive! Do not go to hilly roads, they are dangerous, they are so steep, your car will start rolling back, use your handbrake always…etc. etc. the more they advise the lesser they actually have any idea. So North Bengal without hills? Ans- Dooars.

Second, route. Now this is the tricky part. Internet and Team bhp comes to the rescue. Loads of people have shared their valuable experiences and I gained a lot from their discussions. Everything, from road conditions, toll plaza hold ups, shortcuts, detours. every detail had to be registered, there should be no room for error. Of course, it’s not as easy as it seemed. Had to go through every post, every comment. even book marked the page so that I could continue reading on my phone when I can’t sleep. Mental preparation is everything here. So after a lot of analysis and zeroing down, finally it boiled down to two routes. Here I would like to mention this thread which has helped me a lot and the person behind this my dada. 1100D. Thank you dada, you are always an inspiration.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ding-nh34.html

Allow me to present each. Please note these are along with detours and shortcuts, which were added by me, over gmaps.
Here is the link to the first one, the old and tested route.
https://goo.gl/maps/QwyS6kxUzuL2

Since this is the most commonly used one, I was naturally inclined at putting this one as a standby route.
Here is the second one.
https://goo.gl/maps/RzxwzeeiFzn


This is the one I was looking forward to try on the way up to Siliguri. Also note that ‘Hotel Empees’ refers to where I had finally decided for my stay.
Important thing to note here is that both the routes are essentially the same after moregram, one reaches it through NH34 and the other through NH2 and SH7.
Moving on….
Now for the Staying part. Obviously I had to play safe on my first shot here. So as an abundant precautionary measure decided on doing the trip in 3 parts. Why 3 and not 2 you ask? Well I will come to that gradually. 1st dash will be to malda, which is approximately half way to siliguri. Then next dash to Siliguri and then somewhere in Dooars. Reason for doing this way is because, one, I can have a larger span of target, if God forbid I am held up, or require some stopping, I can still manage to the checkpoints, without having to drive in the dark and through un chartered territory. Two, Siliguri should be a discussion checkpoint, where I should get all the information’s related to road conditions, and places to visit in Dooars. Which should take a while. So after it was decided that I would stop at malda in the first go, needed to look up a hotel. One of my college friends came to help, with his immense knowledge of the area, for he resides there, suggested me to select Hotel Hari Om. For it is calm, open, car parking is easier and also far from the hustles of the city. Exactly what I wanted. Next Siliguri. Another friend came to help, being actively involved in booking and tourism, referred me to another guy who happened to be the owner of Hotel Empees. Again car parking would be a breeze as promised, and also I imagined good inputs from this guy which will help me on my trip. Which I was not at all wrong about. Now finally the only place left was my destination itself, Dooars. Here I played very safe, suo moto went to WBFDC office in Salt Lake and booked myself an independent cottage for 2 nights. Documenting and GPS. Although maps were prepared online and routes selected, still one has to make a backup. Which is why one day before I made an outline of the routes on a paper pad with point to point turns and distances in between calculated painstakingly from google maps. All set.
One may think I was too much bothered and paying attention to details, preparing maps, booking hotels, timing drives, in short too much homework for such a tiny trip. Well I would agree, but at the end of the day All these attentions to detail actually did pay up and I do not regret one bit of it.

Journey begins, I will try to put as much information as possible here, In a bullet point format.

DAY ONE – Destination Malda, Hotel Hari Om.
• 0500 hrs - Started from home, weather was brilliant, light drizzle and dawn was just about to break in. Made a stop at ATM counter to withdraw some cash.
• 0540 hrs – Reached Vidyasagar Setu toll plaza. GPS started giving trouble, with music getting disconnected, when using GPS along with Bluetooth streaming. So had to dedicate my mobile to GPS purpose only. FM to the rescue. Odometer set to Zero.
• 0624 hrs – Reached Dankuni toll tax plaza. Odometer 21 kms.
• 0723 hrs – Reached Palsit Toll plaza.
• Refuelled Just before taking the Burdwan Bypass.

• Took right turn to Burdwan bypass. From prince hotel (on the left, red colour)
• And then all hell broke loose when I had to take SH7 from the more at Burdwan police station. My goodness! I have driven on very busy streets but this was something else. Only the sight of few cars up ahead of me at a distance assured me that this was indeed a motorable road. Anyway after sometime everything cleared up to reveal good roads. Landmark alert: To assure you have actually chosen SH7, you will see a watch tower, a prominent one after you enter SH7.
• Now one has to follow straight, and there will be sign boards showing ‘Moregram’ ahead, so you are on the right track. But After the road meets a fork, one has to follow the signboard which shows ‘Kuli’. And it is from here that the real fun begins. If you are driving a hatchback or a monocoque, please please do not take the SH7 route. The road, although most of the times is devoid of potholes but the condition is so bad that you will get a headache from constant jerks. Sometimes the craters also get so deep that they might probably be visible from the moon. My car and I were crying hand in hand on each other’s shoulders. Please, spare your vehicle from the excessive abuse.
• 1100 hrs - 30 kms of pain and then I reach Moregram. To meet the beautiful NH34. By this time, I have sworn to God I will not ever see the face of this road again. If someone knowingly puts oneself in this terrain, there would be no bigger idiot. Welcome sign when one reads – “Siliguri “, pointing towards left.
• 1132 hrs – Reached Behrampur- Farakka toll plaza.
• 1222 hrs – 1231 hrs . This is all that it took me to cross the notorious Farakka barrage. Everything was just showing new colours today.
• 1400 hrs – Reached Hotel Hari Om. The longer time I took was in locating the hotel. And to ask people there were scarce. Plus, one gentle fellow effortlessly pissed me off by asking useless questions like why Hari om, whom do you know…Anyway, Newton was safely parked, very dirty. I was cosy inside my bed. Slept like a baby after having lunch, and dinner followed as usual. Stay at this hotel was quite pleasing.

DAY TWO – Destination Siliguri, Hotel Empees.
• 0835 hrs – Started for the next checkpoint. At this time, I was feeling fully recharged and fresh. Oh how I thanked myself for choosing to stay over the night and take some rest.
• 0917 hrs – I have not yet crossed Malda town. Trucks will just without reason stop by and wait for nothing looking at the sky.
• 0955 hrs – Crossed Raigunj. The road till here was a mixed bad. Nothing to write home about. But bearable.
• 1122 hrs – Reached the Botolbari bypass connector. But the problem is that there is no landmark as such. But still by asking I guess locals can help you with that. But still just for convenience sake, one can hold this petrol pump as a landmark.






• This bypass really paid of well, although the road was narrow, but still the condition was quite nice. One can easily do a constant rate of 70-80 kmph and cover good ground, quite effortlessly. Be careful when overtaking trucks, as they have a tendency to topple over just because the pitch is quite raised from level ground. As I was thinking of this while driving towards Siliguri, on the return trip had seen one of them had actually been a victim.
• 16 kms of run on this road one will reach a crossing called Rudel. One has to take a right turn on this.
• Another right turn here after 4.5 kms. Landmark alert: TVS showroom on the right.
• 1252 hrs – Reached Dhantola and the drive to here through botolbari bypass was really relaxing. Now it’s a matter of 72 kms of beautifully constructed national highway, NH31, all the way to Bagdogra.
• 1350 hrs – Reached Bagdogra. And this the sight I am greeted with. I seemed like the Gods were welcoming me with garlands in hands. I was so so happy that I simply could not control my grin. Had to get down to take a snap.




• Ok times no wasting now. Better to cover the rest of the road quickly and rest at the hotel.
• Took the hill cart road by turning right on Darjeeling more.. ‘Ganges Ford’ showroom was a welcome sight.
• 1430 hrs – Reached Hotel Empees. Stupid gmaps, I don’t understand why it always chooses the shortest route even if there is no space for an ant to crawl on that road. Lesson learnt – NEVER FOLLOW GOOGLE MAPS IN BY LANES UNLESS YOU ARE WALKING.

DAY THREE – Destination, Murti (Dooars).
• 0940 hrs – Started from Hotel Empees. Target was that there were no targets. Would drive as casually as possible.
• Speechless drive through the legendary Sevoke Road all the way up to Murti Lodge.








• Simple directions, Gmaps providing quite accurate turn by turn navigations. But this time did not swear by Gmaps in the by lanes, instead asked locals when almost at the nook. Finding accurate directions and reaching Murti lodge was both trouble free and enjoyable drive. A little hint of hilly roads also but that was just the cherry on the cake… also one can say the tip of the iceberg, for reason later to be made obvious to me later.
• 1126 hrs – I have reached the lodge. Super easy to locate, more so with Gmaps.





Murti lodge, as the name suggests is situated immediately beside the murti river. And as later I learnt from regular visitors, this one has the best location compared to the other resorts nearby. They were prompt in handing over the cottage allotted to me, car was parked at the porch, as is evident from the pictures. Which was a relief, I don’t like my car away from my sight!
After a nice lunch, I was all set to take a short drive around. What I learnt from the receptionist, Chapramari forest, Gorumara, Lataguri were nice places to visit. Also incidentally one person, who was checking in by the way, suggested that I drove to Bindu. Which is the last point in West Bengal, after which is Bhutan. Basically it is a barrage which connects India and Bhutan. Although I was interested, but I did not finalize myself on that. More of..’ let’s see where I end up’. Soon, I crossed the Murti river, over a very narrow bridge, and entered the Chapramari forest. Here I should say, I have never experienced such serenity and engulfing silence of pure and unaldurated greenery. I was driving as slow as possible (which was about 60 kmph) and a lot of times just turned off the ignition to experience what real forest means.
Let my pictures do the talking…






Soon I realized that the Gods had something else planned for me. One fellow tenant pulled over his car to ask, where I was off to. After counter questioning him, found that he was off to Bindu! and I thought, well why not? The guy was chauffeured, in a Scorpio, perfect example to have as a co rider. We took off.






What was a smooth stretch of tarmac from between the dense forests, soon turned into curly, winding, narrow steep hilly treacherous examples of never ending path. I was taken aback, since I had zero experience on hilly regions. BUT. To my surprise the driver in me soon took over and before I knew it, man and machine were taking turns and climbing with gusto! Initially one or two turns is all it took to get a hold of the music and after that it was nothing less than exquisite motoring. I sincerely failed to understand why people are so against hitting hilly terrain, it was probably the best section in my whole tour. Thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it.





The downhill run was even more fun and I just could not control the constant grin I had planted on my face. But still, the last bit of fun awaited when I was crossing the same dense forest section and evening was just about to fall, with dense clouds drawing in, with a hint of drizzle as well. To take this shot I had creepers run down my spine as I regretted the moment I left the car.



As I returned to my abode, it was pitch dark. Just in time that! As within a few minutes’ heavy weather followed with incessant downpour which continued whole night. The lonely bed inside a bamboo cottage, without electricity, and thunders and rain filling in the backdrop, was something you have to experience for yourself to realize.
The next day was deliberately kept uneventful, which included few casual drives through the surrounding forests.
Now for the return journey. Had planned to avoid SH 7 and continue straight through Moregram , through Behrampur, Krishnanagar etc. Started the trip at sharp 0900 hrs from Murti Lodge. Through what seemed to be an okey’ish drive, reached Hotel Hari Om at 15 50 hrs. Next day started again at sharp 0900 hrs and followed in through full NH34. This was a far better option and I would suggest this over SH7, until it’s repaired that is. Behrampur posed a big headache and some very risky and gambling detours paid off, luckily.
All ended well and I safely garaged at around 1800 hrs. This drive has taught me a lot of things, on how to plan, how to keep my head through unnerving situations Although it is quite evident that I incurred a lot of mistakes, still Whatever was learnt will be the first building blocks of my relationship with rubber and tarmac!
Cheers!

[arjab]

@shourya:
Brilliant! Very nice. Loved your crisp, succinct narration. Wish you many, many more happy highway miles !

[mi2n]

I really like what I see here. A short dash to the beautiful Himalayan foothills to beat the heat. The Figo looks stunning in the mystic forests.

What you seem to have missed out from our Kolkata-Siliguri thread is the fact that SH-7 from Kuli to Moregram is under construction and is not recommended in a hatchback/sedan at this time. Though myself, in a Figo(old gen) and others(including a team lead by an ubiquitous Etios) have covered the stretch without much discomfort in March. The strecth between Kuli to Moregram was rough but very doable even in small cars. However, a detour from Kuli via Kandi (SH11) onto NH34 just after Baharampur would have saved you the needless jerks.

[shourya_lahiri]

Originally Posted by mi2n

I really like what I see here. A short dash to the beautiful Himalayan foothills to beat the heat. The Figo looks stunning in the mystic forests.

What you seem to have missed out from our Kolkata-Siliguri thread is the fact that SH-7 from Kuli to Moregram is under construction and is not recommended in a hatchback/sedan at this time. Though myself, in a Figo(old gen) and others(including a team lead by an ubiquitous Etios) have covered the stretch without much discomfort in March. The strecth between Kuli to Moregram was rough but very doable even in small cars. However, a detour from Kuli via Kandi (SH11) onto NH34 just after Baharampur would have saved you the needless jerks.

You dont say !...how on earth did I miss that. Really grave mistake on my part. Thanks for the Suggestion, hope I can put it to good use next time.
And glad that you liked my post.

Originally Posted by arjab

@shourya:
Brilliant! Very nice. Loved your crisp, succinct narration. Wish you many, many more happy highway miles !

Now this is really flattering, I seriously feel I need to work a lot on the documentation part. Glad that you liked it anyway

[1100D]

Good travelogue. However, documentation of a Solo trip defeats the purpose of a Solo trip!

Originally Posted by shourya_lahiri

If someone knowingly puts oneself in this terrain, there would be no bigger idiot.

I did that and am happy to be what you described.

[shourya_lahiri]

Originally Posted by 1100D

Good travelogue. However, documentation of a Solo trip defeats the purpose of a Solo trip!

Agree. Still it was as fun as it was challenging.

Originally Posted by 1100D

I did that and am happy to be what you described.

Ebaba. no no no no no no. You know exactly where you are putting yourself. Thus my statement stands null and void in your case.
Now I am thinking I must have driven into some other dimension. Everybody seems to have had no problem driving through the same stretch that robed me of some sleep at malda.

[Sommos]

@Shourya Loved your TL and your style of writing.
Congratulations for laying a solid foundation; Hope to see many more such trips from you in the future.

[shourya_lahiri]

@Sommos . Thank you so much for your kind words. Still a long way to go along in my endeavour... (in my figo ) Glad you liked it.

[arun_josie]

Nice write-up! Almost all the pics has your buddy Newton in it

Wishing you many more such drives!

[shourya_lahiri]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Nice write-up! Almost all the pics has your buddy Newton in it

Wishing you many more such drives!

Thanks a lot. Glad you liked it. About the pics, well there were only the two of us..and only one of us knew how to use a camera

[BlackPearl]

Excellent travelogue and pics shourya_lahiri! I want to do a solo trip sometime as well. The Ford Figo looks beautiful in black. Keep travelling and writing.

[shourya_lahiri]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

Excellent travelogue and pics shourya_lahiri! I want to do a solo trip sometime as well. The Ford Figo looks beautiful in black. Keep travelling and writing.

Thank you so much ! Feels wonderful to see my efforts paid off

[BeantownThinker]

Originally Posted by shourya_lahiri

Although I resorted to 'voice recording' while driving,

A very nice journey, Shourya. It most certainly is liberating being all alone on the road with no one whispering/shouting in your ears and you being master of your own journey.

Am intrigued by what you meant by "voice recording". Did you use any aid? Or am did you mean something else which I am missing?

[shourya_lahiri]

Originally Posted by BeantownThinker

Am intrigued by what you meant by "voice recording". Did you use any aid? Or am did you mean something else which I am missing?

Glad you liked it. It sure is some experience driving all alone and staying at hotels, its like working at a stretch in your office, for hours, windows rolled up, music of your choice, the windscreen as your computer monitor. And a collection of your favourite beverages, within hands reach. But I must share one thing, in few scenarios, I discovered that I actually performed better than what I would have, if there were passengers.

About the voice recording..I just borrowed an old cell phone with voice recording. kept it in the door pocket and just made a short record of the turns along with the time, including road conditions and experiences.

Hope I have cleared your doubt...

Cheers.

[tazmaan]

Congratulations on the solo trip! I did my solo trip last year down south in a Jazz and I can definitely say that it takes a lot of courage, determination and passion to drive around solo.

Like your trip most of the pictures are bound to be of the car on the road unless you are a big selfie freak

Beware! My previous experience was so good that I am already planning my next solo trip around November.

Here is the link to my solo trip incase you are interested.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...eli-goa-2.html