[DAART]

The Dream

My wife & I were planning to do a mega long drive this year and we were browsing through many travelogues in Team BHP. Some of the routes which impressed me were Golden Quadrilateral, North East drives and Bhutan. Based on our key criteria which happened to be the leaves we finalized on Bhutan after reading amazing travelogues by Bhpian Shanksta (Road-Trip: Chennai to Bhutan!) and BlackPearl - Throwback to a bygone era - Bhutan in a Bolero 4x4.

I discussed this plan with my wife & parents who are my partners in crime for road-trips. Although, I was a bit skeptical about my parents agreeing for such a long trip on road. But once they read Shanksta’s log, they immediately gave a green signal without any delay.

The Plan

Number of Days - 16 days
Dates Planned - 11th Nov 2017 to 26th Nov 2017
My Co-travelers - My Parents & Wife
Drivers - Mostly Me. My wife will support wherever I am tired
Car- Ciaz VDI+

Our planning started in August once our leaves got approved for November. We had 16 days to complete this dream trip. After doing initial research, we discussed the plan with Shanksta and BackPearl.

Thanks to their invaluable tips, we were able to arrive at below plan for our trip.

Out Initial Route Plan for our onward journey. This route changed due to unforeseen circumstances. Read on to know more.

Bengaluru>Hyderabad>Vizag>Kolkata>Malda>Phuentshol ing>Thimpu>Phunakha>Paro

Return Route Plan

Paro>Siliguri>Kolkata>Puri>Vizag>Hyderabad>Bengalu ru

The Preparation

We did all our bookings for Bhutan 2 months in advance through Expedia. Primarily, due to the new immigration rule to get permit in Bhutan required photocopies of accommodation reservation confirmation and a copy of day wise itinerary. Secondly, as November and December are busy months in Bhutan, we did not want to wait till the end considering my parents were also traveling along. Other than hotels booked in Malda and Bhutan, we did all our bookings through OYO on the go.

Got my car serviced couple of weeks before the trip. Our Ciaz was all set to cruise on a debut International trip.

We bought two huge duffel bags which turned out to be a better choice in terms of handling the space in the boot.

Checklist:

Important Documents carried for permits

• Parents' Voter ID
• Passports of me and my wife
• Printouts of Hotel Invoices
• Passport size photgraphs

Car Documents

• Original and sufficient copies of RC
• Original and sufficient copies of current Insurance
• Original and sufficient copies of latest Pollution Check certificate. If you do not have the latest pollution check certificate, ensure to get the check done before you start your trip
• Original and sufficient copies of Valid Driving Licenses of both me and my wife as both were planning to drive

• Electronics which include all chargers and all important medicines

My mom and wife's checklist Below items got a ticket in the boot:

• An Induction stove
• Electric Rice Cooker
• Utensils to cook
• Coffee Filter (A South Indian Trait..Can’t help!)
• Upma Rava (Ready to Eat)
• Rice
• Coffee Powder
• Masala Powders

Thanks to mom for carrying her mini kitchen. We being vegetarians were sure to face some food issues. So, my mom insisted we carry the above items so she could cook. My dad & I were not very happy with this idea. We wanted to try the local cuisines on the way. Nevertheless, mom's kitchen surely helped us a lot in this trip.

Ciaz well stocked and stuffed!



Ciaz all ready for his debut International drive

Disclaimer - This is my first travelogue and a long one. We completed this trip in November but could not complete the travelogue earlier due to tight work schedules. I have tried to include all the important details. While we were planning for our trip, we struggled to find information regarding routes and road conditions from Bengaluru as there are not many travelogues for Bengaluru to Bhutan. We found a lot of travelogues from Kolkata to Bhutan and thankfully, we were able to club Shanksta's route plan from Chennai and took Blackpearl's suggestions and guidance from Kolkata and planned our route.

Regarding the photographs, we did not use any fancy cameras or SLR. All photos are clicked on mobile and my mom's iPad. So, the photographs are posted unedited. The photos in our travelogue may not do justice to the experience we had and the beauty we have seen in Himalayas.

I have included the complete details of the route, accommodation, pit stops on the way and other important details regarding the trip in an excel sheet towards the end of this travelogue. Also, I have included the complete trip expenses for four people towards the end of this travelogue. Hope this will be helpful and happy reading.

[DAART]

Day 1 – November 11th - "The day of Flag Off"

Route - Bangalore – Ananthapur – Kurnool – Jedcherla – Hyderabad

Accommodation – My wife’s house in Habsiguda
Total Distance Covered – 575 KM
Start Time – 1 PM
End Time – 10.30 PM with two breaks

The Trip Begins

I finished my work and returned home at 6am as I was working in night shift for that week. The plan was to get some sleep for 6 hours at least. As always, the trip excitement kicked in and I absolutely couldn’t sleep – this happens to me always before a trip. Finally, after a lot of struggle I managed to catch up on sleep for just 4 hours. I woke up around 10 am. I was excited to see the house abuzz with the trip excitement. My wife took care of all the packing as she always does. My mom was in the kitchen busy preparing lunch for the day and my dad was visiting all our neighbors’ house in the colony informing them about the trip and also requesting them to have a watchful eye on the house.

Finally, after having a sumptuous Bisibele bath lunch at home, we were all set to start our journey. My wife’s family had come home to wish us good luck and flag off our trip.

Start time noted!

We started at 1 pm. The plan was to drive till I could and let my wife take over so that I could rest in the backseat. We stopped for tea at 4pm at Hotel Blue Moon after Ananthpur. You can find this huge but empty food court just 5kms before Gooty. The place looks huge but very poor in terms of food quality. We usually stop here for restroom break. We had a cup of tea here and started at 4.15pm. My wife drove from Pamidi to Kurnool.

When I get to rest at the back-seat – wife behind the wheels!




Few Pics Captured on Day 1




My Favourite Highway - NH 7

We reached Jedcherla at 7.45 pm and all of us were already hungry. We decided to finish our dinner at Sandarshini veg restaurant in Jedcherla. We had good Andhra Meals here. This place is strongly recommended for food quality and hygiene. We started from Jadcherla after dinner and reached Hyderabad to my wife’s home at Habsiguda at 10.30pm. We called it a day and set our alarms for 5am.

Happy faces after Andhra Meals in Sandharshini Veg - Jadcherla

[DAART]

Day 2- November 12 - "The day in search of 'Andhra Ruchulu'"

Route - Hyderabad – Suryapet – Vijayawada – Rajamundry – Vizag
Accomodation – Hotel Treebo MVP Grand , Vizag
Total Distance – 698 KM
Start Time – 7 am
End Time - 9.30 pm

All of us woke up at 5.30am with loads of excitement. We started from my wife’s place in Habsiguda at 7am after breakfast. We took the exit from Uppal-Nagole. The roads are excellent once you exit Hyderabad. It’s a beautiful 4-lane express highway. After driving for 3 and a half hours we reached a beautiful food plaza called ‘Seven food court’ in Suryapet. It is highly recommended for food quality, service and hygiene. The prices are a bit high. We just stopped for a small beverage break. Looking at the food options, my dad was tempted and he suggested we finish our lunch in the food court itself. It was 11am then. My wife checked the maps and suggested we wait till Vijayawada as we were just 2 hours away from Vijayawada. Being in Andhra, I was craving for an authentic Andhra Meals with 'Pudi', 'Ghee', 'Pappu'. I could not think of wasting my appetite at any other place.

Beautiful Roads to remember!








A Refreshing Filter Coffee!




They understand the travelers better.




GMR managed tolls in Andhra.

Just 50kms before Vijayawada, the roads became single lane from Nandigama town. Traffic got irritating with too many two wheelers. At around 12.45pm we reached Vijayawada town. Here the traffic was a bit crazy as we had to cross through the Vijayawada town till we hit NH 16 highway. As we had not had our lunch yet, looking at the traffic we decided to exit the Vijayawada town and look for a mess on the outskirts of the town. This was another wrong decision we took after we dismissed my dad's idea of finishing lunch in Suryapet food court. After we exited the town, we struggled to find a decent place for lunch. On the outskirts of Vijayawada you will find many dhabas which serve hardcore non-veg food - 'Naati Kodi Biryani' (A treat for all the sea food lovers). We decided to drive till Rajahmundry and kept our hopes of finding a decent vegetarian hotel there. Rajahmundry is 200kms from Vijaywada. The roads from Vijayawada to Rajahmandry are not that great with potholes and too many two wheelers. But the best part about this road was paddy fields throughout and some beautiful nurseries along the highway.

Paddy fields everywhere not a grain to eat







‘Rice Bowl’ of India




You know you are in the land of Tollywood when you see these posters – The NTR family






The mighty Godavari "Not" in full spate







Paddy Processing in progress

We finally managed to reach Rajhamundry town at 5.30pm hoping to find a decent Andhra Mess. Unfortunately, most of the hotels and messes were closed on a Sunday. With help of Google found a small veg tiffin center - Satya Veg. We had our lunch cum evening snacks, took a good 45 minutes break and started off to Vizag. I decided to clock non-stop as we were 200kms away from Vizag. Roads and traffic after Rajhamundry town got a lot better. So, I was able to maintain a constant speed. We reached Vizag town at 8pm. We were welcomed with cool breeze and light showers. This city is truly mesmerizing. After the lunch disaster, my wife decided to search for veg restaurants in zomato before we reached the city. We had our dinner in this beautiful small restaurant called "Six Degrees" which was close to our accommodation in MVP colony. After a sumptuous dinner, we checked into our hotel in Treebo MVP Grand and called it a day. The next day was going to be a very long day. My wife and mom wanted to see the beach. As the beach was very close to our hotel, we decided to wake up early to catch sunrise by the beach.

Vizag Welcomes us with showers!

[DAART]

Day 3 – November 13 - "The day of '3' States"

Route - Vizag – Srikakulam – Icchapuram – Bhubaneshwar - Cuttack – Kharagpur – Kolkata


Accomodation – Hotel BH Boutique (Oyo Rooms), New Town, Kolkata
Distance covered – 898 KM
Start Time – 9am
End Time - 2am

All of us were up and ready by 8am. However, we missed the sunrise by the beach and hence decided to catch a glimpse on our return journey. The hotel MVP grand served complimentary breakfast and we decided to finish our breakfast here and start our long journey for the day.

The breakfast got a bit delayed but we were ready to hit the road again by 9am. The city of Vizag is beautiful with well-laid roads. We exited the city and stopped for a quick refresher break to have some coconut water. I was excited and anxious today as we will be driving through three different states in one single day – AP – Orissa – West Bengal.

Exiting Vizag – This place is refreshing!

As per Shanksta’s travelogue I was cautious about the AP-Orissa border crossing. I was prepared mentally to be stalled in a heavy truck traffic near the check-post. To my luck, we crossed Iccahpuram (border town of AP) and entered entered Orissa State at 1pm and fortunately, the OD-AP border check-post was absolutely peaceful. Once we entered Orissa, the traffic pattern changed. I was surprised to see that huge vehicles including buses drive on the wrong side of the road. Although the roads were excellent, I could not clock beyond 80kms due to the wrong way traffic.

The AP-OD border check-post (This is the best my wife could capture while I was gleefully zooming away through the borders



A pleasant welcome!

After driving for about 50 kms you enter the ghat roads. The view from this road is beautiful. You will be driving next to the Eastern Ghats and suddenly you spot the Chilika Lake from the highway. This is very deceiving, it looks like a sea but you will be surprised to see that is actually the Chilika Lake.

Eastern Ghats



Do you see a 'sea'?

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant on the highway after Chilika lake – “Narayani Restaurant”. If you are a non-vegetarian you will enjoy the food at Chilika Dhabha. We preferred the Narayani Restaurant as they served decent meals and the place was neat and well managed. We had our meals and ended with some buttermilk. Please note that the temperature at this time in Orissa was extremely hot at around 33 degrees C. We took a good 45min break here.

Vegetarian Thali

My wife took over from here and I got to rest at the back seat. My mom was the co-pilot and both dad and I rested peacefully. The roads were excellent. However, my wife had to be extremely cautious of the two wheeler driving in the opposite direction and cattle grazing on the divider.

While we both were asleep at the back seat, my mom and wife narrated an incident once we woke up. My wife was driving on the right lane at a decent speed. She overtook an Indica as a normal practice. The Indica driver noticed the two ladies sitting in the front seat, he suddenly increased his speed and kept honking to overtake. My wife made way without any fuss. He overtook our car, suddenly slowed down in the front blocking my wife’s lane, opened the door and spat pan on the road and sped away. My wife and mom started laughing seeing his stupidity. It was already dusk and we realized we were driving on the Eastern part of India where sunsets are early. This was a surprise to us as 5pm was completely dark. We reached Cuttack at 5.30pm. We saw a lane of sweet meat shops. Me and my mom being sweet-freaks, wanted to try out to the Rasgullas. We stopped on the service road and were excited to see the long row of sweet shops. Each of us tried different sizes of Rasgullas. They were extremely sweet but were fresh and soft.

Sun ready to set at 4.30 pm. We realized we are driving in Eastern India!



Row of sweet shops



Spongy Rasgullas



Mom enjoying the Rasgullas. This is supposed to be one of her best moments of the trip - Sweet freak feelings!

It was 6pm and my wife checked the Google maps to see how far we were from Kolkata. At this point we had not booked accommodation and the maps showed we were still 600kms away. My wife and I thought of halting in Cuttack considering the 8 hour long night drive to Kolkata might be exhausting for my parents. My parents assured us that they were completely fine with the night drive and that we continue our journey as planned. I was relieved with the assurance and we continued our journey. During this part of the drive BHPian Blackpearl was in constant touch with us. He was helping us find accommodation in Kolkata.

The toll highway from Cuttack to Kharagpur was excellent. It got even better after joining the eight lane Kolkata - Mumbai highway at Kharagpur. What more to ask for a late night drive!! We stopped for dinner at around 11pm at a roadside Dhabha exactly 100kms away from Kolkata. The Dhabha Shan-e-Punjab is decent place run by a Punjabi family. The owner enquired us about our trip and he guided us on the route to Kolkata. He was happy to know we had driven all the way from the South of India.


The highway was brilliant. The only company for us on the highway were the trucks. My wife checked the maps to confirm the route. At this point, distance of 80kms showed 2.5 hours. I was curious as the Dhabha owner had confirmed that the road till Kolkata was an eight-lane highway and yet the time taken to reach the destination is 2.5hours. I suspected a traffic jam.

At 12.15am, when we reached the Belghoria toll plaza, my curiosity was answered. The toll plaza was completely jammed up to 2kms with trucks. I had never seen so many trucks ever in my life. I was stuck in between trucks and all the trucks were competing against each other to exit the toll first. I tried squeezing in and to cut lanes but nothing helped. The trucks had jammed all the gates completely. I switched off the engine and decided to give myself and Ciaz rest as I knew this traffic will not be cleared at least for the next 40 minutes. As expected, we finally crossed this truck mess at 1am. The eight lane highway very soon turned into a two lane highway with trucks parked on either sides. All four of us were extremely tired but we were equally mesmerized with the truck traffic and it made us wonder how huge this city could be.

The monstrous truck jam at the Belghoria Toll

At around 1.30am we entered the city via the Belghoria expressway At 2am we reached the BH Boutique Oyo room in New Town locality. The rooms were neat. We decided to do a late start next day as we had planned to cover just 327 KM to reach Malda.

I would like to thank BHPian Blackpearl as he was in constant touch with us till we reached Kolkata.

Kolkata Welcomes us!

[DAART]

Day 4 – November 14 - "The day of No Roads"

Route - Kolkata New Town – Durgapur Expressway – Bardhaman – Khargram – Morgram – Farrakka – Malda

Accommodation – Hotel Golden Park
Distance Covered - 327KM
Start Time - 11am
End Time - 9.30pm

We woke up leisurely around 9am. All of us freshened up and had breakfast served at the hotel. The breakfast was decent with some parathas and sabji. Bhpian Blackpearl messaged me to find the exact location of our stay. After sharing the hotel room location with Blackpearl, we realized his house was just 2kms away from our stay. It was really nice meeting Blackpearl. He gave us few crucial tips for our onward journey. Blackpearl had just returned from a trip to Bhutan so he knew the current road conditions better. My parents were really happy to meet him in person. We cannot thank him enough for all the guidance.

Few Pictures with BHPian Blackpearl



One pic with our machines!

After a quick photo session with Blackpearl, we started off to our next destination – Malda. I was a bit relaxed here as the KM were less and there was only one bad stretch that I had to worry about. Also, Blackpearl had warned me about that stretch and asked me to be careful about the under-chassis hits.

We checked out and started our Day 4 journey at 11am. We exited the city easily without any traffic chaos. Luckily our room was very close to the Belghoria Expressway and we were able to hit the highway very soon. We stopped on the Niveditha Bridge on River Ganga and clicked a few pics. My parents were extremely happy to see the River Ganges.

Some captures from the beautiful 'City of Joy'

Few elements of 'City of Joy' - Didi, Football and the yellow taxis



On the Niveditha Bridge



Mesmerizing Mighty Ganges!

We quickly hit the Durgapur Expressway which is a four-laned highway with beautiful laid roads and safe dividers with no chance for cattle-hopping. Blackpearl had suggested Bardhaman as an option for lunch stop.

Beautiful Durgapur Expressway!

At 12.30pm we reached Bardhaman and we had lunch at a highway restaurant “NH 2”. Food was good but the service was delayed and we ended up spending costly 1 hour and half for this break.

After lunch we hit the Bardhaman city road. Until now we had driven on the some of the best four lane roads. We entered the Badashahi road. The road was single lane and filled with crazy traffic. People and traffic came in any direction they wished. I had to be extremely patient as driving on these roads was nothing less than an adventure and fun.

The roads that forced me to be patient!



The Bardhaman Railway Station

After reading a lot of travelogues and also taking advice from Blackpearl and Shansta’s blog, I was prepared with this stretch of bad roads. It was 4.15 pm and the Sun god was all ready to set. We stopped by a small village for a tea break and it was very refreshing. This break was very timely as we were about to hit the bad stretch of roads soon. After this small tea break we were back on the Badashai road. I topped up my fuel tank and checked with the fuel guys about the road condition and they said that next 10km stretch is extremely bad and after that the roads are decent. Just 2kms after the petrol bunk, the bad stretch of road started and this stretch of road was nothing close to my imagination. So, this stretch starts from Burwan and ends at Kuli which is approximately 9kms. There are absolutely no roads on this stretch. I was driving on craters, potholes and huge sharp stones. I drove at a speed of 20kms as I was worried about the tyres and the under-chassis. It took me close to an hour just to cover this stretch. No, this is not an exaggeration. This is the worst stretch of road we drove on this journey and there is no escape to this road. Firstly the roads are extremely bad and to add to it you also get stuck in the truck traffic sometimes.

Pitstop for Tea and Sunset


Driving in West Bengal

We finally reached a four lane highway at Morgram. I was extremely tired by now and wanted to rest. So I let my wife take over the wheel. We were relieved at first looking at the good roads, however suddenly my wife saw a huge diversion board - Road closed for construction . She had to take the opposite lane as our lane was under construction. There was a lot of truck traffic on both the sides and since she had to drive on the wrong side, she diligently followed a huge truck ahead of us. After close to 2 KM the diversion ended and we could get onto to the right lane. The truck ahead of us took a turn to get onto the right lane and what we saw next was a huge truck coming towards us head on in the opposite lane. My wife quickly applied breaks and got the vehicle to a standstill. Luckily the vehicle behind us maintained distance. It was a sudden shock for all of us and especially for my wife as she was behind the wheel. This was a near death experience and I asked my wife if she was OK to drive further as this was a shocking experience for her too. She said she was fine and we continued on the four lane road. After about half an hour, the roads started getting bad and I took over from here as I had got enough rest. By now all of us were exhausted of traveling on some of the crazy roads or you can call "No Roads". It was already 8 pm and we were hungry. This highway had no hotels or dhabas where we could consider stopping. Our next hotel destination – “Hotel Golden Park” was 1 and a half hour away. My wife called up the hotel reception to check if they had a restaurant and if it will be open by the time we reach. The guy inquired if we passed Farraka barrage or not. We said we are yet to reach the Farrakka barrage. He asked us to place the dinner order so that they can keep it ready by the time we reach. We were clueless and wondered about the logic behind crossing Farrakka barrage and the timing of our arrival at the hotel.

Driving on narrow bridges with worn-out roads

We reached the Farrakka barrage and we could see a huge traffic jam ahead of us. The reason behind the restaurant guy asking us to place the dinner order was that there was no guarantee on the time taken to cross this barrage. This is a major junction for trucks to reach Bangaladesh and North East states. The traffic was managed very carefully here. At a time, the officials allowed only few vehicles to pass on either side and we were asked to switch off the headlights due to security reasons. This was another good adventure drive.

Farrakka barrage is built on the River Ganges with 109 gates. The water from this barrage is shared between Bangladesh and India. As we were driving in the night, we couldn’t see the gates or the river Ganges. We could only hear the mighty Ganga flow. This barrage is surely an engineering marvel.

Driving on Farrakka Barrage. Couldn't manage a better picture due to the traffic and security. Hoping to capture on our return route



Truck Traffic after we crossed the Farrakka Barrage

We finally reached our Hotel Golden Park, Malda at 9.30pm. The hotel was excellent. Rooms were clean and service was great. We had dinner that we had per-ordered. The food was very good and was served hot. We called it a day after dinner and decided to start around 10am for our Day 5 journey. We had planned to drive 380kms the next day and our next destination was Bhutan. The excitement was still alive although we were extremely tired that night.

Signing off with a picture of our stay!

[DAART]

Day 5 –November 15 - "The Day of the Wrong Turn"

Planned Route – Malda – Itahar - Raiganj - Goagaon - Dhantola - Islampur - Nagarkata - Jaigaon - Phuentsholing


Accomodation - Hotel Lhaki, Phuentsholing, Bhutan


We had a relaxed start and met at the breakfast looking fresh and excited to reach our dream destination today. We finished our breakfast and checked out from our rooms by 10 am. As the hotel was located bang on the highway, we did not have to worry about entering the town roads.

A happy start to our dream destination finally!

As soon as we exited the hotel we were on the highway to Raiganj. The Raiganj highway was beautiful. We were happy with the roads and kept discussing about Farakka barrage that had mesmerized us all last evening. Mom wanted to see that barrage during day light so she made a proposal if we could catch this barrage on our return leg.

Beautiful highway to Raiganj


The deadly roads after Raiganj

After exiting the Raiganj highway, we again entered the single lane road with heavy traffic. After driving for a distance on this road, my wife asked me when will be driving on the Botlobari road. During our research period, we remembered reading in Shanksta’s blog about Botolbari route. Obviously, in all our happiness I forgot this critical detail and had took the "wrong turn". Yes, all the blogs we read mentioned about taking the Botolbari route to Siliguri. So this was a critical miss. We ended up on the Mithapur-Dhalkola road which was completely jammed by trucks. We lost the phone signals and Google maps stopped working at this crucial route. We spoke to a lot of locals and each one gave a different route


I stopped at a petrol bunk in the immediate next town and inquired about how far we were from Botlobari route. They informed me that we had come 20 KM ahead of that route and best option would be to continue to Dhalkola and join Siliguri – Puneria highway. The drive was quite OK on that road until we reached outskirts of Dhalkola, where I saw a jam ahead. Most of the trucks in front of me had turned off their engines and some of the drivers had alighted from trucks to buy stuff in nearby shops. That was not a good sign I thought and wondered what next. This is when I saw a West Bengal state transport bus, overtake us and continued to drive on the wrong side as there was no traffic from opposite side. Based on votes of my co-passengers, I decided to follow the bus and take my chances. It turned out to be a good decision in this situation. I learnt to drive like the localities when stuck in jams on highways. What people do is they drive in wrong lane until the road is free and then park in the available space on the extreme right when encountered with traffic from opposite direction. Except for the trucks, all other vehicles followed this rule on this stretch. Even after doing this stunt several times, it took us almost 2 to 3 hours to cover the Dhalkola town and reach the Siliguri highway. That was a good time lost however, a lesson learnt that on the way back we would remember to take the Botlobari route.

The Detour Route - Malda>Itahar>Raiganj>Dhalkola>Kishanganj>Islampur> Siliguri>Jalpaiguri>Dhupguri>Hasimara>Phuentsholin g

When the roads are like this, you wish you had not made the 'wrong' turn




Following the 'Wrong lane' Rule



Narrower roads




Interesting '3-wheeler'. This was the common mode of transport for the localites. Apparently, this is a battery run auto. It is built on a motorcycle chassis with wheels and seats fitted. Extremely traffic friendly and of course environment friendly!

Glimpse of the massive truck traffic near Dhalkola

http://youtu.be/wYCpjq94_FI

The force that kept us going

We stopped for lunch at a Bharat Petroleum bunk Ghar Dhaba and also fueled up the car for the day. After hitting Purneah- Siliguri highway, the roads were four lane toll roads with minor diversions and single lane when entering some towns. We were sad that since the sun was already calling it a day at 4 PM, we would be missing the view of Himalayan ranges today as we had hoped to witness some if not for being stuck in jam in Dhalkola. We were driving on the Islampur highway when my dad asked us look towards west side of the road. We were first not sure what we were looking at and later we were stunned that it was the snow-cap mountains. I stopped the car and we took some time to enjoy the first glimpse of the great snow cap ranges of Himalayas. Some of the localites mentioned it is the Kanchenjunga ranges. So, if you are driving on the Islampur-Siliguri road, do not miss the snow-capped Kanchenjunga ranges. You need to be lucky to have clear skies when passing through this stretch.

Our first view of the snowcapped Himalayas - Kanchenjunga ranges

We reached outskirts of Siliguri around 6 PM and stopped for a tea break. The person at tea stall advised us to take Siliguri bypass to avoid peak hour traffic. We took the bypass and gave control to google maps for navigation. The google maps took the Jalpaiguri route. Though the roads were single lane, but were in good condition with some speed-breakers in the forest section which were accompanied with appropriate sign boards. We stopped for a tea/momo break near the town called Hasimara which was around 18 kms away from Phuentsholing and called it a dinner after having sumptuous amount of it.

It was around 10:30pm when we reached the border gate at Phuentsholing only to know that the last entry of Indian noncommercial vehicles is 10pm IST. So, the border town of India is called Jaigaon and for Bhutan it is Pheuntsholing. Our stay was in Lahki hotel which was in Phuentsholing, for which we had to cross the gate and enter Bhutan. Also, please note that the Bhutan time is half an hour ahead of the India time. Although, in India the time was 10pm, in Bhutan it was already 10.30pm. So, there was very little hope that the officials will oblige to open the gates. While I tried to request the Bhutanese border police and explained to them that we had come a long way, they saw a truck exiting Bhutan for which they had to open the gates. They told they will make an exception and let us through. This was a signature for the day of wrong roads and timing. So, if you are driving from India to Bhutan, non-commercial vehicles will be permitted through the border gate only up to 10 pm Bhutan Time. Anyway, the official obliged us looking at the KA registration number plate and after we told him that we had driven 5 days and close to 2500 KM from South of India to visit their country.

While we checked in to our hotel Lhaki, I asked the receptionist at what time the immigration office would open next day. The response sounded somewhat like this” Oh! You were not told that tomorrow is a holiday in Phuentsholing on account of local elections.” This was the most shocking news in the entire trip. We hoped for an alternative. With this silent hope, we all went to bed and called it a day.

I was already tired and exhausted with all the shocks and surprises that bombarded us that day. I only hoped for the day to be brighter tomorrow! But, the best satisfaction was seeing Ciaz parked in the hotel parking space just to realize he had finally made it to the International ground

[DAART]

Day 6 –November 16 - "The day of Hope"

We all woke up early with lot of anxiety and gathered for breakfast at the Hotel’s restaurant at 8 AM. Hotel Lhaki has a restaurant which serves decent Indian food as well. As all of us were not in the right mind to taste the local cuisine yet, we ordered for some bread toast and parathas and ended with nice hot tea. We could hear the guests at other tables also discussing on the options if the immigration office remained closed for the day. We tried to ignore those talks and still prayed for an alternative.

For our trip immigration office holiday would cost a day less in Bhutan. So, the immigration office in Bhutan works from Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm BST. Additionally, Phuentsholing Immigration office issues permits to enter only Thimpu & Paro cities. To enter any other city like Phunaka, you will have to apply for the permit in Thimpu Immigration office. After doing a lot of research and reading through the blogs, we had planned our trip in such a way that we arrive in Phuentsholing on Wednesday - get the permits for Thimpu & Paro in Phuentsholing on Thursday - reach Thimpu on Thursday and apply for permits to Punkha and Dhochula on Friday. This unexpected holiday meant that our dream to see Dhochula pass and Phunaka would end, as we will not have enough time to get the permits in Thimphu. The immigration rules are strict and there is no exception whatsoever!

After breakfast as we headed out to the immigration office, the receptionist who gave us this shocking news the previous night again exclaimed that our visit to the office would be a waste of time. Hope drove us to the office to find that it remained closed with no sign of opening any sooner. It was around 9 AM, we saw some people waiting outside the immigration gate and decided to join them. We met an elderly couple who had come from Kolkata and they had planned the trip in such a way that they would get the permits in Pheuntsholing and drive the same day to Thimpu. So, they had not booked for any accommodation. So getting the permits for them today made all the difference. We then saw an Indian army officer and immediately rushed to him for more information. We explained him our situation and requested him if there was an alternative. He suggested if we had booked our Visas online in advance, then the permits would have been given today. He spoke to the authorities on phone and confirmed that today the immigration office will remain closed and there is no other alternative but to stay put in Phuentsholing for this day.

At first, we felt dejected that we would have to complete Bhutan trip without visiting Dhochu la pass and Phunaka. Most hurt was my wife who was very excited about Punakha and the Memorial Chortens. As we stood there sad not knowing what to do next, my parents suggested that we take this day to rest well, as until this day we had been driving an average of 600 Kms/day. All agreed and the next step was to modify the reservations in Thimpu, Phunakha and Paro which had already been confirmed. We first requested a day’s extension from Lakhi hotel , which they agreed without any issues. They were also courteous enough to call the Hotels in Thimphu and Phunakha and inform them about our situation in the local language. In addition, luckily we got our reservations modified accordingly. By then it was lunchtime, and it was time we used the small kitchen we had packed in the boot of the car. We crossed the Bhutan gates and purchased some vegetables and milk from Jaigaon, India. My mom cooked Upma and all of us were just thrilled to taste authentic south Indian dish in a foreign country. We had a strong filter coffee after 4 days. This cheered us up a bit. We dozed off until late evening. We decided to take a stroll through the city and it was wonderful walking around the place as pedestrians get utmost importance in Bhutan. We enjoyed the pizzas and deserts in “Kizom Cafe Pizzeria And Bakery” and would recommend this as a must try when you visit Phuentsholing.

We did not capture many pictures today as half day went away in running around for immigration and the other half just relaxing at the hotel

So, Phuentsholing is a beautiful small border town of Bhutan. Non-Nationals are allowed to walk around or drive around the town within a range of 5kms without the permits. There is a cop in every corner. So, be careful not to break any rules as Bhutan cops are strict and they are more watchful on the non-locals. While we were taking a stroll in the evening, I made a mental note of few traffic rules that I need to follow for the next 5 days of our trip.

Few pictures captured today

The India-Bhutan border gate through Jaigaon town

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After disappointing efforts at the Immigration office - time for some South Indian Delicacy

An evening stroll in the empty streets of Phuentsholing

[DAART]

Day 7 - November 17- "The day of excitement"

Phuentsholing to Thimpu

Having known the exact timings of immigration office and expecting some early rush due to the holiday previous day, we got ready and reached the office at 8:30 AM. Please note that Bhutan is half hour ahead of India. We saw some people filling up the permit forms though the office was not open yet. As expected, there was huge crowd at the immigration office. We got hold of the forms from a security person at the gate and filled out our forms while my parents caught a spot in queue for us. Luckily, all formalities went smoothly and we were out with our permits in 2 hours. I took the photocopies of our permits and with all the documents of the car rushed to the RTO office located in Phuentsoling bus stop. We finished getting the car permit by 12:30 PM. What we realized is even on a good day you need keep a minimum of 3 – 4 hours to finish the immigration formalities and permit for the vehicle.

Immigration Process

If you are planning to visit Bhutan by road, please make sure to carry the following documents:

For individuals:

1. Originals of Indian Passport/Voter ID/Aadhar card of all individuals traveling to Bhutan. My parents did not have a passport, so we could use their voter ID. However, kindly note if you are visiting Bhutan by flight you need to have the passport
2. Passport size photographs. Carry sufficient copies
3. Copies of Room booking confirmation in Bhutan
4. Day-wise itinerary. Simply type out the itinerary in a word doc and get the printout. This is very important now, please do not forget this copy

For Vehicle Permit

1. Original Driving License of all the people driving in Bhutan
2. Original RC book
3. Latest Pollution Check Certificate
4. Original Insurance Certificate
Note: Please carry originals for the car permits and enough photo-copies if required

The Bhutan Immigration Office is situated very close to the Border gate and next to the Indian Oil Petrol Bunk as a landmark.

1. First you need to get immigration forms from the office. Now, this office is situated outside the immigration office. Please ask the security guard and he will guide you. You need to collect one form per person. So we had to fill 4 forms
2. Fill the form completely and attach the passport size photograph
3. Attach the photocopies of the proofs. In our case, we attached passport photocopies for my wife and myself and voter id photocopy for my parents
4. Make sure the form is filled completely and signed duly
5. Stand in the queue for form submission. In our case, due to large crowd they had arranged tables outside the immigration office for forms collection and validation.
6. The officers will first check if all the details are correct and the id proofs are valid. Here, they will ask you the reason for visit and also ask you to attach the day-wise itinerary
7. There is a series of checking done here. Once approved, you need to take your forms and go to the first floor and wait in the counters mentioned by the officer for bio-metrics check
8. This procedure took away sometime as the systems were extremely slow
9. Here, please be careful to check the accuracy of your details typed. Any mismatch may affect the approvals
10. Once the details are captured here, the officer at the counter will give you the printout of the approval form and ask you to go to a particular counter. You need to submit the documents and forms as instructed
11. Wait at this counter for sometime as the Immigration officer will check all the details and provide you the permit.
12. Once approved, you will receive an Original Permit form. We got the permit for 7 days. This is the end of immigration procedure for individuals.
13. Now this permit is only applicable for visit to Thimpu & Paro cities only. Anything apart from these two cities, you need to apply for a permit in Thimpu Immigration office
13. You need to get sufficient copies of permit forms. One copy will be attached to the vehicle permit form. You can find the xerox shops opposite the immigration office.

Vehicle Permit -

1. The RTO office is located in the Phuentsholing bus stop
2. Make sure to get there as soon as you get the permits. Similar to the Indian officials, Bhutan officials also take sufficient tea and smoke breaks
4. First you need to get the vehicle permit form from the shop in first floor
5. After you fill the form, you need to go to the second floor and pay cash at the counter. (INR 100 for each day of driving in Bhutan). As our stay in Bhutan was for 5 days, we paid INR 500
6. Once you pay, the officer at the counter will issue a challan. You need to attach this challan to the Vehicle permit form filled. You also need to attach the copies of the vehicle documents and also the permit of stay issued at the immigration office
7. Go back to first floor again, wait in the queue outside the officer's counter. You will be called after all the checking is done. Luckily, when we went there was hardly any people at the counter. But, the sad part is the office took an hour break for his lunch. Once, he was back he checked the accuracy of all the documents carefully, and gave us the vehicle permit

Kindly note that all the above procedures are subject to change. Request you to keep checking the Immigration rules on the Bhutan official website before visiting. Also, based on our experience, we suggest you apply for permits online before landing in Bhutan as this can avoid unseen holidays and office closures.


Anyway, we all were finally happy that we got the permits and checked out from the hotel and started to Thimphu at 1pm.

Driving Rules to Follow

- Pedestrians are treated as God. Watch out for the zebra crossings and no matter whatever speed you are in, make sure to slow down at the zebra crossing. People cross only on the zebra crossings. If caught for not slowing down at the crossing, cops can charge you for the offense and the price is as low as INR 500
- Keep an eye on the speedlimit
- Strictly No honking. But, we saw few cabs driving without following this rule
- No overtaking unless the vehicle ahead of you gives you an indication to overtake. The vehicle will blink the right indicator. This means, it is ok to overtake
- Absolutely no overtaking from the left
- Do Not Overtake The Bhutan Royals Vehicle at any cost. Please watch out for the "BR" registration vehicles.

Initially, it took some time for me to adjust to the strict rules driving. But, we got accustomed to the rules and found it easy. The only frustrating part sometimes was the overtaking. Although the road looks empty ahead, you cannot overtake until the w=vehicle ahead of you gives you the indication and most of the times the vehicle ahead drove in 50kms speed blocking the way. As an Indian, this surely is frustrating.

The first checkpost is 5kms from Phuentsholing. Do not forget to get the entry stamped here. This is very important as they make a note of your vehicle details and the entry time and date.

As we exited Phuentsholing, we could see the mighty Himalayas open up. The drive started getting exciting as we were driving up the mountains.The temperatures started to drop and we had pull out our woollens which hadn't been used until now.

We Stopped for lunch at Lhamu restaurant in Gedu. This is a must try restaurant for the service & food. Try their soups. Please note that Bhutanese food is a little bland and a bit spicy because of their chillies. After a sumptuous lunch and sufficient break, we started off on our journey to Thimpu.

We stopped for a tea break

Reached Thimphu around 8 PM. Since I had not opted to take international roaming or buy Taashi SIM, depended on local people and cops for directions. It was not bad at all. Cops are very friendly and helped in directions when asked.

Few Pictures Captured on Day 7

Beautiful roads unwind!




Bhutan Currency



That's the receipt you get for your vehicle permit payment



Cannot miss out on these happy faces off to school



Temperature starts to dip! Each ghat we climbed, we saw a decrease in temperature and the feeling is amazing to drive in the clouds







Lucky to have escaped the fresh landslides








The Lhamu restaurant on the hilltop. Beautiful sight to see the Himalayas open up.




Hot momos and soups a must try




Mesmerizing!



"Clouds came floating into our journey not to usher rain or storm but to add beauty to our drive"












A beautiful pitstop for tea




The second check-post




This biker gang was from Telangana. Noticing our number plate, they overtook us and waved a thumbs-up. Later, I looked at their number plates and had a proud moment too!

[DAART]

Day 8 - November 18 - "The day of New Friends"


We woke up to a great view of Himalayan valley in Thimphu. It was a bright and sunny day. We decided to take a walk on the streets of Thimpu. As we were exploring to find some Indian restaurant, stumbled upon hotel New Grand near the clock tower. We were surprised with a treat of some good idlis, dosas and much awaited filter coffee. Made a perfect start for the day.

Hotel Wangchuk - Our stay in Thimpu







Bright Chilly Morning









Hotel New Grand







Clock Tower




Souvenir Shop

We spent the day exploring some Thimpu sightseeing. We visited the Buddha Doredenma. The view from this place is breath-taking as you get a birds eye view of Thimpu city and beautiful Himalayan valleys.

Bird's eye-view of Thimpu city on the way to Buddha Doredenma

To reach the Buddha statue there are two entrances. The one we took had a lot of steps to be climbed (do not remember the precise number). We were not aware of an alternate entrance which does not have too many steps.

The first entrance to Buddha Dordenma

While we were parking our car at the parking lot, we were happy to find a TN registration vehicle and while alighting the steps, we met the owners. We chatted for a while about our journeys so far. We were happy to make some new friends who share similar passion for travel.

Our new friends from Chennai



Breathtaking Himalayan views

After exploring this beautiful place, we went onto explore the memorial chorten.

Returned to the hotel for lunch and some rest. In the evening, we visited the King’s palace. Then we took a short walk and had dinner in a nearby café. Finally, we called it a day and were happy and satisfied with our stay in Thimpu. We were excited to go to Paro.

[DAART]

Day 9 - November 19 - "The Day of Drukgyel Dzong"
Thimpu to Paro
Accomodation – Tashi Namgay Resorts
Total KMS Covered - 145kms
Start time - 10am
End Time - 12.30am

After a good breakfast in the New Grand Hotel, we checked out of our hotel rooms and left for Paro. The distance to Paro was very less. Hence, we had decided to drive slow enjoy the scenic drive. I will let the pictures do the talking as certain experiences cannot be explained.

The beautiful portrait of the King & Queen at every hotel or restaurant we visited



Goodbye Thimpu!



This picture was supposed to be captured when we entered Thimpu but, couldn't capture it then as it was already dark. Hence, tried capturing it on our exit.



Mesmerizing Himalayas as always!




Paro Chhu accompanies us all along the drive and was also our company at our restort in Paro

After multiple pitstops to enjoy the scenic view, we reached Paro town by 12.30pm and checked into the hotel which was very close to the Paro International Airport and Paro Chu River. Must say, the stay in Paro was one of the best rooms we got in the entire trip. The rooms had a river view and Runway view. We specifically wanted these rooms to be better as my parents will be spending Day 10 in the hotel room while my wife and I will be away to trek the Tiger’s nest. We took this day just to relax.

While we were resting in the hotel room, my dad found a brochure of places to visit near Paro. Drukgyel Dzong caught his attention as this place was known for catching a glimpse of one of Bhutans highest peaks Mount Chomolhari. However one had to be lucky to get a clear sky to spot the peak.
We looked outside to find crystal clear sky and immediately decided to visit this place. Although Drukgyel Dzong was under maintenance, we were lucky to get a glimpse of Mount Chomolhari.

Glimpse of Mount Chomolhari

On the way back, drove around Paro city, had lunch and my mom and wife shopped for some souvenirs. I purchased some energy bars and fruits to be carried for our trek the next day. Evening we spent time exploring the hotel. My wife and I crashed to bed early as we planned to wake up early for the trek.

The famous Bhutanese Thupka

[DAART]

Day 10 - November 20 - "The day at the Tatksang" (Tiger's Nest)
Start Time - 7am
End Time - 11:45am

My wife and I woke up to the alarm at 5am. We planned to start trekking the Tiger’s Nest early. My parents decided to stay back and relax at the resort. It was freezing outside. We checked the temperature it showed -1 degree Celsius. The car windshield was frozen with ice. As a reflex, I switched on the wiper to clear out the windshield only to realize that the glass was frozen and it was not the regular dew or mist. There was no way I could clear out the ice formed on the windshield and there was zero visibility to drive. Somehow using heater and pouring some room temperature water on the glass, I was able to clear a small part of the windshield. However, this was still a struggle to drive. While I was exiting the hotel, I noticed a cab driver clearing his windshield with some kind of a wooden stick. I requested him to help me out. He was kind enough to clear my windshield with the stick. The trick is to pour some hot water and keep clearing the ice with a wooden stick. As we were driving closer to the entry point of the Tiger’s nest, the temperature dropped to -3 degrees. This was the best feeling ever and I was absolutely proud of Ciaz and this was the first time he was exposed to such extreme temperatures and he performed well without any issues. We reached the entry point of tiger’s nest exactly at 6am just to realize that the entry to trekking point opens at 7am. The ticket counter was closed. Ours was the first vehicle to reach the entry point. We could see some local vendors setting up their stalls on the pathway and few other pony riders assembling at the pony pick up point.

The ticket counter opened at 6.45 am and we bought two tickets at INR 500/- each. We purchased two hiking sticks at INR 50/- each and these sticks had to be returned on our way back. There was an option to hire a pony which will take us to the midpoint of the trek. We wanted to trek completely on foot. We finally started our trek exactly at 7am. As we hiked up, the wind was getting heavier and it was getting chilly. Our hands and face had become numb. My dad had given us few tips the previous night regarding trekking. We followed his instructions and kept moving up. For the first one hour, the hike seemed pretty easy. We met other tourists from other countries on our way up. We exchanged smiles and greetings and kept moving. As you keep hiking, you will be distracted by the ponies along the way. Every time a pony passes, there will be a blanket of dust that gets created. My wife was excited and kept stopping to capture some beautiful valley view. After close to an hour of trekking, we finally reached the mid-point. Once we reached the mid point, we headed to the cafeteria. From the cafeteria you will get a first glimpse of the Tiger’s Nest. This was the best moment for me and my wife. We had some hot tea and crackles. The tea is very expensive (1 Cup= INR 100/-)but we felt it was worth the view. By the time we reached mid point, we were a bit tired and kept wondering if we will be able to make it to the end. The view of Tiger’s Nest from the cafeteria almost looks impossible to accomplish. Lot of tourists, trek till the mid point, click pictures of the Tiger’s Nest from this view and return back. At this point, the weather started getting a bit warmer. After a good half an hour refreshment break, we started on our second half of the trek. We met a family from Bangalore and they hiked with us almost to the end. Every time we felt tired and dehydrated, we would stop, eat few dry fruits we carried. This was our savior.

We reached the toughest part of the trek, we had to descend 600 steps and ascend 200 steps. We were extremely tired by then but the view of the monestary kept us going. At around 9 am we reached the entrance of the monastery. Bags, cameras and mobiles phones are not allowed inside the monastery. Lockers are provided and you can keep your luggage there. We spent close to 45 minutes in the monastery. Must say the feeling of being in this place was out of the world. All the struggle and tiredness was worth it.
We started trekking down at around 10am. We reached the exit at 11.45 am. The trek down was even tougher than trekking up as our knees and ankles were hurting and we were running low on energy as well. The only motivation while trekking down was an elderly gentleman we met on our way. He was from the US who had come on a trip with a group. We started having conversation with this gentleman and somehow our journey down did not seem long. Once we reached the exit, my wife and I were extremely happy to have completed this trek successfully. We returned to the hotel and slept the entire evening.

Tiger’s Nest – Things to know
1. Paro Taktsang or commonly known as ‘Tiger’s Nest’ is located 300 ft. above the Paro Valley
2. The entry to trekking point opens only at 7am. The entry fee is Rs 500/- per person
3. Make sure to start early as the place starts getting crowded and trekking becomes a little difficult. Also, it’s better to start the trek when the weather is still pleasant
4. The total distance of the trek roundtrip is close to 8 Kms. For a person with normal fitness level, can complete this trek in 4 to 5 hours
5. There is an option to hire a pony at the entrance for Rs 750/-. The pony goes only till the mid point of the trek.
6. Purchase the hiking stick from the start point. One stick per person should be enough (Rs.50/- non-refundable)
7. In case of breathlessness issues, take a break, relax, get acclimatized and move forward
8. This is no competition, hence, go slow enjoy the views and the weather
9. Carry light with minimal necessities
10. Carry enough water, dry fruits, fruits and some biscuits/energy bars. After the cafeteria at the mid point, there are no food stalls
11. Wear proper hiking/trekking shoes
12. Above all, stay motivated and stay strong till the end. It is definitely a trek of lifetime

As the saying goes - "Trip to Bhutan is incomplete without a trek to Taktsang"

[DAART]

Day 11 – November 21 - “Return Journey Begins”
Paro to Siliguri
Accommodation - Oyo
Distance Covered– 316 KM
Start time – 10 am
End Time – 8 pm

Today will be our last day in Bhutan officially and we were all set to return to our land. With mixed feelings, we packed and checked out of the hotel rooms at around 8.30 am. My family & I wanted to watch a flight take off in the Paro International Airport. So, we checked the flight timings in the local newspaper. There was one flight which was bound to take off at 9.40 am (Paro to Delhi). We decided to wait at the Bird’s eye-view point of the International Airport. It was a treat to watch the pilots maneuver the flights in between the mountains and valleys during landing and takeoff.

Our plan was to reach Siliguri so that we would have covered a major distance. We stopped for lunch again at the Lhamu restaurant and exited Bhutan at 3 PM IST. We were welcomed with honks and traffic soon after crossing the border gates. It was a great feeling to be back in India. Now I was free to overtake and honk as much as I wished.

We took the Nagrataka route as advised by google maps and reached Siliguri at 8 PM. We stayed the night at OYO Rajdharbar.

[DAART]

Day 12 – November 22 - Siliguri to Kolkata
Accommodation – Oyo
Distance Covered – 558 Kms
Start time – 9am
End time – 2am

We checked out of the rooms soon. The rooms were a disappointment in terms of quality and maintenance. Today was going to be a long day as we had to drive through the dreaded stretch and remember not to miss the Botlobari route this time. We decided to halt in Malda for lunch at the Golden Park hotel. We were happy to cross the Farrakka Barrage in daylight. We were mesmerized by mighty Ganges and the Engineering marvel of the barrage. After a sumptuous lunch at Malda, we crossed the Farakka barrage in a jiffy without much traffic hassle. Unfortunately we could not capture any good pictures of the barrage as this is a no stopping zone. But it was definitely a treat to the eyes. While I was happy and relieved to cross one milestone without hassle, I suddenly see myself stuck in between trucks just after crossing the Farrakka barrage. It seemed liked the traffic was halted for more than 2 hours and there was no sign of movement. I decided to roll down the windows and take some local help to check if there was any deviation to hit the National highway again. I noticed two guys at a corner tea stall, I checked with them if there was an alternate route. They noticed we were not locals. They immediately obliged to help us. They took out their bicycle both of them hopped on to their cycle and asked us to follow them. I started following them and what I see next is we are driving in the most narrow lanes of Farakka town. All of us started getting a bit worried as the lanes were a bit scary and we doubted if we will ever see the highway again. After following them for close to 5 KM, we finally saw the highway. We were so relieved but we were extremely thankful to the two guys. If not for them, we would have been stuck in between the trucks.

The 2 Human GPS who helped us get out of a Traffic mess in Farakka

We reached Kolkata at 1 AM after having dinner at some road side hotel on Durgapur expressway.

[DAART]

Day 13 – November 23 - Kolkata to Puri
Accomodation – Oyo
Distance Covered – 498 kms
Start Time – 7 am
End Time – 6 pm

We did an early checkout from Kolkata and stopped for breakfast at Jain Hind Dhabha on Khargpur highway at around 8 AM. Our plan today was to reach Puri by evening and if possible visit the Puri Jagganath temple. We researched a bit about the Konark and Puri temples. Apparently, Konark temple was under maintenance and we dropped the plan of visiting the Sun temple. My parents wanted to see the Jaggannath temple. Today, we do not have any pictures clicked. If you are planning to visit the Puri temple, keep in mind the below:

• Temple premises is mostly crowded and it is difficult to get car parking. Hence, we decided to take an auto. Our hotel was just 5 kms away from the temple
• No electronics or leather items allowed. We carried some money and left all mobiles and other items in the hotel room
• Beware of the money loot in temple premises.

The darshan was smooth. After a good night’s rest, we were all set to start our journey they next day to Vizag

[DAART]

Day 14 –November 24 - Puri to Vizag
Accomodation – Oyo
Distance Covered – 445 kms
Start Time – 8 am
End Time – 6 pm


We finished our breakfast in the hotel and started to Vizag. Today was going to be a relaxing drive as I knew the roads were excellent till Vizag. We decided to stop by the Chilika Lake and get some pictures. The lake is mesmerisingly huge. There is a boat ride which takes you to an island and apparently there is a temple as well. We decided to opt out due to time constraints.

We were back on the beautiful roads of the Eastern Ghats






Chilika Lake at a closer view

After lunch at the Narayani Restaurant, my wife took over and I got to rest at the back seat. The roads were excellent especially once we crossed Orissa border. The roads got wider in Andhra Pradesh starting from Icchapuram. We reached Vizag by 6pm and checked into our Oyo accommodation which was in Voltaire. The locality was excellent and rooms were comfortable.

We were craving for some South Indian Andhra food, so we decided to head out to explore some Andhra specialties in Vizag. One of my wife’s friend suggested we try the Venkatdri Vantillu for some excellent Andhra dosas and Pesarettu. This place is opposite to the Andhra University and when in Vizag this is a must try place. After hogging on some dosas and paddus, we walked to the Ramakrishna Beach. The beach is well kept. We were happy to be back to Vizag as we were truly impressed by the upkeep of this town.

Beach Road



Mom & Dad enjoying the cool sea breeze on the RK Beach road