[thirugata]

Leh - Shimla:

Day 24: 12/04/2022


As the Leh - Manali road was not open we had to take the longer route to Shimla. We had to retrace a major part of the route which we had taken to reach Leh as part of the new route plan now.
Looking at the brighter side of it, at least we knew what to expect in terms of road conditions.
Since we were in no hurry to reach Kargil, we started our day in leisure manner. We checked out of our hotel room by 9:45 AM after having breakfast.
On this day traffic was allowed from Srinagar to Leh, so we were expecting to get some oncoming traffic only post lunch.
Our first stop was at Hall of Fame. This is army run museum where you get a lot of information about the wars India has fought over the years.
Also you can do some shopping here in an army run store. We spent almost an hour here and left at 11:00 AM.











Amalgamation of Indus and Zanskar rivers





Himalayan Tahr, female

Though we were taking the same route that we took yesterday, when you see the things from the opposite side, the terrains look much different and we didnt feel at all that we were driving on the same road again.
We stopped for lunch at Army run canteen, Tiger hill cafe at Kalsi and reached Kargil by 4:45 PM. Rest of the evening was spent exploring the Kargil city on foot.



Route taken: Retraced the route taken on day 23


Day 25: 13/04/2022


Our guest house in Kargil was right next to the main market. The whole night there was truck movement.
We learnt that most of the goods comes from Srinagar and rest of the country once a week in the night and it was that night of the week.
Entire street was buzzing with activity of unloading the goods till 2:00 AM, so we could hardly get any sleep.
We woke up by 4:00 AM and checked out by 5:00. As per the traffic restrictions we had to cross Kargil city gate before 6:00 AM and had to reach Sonmarg gate by 10:00 AM.
It was very dark when we started our drive and there were lot of trucks to accompany us. We let them pass and drove slowly.
It was very cloudy and in a while it started to drizzle. We realized weather would not be kind to us this day.
In a while rain intensified and once there was some day light we saw the entire terrain had a thick white coat all over. It had snowed heavily in the night.



In a while it stopped raining and started to snow. Initially it was small flakes and then it intensified. It snowed for about good 30 mins.
We reached Zojlla pass by 8:00 AM. Driving was bit challenging as it was my first experience of negotiating this kind of terrain.
After Zojilla pass snowing stopped and it started to rain again. This created a lot of slush and there were some stretches on road where the black ice had started to form. Negotiated this stretch with utmost caution as applying breaks was difficult here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D7hRo4NGN8

By the time we came near Sonmarg weather had cleared and road condition was better too. We crossed Sonmarg gate by 9:00 AM and stopped for breakfast.



Post breakfast when we were near to Srinagar City stopped to get the car washed and reached home stay by 12:30 PM.
In the after noon had a good sleep post lunch as we hardly had slept the previous night. Evening was spent rearranging our luggage. As we non longer needed the jackets and winter wear they were tucked into one corner of the boot.
Over all first and wonderful experience of driving in snow, enjoyed every bit. Though it was the same route that we had taken 2 days ago, the condition was completely different during the return journey.



Route taken: Retraced the route taken on day 22


Day 26: 14/04/2022


We had a long distance to cover this day and in a route which is notoriously famous for traffic jams. So we decided to leave early in the morning.
We had woken up by 4:30 AM and checked out from home stay by 5:45 AM. The ploy worked as we had literally no traffic as we exited the city.
We were able to cover 75 KMs in first 1 hour. From here the traffic intensified and going was bit slow. We stopped for breakfast around 7:30 AM in a daba. This guy was just opening the shop, he took his own sweet time to prepare breakfast.





We got stuck in a traffic jam for about 20 minutes near Quazikund. After the tunnel the road condition was bad, so we were not able to cover much distance. From Udhampur the road became narrower and traffic was horrible from here till we reached NH44.
Once we entered NH44, road condition improved and we were able to cover some distance. We stopped for lunch at BPCL food court Gagwal.



We reached our hotel in Jalandhar by 5:15 PM and checked in.
The day's drive can be divided into 3 parts. First one hour where we covered 75 KMs, second stretch of 135 KMs took us 5 hours and the final stretch of 210 KMs took us 4 hours to cover.



Route taken: Srinagar - Anatnag - Quazigund - Patnitop - Udhampur - Patankot -Jalandhar

Had our dinner in Food Bazaar, tried some chats and deserts. A good place to experience street food and punjabi dishes.


Day 27: 15/04/2022


This was suppose to be a easy day to drive with not a big distance to cover, but google had other ideas.
We checked out of hotel in Jalandhar by 8:30 AM after breakfast and started our journey towards Shimla.
First half of our journey was smooth with excellent road conditions till Ghanauli. After this road condition became average.



At Nalagarh google map suggested a deviation to state highway. The first few kilometers were bit narrow road. I got suspicious about this route and stopped and asked the locals for direction, who confirmed we were on the right road.
As we went ahead the road condition started to deteriorate and we had a lot of potholes to contain with. After a while potholes were far and few but the road became so narrow that only one vehicle could pass. We were climbing hill here.
We had very few on coming vehicles, but when ever we found one we had to find a place where both can pass through and continue the journey.





There were no hotels for food or tea on this route. We stopped for lunch as soon as we entered Shimla around 2:45 PM. Post lunch we started our final stretch of 5 KMs to our hotel.
Google map was having a field day. It took us for a round trip of the city and we took 1 hour to reach the hotel finally at 4:45 PM.





Route taken: Jalandhar - Phagwara - Kathgarh - Ghanauli -Nalagarh - Kunihar - Shimla



In the evening we went to mall road by walk. The best part of Shimla is you can turn in any direction and you get to see the beautiful view of the valley all around.



We walked past Himachal Pradesh Parliament house and Army training center.









Had some snacks and dinner in mall road and returned to our hotel room by 9:30 PM.



What we covered so far

[thirugata]

Shimla - Dehradun:

Day 28: 16/04/2022


We woke up around 6 :00 AM as we wanted to leave early so that we get enough time to explore Dehradun. Parking space is in short supply in Shimla, so every hotel packs their parking area to the extent possible.
I had observed this the previous evening and informed the hotel management to allow me to park the car near the gate which allows me a quick exit early in the morning. They informed that there will no challenge in moving out of parking area and they will facilitate whatever needed. Though I wasn't sure, they sounded confident so believed them.
When the time came to checkout, I informed them to clear the path so that I could move my car out. This is when they started searching for who owns which car and who has the key for it and all sort of things. They had to take out 5 cars for my car to come out of the parking area.The whole process took 30 minutes resulting in delayed start as I had feared.
Finally we left from Shimla around 7:45 AM. Hotel owner had warned me not to take the route we had taken on our way to Shimla and had guided us where not follow google map. So we took the route suggested by him.
First 10 - 12 KM road was bad with a lot of potholes. We filled fuel and stopped for breakfast at Shogni.



Swallow nest inside the hotel



After the initial bad patch of the road rest of the route was in excellent condition. I am glad I spoke to the hotel owner and asked his opinion about the road I had to take.
We had a tea break on the way and stopped for lunch just before reaching Dehradun at Doiwala.





Autos of Uttarakhand

We reached Dehradun around 2:45 PM and took about 30 minutes to figure out the right direction to our hotel courtesy google maps. Finally we checked at 3:30 PM.



Route taken : Shimla- Kandaghat - Kasauli - Panchkula - Shahzadpur - Nahar - Paonta Sahib - Dehradun



After some rest, in the evening around 5:00 PM we left for Buddha temple. It took us about 30 minutes for us to cover 10 KMs because of the evening traffic.
Once we reached the location, it was a challenge to find a parking spot for the vehicle. Do keep this in mind if you decide to visit Buddha temple.
We spent about 1.5 hours here and took a lot of photos and left to our hotel around 7:00 PM.
Stopped for a tender coconut on the way and reached hotel around 7:30 PM. Dinner was at Dominos later and we called it the day.

https://youtu.be/fZaznJO_08w

What we covered so far

[thirugata]

Dehradun - Lucknow:

Day 29: 17/04/2022


We checked out of hotel in Dehradun by 8:00 AM. Our first stop was for breakfast in a daba at Doiwala. We passed through a bridge over Ganga river before we stopped at Haridwar for some quick photos.





Ganga during summer, less water but can imagine the vastness during monsoon



Crested Serpent Eagle



Haridwar

We stopped for a tea around 11:45 AM. As suggested by google we took a deviation from Rashipur.
Next 40 odd KMs road condition was average to bad and most part was 2 lane road. Eventually we connected back to 4 lane NH and going was easy from here onward.
We stopped for lunch at UP22 @ Shankarpur around 2:30 PM. This daba has clean rest rooms and good food. We reached Bareilly and checked into our hotel room by 3:30 PM.





Route taken: Dehradun - Haridwar - Mirzapur - Najibabad - Kotawali - Dhampur - Afzalghar - Kashipur - Swar - Rampur - Bareilly

Late in the evening we went to Chaat Sarovar which was at walk able distance from our hotel room and tried some snacks for dinner.






Day 30: 18/04/2022


We had our breakfast and checked out of our hotel in Bareilly at 8:30 AM. We stuck to NH 30 to most part of the drive today though google map kept suggesting deviations. Most part of the road was in excellent condition and there were some deviations because of under construction stretch.We stopped for a tea break and drove on as there was nothing to see around.
We had booked a house via Airbnb for 2 days in Lucknow. We reached our host's house by 1:15 PM. We cooked lunch and had and also got access to host's washing machine, so used the opportunity to get our clothes washed.



Route taken: Bareilly - Katra - Banthara - Shahjahanpur - Sitarapur - Lucknow



In the evening went walking and visited Jama Masjid and Chhota Imambara. Jama Masjid's external design replicates Rumi Darwaza. As it was late in the evening, we were not able to visit any other monuments.



Jama Masjid







Chhota Imambara



From here we took an auto rickshaw to Chowk. Had kulfi and chats and we roamed around the market place here. We got our dinner parceled, tried some tandai and returned back to house by 9:30 PM.






Day 31: 19/04/2022


Woke up early in the morning and went out by walk to see rest of the monuments. We visited clock tower, Rumi darwaza, step well and Bara Imambara.
At Bara Imambara we were informed that we had to take a guide compulsorily as they have a rule that if a couple visits the place then a guide had to accompany them. Found this rule very strange and thought there is something fishy. We informed them that we wont need a guide and suggested that we will go in individually and see the place and come back. A supervisor approached us and tried to give a logic behind the rule that couple use this place as park and to avoid such situation they are insisting on the guide. We informed them about our travel and told him that we wouldnt need the guide and happy to go alone individually. He realized that their tactic is not working with us and allowed to go in without the guide.
Also note if you visit Bara Imambara and Chhota Imambara on the same day there is no need to buy separate entry tickets as same ticket works in both places.









Clock Tower



Rumi Darwaza







Bara Imambara

https://youtu.be/7EYFvdO2zO0

We returned back home by 10:30 AM exhausted after 3 hours of walking and had our breakfast. Later went out to buy some grocery to cook lunch.
Total 8 + KM of waking in the morning had drained us, took some rest in the afternoon post lunch. Evening was spent getting the car washed and rearranging the luggage as we prepared for our onward journey.



What we covered so far

[thirugata]

Lucknow - Patna:

Day 32: 20/04/2022


We had a long distance to cover this day, so we woke up early by 4:30 AM and started our journey by 5:45 AM. City was yet to wake up so getting out of the city was a breeze.
We spotted a fuel station and filled fuel. Once we exited the city we entered Purvanchal Expressway.
Purvanchal expressway was yet to be officially open but the traffic was allowed. It was a delight to drive in this route with almost no traffic. About 5 - 6 KM stretch here was yet to complete out of the 330 KMs we drove. In this stretch we had to take the service road and the service road is 2 lane highway in itself.
Since this road was officially yet to open it meant we had no fuel stations, hotels or restrooms on this route. We observed that these facilities were getting built. When they open there should be few complex areas where fuel, food and restrooms will be available through this stretch. It also meant there was no toll to pay and there was no speed monitoring system in place. So we were able to cruise through this stretch in no time.









It almost looks like an airstrip

https://youtu.be/4E63qfG5VBQ

We also spotted some Nilgai in the large stretch of grassland adjacent to this road. When we were about to exit the expressway we spotted a hotel with restroom facility open. We had our breakfast there.
We had covered almost 350 KMs in less than 5 hours so far.







Once we exited Expressway at Buxar road condition worsened. There were large potholes to deal with and most of this stretch was just 2 lane highway. Traffic was high too to add to the difficulty. We stopped for lunch at Arrah and continued our journey. Reached Patna by 4:30 PM. After exiting the Expressway we had covered about 150 KMs and it took us more than 5 hours.



First we went to visit Golgarh. We spent some time here and clicked some pictures. Had a tender coconut on the way and checked into the airbnb home we had booked by 5:30 PM.





Route taken: Lucknow - Purvanchal Expressway - Buxar - Arrah - Patna



We had some clothes to be washed as we could only get some of them washed in Lucknow. Evening was spent relaxing after a long drive.
Late in the evening went out walking in search of dinner. Here we got to witness a marriage procession on our way.







What we covered so far

[thirugata]

Patna - Gangtok:

Day 33: 21/04/2022


We woke up leisurely, cooked our breakfast and checked out from the airbnb house around 8:45 AM. We got stuck in the morning city traffic, so it took us close to 90 mins to cover the first 20 KMs as we exited the city. Situation improved a bit post that however most part of the NH was just 2 lane and we had to pass through villages and smaller towns on the way. It took us about 3 more hours before we found decent stretch of highway for some relaxed drive.





We had not taken any break since we started. Our first break for the day was for lunch at Bhakhtiapur. Post lunch we were able to cover some distance bit easily. We stopped for a tea on the way way.
When we were about to reach Purnia, our destination for the day, google took us through some narrow lane and we got stuck in the traffic. Last 2 KMs took us close to 20 mins and we finally reached our hotel close to 5:00 PM.
It was very hot that day and I was completely exhausted even though we had not done anything other than driving. So we decided to just stay in room and relax for rest of the evening.





Route taken: Patna - Bakhtiarpur - Begusarai - Khagaria - Naugachhia - Purnia



Day 34: 22/04/2022


This section of the trip was the second most anticipated part after Leh for us. Had read umpteen travelogues about NE states and also had seen loads of youtube videos of travelers of this section. So the excitement was high.
We started our journey from Purnia around 8:00 AM. We had our breakfast in hotel before checking out. Our first stop was for filling fuel in Purnia. Getting out of the city was not difficult as the city was still waking up.
Once we crossed Bihar and entered WB road condition improved. It also became much greener and we started to see a lot of banana cultivation here. We stopped for a tea on a road side shop, this was the area where there were lot of tea plantation.





In Siliguri we spotted a mall and stopped there as we had not found any decent place for bio break since morning. Here we saw a burger king outlet and got our lunch packed.
After Siliguri this section of road turned into winding ghat section and road condition worsened too. Here it also started to rain on and off which made us slowdown further.
We spotted a nice location after crossing Kalimpong with a nice view of Teesta river and stopped to have our lunch. Rain too had taken a break so we could have our lunch in peace.







Post lunch we kept climbing the ghat section and it kept raining. Road condition was not good too. Finally we reached Gangtok around 4:15 PM. Google map again took us through some narrow steep climbing road and half way through this section we were informed that this section of the road is one way from 9:00 AM on wards. However locals helped us to go through this last section of the road and we finally reached the hotel by 4:45 PM.
It kept raining heavily for rest of the evening, so we did not have any chance to venture out.



Route taken : Purnia - Baisi - Kishanganj - Islampur - Siliguri - Sevoke - Kalimpong - Rangpo - Gangtok





Day 35: 22/04/2022


We woke up early in the morning as sun rises much earlier in this part of the country and went on to the terrace of the hotel to get a majestic view of the surrounding areas. Here we spotted some birds too.



Blue whistling thrush



Rufous Sibia



Verditer flycatcher



We had our breakfast in the hotel,this included local delicacies like luchhi and guguni. As we were planning our day and checking for the locations to visit, google suggested most of the places were close by to our hotel.
Weather was pleasant too and after few days we had some cooler weather to enjoy. So we decided to leave our car behind and explore the places on foot, a decision we regretted later in the day.
Our first destination was Thakurbai temple. We started from our hotel around 9:15 AM. Soon we realized that we had to be hiking mode and not in walking mode here. All roads here are either steep incline or decline, you cant find any stretch of plain land here at all. By the time we had reached the temple we were completely exhausted though it was just couple of KMs of walk. Walking in this altitude needs different level of fitness.
There was covid vaccination camp setup in the temple premises and there was huge crowd gathered for vaccination. We did not spend much time here and left immediately.



Thakurbai temple

We decided we had enough of hiking for the day and took taxi to our next destination, rope way station. Once we got down from the taxi we saw the entrance for Namgyal Institute of Tibetology. This was in our list of places to see, so we decide to visit that first.



Its about 500 Mts of walk and most part of this stretch is not very steep to walk. Once we reached the gate we were informed that institute was closed on Saturday and Sunday. We realized another place we had in our list, Do Drul Monastery was just ahead and continued to walk further. After Monastery visit we returned back to rope way station and started our rope way tour of Gangtok city. Though we took taxi , we ended up walking another 2 KMs to add to our morning hike.





Rope way ride gives you awesome birds eye view of the city and surroundings. The ticket covers to and fro journey which takes about 20 minutes to complete.





From here we visited a cafe and had some snacks and juice to energize ourselves. Our next destination was Tsuglakhan Monastery. We searched for taxi, most were unaware of this destination and few who knew claimed this is outside the city limits, so were advised to take intercity taxi. Google was suggesting it was just 3 KMs away. This is where we realized that it was a mistake to leave the car in hotel.
We decided to walk, google took us through some real steep very narrow walking path and they some steep steps. We stopped and inquired with locals, again we got mixed results. Some didnt know there was a monastery with that name, some had heard the name but didnt know where it was. Finally we met couple of people who confirmed we were on the right track and we were almost there. From this point it took us another 45 minutes of hiking to reach the monastery. But once we reached the location we realized it was worth all the trouble to walk up to this point.

https://youtu.be/XJ9ZZO3CPr4

We managed to find a taxi to MG Marg after walking a bit from the monastery. He dropped us almost a KM before MG Marg as there was huge traffic jam. So again we ended up adding another KM of walk even after taking taxi.
We had read about a hotel here who serves nepali dishes, so we decide to have our lunch there. This place is worth a try if you want to explore something unique.



Thakali veg thali @ Hamro Bhansa Ghar

Post lunch we went to explore MG Marg. We were informed that except for food and medicine business rest of the shops are closed on Saturday and Sunday here. We were next to Thakurbai temple, our first destination in the morning. Taxis were not allowed to stop by police as there was some political rally about to start. We decided to surrender to our fate and walk back to our hotel room. We finally reached hotel room around 3:30 PM completely exhausted. We slept for a while and when we woke up weather had changed and it had started to rain. We decided not to venture out and stayed in the room.



What we covered so far

[thirugata]

Gangtok - Guwahati:

Day 36: 24/04/2022


We started our journey early around 6:30 AM from Gangtok after checking out of our hotel. Since sunrise happens sooner than rest of the country here starting early in the morning is not a challenge.
We filled fuel as we exited the city. Road condition was bad in the initial leg of this journey. This was the same route we had driven when we arrive here, so we knew what to expect.
We stopped for breakfast at Oasis Cafe. This place is on the ghat section when you climb down from Gangtok and has a wonderful view of Teesta river for you to enjoy as you have your breakfast. They also have very clean washrooms. There is a huge statue of lord Shiva right in front of this cafe.





We drove till Sevoke and took deviation from Siliguri road towards Guwahati. From here on road was in good condition throughout. After the rains in last few days in this region entire stretch was looking green and fresh.





This interesting statue of Ganapati was carved out of the stone on the road side



In this entire route you will either see forest, tea estate or arecanut plantation on either side of the road. It was a surprise fro us to see such a green side of WB, had not expected this.
Stopped for tea on the way and we entered Assam. Our lunch was near Gossaigaon, a veg thali in a restaurant named Mongolian daba. Not sure why that name, there was nothing Mongolian about it.



Cinerous vulture






We reached our hotel in Bongaigaon by 4:00 PM. There was a tire shop open even though it was Sunday. After check in went there and got the wheel alignment done.
Would like to thank Bhpian @Airbus for recommending Bongaigaon as a good pit stop on this route.
To sum it up, it was a very pleasant day to drive with good weather and green surroundings.




Route taken : Gangtok - Rangpo - Sevoke - Jalpaiguri - Barobisha - Gossaigaon - Bongaigaon


Day 37: 25/04/2022


We left from our hotel in Bongaigaon around 8:30 AM after our breakfast. Road condition was good, mostly 4 lane highway and weather was pleasant too. We crossed a massive bridge over Brahmaputra river on our way and entered Guwahati by 11:00 AM.





Our destination here was Kamakya temple. Google did its usual thing and guided us through some narrow city lanes. We took guidance from locals who showed us the route to the temple. Eventually we reached back side of the temple, parked the car near a tea shop and walked rest of the distance to reach temple.















We spent almost an hour here, completed darshan and left for Fancy Bazar area. Had our lunch at Shahi Darbar and explored the market area. We finally reached our guest house around 4:30 PM.
Evening was spent planning the route for next few days. As there was threat of flood in Assam because of rain in past few days we had to get the latest information about the route to plan our trip ahead.
Again Tbhpian @Airbus came to our help in getting the latest info about the routes through his local contacts.



Route taken: Bongaigaon - Simlaguri -Pathrela -Rangia - Guwahati





What we covered so far

[thirugata]

Guwahati - Itanagar:

Day 38: 26/04/2022


Today's destination was not part of our initial plan, this was an impromptu decision made to visit Kaziranga national park as we were close to it. We had booked our resort the previous day when the plan was made to visit the national park. As it had been raining for few days in Assam, safari was possible only in one half the national park and the rest was already closed. So we had to reach the central area ( Kohora ) to be able to go for a safari. We had made our booking accordingly.
We woke up early and were ready to check out by 7:15 AM. Our homestay guys served us bread and tea as their kitchen was not open yet. We had the basic breakfast and left from there by 7:30 AM. There was some traffic as we exited the city and once we were out of the city traffic thinned down.
In some time we started to feel the need for a proper breakfast. We spotted a hotel called Ni4 and stopped for breakfast. Here we had the best dosa in a month. It was a surprise to find a full fledged south indian breakfast menu here. We continued our leisure drive after the breakfast, road condition was excellent in most parts.





Once we reached Amluckie gaon we had some bad stretch of road to contain with. Enroute you get a spot with the name rhino view point, around that area there is high probability of spotting rhinos in their natural habitat. We were lucky enough spot Rhinos, elephant and barasingha here.







We reached resort by 12:45 PM. Our lunch was ready and we had lunch as soon as we checked in. We had a safari booked for 1:30 PM, so we had to hurry up with lunch.





Route taken :Guwahati - Jagiroad - Nagaon - Puranigudam - Jakhalabandha - Kaziranga

At 1:30 PM we started our safari. There was an elderly lady from Kolkatta who was travelling solo and didnt want to book the entire jeep for herself. She requested us if she can join us and share the cost, we agreed to accommodate her. As per our safari vehicle driver it was predicted to rain in the evening, so we were in a hurry to leave so that rain does not trouble us. Safari was for 3 hours. Now I will let the photos do the talking.



Hog dear





Asiatic wild water buffalo







Indian roller / blue jay















Fish eagle







Pied hornbill





White browed gibbon







This guy didnt want to give me a pose





parting shot

https://youtu.be/jbK7w1EVX7s

When we returned back to our resort at 4:30 PM, it had already started to drizzle a bit. We had our evening tea and walked around the resort a bit to get a feeling of the forest area. It started to rain late in the evening and continued to rain through the night.

Continued ...

[thirugata]

Day 39: 27/04/2022


Woke up early after not so good sleep because of frequent power cuts throughout the night. But morning was much brighter as there was no rain. Wildlife was active around the resort. We had our breakfast and checked out by 8:30 AM.



Green Imperial Pigeon



Initial 50 KMs or so was the same route we had driven the previous day, so there was no surprise there with the quality of road. It had started to rain as soon as we started our drive hence there was no wildlife in sight.
After the first 50 KMs, road condition was good till Tezpur. From here road condition started deteriorating and went on to become worse. But there was enough greenery around to enjoy the drive.
We stopped for a tea in Biswanath Chariali around 11:45 AM. Here we spotted a KFC outlet and got 2 burgers packed for lunch. This turned out to be a good decision as we did not find any good restaurant on the way for lunch.





We stopped for lunch before entering Arunachal Pradesh. Our next stop was at Hollongi gate to get the ILP done to enter Arunachal Pradesh. ILP was a quick 10 minutes work.
The last 20 odd KMs stretch had some deviations because of 4 lane highway work. We entered Itanagar around 2:15 PM.



Our first stop was Itanagar Gompa and we reached there by 2:45 PM. We spent almost an hour here taking loads of pictures.

https://youtu.be/D_ysLyo5e2U

It started to rain all of a sudden, so we had to cancel our visit to rest of the places we had planned. We went to the hotel and checked in by 4:00 PM.
Later in the evening weather cleared and we were able to go out and explore the Itanagar market area. Visited a cafe and had coffee and snacks.





Route taken: Kaziranga - Jakhalabandha - Jamugurihut - Gohpur - Maj Gaon - Hollongi gate (ILP done here) - Dhipu - Itanagar





What we covered so far

[thirugata]

Itanagar - Kohima:

Day 40: 28/04/2022


There are 2 route options from Itanagar to Kohima. Most popular one is through Majuli. This route needs you to take a ferry and water levels in Brahmaputra was at dangerous levels because of recent rains. Hence, we were advised by Tbhpean AAirbus not to take this route as ferry ride was not very safe.
We checked out from our hotel in Itangar at 8:00 AM, after our breakfast. Here we happened to meet some retired govt officials from Karnataka along with their families who were on the last day of their trip to Arunachal Pradesh.
We knew first half of the road as we had travelled in this route on our way and we knew the roads are not in good condition here.



Spotted Mithun, state animal of Arunachal Pradesh on the way



Once we crossed Tezpur we observed a huge traffic jam of 1 + hr Nagaon, so we decided to take the Golaghat road. This meant we had to drive through Kaziranga national park again. We knew that the road condition here was good. We stopped for lunch near Kohora @ Green Ashiyana and had an Assamese thali.



From here it was a new route for us, it was beautiful with forest and tea estates on either side of the road. After Golaghat there were some section of the road which was not so good and this was a drive through the jungle.
Around 4:30 PM, we reached Dimapur, border town to enter Nagaland.
We stopped to get the ILP done, but we were informed at the gate that ILP need to be collected from the DC office in Dimapur. It was already closed for the day. We informed them about the booking we had done for a guest house in Dimapur and asked if we could stay in Dimapur so that we get the ILP next day to which officials agreed.



We checked into our guesthouse by 5:00 PM. At the guesthouse we explained the situation about our ILP to the owner and for our luck one of the working staff there knew someone who works in DC office. He spoke to that person and went and got 2 forms for us. We filled it and handed it over to him and he gave to the person from DC office. We were informed to collect the ILP form from DC office in the morning. This eased our nerves a bit and also knew that we would save time the next day.
We also completed the milestone of covering 10,000 KMs in this road trip.



Route taken: Itanagar - Gohpur - Jamugurihut - Tezpur - Bagori - Bokakhat - Golaghat - Sarupathar - Dimapur (ILP to be done in DC Office, Dimapur)



Home cooked dinner served in guest house



Day 41: 28/04/2022


We woke up around 6:30 AM and when we were getting ready we had a surprise in waiting. The guy from DC office had got the signature of the authority and had come to give us our ILP. A great gesture of hospitality. So we got our ILP done without even visiting the DC office.
We left from guest house around 8:30 AM after having our breakfast. Road condition was good for most part and last 15 - 20 Kms when we started to climb to reach Kohima road condition was average. We entered Kohima around 10:00 AM.



Once we entered the city, going was slow as there was a lot of traffic. We reached Kohima war memorial in around 30 mins. We spent about 45 mins here clicking photos and reading about the history.
We also spotted a lady from TN who was looking for her grand father's name in the martyr's list here.









Once we came back to the place where we had parked our car, we realized we were close to naga bazar. We spent another 45 mins exploring the market area.
Also spotted a nail in the rear wheel pierced in a very weird angle. It had pierced across the top layer rubber sideways. Removed it, inspected for any leak of air, didnt find any damage.
Our next destination for the day was Naga heritage village, Kisama. We reached here at 12:45 PM and went to visit the 2nd world war museum. There was no one here except for a care taker who switched on all the lights of the museum for us.











After the museum visit we went to visit Naga heritage Village. Care taker of the museum had informed us that no traveler visits this place except for the naga festival season. This is the place where all the cultural activities are held during the famous naga festival. You find huts of all the tribes of Nagaland here. This place is managed by the art and culture dept.
We spotted few people who were picking/plucking some local fruits from trees here and some people who were having party with chips and beer. Hope they will clean the mess they were making there.























By the time we finished exploring this place it was already 2:30 PM. There was one shop which was open there and we approached it to see if we can get lunch. Shop owner didnt have anything other than cold drinks, chips and biscuits. This lady did understand hindi but couldnt speak, she pointed us towards another shop which looked close and asked to us to check for lunch there. When we went there, there were few people playing cards and one lady in the kitchen. This shop owner was kind enough to put his game on hold and cook noodles for us. We had lunch and left from here and reached our hotel by 3:30 PM. We took some rest after close to 3 hours of walking we had done since morning. Evening was spent in the hotel as it started to rain and we could not venture out.



Route taken: Dimapur - Nihoto - Sechu - Kohima





What we covered so far

[thirugata]

Kohima - Imphal:

Day 42: 30/04/2022


We could not sleep well because of the frequent power cuts and some noisy guests. It also kept raining heavily throughout the night. Hotel staff had not switched on the power backup for some reason.
We checked out from the hotel after our breakfast at around 8:30 AM. First 30 odd KMs road was in pretty bad shape, so going was slow. Our first stop for the day was at the Manipur border at Mao for ILP. ILP was provided in just 5 minutes after basic enquiry about where we were coming from and what was the purpose of our visit.
Once we crossed over to Manipur the road condition improved multifold and surroundings were beautiful too. We had multiple stops for photography. We were driving leisurely as the distance to cover was not much for the day.









We stopped for fuel first and for tea after a while. We were surrounded by thick forest in most of this stretch with few villages to pass by once in a while. As weather was clear we were able to see mountains for as far as we could see. Most of these mountains are covered with bamboo. Restaurants and fuel stations are difficult find on the way here. We stopped for lunch when we closer to Imphal. We had our lunch at restaurant Apaibi @ Khonghampat. From here the last 25 KM stretch of road was in bad shape again with quite a few potholes to manage.









We entered Imphal around 2:00 PM and reached our destination Kangla Fort by 2:30 PM. Here we spent more than an hour exploring the place. This place looked like famous picnic spot for locals, we found a lot of locals in big groups here.





Information about the temple in the fort

https://youtu.be/JsvVPXA9weU

From here we went to Ema Keithel Complex, a local market run by women. Explored the market area for a while. It became cloudy and it was about to start raining, so we decided to go and check in to our hotel.











We reached hotel around 4:30 PM, as soon as we reached the parking area of the hotel it started raining heavily. Rest of the day was spent in the room as it kept raining throughout the evening.



Route taken: Kohima - Mao (ILP is done here) - Maram Bazar - Senapati - Kangpokpi - Kanglatongbi - Imphal





What we covered so far

[thirugata]

Imphal - Aizawl:

Day 43: 01/05/2022



Rain was a constant companion for us throughout this leg of our NE drive. This day was no different, it had rained in the night and it was raining when we woke up as well. We had our breakfast and checked out of our hotel in Imphal around 8:15 AM. As soon as we started the drive it started to rain heavily. Road condition was excellent to start with. From Bishnupur the ghat section started and rain too started to subside a bit. After a while it was on and off drizzle which allowed us to stop and enjoy the beautiful valley around the this route as we climbed the hill.
From Jouzangtek we took a deviation to a SH which was much narrower and from here road condition was average with few potholes appearing out of no where. But there was hardly any traffic in this route so it was not such a big challenge to manage the bad road. We stopped countless number of times to take photos and absorb the beautiful views around. During one such stop, when we were busy clicking photos we heard some rumbling noise and when we turned around we saw some shooting stones coming down from the hill just ahead of where the car was parked. This experience made us quicken our journey a bit and the stops became less frequent from there on.











We came down from the hills and arrived at Koupam Valley where we spotted a beautiful lake, some houses and a small waterfall on the road side. We spent about 15 - 20 mins here and had some snacks that we were carrying with us.









We continued our journey and in a while we connected to NH37 at Rengpang. We had covered a distance of close to 70 KMs on SH with very narrow road and with average road condition till here. Once we connected to the NH all hell broke loose. We had almost no road in most places with real wide potholes. All these potholes were filled with water because of the rain, so it was not possible to judge a safe passage through it. There was hardly any vehicle movement here, whenever we found local cabs or goods careers we waited for them to go through these crater like potholes to understand the line I can take. When that luxury was unavailable, stopped the car, got a stick and checked for depth and then drove through them. Even though I was careful car hit bottom 3 - 4 times in this stretch because of some stones buried inside the water which I had failed to spot while checking. Road condition improved once we crossed to Assam in Jiribam. This 90 KM section of NH37 took me 5 hours to cover. We had forgotten that we had skipped lunch trying to manage this route. This is easily the worst section of road I have driven in this entire trip.











There were some sections which were worse than this, but I was so engrossed in trying to pass through it, forgot to take photos. Because the water was filled in the potholes it increased the difficulty, else this route can be managed without scrapping the bottom of vehicle with careful driving.
There were no hotels or fuel stations on this stretch, so our lunch too was fruits and snacks we were carrying. From Jiribam road condition was good and we were able to cover rest of the journey with no drama. Reached Silchar by 6:15 PM. It took 10 hours to cover 260 KMs and at the end of it we were able to make it through without any damage to vehicle. We had early dinner as we had skipped lunch and called it a day.

Route taken: Silchar - Lailapur - Vairengte ( ILP done here) - Vakultuy - Bikhawthlir - Kolasib - Bulpui - Mualvum - Aizawl

I was told there is an alternate route available that goes via Bishnupur - Singngat - Hliappui - Aizawl , not sure how is the road quality of it. I had mixed reviews about it when I inquired with locals.




Day 44: 02/05/2022


Woke up early because of thunderstorm, lightning and power cut. Because of power cut hotel could not provide hot water so had to take bath in cold water. Even kitchen was yet to open and even after waiting till 8:15 AM hotel staff could not provide us the breakfast, we decided not to wait any longer and checked out. We found a small tea stall out side the hotel and had tea and bun. It started to rain again, so we decided to stop searching for breakfast and start our journey. There was water logging in many places due to continuous rain as we exited the city. It stopped raining after a while and going was easy, road was also in excellent condition.





When we were exiting the Assam border we had to stop and enter all our details with CRPF. Once we entered Mizoram we had to stop for ILP at Vairengte. The guy who issues ILP was on a breakfast break and a lot of people were waiting here for him to return. During the conversation with some local people from Assam who were also waiting for ILP we were informed that route from Aizawl to Agartala was in horrible condition, so we were advised to go to Agartala via Silchar. They also informed that it is a routine here at Mizoram border for the authorities to make travelers wait for ILP. Finally after waiting for 90 mins the guy returned form his break and we got our ILP. After driving for couple of KMs we were again stopped at another check post where we were again asked the question about purpose of travel and other general questions and also they checked our luggage for name sake. This whole process took another 30 mins. We finally entered Mizoram and continued our journey. Road was in excellent condition and surroundings was green and fresh after the rain





We could not find any good hotel for snacks or lunch. We stopped at a small hotel on the road side for noodles and tea, but we could manage to have only tea. We left from here and found a bakery and stopped to have some snacks, cup noodles and juice. By the time we reached Aizawl it was 3:00 PM and it started to rain again. We checked in to the guesthouse we had booked as it was not possible to go out anywhere to explore in the rain.



Route taken: Silchar - Lailapur - Vairengte ( ILP done here) - Vakultuy - Bikhawthlir - Kolasib - Bulpui - Mualvum - Aizawl



We got access to the washing machine here, so did some laundry work. We had excellent view of the city from our room, enjoyed that view for rest of the day as rain kept pouring on and off. Our dinner was at home stay cooked by our host, our first proper meal of the day.

https://youtu.be/YXeXiHfQlho

What we covered so far

[thirugata]

Aizawl - Agartala:

Day 45: 03/05/2022


Woke up early in the morning to watch sun rise behind the hill. It was a wonderful sight as sun peaked out behind the mountains with Aizawl city in the foreground. We had a leisure morning as we were not in a hurry to leave. We had a short distance to cover today and it was the same route that we had taken previous day, so we knew the conditions.



Washed the car, had breakfast and left from the guesthouse around 9:00 AM and left to visit Solomen's temple. We reached there in about 15 minutes, but it was closed for public during pandemic and was not opened yet. We clicked few pictures from outside and left by 9:45 AM.





For the first 3 KMs road was narrow and in bad condition. Once we connected to the main road it was wonderful. We were retracing the same road we had taken from Silchar - Aizawl the previous day. There is nothing much to write about here. No decent restaurants on this route for tea breaks, so we took couple of stretch breaks when rain allowed us and drove on.



Reached our hotel in Silchar by 2:00 PM, checked in, hand lunch and took some rest after that. In the evening went walking to explore Silchar market area as rain had taken a break. We had booked a home through Airbnb in Agartala, so did some grocery shopping so that we can cook our meal there.



Route taken: Retraced the route taken on Day 44


Day 46: 04/05/2022


We woke up early, got ready and checked out of the hotel in Silchar by 7:30 AM. Though morning happens early here, you dont get any breakfast options till 9:00 AM in Silchar. So we did not waste any time searching for it and started our journey. Thankfully there was no rain this day and we had no trouble in getting out of the city. After driving for a while we stopped to have muffins and fruits which we were carrying , that was our breakfast. Road condition was excellent in Assam and there was greenery all around.





Once we crossed Patharkandi we stopped and asked a policeman about the route we can take to Agartala as google was suggesting 2 options. Policeman and the taxi driver who was standing with him advised us not to take the route that goes closer to Bangladesh border as this route was under construction and was filled with slush because of recent rains.
Near Chauribari when we were closer to cross to Tripura google asked us to take a deviation from NH8 and took us through some narrow lane filled with potholes. This stretch was for about 4 KMs and we entered Tripura beyond the entry check post. After crossing Ambassa for about 30 KMs there were broken stretch of road which was under construction. We thanked our luck for not having to drive through this stretch when it was raining. Here we were stopped by police as there was some traffic jam ahead, few trucks were also waiting here. We took this opportunity to have some more fruits as there were no restaurants available for snacks.





Once we passed the under construction stretch we had no issues with the road and it was a delight to drive. We reached Agartala city around 3:00 PM and went to Domino's for lunch. Post lunch did some more grocery shopping and reached our host's house by 4:45 PM. Evening was eventless, completed laundry work as we had access to washing machine here. Had home cooked dinner and called it a day.



Route taken: Silchar - Badarpur - Patharkandi - Dharmanagar - Panisagar - Kumarghat - Manu - Ambassa - Teliamura -Agartala




Day 47: 05/05/2022


Woke up leisurely, had home cooked breakfast, washed the car and got ready to go out by 10:00 AM. Our first point to visit was Ujjayanta Palace, we reached there in about 20 Mins. However, we were told that the palace opens at 11:00 AM. We decided to visit the Indo - Bangladesh border at Akhuara first. This place is just outside the city, but the last couple of KMs road is very narrow and in horrible condition. To add to it traffic is very high here obviously. We reached the border area around 10:45 AM.







This is a friendly border with moderate security to manage it. However, without a genuine reason crossing of the border is not allowed. Beating retreat ceremony happens on Saturday and Sunday here. After a quick visit we returned to Ujjayanta Palace. Here we spent almost an hour exploring the place and visited the museum. No photography is allowed inside the palace.











Post the visit wife had an appointment with a parlor, I too took the advantage and got a haircut done. Post parlor visit we had our lunch and after that went to visit Hawker's market. After exploring the market for a while we decided to return back to homestay as it was threatening to rain. Reached homestay by 4:00 PM and rest of the evening was spent rearranging the luggage in car and preparing for the onward journey.



What we covered so far

[thirugata]

Agartala - Shillong:

Day 48: 06/05/2022


Our destination for the day was Silchar again. That meant we knew the road condition as we had driven in this route 2 days ago. As we were in no rush to reach our destination we took it casually in the morning. We cooked excess breakfast and carried for lunch as we had not found any restaurants when we drove this route. We left from our homestay around 8:00 AM.
Weather was pleasant and rain gods were kind to us as well, our first stop for the day was for a tea in a small tea shop on the roadside.





When we approached Assam border we avoided taking that 4 KM stretch we had taken filled with potholes and stayed with NH against the will of google maps as we didnt want to repeat the mistake we did last time. Once we crossed the border we had about 8 - 10 KM stretch of half constructed road. Wherever there was road it was good rest were bad, but the horrible thing was these joints where the good road and bad road meet, these joints had at least 4 inch height difference so had to go through them with care. For once google maps was right, we ended up taking 10 KMs of bad road instead of 4.
After this stretch we stopped and had our lunch we were carrying. Reached our hotel in Silchar by 4:00 PM. In the evening went out and had some tea and snacks.





Route taken: Retraced the route taken on Day 46


Day 49: 07/05/2022


We started our journey bit early around 7:00 AM from Silchar after checking out. Our first stop was for a tea as soon as we exited the Silchar town. Initial 5 - 6 KMs stretch of road was in bad shape after that the road condition improved. Weather was cloudy but rain stayed away and we enjoyed our drive.





Once we crossed Assam border and entered Meghalaya we stopped and had the fruits we were carrying as we could not find any restaurant for breakfast. Road started snaking up the hill and rain too started intermittently. Surroundings were beautiful which has been standard throughout the NE India. We had multiple stops for photography. We had our breakfast at Elaichi @ Khliehriat around 10:00 AM.





Road condition was good where we had toll roads, rest were ranging between bad to average. We drove slowly as we had not much distance to cover. Whenever it did not rain we could enjoy the greenery around and as the name suggests you get to see a lot of cloud at eye level as you climb higher. We reached Shillong around 1:45 PM.





We had our lunch at Dylan's cafe (Would like to thank Bhpian Am1tShetty for recommending this cafe) and reached Cathedral of Mary around 2:45 PM. We spent about 30 mins here and clicked a lot of photos.

















From here we went to the guest house we had booked and checked in by 4:00 PM. We took some rest and in the evening went to Police Bazar and explored the market area. Also tried some street food for snacks. Got a Pizza parceled, came back to guest house and had for dinner.

https://youtu.be/dxAKv4yeZNw

Route taken: Silchar - Kalain - Malidor - Thangskaai - Khliehriat - Jowai - Shillong



NE states are the most beautiful part of India but because of constant rain we could not enjoy this area as much as we would have liked. Our initial plan was to spend at least 3 weeks in NE. We had to hurry a bit because of rains and threat of flood especially in Assam as Assam was a connecting point and we had to pass through it to reach every state.
Having said that this area deserves better roads, was surprised to see the condition of NH in these states, can imagine how the rural roads could be. Another area where we found challenging was to find places to eat and for bio breaks especially for female travelers. Hope the infrastructure improves here.



What we covered so far

[thirugata]

Shillong - Ranchi:

Day 50: 08/05/2022


Woke up early by 5:30 AM as it was already very bright by then. We had time in hand so we were lazing around in the guest house. We cooked our breakfast, had and got ready by 8:45 AM. When we came to the car I observed that the rare left tire looked depleted a bit. Checked for puncture and nail, didnt find any, decided to get it checked on the way and we started our journey.
Our first stop for the day was Elephant falls. Crowd had already started building up when we reached there around 9:15 AM. There are about 50 steps for you to climb down to reach the falls. This is a 3 stepped waterfall. We spent about 30 mins here and left.







Our next destination was Litlum. Followed google map and it took us to a road which was not motorable in car, may be fit for a bike. We asked around and locals confirmed that it was the right route. Decided not to venture with a dodgy tire and moved on.
Next stop for us was Umiam Lake view point. Google map took us in circles inside the narrow city road and we almost lost an hour trying to figure out the right route. We decided to first connect to a highway and then look for route to view point. Once we connected to the highway the going was easy. We reached the view point at 11:00 AM.







Kept an eye on the condition of the tire every time I stopped. It looked like it had about 50% of air in it, but did not experience any discomfort while driving. Kept driving and looking for a tire shop as we passed each town. Being Sunday we could not find any shop open to get the tire checked. We had booked our stay in a hotel in Boingaigaon for the day. When we stopped for a tea I remembered visiting a tire shop in Bongaigaon to get wheel alignment done. That was a Sunday too, I called them up hoping they were open and they informed they will be available till 8:00 PM. So I had a backup plan in case I dont get a tire shop on the way. I wanted to keep driving as long as possible as changing tire by unloading all the luggage from the boot would have been a very tedious an time consuming affair and tire had stopped loosing air further and holding up as it was when we left.
We stopped for lunch after crossing Guwahati @ Joyguru. We reached our hotel in Bongaigaon by 4:00 PM. Road condition was excellent with minimal traffic except for while crossing Guwahati.
In the evening took the car to the tire shop got the puncture fixed, there was a nail in it and pressure was down to 11 PSI . Also got the wheel alignment and a full body wash done.



Route taken: Shillong - Umaim Lake view point - Jorabat - Guwahati - Rangia - Pathsala - Bongaigaon


Day 51: 09/05/2022


Our destination for the day was Purnia. We had driven this stretch in parts when we drove from Purnia to Gangtok and Gangtok to Bongaigaon about 3 weeks before. So we were well informed about the condition of the road.
We started our day around 8:00 AM after checking out from our hotel in Bongaigaon. It was a non-eventful day, roads were excellent throughout. When we stopped for a tea, a truck driver guided me to take the bypass of Siliguri to avoid the city traffic. We stopped for lunch @Jagannatpur after crossing Siliguri around 1:45 PM and reached our hotel in Purnia by 4:00 PM.
In the evening met relative of our neighbour in Bangalore who lived in Purnia. Highlight of the day was spotting a lot of vehicles from Bhutan on the way.









Route taken: Bongaigaon - Hasimara - Jalpaiguri - Silliguri - Islampur - Kishanganj - Dalkhola - Purnia


Day 52: 10/05/2022


We checked out of our hotel in Purnia at 8:00 AM after the breakfast. There was not much traffic to start with, so exiting the city was not an issue. But this route was of average condition throughout Bihar and we had to pass through multiple villages and smaller towns. Going was slow because of traffic and road condition, also we had traffic jam because of an accident which added another 30 mins to travel time.
Once we crossed to Jharkhand, road condition improved drastically. Most part of this route is 2 lane highway but the road condition was excellent and there was hardly any traffic too. Our first stop was for fuel.





We continued our drive and stopped for lunch at a road side daba @ Dumka. Post lunch the drive went smooth as the roads were empty and weather was very pleasant too. Once we crossed Dhanbad google map first took us through a section of Kolkata - Delhi expressway. This expressway is the widest road I have ever driven anywhere, I guess it was 6 lane on each side. Google map took us to a narrow road from here and as we continued the road condition became bad - worse - horrible. Finally we arrived at a closed gate behind a railway station and google map asked us to take a U turn. We could see local 2 wheelers crossing this section through broken section of compound wall and connecting to the road on the other side. we followed a local car and went through 2 KM stretch of dust bowl with no road and finally connected to the broken road section and continued our journey. Sun was about to set and it was getting darker and we were in a very bad narrow stretch of road with hardly any traffic around. But the evening sky was looking so pretty, we couldnt help but stop to soak in that beauty.









We finally reached Bokaro at 5:15 PM where we had booked our hotel for the day and checked in. An initial estimation of 372 KMs turned out to be 419 KMs drive. But Jharkhand surely surprised us with the quality of highways and greenery.
We took some rest and went walking to the main market area. Later we met our neighbours from Bangalore, they were in Bokaro at their relative's place. Dinner was some yummy street food.



Route taken: Purnia - Bhagalpur - Dumka - Jamtara - Dhanbad - Bokaro


Day 53: 11/05/2022


We woke up really late and by the time we checked out of the hotel it was already 8:30 AM. We had our breakfast in restaurant in town center and proceeded towards our first destination of the day, Cooling point. This is a huge reservoir and you can see the Bokaro steel plant on the other side of it.





Weather was very hot, so we left from here in few mins and went to visit Jagannath temple, Bokaro. It was so hot by this time that we did struggle to enter the temple bare foot. We spent about 30 mins here before leaving Bokaro around 11:00 AM.







We had a short distance to cover this day, we had multiple stops to rehydrate ourselves with tender coconut and sugar cane juice on the way. Road condition was excellent, though 2 lane highway in most places. We entered Ranchi around 1:30 PM. Tbhpain am1tshetty had booked us a guest room in Ranchi cantonment, we checked in by 2:00 PM. Would like to thank Amit for this kind gesture. Had our lunch and took some rest. In the evening met Amit and his family, had dinner and called it a day.



Route taken: Bokaro - Dantu - Peterbar - Gola - Ormanjhi - Ranchi





Day 54: 12/05/2022


Woke up leisurely and had breakfast. By the time we left guest room it was past 10:00 AM. We did not have much plan for the day, our first point to visit was Jagannath temple, Ranchi. We reached there around 11:00 AM.





We headed towards our next destination Sun temple. On the way went past the assembly house of Ranchi. Google took us out side the city and into some real narrow lanes and we reached the wrong Sun temple. It was already noon by then. We returned to the main city and went for lunch at Kaveri restaurant. Has to be said that this is the best thali I have had in this entire trip.





After that filling lunch all I wanted to do is take a nap. Returned to guest room by 2:30 PM and took rest. In the evening went for a long walk to digest the lunch. Had a light dinner to end the day.



What we covered so far

[thirugata]

Ranchi - Kolkata:

Day 55: 13/05/2022


Our friend had invited us to stay in her place at Kolkata and our aim was to reach home only after her working hours. So we had whole day on our hand to explore the places on the way.
We woke up early and checked out of our guest room by 7:00 AM. Getting out of the city was easy as traffic was almost nonexistent. Our first stop for the day was for breakfast on a roadside daba and had puri and tea.
Roads are excellent in Jharkhand and this one was no different. Amount of signboards on the roadside about the tourist attraction shows how serious this state is about the tourism. You literally do not need the assistance of maps here.
Our first stop for the day was Surya temple at Bundi, we reached here at 8:30 AM. Clicked few pictures and left from here in 30 mins.









Our next stop was Maa Dewri Mandir at Diuri village and we reached here by 9:30 AM. There was some festival going on in this temple and it was choka-a-block with devotees. We saw no scope to enter this temple, so took some photos from outside and left in about 20 mins. A very beautiful and colourful temple and had read that the Maa Durga statue here has 16 hands instead of 8 which is the case in most temples.









Our car completed a milestone of 1,11,111 KMs on this day.
As we had time on our hand we were looking for places to explore on the way and spotted the signboard for Chandil Dam and took a deviation from highway to check this place out. Reached Chandil Dam at 10:15 AM.











It was a very hot day, we stopped for a tender coconut on the way and our next stop was at Jamshedpur for a buttermilk. We were filling our stomach only with liquid and didnt feel like having lunch.
Roads were excellent even on West Bengal side and going was easy.



We reached Kolkata by 4:30 PM and went to South City mall for some snacks. Had snacks and filter coffee @ Vaango and reached our friends house by 6:30 PM.





We were catching up after good 7 - 8 years, so by the time we finished sharing stories of all these years it was already 3:30 AM.



Route taken: Ranchi - Bundu - Jamshedpur - Baharagora - Darisali - Kharagpur - Kolkata




Day 56: 14/05/2022


Woke up very late after the previous night extended almost till the morning, had a leisure morning and by the time we left our friend's house it was almost 12:00 PM. Our first destination was Victoria Memorial. On the way we were stopped by the traffic police and was fined for breaking the traffic rule.
Bit of an explanation on what exactly happened: It was a junction, the left road goes around the flyover pillar on the left hand side, the center road goes on the right side of the pillar and merges with the left side road and goes straight and the right side road goes right. Since there was bus on the left lane when I approached the junction I took the center road and connected back to the left road after the pillar. Apparently that is violation of traffic rules in Kolkata. I asked the police if people going straight cant take that road who can for which he did not have an answer. I was asked to pay 2000 Rs fine failing to which I was asked to visit the police station to give my explanation in writing. I ddint want any hassle in a place I was not familiar with so I decided to pay even though I knew that I was being duped here. I was informed that I would receive the receipt on WhatsApp which never arrived which confirmed that it was just a ploy to loot the visitors. Had heard enough stories about Kolkata police, got a first hand experience of it. Thankfully that was the only time I had to pay fine in this entire trip.
We reached Victoria Memorial and did not find any parking area for the vehicle, a local shop guy asked us to go to St. Paul's Cathedral which is less than 5 mins walking distance from memorial and park our car there. So we ended up visiting the cathedral first.







After a quick visit to Cathedral we went walking to the Victoria Memorial. We almost spent an hour here exploring the place and clicking the photos.











We stopped for a lime soda on the way and went to visit the next place in our list, Eden Garden. When we reached there we were denied entry. It was not just us, there were at least 3 or 4 other families who were tourists who had come there. Explanation given to us by the security staff was, it was closed after covid and will remain closed for 3 years (he didnt know the starting and ending date of this 3 year period). This was in spite being listed as open for public in Kolkata tourism website. As I write this Kolkata tourism website still says it is open for public visit. If you plan a visit, please double check.
Disappointed we left from here for the next place in list Howrah bridge/Rabindra Setu. We could not find any parking space around the bridge so we just drove through it.





From here we went to South City mall around 4:30 PM and had some snacks and filter coffee and returned to friend's house and rested for remainder of the evening. Later in the evening went to a nearby shop and had puchka.


Day 57: 15/05/2022


This was a rest day for us before we start our last leg of journey towards south.
We went out in the morning to Udupi Hotel and had breakfast and had tender coconut on our way back. Rest of the day was spent at home chit chatting and also completing some laundry work. In the afternoon, our friend had ordered some home cooked Gujarati food which we relished thoroughly. In the evening went to a nearly sweet shop and ended the Kolkata visit on a sweet note.

https://youtu.be/dpisFzqN-gY

What we covered so far