[airbus]

Day 4 (10 May): Barapani to Guwahati

We left Barapani at around 11:00 am and took NH-6 (Guwahati - Shillong Road). It is a very beautiful highway.



We tanked up while we were still in Meghalaya as fuel was cheaper there. After reaching Jorabat we encountered a huge traffic jam due to a large number of vehicles coming to the public rally at Khanapara Veterinary Ground to mark the first anniversary of Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma led NDA government.





We visited our relative's home at RG Baruah Road and had lunch there. After a couple of hours we resumed our journey and reached my friend Riju Chaudhury's home in Boragaon at 5:30 pm.

ODO at Guwahati:

Day 5 (11 May): Visit to Kamakhya Temple

We took an Uber cab and reached Kamakhya Temple at around noon.















Spotted these two motorcycles out on an all India ride near Kamakhya Temple:



Our kids had a great time with the twin kids of my friend:



Itihash Restaurant in Guwahati:

Day 6 (12 May): Guwahati to Bahalpur

After breakfast we were ready to start our journey at 9:00 am.

Customary selfie:



We took NH-27 to reach the Saraighat bridge and crossed the Brahmaputra river then continued our drive on NH-27. We saw multiple convoys of Bhutan registered vehicles near Rangia.



BHPian DevOnWheels took this picture of our battle tank on NH-27:



We reached the guest house of Sarat Chandra Sinha (SCS) College of Agriculture, Bahalpur just before 1:00 pm. My friend Dr. Hrishikesh Ojah invited us for lunch in his quarter. Our kids had a great time with the twin boys of Dr. Ojah. I also met some of my old friends in this college. During the evening we went out for a walk in the beautiful campus.

Day 1 to Day 6

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Day 7 (13 May): Bahalpur to Malda

Weather was bad due to cyclone Asani. There was heavy rainfall during the night and authorities disconnected power supply around midnight due to the storm, but we did not face a major problem because of early daylight in Assam.

ODO at Bahalpur:



Customary selfie:



We left the guest house of SCS College of Agriculture, Bahalpur just after 6:00 am and took the beautiful Bahalpur - Kokrajhar Road to hit NH-27 near Gossaigaon.





Tanked up diesel just before leaving Assam as fuel price was higher in other states on our route until we reached Karnataka. We crossed Sankosh bridge and entered West Bengal at 8:00 am. I really enjoyed the drive on beautiful roads on a rainy day in the Chicken’s Neck of India.

Somewhere near Buxa forest on NH-317:





We had breakfast at Gopal Hotel and Restaurant, Hasimara.



We continued our drive on NH-27, crossed Jalpaiguri and Siliguri. Took a short tea break at Fulbari around 12:00 noon.

Earlier I discussed about the route with BHPian mi2n and my friend Siddharta Saha. Both of them suggested that I go via Dalkhola and avoid the Bengal - Bengal route due to security reasons. I was informed that one side of Dalkhola railway over bridge was opened for light motor vehicles, which would help me to avoid traffic jams. We saw a queue of heavy vehicles and a security guard guided us to the approach road for the over bridge and we were able to cross quickly.







From Dalkhola we took NH-12 and had a quick tea break at Tungidighi. We were carrying some food and did not take a lunch break. We reached Golden Park Hotel & Resort, Malda at 4:45 pm.



Golden Park Hotel & Resort is a venue for events like weddings and there were temporary pandals outside. I was told to park under such a pandal. While coming down to pick up bags, I noticed many nails in the parking area, which were used in temporary pandals. Hotel sent a cleaner, who recovered about half a kilogram of nails from that area. I got worried and hotel people assured me that it should not create a problem as hotel vehicles are also parked there and they did not face any problem. I checked my TPMS a couple of times during the evening and did not see any pressure abnormality. Later in the evening a storm hit Malda and the hotel called me to move my car under their permanent structure.

ODO at Malda:



Day 7 Summary: Bahalpur to Malda, 512 km done in 10.5 hours including 3 breaks.

[airbus]

Day 8 (14 May): Malda to Kolkata

We were ready to start our journey at 8:00 am. I checked my TPMS and did not find any abnormality, a sigh of relief that previous evening nails in the parking area did not cause any damage.

Customary selfie:



Our hotel in Malda was right next to NH-12. We took NH-12 and soon reached the Farakka Barrage.







Frequent barricades for local crossing somewhat slowed us down and some sections were single carriageway. We had an early lunch break at Sebak Hotel, Nawdapara Rail Gate, Berhampore. We enjoyed fish thali, misti doi and rosogolla. We took SH-6 from Krishnanagar and took a short tea break at Nibhuji Bazar, Kalna.



Oversized cargo:



We crossed Vidyasagar Setu at around 4:45 pm.



Finally, we reached Lytton Hotel, Sudder Street, Esplanade at 5:00 pm.

ODO at Kolkata:



Day 8 Summary: Malda to Kolkata, 366 km done in 9 hours including 2 breaks.

We stayed four nights in Kolkata, which enabled us to visit a few places of importance in the city of joy. As the weather was hot, we stayed only a couple of hours outside during the day to avoid exposure to hot weather for extended time. We parked our car in the hotel and used taxi / public transport for local visits.

On 15 May, we visited Victoria Memorial.



Couple of captures during morning hours:





On 16 May, we visited Science City.

























New market area during evening hours:







Shirts:



Refreshing tea:



On 17 May, we visited Howrah Bridge and Howrah Railway Station. We also took a tram and metro rides.

A busy Kolkata street:



Hand-pulled rickshaw:

Day 7 to Day 11

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Day 12 (18 May): Kolkata to Puri

We had requested our hotel to arrange a little early breakfast, which they provided at around 8:00 am.

Customary selfie:



We started our journey at 8:40 am and crossed the Vidyasagar Setu to reach Howrah, then we took NH-16.



We crossed Kharagpur at 11:00 am and entered Odisha at 12:00 noon. I was advised by BHPian mi2n and my friend Siddharta Saha to strictly follow speed limits in Odisha.





We crossed Cuttack at 4:30 pm and Bhubaneswar at around 5:00 pm.









We reached Hotel Shakuntala Palace near Puri beach at 6:10 pm.

ODO at Puri:



Day 12 Summary: Kolkata to Puri, 509 km done in 9.5 hours including 2 breaks.

After taking some rest in our hotel, we visited Lord Jagannath Temple in the evening.





Puri Khaja:



Day 13 (19 May) was a rest day for us in Puri. Weather was hot and there was occasional rain. We went to Puri beach and the kids enjoyed their time at the beach.

[airbus]

Day 14 (20 May): Puri to Visakhapatnam

Customary selfie:



We left Hotel Shakuntala Palace at 7:45 am and took New Jagannath Sadak to reach NH-16.





Speed limit was 75 kmph in Odisha and driving was stress free due to most drivers following the speed limit. Overtakings were very rare on NH-16 in Odisha.













We stopped for early lunch at 11:30 am in Annapurna Restaurant, Govind Nagar, Odisha. We had biriyani and kids opted for noodles. We resumed our journey after 50 minutes.

We observed that work in progress sections were properly marked on NH-16 in Andhra Pradesh with arrow sign lights placed on mini trucks.







We took a short tea break at 3:00 pm in Tea Types, Budumuru, Andhra Pradesh.



We reached Mantris Hotel, Balaji Nagar, Visakhapatnam at 4:45 pm.

ODO at Visakhapatnam:



Day 14 Summary: Puri to Visakhapatnam, 443 km done in 9 hours including 3 breaks.

Day 15 (21 May) was a relaxing day for us in Visakhapatnam. In the afternoon, we visited VMRDA INS Kursura Submarine Museum, Ramakrishna Beach Road. It is the first submarine museum in South Asia. INS Kursura was a Soviet built Kalvari-class diesel-electric submarine of the Indian Navy. She was commissioned into the Indian Navy in December 1969 and decommissioned in February 2001 after 31 years of service. INS Kursura participated in the Indo-Pak war of 1971.

Day 12 to Day 15

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Day 16 (22 May): Visakhapatnam to Nellore

Our original plan was to take a night halt at Ongole, but with the experience from this long road trip, we changed our plan and booked a hotel in Nellore. We wanted to keep the drive to Bengaluru short on our final day of this great Indian road trip.

Customary selfie:



We started from the Mantris Hotel at 8:20 am and soon reached NH-16.







We had an early lunch at Sri Sitara Food Court, Diwancheruvu at 11:50 am and resumed our journey after 40 minutes.

Beware of speed cams:





Weather was hot and traffic was light on NH-16.











We took a couple of refreshment (cold drinks / ice cream) breaks in between.









Just before 6:00 pm we reached Tangutur Toll Plaza with N5 Food Plaza above it.





We reached Hotel DSR Paradise, Nellore at 7:50 pm.

ODO at Nellore:



Day 16 Summary: Visakhapatnam to Nellore, 698 km done in 11.5 hours including 4 breaks.

[airbus]

Day 17 (23 May): Nellore to Bengaluru

Eventually, we have reached the last and final day of this once in a lifetime road trip.

Customary selfie:



We had a relaxed morning, got up late and had breakfast. Then we started our drive from Hotel DSR Paradise, Nellore at 11:40 am and soon reached NH-16.



Speed cams:



Cockpit controls and panels:









We left NH-16 at Naidupeta, then took NH-71 towards Tirupati and crossed Tirupati at around 2:00 pm. Traffic was light and we enjoyed the drive.





























We had a late lunch at Basappa Family Dhaba, NH-69. The owner was kind enough to prepare non-spicy food for our kids.







We crossed Kolar at 5:20 pm. Kolar is known for its milk production and the gold mines.

Finally, after 17 days of an eventful road trip, we made it to our home in Bengaluru at 6:40 pm.

ODO at Bengaluru:



Day 17 Summary: Nellore to Bengaluru, 378 km done in 7 hours including 2 breaks.

Day 16 and Day 17

[airbus]

Summary:

Total distance covered in this road trip: 9,271 km



Diesel consumed: 624 litres (Fuel efficiency: 14.85 kmpl)



Accommodation cost: ₹ 54,242



Highway toll: ₹ 7,920



Vehicle performance:

Performance of my Mahindra TUV3OO was flawless, except the wiper washer had some issue after the dusty environment in Chhapra, Bihar. Vehicle handled some bad sections of road in Assam and West Bengal really well.

Keeping the kids busy:

We have a facebook page for kids to live stream videos. They had to prepare a bit before going live, which kept them occupied for sometime. We played an atlas game, where one person will say the name of a place and the next person will have to say a place name starting with the last letter of the previous place.

Hotel booking:

For our onward journey, hotels until Varanasi were booked in advance. We checked Google map reviews and photos to shortlist a couple of hotels in each location. Then I called hotels directly and booked. Kurnool hotel took ₹500 as advance and Varanasi hotel took ₹1000 as advance payment via UPI. We did not require hotels after Varanasi.

For our return journey, we did not require hotels in Assam and Meghalaya. I booked Malda and Kolkata hotels by calling them from Guwahati, but they did not ask for any advance. Puri hotel was booked from Kolkata and they took ₹1000 advance. Visakhapatnam hotel was booked via goibibo when we were in Puri. Nellore hotel was booked directly from Puri without paying any advance.

One of the primary criteria of hotel booking was secured parking as we did not want to unload all bags. We packed things in small bags in such a way that we can manage overnight stays by unloading only a couple of bags.

Accident sightings:

While we saw many accident vehicles on the road or roadside during our trip, we witnessed a really nasty accident on NH-44 at Sadashiva Nagar, Telangana.

Mistakes/regrets:

• I used to lock Dashcam videos with voice recordings for reference. While trying to take a still photo with my front Dashcam (Viofo A119) on the Nehru Outer Ring Road, I mistakenly also pressed the mute button, which was unmuted only after 24 hours while trying to take another photo on NH-30. Due to this I lost some important voice references and had to corroborate later with videos, GPS coordinates, map and Google map timelines.
• Leaving the highway in Barama, Assam and entering village road as suggested by Google Map.
• Not making a phone call to BHPian thirugata when we started our return journey from Sivasagar. We could have met somewhere near Shillong. I was in touch with him earlier, when they entered Assam for capital connect (28 State Capitals, 6 Union Territories | All-India Road Trip | Capital Connect).

We wish to express our sincere gratitude to:

• Bikash Moharana for building the confidence that such a long road trip can be done with a Mahindra TUV3OO.
• Members of the Team-BHP Forum and WhatsApp groups Bengaluru TUV300 Owners, India TUV300 Owners, Team-BHP Bengaluru Chapter and CREW 37-Assam for providing valuable information on route options, road conditions, accommodation options and technical details on vehicle preparation for a long road trip.
• Mukesh Sharma da, Mrinal Singh Raja, Pankaj Lahon and Bulendra Gogoi for live tracking our entire journey to provide support/assistance.
• Zaid Iqbal, Service Manager, Mahindra Sireesh Auto, Marathahalli, Bengaluru for making the vehicle ready for a 10,000 km road trip.
• Dr. Ashim Kumar Mishra for hosting us in Muzaffarpur.
• Team-BHP Moderator Sheel for guidance about routes in Bihar and North Bengal.
• Dr. Nabajyoti Bhuyan and family for hosting us in Gossaigaon.
• Dipankar Bhuyan and family for hosting us in Seajuli Tea Estate, Lakhimpur.
• Debasish Baruah for arranging accommodation and Gypsy Safari in Kaziranga National Park.
• Dr. RK Bhattacharyya sir, Dr. Ruma Bhattacharyya madam and family, Dr. Palash Deb Nath sir, Dr. Nivedita Deka madam and family, Tapan Gohain da, Dr. Akhil Baruah and Dr. Pallabi Bora, Dr. Anjan K Sarmah and family for hosting us in Jorhat.
• BHPian Prakritij for guidance on Inner Line Permit for Arunachal Pradesh.
• Susanta Kumar Dutta and family for hosting us in Tinsukia.
• My best man Lutumoni Gogoi and family for hosting us multiple times in Sivasagar.
• Family members and relatives for hosting us in Gohpur, Sivasagar, Nagaon, Dibrugarh, Jagiroad, Khetri and Guwahati.
• Dr. Tasvina R Borah for hosting us in Barapani.
• Riju Chaudhury and family for hosting us in Guwahati.
• Dr. Hrishikesh Ojah and family for hosting us in Bahalpur.
• BHPian mi2n and my friend Siddharta Saha for guidance on West Bengal and Odisha sections of our road trip.

Last but not the least, Thanks to my better half Shanta and our two kids Dishant and Dishita for supporting the idea of doing a road trip from Bengaluru, Karnataka to Sivasagar, Assam.

Epilogue:

Sometimes a crazy idea turns into an awesome reality thereby creating memories for a lifetime. It was such an amazing experience of driving 9271 km covering 12 states. This trip was to connect with people - family, friends, juniors, relatives, seniors and teachers, who hosted, supported and helped us during this long road trip. Thank you one and all!

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Kosfactor]

Congratulations on completing this Epic trip , your kids especially will remember this for long time to come.

This could be one of the longest of travelogues , thanks for sharing!

[dr_TJ]

Epic Travelogue.
A amazing trip to remember

Loved going through the Travelogue.

[thirugata]

In this day and age of reels where sharing a snippet is fashion, good to see a detailed travelogue with wonderful photos.
Thanks for sharing.
Yes, we should have met in Assam but rains ensured we had to change our route. When in Shillong and Kolkata, unfortunately we could not communicate in time. It would have been nice to catch up when on trip.

[vabhian]

Truly an epic road trip. Thoroughly enjoyed going through it. The details will certainly help others who might plan for a similar route.

[Ashwin Morey]

Loved your travelogue and the pics. Road trips are a perfect recipe for family bonding and I have always felt that it bonds you stronger as a family. Not to mention priceless memories that you create all along the way.

Wish you many more miles & memories

[Capri89]

One word. AMAZING

It is one thing to do such an epic trip and totally a different thing to put that experience together in words and photos. You did both with elan.

Cheers.