[PioneerNB]

WOW- Totally blown away by this EPIC DRIVE.
Last year I moved to Europe, sold my car, bike etc. in India. It has been a constant pain to come back to India just to drive/ride, since Europe is pretty expensive I cannot do it here. And reading this travelogue I just got gut punched to seriously come back to India and drive around.

Kudos for the wonderful share and the Wildlife clicks totally prove why India is the best there is

[airbus]

Congratulations! Glad that you were able to complete this epic drive to Assam successfully

However, as few BHPians pointed out, portions of this road trip appeared to be too tiring, which could have been avoided. There is a limit beyond which we should not push ourselves. There is a saying that the journey is more important than the destination and with a relaxed timeline, one can enjoy the drive more.

I did Bengaluru - Assam road trip with family in 2022 (March - May). We took 10 days to reach Sivasagar, Assam and on our return journey we took 17 days to reach Bengaluru.

[Nature&Me]

Hello Saumik,

Thanks for sharing your experience. I believe you did this journey number of times (first-in real and couple of times in memories). What a writing skills man, you made us part of your journey. One thing common between us(bhpians) is the passion, excitement and well planned journey.

Cheers.

[sukhbirST]

Congrats on such a wonderful drive but would request you to exercise caution to long rides which are tight, as you cannot be lucky all the time with crazy drivers on Indian roads. Brezza has proved that it can indeed handle long tough drives and will help me in buying decisions.

[Dibyendu Bose]

Excellent summary and thanks for sharing the learnings……it will be useful for all of us. I understand that in the Kolkata Siliguri route, all the areas where work was slow and had not happened, is in full swing now and in a years time things will be far better, with the Kalyani Expressway largely taking over for the first 60 kms through graded portions. Even the Raiganj bypass, and a new bridge over the Hooghly river in Behrampore (along with the bypass0, will be ready end of this year. So apart from the new Farakka bridge over the Ganges, Kolkata Siliguri will be (at last) a standard highway, largely seamless experience.

[Krishna sankar]

Wow... Wow... Wow... really it is indeed an epic drive. Totally blown away by your continuous driving and completing it without any incidents. Wish you many more such drives... a word of caution.. always listen to your body also give some rest during such long drives.

[airbus]

Originally Posted by Dibyendu Bose

So apart from the new Farakka bridge over the Ganges, Kolkata Siliguri will be (at last) a standard highway, largely seamless experience.

Hopefully West Bengal will find some other solution to those frequent barricades placed on some portions of perfectly laid national highways. During my drive from Assam to Bengaluru last year, in some stretches multiple barricades were placed within one kilometre.

[ABHI_1512]

Originally Posted by palsaumik

In 2020, I had driven Kolkata > Siliguri > Kalimpong and was aware that Kolkata-Siliguri is a painful strip – especially Farakka, Islampur, etc. But this time, to my surprise, 50% - 60% of the roads were actually very good and newly laid (maybe). Rest of the 40% - 50% was painful as ever with barely any roads and whatever tarmac was there, it was super bumpy.

Firstly, congratulations on completing your dream journey back home. It’s always a nice feeling to be back to your roots. Everyone has their own threshold of endurance, knowing that helps greatly in any long drive. So, congrats once again. Wishing you many more long drives.

Now, I have a question for you- which route did you take from Calcutta to Siliguri ? Asking because these days, we don’t take more than 10-11 hours for the same distance whereas you took 16 hours. Also, 40-50% bad roads is surprising to say the least. Which sections were bad ?? Please let us know about the bad sections.

Regards.

Originally Posted by airbus

Hopefully West Bengal will find some other solution to those frequent barricades placed on some portions of perfectly laid national highways. During my drive from Assam to Bengaluru last year, in some stretches multiple barricades were placed within one kilometre.

As much as it is annoying, the problem of barricades are here to stay. The NH 34 has many towns and settlements all through the route till Dalkhola. The roads were widened over the years but the roads were not barricaded. Only solution is creation of overpasses. Until then, we have to bear the barricades. At least all these barricades are manned by Civic Volunteers during the day. In the night, maximum number of barricades are removed from the highways and that makes it comfortable somewhat.

The same problem of barricades were also there on the erstwhile NH6 from Calcutta to Kharagpur but have been solved by creation of overpasses and flyovers over the years. I hope NH34 will also get over these barricades once the NHAI decides to build the overpasses and flyovers. The new bypasses that are being made now like Islampur and Dalkhola have these provisions.

[Stribog]

Others have said it but I feel it can't be said enough. Driving 38 hours after sleeping for 4 hours is an absolute recipes for disaster.

No matter how "excited" you are or confident and alert you feel, science has categorically stated this.

https://https://www.nature.com/articles/nm.4433 this study even says that lack of sleep is equivalent to having alcohol in terms of reaction times.

So please don't ever do this again. You put others on the road at risk.

[arun_747]

Hello Saumik,

Truly an awesome travelogue !
Makes perfect sense for "Live to Drive" !

Regards,
Arun

[palsaumik]

Originally Posted by sunil thomas

Not getting enough sleep, starting at 2 AM etc and then being on the road till next days dinner can be avoided. 12 hour drives are the BEST and try doing that next time.

Originally Posted by Bailey

But IMHO with so few hours of sleep (2 nights on a row) and driving solo that too for 19.5 Hours drive on Day 1 & 18.5 hours on Day 2 you are a danger to your self and everyone else on the highway at the same time as you.

Originally Posted by nks81

19.5 hrs on first day with 1 hr sleep before that day and then 3 hr sleep before starting 2nd day is bordering on dangerous.

Originally Posted by 100Kmphormore

Cant help but agree more with this. Avoid leaving before 5 am in the morning and driving after 9 pm - if at all, never after sundown.

Originally Posted by airbus

Congratulations! Portions of this road trip appeared to be too tiring, which could have been avoided. There is a limit beyond which we should not push ourselves.

Originally Posted by sukhbirST

Request you to exercise caution to long rides which are tight, as you cannot be lucky all the time with crazy drivers on Indian roads. Brezza has proved that it can indeed handle long tough drives and will help me in buying decisions.

Originally Posted by Stribog

Driving 38 hours after sleeping for 4 hours is an absolute recipes for disaster. No matter how "excited" you are or confident and alert you feel, science has categorically stated this.

Thank you for all the comments and concerns. I agree 100% with everyone. Lack of / no sleep and 18-19 hours of back-to-back two days driving is surely a recipe for disaster. I do not promote and will not recommend this to anyone neither take me as an example that it can be done "silently" by anyone again. It was an endurance test for me, but yes, anything / everything could have gone wrong! So, agree with everyone here

Originally Posted by mukeshc18

Thoroughly enjoyed this post. I have been planning Bangalore to North east trip from sometime. Bookmarking this thread for future reference in case I can make it. Next time, you need someone to accompany for this trip, I am game.

Awesome! More the merrier. Will buzz you next time I plan.

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

Awesome travelogue Saumik bhai! Admire your courage, planning and patience in taking up this drive, especially because most of it was solo.

Thank you!

Originally Posted by PioneerNB

WOW- Totally blown away by this EPIC DRIVE... And reading this travelogue I just got gut punched to seriously come back to India and drive around. Kudos for the wonderful share and the Wildlife clicks totally prove why India is the best there is

If you love driving, India is definitely a diverse geography to cater to all sorts of driving and nature enthusiasts. I haven't driven international, so can't comment on that.

Originally Posted by Nature&Me

I believe you did this journey number of times (first-in real and couple of times in memories). What a writing skills man, you made us part of your journey. One thing common between us(bhpians) is the passion, excitement and well planned journey. Cheers.

Yes, this was my second time on a similar track - First time BLR > KOL > SIL > KALIMPONG and second, BLR > KOL > BAG/SIL > GAU. Loved it through and through and Dec/Jan is definitely the best time to travel.

Originally Posted by Dibyendu Bose

Excellent summary and thanks for sharing the learnings……it will be useful for all of us. I understand that in the Kolkata Siliguri route, all the areas where work was slow and had not happened, is in full swing now and in a years time things will be far better, with the Kalyani Expressway largely taking over for the first 60 kms through graded portions. Even the Raiganj bypass, and a new bridge over the Hooghly river in Behrampore (along with the bypass0, will be ready end of this year. So apart from the new Farakka bridge over the Ganges, Kolkata Siliguri will be (at last) a standard highway, largely seamless experience.

Thank you. I agree the roads are fresh and new - way better than what I experienced in 2020.

Originally Posted by Krishna sankar

Wow... Wow... Wow... really it is indeed an epic drive. Totally blown away by your continuous driving and completing it without any incidents. Wish you many more such drives... a word of caution.. always listen to your body also give some rest during such long drives.

Thank you again. Totally agree your words of caution.

Originally Posted by airbus

Hopefully West Bengal will find some other solution to those frequent barricades placed on some portions of perfectly laid national highways. During my drive from Assam to Bengaluru last year, in some stretches multiple barricades were placed within one kilometre.

Barricades by themselves are not bad, but there are vehicles which will jump the queue and push us out in such twists. I have seen tempo vans, smaller trucks and many larger private vehicles (proper SUVs) doing so. This is most frustrating.

Originally Posted by arun_747

Truly an awesome travelogue! Makes perfect sense for "Live to Drive" !

Thank you and yes, Live Long to Live to Drive

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

Now, I have a question for you- which route did you take from Calcutta to Siliguri ? Asking because these days, we don’t take more than 10-11 hours for the same distance whereas you took 16 hours. Also, 40-50% bad roads is surprising to say the least. Which sections were bad ?? Please let us know about the bad sections.

I just followed the GPS. Below is the route I took - not knowing if that's the best route or what lay ahead. Google timeline on Dec 16th shows my driving time of 13Hrs 21Mins and the rest was for short/long breaks taking me another 2+ Hrs






I don't recall which specific sections were bad but it was probably in / around Raiganj? A glimpse of the nerve-wracking tarmac which was just never ending. Any better route suggestions are welcome.

[Sheogarath]

When you are just about to reach home and then get stuck in horrible traffic is the ultimate test of patience!!

[Aj_Pod]

Nice travelogue Saumik Da ! Takes a lot of guts and determination to plan such long drives especially when you are driving Solo for almost half the time .. Kudos 👏