Team-BHP - East Arunachal & West Meghalaya | 8000 km road-trip to the North East

The previous Drives to North East Region

Before discussing the 2023 plan, here's a summary of our group's previous NE drives. The sheet that has the plan, details, timings and stays of each drive, is attached as png - open them in new tab for better resolution and dimensions

NE 2016 : parts of Arunachal, Assam, Meghalaya
XUV500, 3pax
The first of the NE drives for XUV, usual first timer NE places of Tawang, Bum La, Majuli, Kaziranga, Cherrapunjee, Double Root Bridge trek, Dawki, Mawlynnong, Guwahati and Darjeeling were covered.

NE 2017 : Mizoram and Nagaland
XUV500, 4pax for Mizoram, 4pax(XUV) + 3pax(taxi) for Hornbill, 4pax for return
We covered the interior-most state of NE - Mizoram, the Hornbill Festival in Nagaland and the Dzukou Valley Trek. It was 5+ days in Mizoram including the drive into Myanmar across the Zokhawthar Border to visit Rih Dil Lake, we went southwards till Saiha in the Maraland. Dzukou Trek was spectacular, especially the camping. Hornbill Festival was wonderful too, back in the days before it was very crowded.

NE 2019 : Bhutan (geographically in NE region)
Nexon, 3pax
This drive was originally planned for Arunachal areas of Ziro, Tuting and Anini. Alas, it coincided with protests in NE due to CAA-NRC issues and entry to Assam itself was risky. Hence, on the starting day of the drive, we changed it to Bhutan without any pre-planning, having planned 6+ months for East Arunachal :Frustrati
It turned out to be a wonderful decision, Bhutan was beautiful and serene, we covered all parts to where permits were issued (although due to road work, tourists weren't given permits beyond Bumthang to East Bhutan). Also, it was a lucky decision that we were able to cover Bhutan in 2019 itself, after which it opened up only in 2022 with sustainable tourism model. Also the places we intended to cover like Anini used to have bad roads back then, and ICBR roads weren't done.

NE 2020 : North Bengal and Sikkim (geographically in NE region, brother state of the 7 sisters)
XUV, Ertiga and Ecosport - 10 of us
It was the end of first wave. Although driving across States eased up, many parts of NE still needed multiple RT-PCR tests. We had yet again thought of East Arunachal, but it needed a total of 3-4 tests, hence we ruled out main parts of NE. Finally, we decided to cover parts of Sikkim which just needed an Entry Permit to be filled up.
We also covered parts of North Bengal - drove parallel to the Nepal Border through Mirik, Pashupatinagar Border, Manebhanjang to Dhotrey. We hiked from Dhotrey to Tumling in Singalila National Park, stayed across the Indo-Nepal ridge at Tumling Fatak (with spectacular views of Sleeping Buddha), then visited parts of East, South and West Sikkim (Gangtok, Tsomgo, Ravangla, Borong, Pelling, Yuksom, Kaluk, Barsey) in a bit relaxed way.
On return, we drove via UP, MP, visited and stayed in Orchha. This was mainly done because back in 2020 Dec, NH5/16 had road work going in most places after Vijayawada till Balasore and Kolkata - Siliguri wasn't very easy due to broken bridges around Dumka

NE 2022 : Manipur and Tripura
XUV, Ertiga and Ecosport - 12 of us
Again it was a dilemma whether to do East Arunachal or not. Finally, we decided to tick off the pending states Manipur and Tripura. We drove through Nagaland onwards, Meghalaya on return and also touched Mizoram at Phuldungsei-Kawnpui, hence we crossed 6 NE states in this drive.
We had around 5 days in Manipur, we visited Imphal, Ukhrul, Moreh, Loktak and places around Loktak, stayed in the Floating Hut Stay over Loktak Lake. The Indo-Myanmar official borders was closed due to issues in Myanmar, but we were able to step foot into Myanmar in the unmarked goods trade sections, and also at the Border Temple. In Tripura, we covered Unakoti, Neermahal, Tripurasundari Temple, Kasba Kamalabari, places in Agartala, the Jampui Hills of Tripura till Phuldungsei and Kawnpui on the Mizoram Border.
Again it was a good decision to cover these places instead of East Arunachal in 2022. As March 2023 onwards, Manipur has been sadly suffering due to internal conflicts which is still not concluded. And back in Dec 2022, the ICBR Dembuen - Bruni road wasn't completely done, and cars were allowed only few kms after Dembuen. In 2023, we were able to go till the end of road at Bruni.

The plan

The format of ~17 days is already fixed and common across all our NE trips. We had decided a rough plan during the return drive of NE 2022 itself to cover East Arunachal in 2023, especially Anini. The dates were fixed too. The first half of the year until Monsoon begins, we hardly do any drives, so it was a passtime for us during that time to dilly-dally across various permutations of the plan along with Anini. With 17 days totally, we usually do 3+3, around 6-7 days of onward+return drive. That leaves us with around 10 days in NE always. We had already decided that we would do 4 days for Roing-Anini-Roing with 3 nights in Anini. So there was around 6 more days.

New circuits were coming up in different parts, like Ziro-Koloriang-Sarli-Damin in Kurung Kumey District, Dapo-Siyom-Nacho-Taksing-Maza in Upper Subansiri.
We had considered various places in Arunachal, but ruled out for this drive :

Seppa - Pakke Kesang/Itanagar : better done enroute Ziro
Ziro - Koloriang - Kurung Kumey places : wait for roads to get a bit better, and for Ziro-Dapo road to become better, ideal to do with Dapo circuits
Dapo - Nacho - Taksing : still rough roads, better to do after better connectivity and after Ziro - Dapo - Aalo is better
Mechuka : road cutting is still going on till Tato
Tuting - Gelling : road is done till Yingkiong but road cutting is going on beyond that which is still in bad shape
Vijoynagar : tough with combo of untamed roads and tamed vehicles
Pangsu Pass - Changlang - Khonsa - Longding : better done as a trip with Vijoynagar or parts of North Nagaland which is pending

The above places itself needs another 3 trips with our 17 days format.

One trip for Seppa - Pakke Kesang - Ziro - Kurung Kumey places - Dapo - Upper Subansiri places (and some pending places in Assam/Meghalaya)
Another for Basar - Mechuka - Monigong - Tuting - Gelling - Bishing - Namdapha - Vijoynagar
Another for Pangsu Pass - Changlang - Khonsa - Longding - Mon - Longwa - Mokokchung - Tuensang - Kiphre - Shilloi - Phek

Throughout 2023, we were eagerly tracking all the developments of Arunachal roads, homestays, new places, as well as our favourite Kolkata - Siliguri road updates. Wari Chora came into picture in early 2023, and looking at how popular it was getting, we decided to cover it in this year's drive itself. With Anini and Wari Chora, we decided Kaho Kibithu circuit would be a better fit than any other Arunachal circuit. That also ensured ticking off the "currently still" easternmost parts of India.

As always we spend considerable time planning, checking out places in travelogues, local vlogs, local blogs, discovering and discussing with homestays, checking out road conditions on Google Earth, Sentinel, trucker vlogs, constantly tracking Google Map traffic across seasons.etc. We enjoy this process, as much as we enjoy the trip.
This is how the plan evolved finally :

The details

As we were covering the eastern end, we had to drive through the length of Assam, so we had to include 1.5-2days for this as well compared to the previous drives.
We decided to take the North Bank of Brahmaputra via Tezpur - Gohpur - Gogamukh - Dhemaji for onwards, and return via the South Bank of Jorhat - Kaziranga, so as to cover both sides without much repetition
From Dhemaji, we had a choice of the direct route via Ruksin - Pasighat - Dambuk to Roing. But we also wanted to cover the bridges, hence we had decided to take the Bogibeel Bridge - Dibrugarh Tinsukia Makum Bypass - Doom Dooma - Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Setu (currently longest bridge above Water in India) - Roing route
In earlier trips, NE2016,2017,2019 - we never used to book stays in advance as it was only a few of us and not much crowds used to visit NE so it was easy to get stays on the go. Since 2020, we're having at-least 10 of us in each trip and in general, more people have started visiting NE. So we'd started booking stays in advance, also many homestays(not hotels) have capacity of of 3-4 rooms only.
NE2023 started with 5 confirmed people and 2 cars XUV and Ecosport (our usual group member with his Ertiga couldn't join this one as he had planned another NE drive in October with family). It ended up with 11 people and 3 cars (XUV, Ecosport and Tiguan). Some of them were joining us for the first time. A few regulars couldn't join this time.
Dree Afra Campsite at Acheso had opened up for stay. We'd discussions within the group whether to stay there for a night and two nights in Anini. It was going to be really cold as it was a campsite. The Tiguan gang opted to stay back in Anini, so we booked Dree Afra Campsite for 8 of us. This was the first booking done, sometime in October.
Lot of stays kept opening up after Monsoon in Anini, there are around 10+ homestays now. We had already planned for Mishmi Takin Homestay, one of the earliest homestays of Anini, they had a capacity of 8 for our dates, and we booked that for us for 2 nights, and Mishmi Hills Resort for the Tiguan gang for 3 nights.
With Anini sorted, next was Kaho Kibithu. We were aware that a couple of homestays had come up in Kaho, but we weren't able to reach them. So we planned to stay in Walong for 2 nights, since we'd included the Dong Trek too. Walong has a few stays like the Walong IB, Dong Resort, Nomkholong Homestay, Meyor Homestay, Anu Nimai Homestay. After some discussions with a few of those, we finalized Nomkholong Homestay.
For Wari Chora, there was stay options in two places, Emangre - which is the base village, and Baghmara - the district HQ of South Garo Hills. Baghmara has better stays, while Emangre has basic stays (they've converted houses into homestays when Wari Chora became popular). We chose Emangre as Baghmara is further away on the route, and Emangre is closest to Wari Chora. There are <10 homestays, most of them similar. We booked at a stay called BS Manda Homestay, with capacity of 5-6 people, that homestay coordinated with another nearby Homestay for the rest of us.
In most of the NE trips, we've just transited across Guwahati, this time we had sometime to cover few places in Guwahati and mainly do the Bramhaputra Sunset/Dinner cruise. Hence, we booked a Treebo in the City area with good parking <2km from MG Road.
Stays in Roing weren't looking great or were too costly for the facilities(5K for basic camp), we had contacted many homestays but not yet booked. Closer to the trip, we came across 4Seasons Homestay, which had stay availability in the new cottages that they recently built, so we quickly booked it.
We had intentionally not booked some of the stays like return day from Anini at Roing, return day from Walong at Namsai area, and return day from Wari Chora at Tura/Williamnagar, as all these places we could push ahead based on the timings.
Onwards and Return drive bookings are always on the go, based on the distance covered, timings and energy, we'd book couple of hours before reaching the place.

As much as the detailed planning, we try to execute the plans to the dot as much as possible. The details would be covered in the following Day-wise posts.
The sheet with the summary of actual drive :

Route to NE, over the years

tldr, read on if interested in knowing how much the road to NE from South has evolved

We've constantly been on the Bangalore/Chennai to NE route for the last 7-8 years and have been tracking the various changes and evolution. If you'd gone through the sheet snippet of all the drives in detail, you'd notice that the onwards-return drive route mainly between Kolkata and Siliguri would have changed through the years. We have been adapting our onwards-return drive based on the route that offers the best road conditions and better timings for that year.

NE 2016 & 2017:
NH5(new NH16) as it was called back in those days, was fully 4 laned (no 6 laning work too) after Vijayawada. It was the longer old alignment through Tadepallegudem, Tanuku, Ravulapalem. Crossing Vizag had to be planned properly, as there was no Bypass yet, it used to take an hour in the best case and even 2.5hours in peak hours for the 60kms from end of Anakapalle to Anandapuram through Gajuwaka and MVP old bypass route.

Up East, it was the days of Bhagalpur route, with a dilemma of Deogarh vs Dumka. Deogarh route used to be a bit better, with lesser truck traffic. There was no question of Malda route in these years, we had only heard about the infamous Farakka and Dalkhola jams, bad roads.etc and stayed away from it. We never ventured on the Suri, Rampurhat routes as they were also infamous for truck jams.
There was no proper Fulbari Bypass from Ghoshpukur, we used to go across Siliguri town from Bagdogra to Sevoke, and then take the Damdim - Chalsa - Banarhat route.

NE 2016 onwards drive, NE 2017 onwards and return drive route :
Kolkata Bypass - Dankuni - GT Road - Burdwan Bypass - Durgapur - Asansol Bypass - Jamtara - Palajori - Sarath - Deogarh - Katoria - Banka - Bhagalpur Bypass - Vikramshila Setu - Naugachhia - Purnea Bypass - Dalkhola NH27 - Islampur(no bypass back then) - Bagdogra(no Fulbari Bypass back then) - Siliguri Town - Sevoke Coronation Bridge

Roads used to be 2 laned all the way from Asansol Bypass to Purnea Bypass on this route (it still is!), but the 2 laned roads were generally good. We took the Deogarh, Banka route in 2016,17 also because the Dumka - Hansdiha wasn't great. Closer to Bhagalpur, trucks used to be parked for kms together, to cross Vikramshila Setu from evening/night, we got small jams at times, but nothing major.

NE 2016 return drive, was similar as above, but a small change from Palajori :
Sevoke - Siliguri - Dalkhola NH27 - Purnea Bypass - Naugachhia - Vikramshila Setu - Bhagalpur Bypass - Banka - Katoria - Deogarh - Palajori - Gumro - Anguthia - Tarapatiya - Nala - Runakuraghat Bridge - Asansol Bypass - GT Road - Dankuni
We used to experiment such routes in the interiors of Jharkhand, they were actually pretty good with nice landscapes too

NE 2019:
Vizag Bypass was partially constructed with lot of diversions and road work through Sabbavaram and Pendurthi towns. We "tried" this route for onwards drive, it was as bad as the traditional NH5 route, as lot of trucks were taking it, jams and diversions, no time was actually saved. 6 laning road work and other flyover works had commenced from Anandapuram towards Palasa, so this sector became slower than before due to diversions. There was some road work that had started between Bhubaneshwar and Bhadrak too. We took the Vizag town NH5 route on return, but ended up in evening peak hours, so it took 2+ hours to cross, even with some detours through Simhachalam to NAD junction.

Onwards route :
Kolkata Bypass - Dankuni - GT Road - Asansol Bypass - Nala - Masalia - Dumka Bypass - Hansdiha - Bhagalpur Bypass - Naugachhia - Purnea Bypass - Dalkhola NH27 - Islampur - Siliguri

Nala route was a popular and quicker choice now over the Jamtara route, it was very good 2 laned road. This year, Dumka - Bhagalpur was in very good shape too, so no more Deogarh route. Due to the effects of CAA-NRC protests, we got delayed by 1.5 hours in Kolkata Bypass(this was the day trains were burnt), so we ended up in truck timings on Bhagalpur Bypass. Crossing Bhagalpur was a big mess due to trucks lined up and being let through, we saw 1000s of trucks.

Return route :
Siliguri - Islampur - Dalkhola town - Raiganj - Malda Bypass - Farakka Bridge - Morgram - Panchgram - Kuli - Nutanhat - Burdwan town - GT Road - Dankuni

To avoid any CAA-NRC protests, we had decided to do a night drive through West Bengal. Night drive on Bhagalpur route was a big no due to truck traffic. So we tried the Malda route, as we had always heard that this route was best done at night. There was fog all the way from Dalkhola to Farakka, so progress was slow. Bengal 2 Bengal route from Dhantola to Botolbari was famous in those days to avoid Dalkhola jam (funnily Google still suggests it even today! rl: ). Since it was night time and fully foggy, we decided to stick to the NH. We somehow crossed the Dalkhola jam within 20 minutes luckily, it was a relief having heard people get stuck for hours. Dalkhola - Raiganj had 4 laning road work with diversions, we just followed a Kolkata Volvo which was doing decent pace in fog. Crossing Raiganj was okay, after which we got the newly done 4 laned road, but due to fog, pace was very slow all the way till Kaliachak IOC, but there was hardly any traffic. After this fog reduced a bit, crossing Farakka also was easy, there were no jams, maybe due to fog. The 4 laned roads continued although with few diversions till Moregram. We took the then famous route of Moregram-Burdwan. It was around 120kms of 2 laned roads, with trucks for company and huge speed breakers, around 50 of them. It took over 3 hours for this section, road conditions was just okay.

NE 2020
Onwards route :
NH5 - Kharagpur - Salboni - Bishnupur - Bankura - MTPS - Raniganj - Asansol Bypass - Nala - Masalia - village detours near Dumka - Jama - half broken bridge - Barapalasi - Hansdiha - detour for border jam - Bhagalpur Bypass - Purnea Bypass - Araria - Bahadurganj - Thakurganj - Panitanki - Bagdogra - Siliguri

From Bangalore, Chittor - Tirupati route was under 6 laning all the way. Massive 6 laning work had started all across GQ. From Gannavaram after Vijayawada, all the way to Eluru toll, it was narrow service road as main road was under road work. After Eluru Bypass, the old Tanuku route was rough and potholed. Rajahmundry - Vizag was luckily okay. From learnings of 2019, we had planned crossing Vizag in early morning hours, it was very peaceful. Vizag - Palasa, few 6 laned sections were done, many were still diversions. Phew, after crossing AP, entire Odisha almost from Ganjam till Balasore had 6 laning work, flyover work, diversions continuously.

We had learnt that the direct Kharagpur to Raniganj road via Bishnupur, Bankura was done and a good choice now, faster than the 120kms longer route via Kolkata Bypass, Burdwan. We had stayed at Kharagpur to do this 2 laned section early morning, and it was a quick drive, very good roads. Nala route was very good to Dumka. But now we had another puzzle to solve, as both river bridges around Dumka were broken in the Monsoon, there were people "helping" to cross the river through the stones over riverbed, but it was time-consuming one. Trucks were taking the Basukinath route and it was jammed. In between both, we had a detour route via Jama to Barapalasi, athlough with a rough road leading to a partially bent bridge over Mayurakshi river, just enough for cars to cross it. We somehow crossed it, Dumka - Bhagalpur was good, except for a truck jam at the JH-BR border for which we took another detour. Deogarh route was bad that year and hence all this adventure via Dumka. Similarly, Dalkhola - Islampur - Bagdogra NH27 had gone very bad, with lots of reports of rough surface and crater potholes all the way. At the same time, Araria - Thakurganj - Siliguri was properly 2 laned tolled road and was a better alternative. We took this road between Araria and Siliguri both onwards and return, except for diversions for couple of broken bridges around Jokihat, it was a good 2 laned road all the way. Totally out of <700kms, only around 40-50kms were 4 laned, rest were all 2 laned roads.

Return route :
Siliguri - Thakurganj - Araria - NH27 E-W corridor all the way to Jhansi
All of us in the group decided to return via North India route, with a visit to long pending Orchha. Was such a relief from all the detours, diversions and was a peaceful return drive

NE 2022
Onwards and return route :
NH5 - Kolkata Bypass - Dankuni - Mogra - STKK Road via Kalna, Nabadwip, Gouranga Setu - Krishnanagar - Berhampore Swami Akhandananda Sarani Rd Bypass - Malda Bypass - Raiganj - Dalkhola - Islampur Bypass - Fulbari Bypass - Jalpaiguri Bypass - Dhupguri - Telipara

Huge changes within 2 years in all sections. We took the exact same route for onwards and return

Chittor - Tirupati was 6 laned, road work on Renigunta - Naidupeta had started.
Vijaywada Benz Circle flyover was done. Gannavaram - Bhimadole was fully 6 laned.
New greenfield route from Bhimadole to Diwancheruvu bypassing Rajahmundry was the default new NH16 now, saving 30-40kms and lots of time compared to Tanuku route.
Vizag Bypass was partially 70% ready and actually motorable except for Sabbavaram and Pendurthi Bypasses.
Vizag - Srikakulam - Narasanapeta was superb 6 laned road. Narasanapeta - AP Border was superb 4 laned road with 6 laned bridges.
Ganjam - Barkul - Tangi was good 4 laned surface, with 6 laned Bridges.
200 kms from Tangi to Ranital after Bhadrak was fully 6 laned, with just 5-6 flyover work pending and diversions for that
Ranital - Balasore 50kms was the remaining painful section, lots of diversions for flyover work still, not much had progressed since 2020 days.
WB section after Jaleshwar to Kharapur had concrete road maintenance and Emergency runway creation. So it had lots of speed breakers and diversions, this section was slow.

Kolkata - Siliguri section had also vastly improved due to Old Delhi Road and STKK Road connectivity to Krishnanagar.

Dankuni - Mogra Old Delhi road was 4 laned SH, many trucks had not started taking this route in 2022.
Mogra - Kalna - Nabadwip - Gouranga Setu - Krishnanagar was a very good 2 laned SH, although with 3 railway crossings.
Krishnanagar - Berhampore initially had road work on Krishnanagar Bypass, after which was 4 laned except few sections of 2 laned road at Debagram, Beldanga, Bhabta.
The famous local bypass for Berhampore in 2022 was via Swami Akhandananda Sarani Rd, which was narrow, still took 25 minutes to cross, but avoided the main road jams. Berhampore NH Bypass didn't seem anywhere near completion
Berhampore - Malda was the usual 4 laned road, except Farakka Bridge and small jams of Kaliachak Market
Raiganj Bypass was not yet ready, so it was the old 2 laned Bypass.
After Raiganj, it was superb 4/6 laned roads all the way with newly done and recently opened sections bypassing Karandighi, Domohona, and most importantly Dalkhola!
Islampur Bypass was ready
Fulbari Bypass was mostly ready except the section from Mahananda Barrage which was 2 laned. This was crucial in completely bypassing Siliguri and saving lots of time. This also meant the route to NE via Jalpaiguri Bypass can be taken, which was 4 laned till Dhupguri and then 2 laned to Telipara.

The Dankuni - Mogra - Nabadwip - Krishnanagar route

Crossing Berhampore via Swami Akhandananda Sarani Rd since Bypass wasn't completed

Fulbari Bypass ensuring complete change in route instead of Sevoke route

Finally coming to NE 2023

Most of the changes have been covered in NE 2022 above. The changes in NE 2023 were :

Vizag Bypass is fully done except a 500m diversion, its quick 30minutes bypassing Vizag very easily.
More sections of Tangi - Bhubaneshwar flyover work is done, there are only 2 diversions near Bhubaneshwar, which although can get jammed in evening peak hours
Ranital(Bhadrak) - Balasore has improved, many unmarked 6 laned sections are open, but still 4-5 major diversions pending.
WB section from Jaleshwar to Kharagpur is now not an issue, only small 1-2 diversions, Runway is fully done
With more sections of 4 laning done between Kalyani More and Krishnanagar, this gave us another option in 2023, Mogra - Ishwar Setu - Kalyani Expressway - Jonepur - Kulia road - Kalyani AIIMS Road - Kalyani More - Chakdaha - Ranaghat - Krishnanagar, as an alternative compared to the 2 laned STKK road via Nabadwip.
These two routes should be decided on the go based on traffic jam at Ranaghat and traffic at Goruranga Setu. Trucks have started taking STKK road, and it is slower than 2022 definitely. We took Ranaghat route both ways in NE 2023.
The road till NH12 Kalyani More, is a mix of 2L + flyover work + 4/6L + village road + 4L AIIMS road.
After Kalyani More, we are on NH12 all the way, many unmarked 4 laned sections have opened up.
Flyover is pending at Chakdaha, which may cause small jam sometimes.
4kms of Ranaghat is the only painful stretch of this route, flyover work + railway gate + 2 flyover work + river bridge. It would take 20 minutes in the best case (worse can be upto our imagination, that's why STKK is still a good alternative based on traffic). There are some detours on the North to South direction through Ranaghat town to reach close to the railway gate, only few are drivable.
After Ranaghat, many sections are majorly done, even Gobindapur Railway Flyover has opened in December, so it is quick progress to Krishnanagar. Krishnanagar Bypass is fully done too.
Berhampore Bypass is fully done except a small diversion (Hoogly Bridge is done only on one side). Easily saves 30 minutes.
Raiganj Bypass is done and driveable except a detour through narrow roads and railway gate for the pending Railway Bridge. But easily saves 20 minutes.

The new routing via Ranaghat

Berhampore Bypass completed

Raiganj Bypass can be taken with a detour

To sum up
NH16 as well as Kolkata - Siliguri has vastly improved. Out of ~560kms between Dankuni and Ghoshpukur, only 25-30kms is 2laned or having road work via the Ranaghat route. That's 530+ kms of 4 laned roads. On the STKK route, it is ~85kms of 2 laned roads, that's still 475+ kms of 4 laned road. The key is to check the traffic conditions at Ranaghat and Goruanga Setu and decide the route.

Yes the entire WB is full of barricades, totos on road.etc ensuring the average speeds are lower than OD or AP, but it is still a huge improvement over the decade as Kolkata - Siliguri can be done in under 10 driving hours comfortably. Bhagalpurs and Dumkas are yesteryear route.

Day0 & Day1 - Bangalore/Chennai to Bhadrak/Balasore

The start time of the drive depends on work schedules and other commitments in the days leading up to the drive. Consequently, the onward drive on Day 0-1 varies between cars, sometimes overnight drive, sometimes with stopovers, sometimes we meet each other in OD, sometimes in WB, sometimes even in Assam, although we're generally only a few hours ahead or behind each other.

MK and co in XUV500, were to start from Chennai around midnight/early morning Friday and drive till the night, plan was loosely set to Bhubaneshwar.
JK, KK and myself in Ecosport from Bangalore. 2 of us had to work on Thursday, another person had to attend meetings in the evenings till night, on both Thursday and Friday. So Friday 12am start like XUV wasn't possible, we decided to start Thursday morning itself, drive till evening, to Vijayawada or Rajahmundry and then work, start next day morning and stop in the evening somewhere in Odisha.
RKG in his Tiguan was joining us as part of his 40 day relaxed drive across various parts of India, so he had already started a week before, covering Puri, Konark, Jajpur, birding in Latpanchar, Guwahati places. He would join us directly at Day3 destination (which was loosely fixed around Tezpur). His copax were to fly into Guwahati

How Day0,1 turned out to be :
XUV =
Day1 - Chennai to Balasore : 1417kms (1130pm Thursday night to 1130pm Friday night, total breaks and naps ~4hr30min, drive time ~19.5hrs)
Ecosport =
Day0 - Bangalore to Rajahmundry : 819kms (6am to 745pm, total breaks ~2hrs, drive time ~11hr45min)
Day1 - Rajahmundry to Bhadrak : 715kms (625am to 645pm, total breaks ~1.5hrs, drive time ~10hr50min)

Day 0 :
We started from Bangalore, Thursday by 6am. It was intentionally a delayed start as Kolar route had fog the previous day.

Thursday although wasn't very foggy, it cleared soon and became upper level fog by sunrise which was okay.

Highway was pretty empty as usual for a weekday, except for some local traffic before Chittoor in morning hours. We had decided to reach Tirupati Bypass before traffic picks up and have breakfast, rather than usual stop at Pavithra Grand. We stopped at PS4 Restaurant, just off Tirupati Bypass around 9am. It was a good breakfast of Idlys Dosas and Filter Coffee. There was a lot of pilgrim crowd that day, more than usual so breakfast took almost an hour

Renigunta - Gudur has 2 choices, either via the NH through Naidupeta, or via Venkatagiri route, based on the prevailing conditions and time of day. In 2022 NE drive, we took Venkatagiri route onwards to try it, it had lot of culvert work going on. Naidupeta route on return was in peak hours, and there were small jams around Kalahasthi, and lots of diversions. More or less both took the same time. In other drives in 2023, Naidupeta route was still manageable, But by October 2023, Venkatagiri route was better, faster, peaceful and @denver85 took it both ways to NE.

After breakfast, we started and planned to decide which route at Yerpadu, based on traffic. As expected, Renigunta - Yerpadu after 10am still had lot of traffic and trucks moving across diversions at snail's pace. We turned off from Yerpadu to take the Venkatagiri route. Yerpadu - Venkatagiri is 2 laned tolled NH565. Venkatagiri - Balayyapalli which was decent with only 2-3 kms rough road in Oct'23, went bad by our drive - due to Cyclone Michuang which pounded these areas in early December. The pace till Balayyapalli was slow due to some bad stretches, after that was manageable, we reached NH16 by 12noon, it took 1.5hours from Yerpadu (the same took only 1hr5mins in Oct'23).

NH16 is as usual uneventful stretch, 6 laned superb roads enabling good average speeds. We had targeted for late Lunch around Vijayawada, but due to slower breakfast, and slower Venkatagiri route, we decided to have it at a random Punjabi Dhaba (not recommended) before Chilakaluripet

After Lunch, we decided to push to Rajahmundry for work meetings, as stopping at Vijayawada before 5pm itself wasn't necessary. We crossed Vijayawada just before the evening peak hours and then stopped at Madras Filter Coffee, Kalaparru Toll around Sunset

It was a quick drive from there to Rajanagaram. We had booked a new hotel - Sudheeksha Comforts close to the highway, just after Rajahmundry as this saves sometime without entering the town. We reached by 745pm(about an hour slower due to delays). The room was decent, and it was just an overnight stay. No restaurant attached, so we got Dinner from nearby Brew Buzz Restaurant (stay is not recommended due to poor service and rude staff at reception)

We slept around the time XUV started from Chennai at 1130pm.

The actual Day 1:
XUV was crossing Vijayawada as we woke up. When we were ready to leave, they were at Madras Filter Coffee

I'd decided to stay back and hold the room so that they can come here, take a power nap and refresh. JK and KK started in Ecosport around 630am, targeting to stop at Bhadrak by evening, for the final work day meetings of the year. They crossed Anakapalle before peak hours and entered the 6 laned roads. They had stopped somewhere on Vizag Bypass for typical Andhra road side breakfast stop. Meanwhile, XUV reached here around 8am. We decided to start after 930am so that the Rajahmundry - Anakapalle peak hour traffic is lesser. Finally, we started at 945am after breakfast at a local eatery nearby.

Peak hour traffic had not completely reduced, but it was still better than the 8-10am traffic. There were few diversions for road work

We picked up pace once we entered the wonderful 6 laned roads after Anakapalle, Vizag was bypassed quickly. This is a section which bumps up the drive's average speeds and balances out on other slower corridors. Facilities are sparse once we cross Srikakulam Bypass, there are only 2-3 decent restaurants till Bramhapur. We stopped at DRR restaurant after Palasa. They had good Andhra meals and Biryani.

Meanwhile Ecosport folks were having Lunch at the famous Maa Barunei Restaurant on Khorda Bypass

Within 40minutes after Lunch, we were in Odisha. We refuelled XUV at the usual IOC before Bramhapur, it was the first refuel from Chennai, about 1040kms in one full tank.

We stopped at Khalikot Ghati for quick photos and view of Chilika Lake

Once 6 laned roads started at Tangi, it was faster progress till Bhubaneshwar diversions. The 2 pending diversions was jammed, maybe due to Friday evening. We crossed the first one under 10 minutes, but the 2nd one seemed big, so we took adetour :D to bypass the jam, through some suburbs of Bhubaneshwar. This detour also meant a quick shopping stop when we saw some Supermarkets - for some small things we missed to pack.

Ecosport guys had checked into a hotel in Bhadrak by 630pm and started working. The diversions, the detour with shopping stop, combined with Friday evening traffic ensured we crossed Cuttack only by 8pm. The road as usual frees up after Cuttack. 2 hours before or after would've been good, we discussed that a 10pm or 3am start from Chennai works better to mitigate this. After crossing Cuttack, it was only ~175kms to Balasore, we decided to cover the diversions after Bhadrak at night when it is empty and push to Balasore and start relaxed tomorrow. We stopped for a 45min dinner around Panikoili, the road till Ranital after Bhadrak is 6 laned and was fast. After that we had 58kms to our stay on Balasore Bypass. The diversions were pretty empty than expected, just a few trucks (probably they stopped for dinner), and the local traffic is never a problem after 10pm, so it was pretty comfortable reaching Balasore hotel, by 1130pm, 1417kms from Chennai.

Hotel Starway, Balasore - the only good hotel on Balasore Bypass, good rooms. (tip: ensure to book the twin bed category or Deluxe rooms which is in the front building new block, the standard rooms we booked is in the back building, older block)

Day 2 : Bhadrak/Balasore, OD to Raiganj, WB

Distance and timings :
Ecosport : Bhadrak to Raiganj - 715kms (645am to 945pm, total breaks ~3hr, drive time ~12hrs)
XUV : Balasore to Raiganj - 643kms (718am to 920pm, total breaks ~3hr15min, drive time ~10hr45min)

Since the previous day was a long one from Chennai, we had decided to start after 7am, while Ecosport would start around 6 from Bhadrak and catch up. It turned out that they also started late at 645am from Bhadrak. Bhadrak - Balasore diversions had local traffic by then, so it was a bit slower than our night drive. We began around 715am from Balasore, while Ecosport would catch up somewhere in the day.

We stopped for breakfast in 20 minutes at Jagganath Sweets and Snacks (https://maps.app.goo.gl/pw5LBpvfJSECKKow6), it is one of the few restaurants between Balasore and Kharagpur which is open before 8am. For breakfast, they only had Idly and Upma, but had a lot of sweet varieties, many of which we tried.

Odisha famous Chhena Poda

Lots and lots of Sweets!

Meanwhile, Ecosport stopped for Breakfast Mirchi Paradise after Balasore (https://maps.app.goo.gl/YmsMRQ3XRA5xpcrr7) which opened up after 8am, good Puris and Paratha.

After 45 minutes breakfast, we were into WB in another 30 minutes. Compared to the previous year, the WB concrete section has become much better, just 1-2 small diversions. The Emergency Runway Stretch is done and properly marked too (better marked and maintained than the AP ones South and North of Ongole)

After Kharagpur turn, 6 laned roads as well as barricades start. The barricades density increases as we get close to Kolkata area. But due to 6 laned till Dankuni, traffic keeps flowing pretty fast except at the barricades and signals (which will continue to give company for another 850+ kms till Assam Border). Dhaulagori Toll to Dankuni Old Delhi Road turnoff 20kms took only around 20 minutes, even with all those signals. It was pretty fast as it was after morning peak hours. New Flyover work has started at Dankuni Junction. Once we were onto Old Delhi Road, it was 4 laned roads now on. Trucks have started taking this route compared to a year ago, so truck traffic also felt a bit more. After Mogra, it was 2 laned till Ishwar Setu where we cross the Hoogly, after that its a bit of 4/6 laned Kalyani Expressway for 5 kms. We turned off at Jonepur signal to connect to NH12(old NH34) at Kalyani More via Kulia Village Road and AIIMS 4 laned road (Once Kalyani Expressway is fully done, along with the connection road between Kanchrapara and Barajaguli, it will again change the routing - in near future hopefully).

By 1240pm we were in NH12. More sections of 4 laned road is completed, atleast on one side with no lane markings. Chakdaha surprisingly had a small traffic jam, there's flyover work going on here, but usually doesn't get very choked up in mid-day. We cleared this in < 10 minutes.

The painful section of this stretch, as mentioned in the route update post, is the 4kms of Ranaghat. We crossed the Railway Gate in one crossing, but the town junction also was jammed a bit. It took around 25 minutes totally to cross 4kms of Ranaghat. After Ranaghat, most of the 4 laning to Krishnanagar is done. Phulia Flyover is done, even Gobindapur Railway Flyover and Bypass is completed and opened.

We decided to have Lunch at Mother's Hut, Krishnanagar (https://maps.app.goo.gl/vmZHWF73PF7MMmW67) rather than pushing to our usual stop Pappu Dhaba after Berhampore. With 4 laning done, it just took 20+ minutes after Ranaghat for the 30kms.

Mother's Hut is a wonderful place, with excellent food. Service was very slow initially. We took it easy as we wanted Ecosport to catch up too. They have a vast menu which is only listed online and no menu card (a practice continuing from Covid times) - https://mothershut.com/restaurants/product.html. We had Pizza, Rotis, Paneer Butter Masala, Chicken Biryani, and finally Matka Chai/Lassi.

We were in Mother's Hut for almost 2 hours. Ecosport had caught up, we asked them to have quick Lunch at a local restaurant in Krishnanagar Bypass, as Mother's Hut would delay them again. Krishnanagar - Berhampore was at the start of evening peak hours, so crossing Debagram, Plassey, Beldanga was slower than usual (it was surely better than evening hours at Kaliachak!). Berhampore was quickly bypassed in under 10 minutes - saving atleast 30 minutes compared to last year. Berhapore - Farakka was better than the previous section, we crossed Farakka after 7pm. Kaliachak stretch was okay and definitely lesser than the 6pm crowd.

We stopped for XUV refuelling at the IOC COCO after Malda (2nd refuelling in the trip, 955km range, could've pushed atleast 50km more but didn't due to this being a COCO)

After refuelling, we stopped just ahead at Paradesi Dhaba for picking up Rabdi (which is pretty good here)

We had decided during Lunch at Mother's Hut to stay in Raiganj itself and not push ahead. There is a good and new hotel - Lord's Inn at Kanki (where BHPian @SDP had stayed during his NE trip), but that was fully booked out the entire week. There were no good stays in Kishanganj and we didn't want to enter Siliguri. So we had booked Hotel Vinayak in Raiganj. It was around 65kms and ~40mins from Paradesi Dhaba and we had reached by 920pm. This is a good and VFM stay if entering Raiganj at night and leaving early morning, as roads inside the town are narrow. Ecosport reached in another 20 minutes, by then we had parked and just checked in.

Ecosport reaching, as viewed from the room

In house restaurant had standard Veg menu, good food and importantly quick service to the rooms

Prelude

The previous Drives to North East Region

The plan

Route to NE, over the years

Finally coming to NE 2023

Prelude

Day0 & Day1 - Bangalore/Chennai to Bhadrak/Balasore

Prelude

Day 2 : Bhadrak/Balasore, OD to Raiganj, WB