[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

You can stop on the bridge...

Can you? I thought the whole stretch of the bridge is a strictly enforced "No Parking" zone?

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Can you? I thought the whole stretch of the bridge is a strictly enforced "No Parking" zone?

Oh you can sir, for a few minutes and I don't remember seeing any stern warnings against parking or stopping on the bridge. There are hardly any cops on that stretch and traffic is pretty thin because of the toll involved . I have myself seen folks stopping and parking the car to take pictures without facing the wrath of any cop.

Of course if there is a crowd of vehicles gathered on that stretch I am sure the Kolkata cops would swoop in and give a hard time.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by contactgautam

Hey Mate!
Though I am a Bengali by birth, I am a pure unadulterated prabashi (alien) citizen of Bengal. Was born in Calcutta then, but brought up in Goa! Presently am a citizen of Delhi for the last 27 years. My destination in Kolkata is kalikapur in Eastern Bypass. My cousin bro told me to take BT road after I cross Dankuni and there after go to shyam Baazar paanch mathaar mor and proceed towards Aurobindo Setu to come to Ultodanga and finally to Kalikapur through eastern bypass from Ultodanga. Is this route the correct one. He strongly advised me against 2nd Hooghly Bridge as that would be a long detour to reach his place at Eastern Bypass at Kalikapur. Seeking your feed back on this urgently!!

Hi,
If you are coming down NH2 and want to go to Kalikapur, it is a no brainer.
NH2 - Belghoriya Expressway towards DumDum/ NH34, then VIP road and Eastern Bypass.

Your cousin brother is a sadist.

Regards
Sutripta

[contactgautam]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Hi,
If you are coming down NH2 and want to go to Kalikapur, it is a no brainer.
NH2 - Belghoriya Expressway towards DumDum/ NH34, then VIP road and Eastern Bypass.

Your cousin brother is a sadist.

Regards
Sutripta

Hello There!
I am not too familiar with kolkata roads. After I cross Dankuni how do I come onto Belghoria expressway and towards DumDum/NH34.

Hai SS!
I will start from Delhi at 12 noon and be at Banaras by midnight. Have thought of staying at Rahi's (UP Tourism) somewhere near Railway Station.Planning to start the next day with a bath in the Ganges and visit to some imp temples. Could you suggest some places to visit that shouldn't be missed in Banaras. tell me much time will it take me to drive from Banaras to Kolkata starting at 10 or 11 in the morning

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[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by contactgautam

Hello There!
I am not too familiar with kolkata roads. After I cross Dankuni how do I come onto Belghoria expressway and towards DumDum/NH34.

After you cross Dankuni, you will cross an area where you will find lots of trucks are parked. Just after crossing that area the road gets onto a flyover where there are signs on the left saying Kolkata. You need to take that exit to get into the Belgharia Expressway towards Kolkata. Belgharia expressway gets on to Jessore Road where you need to take a right and then after that a left on to VIP Road/EM Bypass. Hope this helps.

Sutripta probably can given even more details since I have never used it.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

If you are coming down NH2 and want to go to Kalikapur, it is a no brainer.
NH2 - Belghoriya Expressway towards DumDum/ NH34, then VIP road and Eastern Bypass.

Originally Posted by contactgautam

I am not too familiar with kolkata roads. After I cross Dankuni how do I come onto Belghoria expressway and towards DumDum/NH34.

Had already been described in the other thread... Follow the signage for Belghoria Expressway after you cross the toll gate and the bridge over the river.

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

The NH2 leads up to a fork after Dankuni - left goes to city, straight loops back to NH6 (Bombay Road). Take the left fork. Next, there's another fork - left goes to the old Dakshineshwar bridge, right goes via a toll gate on to a brand new bridge over the river, and then along an access-restricted expressway corridor to the back end of the Dumdum Airport (Jessore Road).

Incidentally, if you want to enter the city over the Second Hooghly Bridge, you would have to turn back towards NH6, travel about 12 km, and turn left to get there.

Originally Posted by contactgautam

Could you suggest some places to visit that shouldn't be missed in Banaras.

Too many things in Benaras that you wouldn't want to miss, and I don't think you can fit in even the ones you have planned for, in the few hours of the morning before leaving for Kolkata. You would be tired right away, and the rest of the drive will not be pleasant, however much you might have driven long distances earlier. I would suggest you stay a full day in Varanasi to take care of the tourism and bathing in the Ganga, then leave for Kolkata the morning after (i.e. 2 nights in Varanasi).

Originally Posted by contactgautam

tell me much time will it take me to drive from Banaras to Kolkata starting at 10 or 11 in the morning

At least 10 hours, but the evening traffic on NH2 as you approach the city is very heavy, with slow-moving trucks trying to overtake each other and holding up all other traffic. 12 hours would be more realistic.

[ramkya1]

Holy Moley!! Non stop all the way. Can't imagine me doing this. Thought for long distance your Scorpio would make more sense, specially Bihar / Orissa sections where an SUV would melt trouble on the way.

That incident of a puncture was scary! I wanted to do A'bad North East for a long time, but the drive through Bihar with family is the scariest part though the GQ section is good and fast; we saw this during the GQ drive some years back.

Thanks for sharing the information and pictures.

--Ramky
====

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by ramkya1

... Bihar / Orissa sections...
...the drive through Bihar with family is the scariest part though the GQ section is good and fast

Ramky, you have to see how good the roads in Bihar are nowadays, to believe it!

Originally Posted by ramkya1

I wanted to do A'bad North East for a long time...

I plan to visit the N-E during the summer of 2012, Inshallah. Nothing concrete yet, but I hope to make it happen ASAP.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by contactgautam

Hello There!
I am not too familiar with kolkata roads. After I cross Dankuni how do I come onto Belghoria expressway and towards DumDum/NH34.

Hi,
Explained by others. Do not take the road which says 'Kharagpur' and you should land up at the New Bally (Toll) bridge. Important point is after you cross the bridge, there are two poorly signposted options - one towards Dunlop bridge/ BT road, the other towards NH34/ DumDum Airport. The NH34/ DumDum road is the Belghoria Expressway. If by mistake you land up on the BT Road connector side, you are sunk because then getting back on the expressway is very difficult.

Regards
Sutripta

[contactgautam]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Hi,
Explained by others. Do not take the road which says 'Kharagpur' and you should land up at the New Bally (Toll) bridge. Important point is after you cross the bridge, there are two poorly signposted options - one towards Dunlop bridge/ BT road, the other towards NH34/ DumDum Airport. The NH34/ DumDum road is the Belghoria Expressway. If by mistake you land up on the BT Road connector side, you are sunk because then getting back on the expressway is very difficult.

Regards
Sutripta

Thank you very much. I am well instructed by you. You shall hear from me after I have successfully negotiated the road direction. Wish me Luck Chow!

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by contactgautam

Thank you very much. I am well instructed by you. You shall hear from me after I have successfully negotiated the road direction. Wish me Luck Chow!

Arm yourself with relevant cell numbers so that, if necessary, you can call during!

Regards
Sutripta

[rahul4640]

Originally Posted by contactgautam

You shall hear from me after I have successfully negotiated the road direction.

Please also put a brief note of the condition of NH2 from Varanasi to Kolkata in your report, if possible with some pictures. I think it will be useful. I went up to Barhi (in Jharkhand) from Calcutta by NH2 a couple of months earlier. The road was good except for somewhat uneven road surface between Panagarh and the Bengal-Jharkhand border. Has it been repaired? Will you also let me know the condition of NH2 between Mughalsarai and Aurangabad (in Bihar)?

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by contactgautam

Thank you very much. I am well instructed by you. You shall hear from me after I have successfully negotiated the road direction. Wish me Luck Chow!

Hello, hope you had a wonderful road trip and a Happy New Year to you. If you have returned back would love to hear your experience on NH2 as I am planning one too from Kolkata to Varanasi and then to a different destination.

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by rahul4640

You have to take a little detour from NH2 to reach Dhanbad. But the closest place you will reach to it is Govindpur. And the Khalsa hotel there is very good. I also stopped there once, as per suggestion of SS-Traveller and I was satisfied. Beside the food, I was also glad that the waiters there understood Bengali and was very much helpful as well.

Hello Rahul, is the Khalsa hotel in Govindpur on NH2 itself or one has to get off NH2 to reach it. Will appreciate a lot if you can post the directions to it

[rahul4640]

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

Hello Rahul, is the Khalsa hotel in Govindpur on NH2 itself or one has to get off NH2 to reach it. Will appreciate a lot if you can post the directions to it

Khalsa Hotel is right on NH2, near the crossing of NH2 and the road leading to Dhanbad from Govindpur. While travelling away from Calcutta (travelling in the direction of west) it will appear in your right hand side. Just drive slow and watch out for it. I guess that the place is called Ratanpura.