[jhaji]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Thanks for updating



Always X 3, make sure the vehicle you are approaching and wish to overtake has no animals, cyclists, vehicles etc ahead (just & he might be overtaking it soon) or by their side. More often than not, they do something (stupid) or the other & the truckers have to swerve. Remember a truck swerves when can't do anything as it dangerous for them as well.

If you can't see ahead, would suggest wait or at-least honk, get approval and go ahead.

You are right. I must have failed to notice something on the left of the truck ahead. After this incident, I became just a wee bit slower and I also began to enjoy the drive more without loosing much time.

Sometimes one puts pressure on oneself to reach somewhere by some particular time. Higher speeds also require higher concentration. Maybe one should alternate high speed bursts with more relaxed stretches.

[anandjha]

Sir, going to Dumka (in Jharkhand) this Saturday, had planned one before in June-July but instead went to Lansdowne. Will be taking NH2 till Dhanbad, from there take SH via Chittaranjan & Jamtara. I must say your excellent travellogue has been key to the preparation.

Planning to stay in Varanasi - Rahi is booked, Plaza Inn should be available.

[sdp1975]

Did the Kolkata - Panagarh stretch a few days ago and there was a good amount of traffic jam on NH2 around Panagarh. About 2-3 Km and lost between 30-40 minutes because of this. There really should be a bypass to Panagarh !

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by jhaji

I was shocked to see the number of dead dogs on the road. I guess these must be dogs because they are unrecognizable.

Just dogs? Buffaloes and cows are equally common.

Originally Posted by sdp1975

There really should be a bypass to Panagarh !

Land-related wrangles and tussles between the state government and NHAI have made sure we are not going to see this happen in the near future.

Originally Posted by anandjha

Planning to stay in Varanasi - Rahi is booked, Plaza Inn should be available.

Based on predatorwheelz's travelogue, I think we can safely add Varanasi Palace as another acceptable hotel in that lane, where Rahi and Plaza Inn are located.

[greaky]

Hello,

I am doing a road trip from Calcutta - Delhi in the first week of December.
Planning to have a night halt at Varanasi, which is around 766 KMs from Calcutta.

Since I am doing this alone, do you guys think I can do 766 KMs in one day?

If not what are my other options for a night halt? I guess I will need another halt on the next night too.

The total distance is about 1500KMs, so if I am not able to do it in two days, I will have cover it in 3 days.

Many Thanks

[Sutripta]

^^^
Check out some of the threads in the Travelogue section. SS-Traveller, HVK, and Predator Wheels names come to mind.

Regards
Sutripta

[rahul4640]

Originally Posted by greaky

I am doing a road trip from Calcutta - Delhi in the first week of December. Planning to have a night halt at Varanasi, which is around 766 KMs from Calcutta. Since I am doing this alone, do you guys think I can do 766 KMs in one day?

My younger brother is posted at Jodhpur and has two dogs. He usually comes twice a year to his home at Calcutta with his family and dogs by car. And whenever he returns back, he leaves his home early in the morning and reaches Varanasi very comfortably at least by five o'clock in the evening. Hence I think that there will be no problem for you to reach Varanasi at a decent time to halt for the night.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by greaky

...Varanasi, which is around 766 KMs from Calcutta.

Actually ~700 km.

Originally Posted by greaky

Since I am doing this alone, do you guys think I can do 766 KMs in one day?

Absolutely. 10-11 hours for CCU-Varanasi.

Originally Posted by greaky

...what are my other options for a night halt? I guess I will need another halt on the next night too.

In case you don't make it to Varanasi, there's Mohania (http://bstdc.bih.nic.in/hotels.htm#Mohania) or Sasaram (http://bstdc.bih.nic.in/hotels.htm#Sasaram).

The total distance is about 1500KMs, so if I am not able to do it in two days, I will have cover it in 3 days.

CCU-DEL in 3 days would be a little too much to digest. Unless you have reason to stop over elsewhere. Given current road status, you can do it in 19-20 hours if you are so inclined.

Someone I know very well personally is doing the CCU-DEL trip on 9th-10th December, so I expect a more current road status update then.

[predatorwheelz]

Originally Posted by greaky

Hello,

The total distance is about 1500KMs, so if I am not able to do it in two days, I will have cover it in 3 days.

Kolkata-Delhi is easily doable in 2 days. The entire road surface is good, and you never have to slow down anywhere. Just ensure you have enough driving stamina.

SS-Traveller is a road-superman. In case you want to check out some thread by mortals, here's mine and Sourav De Biswas' threads:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ata-delhi.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...i-kolkata.html

[greaky]

predatorwheelz - I was actually reading up your link Thanks for your input though.

SS-Traveller - Thank you for the inputs. I am in no hurry to reach Del, so said the thing about 3 days. Although looks like I will now do it in 2 days given that the road surface is as good as you guys are saying.

[sauravdc]

Hi all,

Did the Panagarh stretch on 28th Nov 2012.

Started from BBD Kolkata @ 10:05AM and Reached Darj More @12:35PM.
Rail overbridge to Darj more had fair amount of traffic. Still it did not take me more than 15 mins to cross the entire stretch. Had lunch @ Panagarh (Baba Hotel) and started @ 1:10PM, reached Dhanbad @ 2:50PM.

Panagarh roads have been recently repaired. It is now a smooth 2-lane surface. No dents / holes. No jerks. A smooth drive, just the rambling sound of the tyres frictioning against the tarmac. Never had such a featherly drive over Panagarh roads!!

This was by far the fastest I ever did DHN-KOL!!

Regards,
Saurav

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by sauravdc

This was by far the fastest I ever did DHN-KOL!!

Hi Saurav, is toll being collected on this stretch presently? If yes, do you remember how much from CCU to the WB-JH border?

[sauravdc]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Hi Saurav, is toll being collected on this stretch presently? If yes, do you remember how much from CCU to the WB-JH border?

Dear all,

I came back on Saturday 1st December 2012.

Sir,
Reply to your query.
No Toll collection at Dankuni, Palsit and Asansol both ways. The reason, the tendering for toll collection is in process. So no toll collection till a new vendor (or the same one) sits in the toll booths for collection.

Normal rates for toll before tendering process was (single/multiple-24hrs), Dankuni 35/50, Palsit 35/55 and Asansol 50/75 for cars.

Till WB-JH border you have to pay 35+35+50=120 one way.

Now it seems after the new vendor is tendered, the toll rates may go up!!

Return to Kolkata
Had multiple agenda within DHN, finished off, was about to leave around 2:30pm after having Lunch at Mani Cafe (Near ISM Gate No 1). But as luck would have it, a pebble spinned off the wheel of a car passing by and hit my RHORVM in the middle. The glass pieces spilled with a bang!

Since breaking of mirrors is not considered a good sign, we decided to head back home. I also needed a new ORVM for the 300 Km Drive.

With no time to go to Bank More to buy a new OEM mirror, I decided to open the one from my father's car (stationed in DHN, when we are in KOL). Opening happened easily, but the broken remnants of the ORVM would not open from my car.

Local garage at Steel Gate failed, the MASS near Bhuiphore failed, and I was almost about to reach NH2. On the way near Govindpur, saw a welding shop. Told the guy. He could manage to finally extract the remnants using gas cutter, without damaging any paint-work!! Excellent job done. Fitted the replacement mirror and off we went.

Stopped for tea at Khalsa Hotel @ Govindpur for 10 mins & finally started for Kolkata @ 4:15 PM. Stopped at Shaktigarh @ 7:15 PM for 15 mins, and finally reached Tollygunge @ 9:35PM.

Got stuck in jam at the JH-WB border. Had to reverse, take the opposite (Up) lane to traverse the bridge over Barakar river, and then get back into the Down lane.

Near Asansol, again, had to do the same. This place is generally not known for any traffic snarls.

At Darj More approach, I took the opposite lane quite early to avoid the jam at Darj More. After Darj More traffic stopped moving after 200mts. Dead stop it was. Reversed, crossed over to the RHS of the road (it's two lane here) and drove. Dodged oncoming traffic (trucks, buses, cars, et. al.) and finally crossed the Rail Over Bridge. Sealdah Rajdhani was zooming below the bridge towards New Delhi, on the fast track. On the slow track was another express train towards Asansol. Time around 6:25pm. It took me 20 mins to cross the jammed Panagarh. Thanks to Maruti for building small cars.

The last jam was at Dankuni. Had to wait at Dankuni 4-point crossing due to red light, then at Delhi Road junction for a long time as some trailer was heading towards Srirampur from Kolkata side and was turning right into the Delhi Road. Driving was faster on Kona Expressway and Santragachi passed jamless.

Finally, Tollygunge @ 9:35PM, as mentioned earlier.

[samarjitdhar]

Did this stretch on Sunday to test out the new tires a bit.

Originally Posted by sauravdc

No Toll collection at Dankuni, Palsit and Asansol both ways. The reason, the tendering for toll collection is in process. So no toll collection till a new vendor (or the same one) sits in the toll booths for collection.

The tendering process is complete. NHAI awarded the contract to some Mumbai based company which insisted on bringing their own employees from Maharashtra (to solve Maharashtra's unemployment issues). The existing toll workers have struck work and taken over the toll booths as you might have noticed the prevailing party's flags. They are not ready to become unemployed so easily and enjoy local political support. So its a piquant situation as of now here. Till it is resolved we can enjoy the free ride. I will leave any political discussion aside.

Originally Posted by sauravdc

The last jam was at Dankuni. Had to wait at Dankuni 4-point crossing due to red light, then at Delhi Road junction for a long time as some trailer was heading towards Srirampur from Kolkata side and was turning right into the Delhi Road. Driving was faster on Kona Expressway and Santragachi passed jamless.

This seems to be the new bottleneck here. I don't know why they have not built a flyover here. On a bad day this pileup can go up to about a kilometer and a half. The problem is aggravated because of the illegally parked trucks on both sides cramping up the area. Hope it doesn't become a huge nuisance soon.

[sauravdc]

Hello,

Happy New Year to all.

Returned again from Dhanbad on 29th December.

No toll collection still on this stretch. Had three consecutive free runs (28/11 & 1/12, 19/12 & 20/12, 27/12 & 29/12) in the last month. Tollbooths now look haunted. Saved (??) 120x2x3 = 720 rupees on toll. Petrol is 7.66 rupees cheaper in Jharkhand. Had three tankfulls + jarricanefulls. Totaling 25+34+35 lts, translating into savings of another 720 rupees. Total savings 1440 rupees.

The logic is like saving 40 rupees by running behind a taxi instead of saving 6 rupees by running behind a bus !!

Soon, law of averages caught up. In Dhanbad, an Alto driver was honking continuously behind me. Seemed he was in some emergency. I pulled slightly to the left and applied the brakes to let him pass. The fellow rammed straight behind me at full speed. Amidst the pandemonium that followed, I deciphered, the fellow was honking "... kyon-ki horn toh bajane ke liye diya hai, isilye baja raha tha. Mujhe koi emergency nahi hai" Good logic I thought!! My father (who was with me) quipped: "Kolkata traffic is much smarter, drive here with the difference in mind". Damage: my RHS Tail lamp gone bust, 575 rupees for MGP replacement, rear bumper torn apart, 180 rupees for 'stitching' - typical jugaad style, but good finish. Self-starter motor collected dust, servicing of starter & alternator 300 rupees, fitting of replacement light 20 rupees, ORVM broke being hit by flying pebble spun off a passing car's tyre, removal of broken ORVM & fitting of replacement (opened from my father's car), 80 rupees totaling, 1155 rupees.

Dhanbad to Kolkata on 1/12 - encountered jam in four places, had to drive on the wrong lane to get away in three. Stuck briefly in Dankuni.
Dhanbad to Kolkata on 20/12 - jam in three places, drove wrong lane to avoid two, stuck in Dankuni for over 20 mins and Kona Expway over 30 mins.
Dhanbad to Kolkata on 29/12 - jam in three places, drove wrong lane to avoid one, stuck at Rajbandh for 10 mins & on NH6 for over 55 mins.

Curious how jams occur on 4 lane expressways. I am leaving out the 2 lane Panagarh stretch.

Earlier I could do home-to-home Kolkata-Dhanbad and vice-versa in 5 to 5.5 hrs.
In the last 3 visits, Kolkata-Dhanbad though has remained within 5.5 hrs, Dhanbad-Kolkata have all gone above 6 hrs. 4 hrs from Dhanbad to Dankuni (260 kms) has remained standard. Dankuni to Kolkata home has just gone haywire.

Regards,
Saurav