From here on the journey will become very boring for most of you guys. We are done with all the tourist destinations and what is left are roads and more roads.
Driving Day 5 :
We started from Kanpur at 4am sharp. When we started our journey we were not sure if Allahabad bypass is really complete, since discussions on T-bhp was indicating mixed opinion. Also I was expecting small bad patches near Bihar border and Dumri in Jharkhand. So I had a late evening kind of finish in mind.
Since our hotel was right on the highway, we did not waste anytime and were heading towards Allahabad. First 100kms took us about 75 minutes. At around 145kms from the Kanpur BP end, we reached a point where it read Allahabad to the right and Bypass to the left/straight. There were no barrier/barricades blocking the entry to the bypass so it was clear that the bypass is open. We climbed onto that. The bypass road was very good and desolate. So one can do high speeds here. There were occasional stretches of few kms where the other side was blocked and road became 2-lane, but not for long. I completed the 80kms bypass road in around 53 minutes.
Let me mention here that throughout the complete trip I was trying not to drive high speeds for extended periods of time. This is quite opposite to my usual ways, but it was a pre-decided thought of doing so on this trip. Thus any average speed I mention here and in my log, can be easily bettered in a similar or better car.
Some hazy indicators of the Allahabad Bypass stretch condition.
Here the right arrow marks the Allahabad city and straight for the bypass.
After the Allahabad BP end at 6:50am, we were 80 odd kms from Varanasi. From here to Varanasi we took 1.5 hours, which includes 25 minutes break.
We crossed the Ganga river. Although nothing in this picture makes you feel you are going over a river or what.
Bihar border was around 45 kms away.
Roads were still great.
There was greenery all round.
The Delhi Kolkata railway line, also called the Grand Chord line, runs parallel to the highway most of the time.
Roads continued to be good.
When suddenly few kms before the Bihar border the bypass was still under construction and we had to meander inside a town. We were on narrow 2 lane roads and got stuck in a jam for 10 minutes.
We could see the bypass construction work at a distance.
But to our surprise, once the jam was cleared, 1km later we could again see 4 lane roads.
Now we were in Bihar.
And looks like Bihar had good monsoon this year.
After few kms we were back to GQ quality roads in its full glory.
Around 52 kms after the Bihar border, we noticed that a Reliance A1 plaza was open. We entered there for breakfast.
Surprisingly these guys had an Air-conditioned section too. Welcome to Bihar.
We had a good 45 minutes break here. Fully fed and re-energized we resumed the drive at around 10:40am.
Sasaram BP came and went by. And I started looking for the famous Dehri-on-Sone river bridge.
And here we are on the bridge.
The bridge was 3.2km long (as I vaguely remember).
We crossed the Aurangabad Bypass after sometime.
The trip meter was @ 475kms. And the time was 11:45.
We have traveled 475kms in 7:45 hours which includes breaks of 86 minutes and jam stuck for 10 minutes.
We crossed Dobhi(535kms) at 12:35pm. Soon after came the Jharkhand Border. I don’t remember seeing any check-post across the Bihar-Jharkhand border. But there were 8-10 hawaldar type cops on the border who were stopping every truck to get whatever petty amount they could get. No troubles for cars though.
We crossed Barhi bypass (595kms) at around 1:30pm.
The roads in Jharkhand were more than excellent. Long straight roads with very little population nearby. The area was filled with small shrubs everywhere. Always a mountain was visible in some near distance. Totally loved driving on this stretch.
Then came the Dumri town. This place is also called Isri Bazar. There is no bypass, you have to go through the narrow congested roads. And also lots of potholes on the road.
I forgot to mark how long the stretch continued, but I believe it would not have lasted more than 3-4 kms.
And we are again on the 4-lane beautiful roads. The roads remain like that till we turn right for going to Dhanbad. The Dhanbad railway station is just 6 kms from here.
Sorry for the hazy picture. Just after the right turn.
The time is 3:10 and we have traveled 710kms since we started in the morning.
We have already taken around 100 minutes of break. From here our destination for the day, Bokaro, is just 60 kms. We have been running ahead of the planned schedule, and that is why my pace kept decreasing through the late Bihar and whole Jharkhand stretch.
We reached Dhanbad town and while negotiating the roads to reach the NH32 highway, suddenly Paan spit on our windscreen. There was no bus nearby. It probably came from one of the buildings nearby.
Welcome to Jharkhand, my native state. It is not that it could not have happened anywhere else in the country, but when it happened here I got a mixed feeling of anger and laughter. This place has not changed a bit, and I kind of like the stagnancy here.
Another 1.5-2 hours we were at our home in Bokaro Steel City.
We would spend the next 5 days doing nothing and just idling around. I have come to my home after 8-9 long months.