| A trip to Bhutan that led to Nepal - Guns, Buddha and BHP
I have always wondered how it would be to drive into another country by road and my added facination for the North East of the
country culminated in my planning a trip to Bhutan. The trip ultimately fell apart at Varanasi and we modified our trip to Nepal
instead.This is a account of how and what happened along with some important event markers.
The trip would be on my '91 Gypsy and accompanying me would be my friend and partner of many road trips, Santosh.
We planned too leave on 23rd Jan and return by 30th after Santosh flew in from Hyderabad on 22nd. The trip was planned with
generous input from Ashit who has lived in Bhutan for 4 years and had planned and executed the flawless trip to Bhutan in December.
Our route was to be:
New Delhi - Agra - Kanpur - Varanasi - Gaya ( NH 2) - Nalanda - Purnea - Siliguri - Phuentsholing (NH 31) and then on to Thimpu.
I met up with Ashit and planned the entire trip and armed with his kind offer to stay at his place in Thimpu, I waited for Santosh to
happen.
This is when things started falling apart and kind of set the tone for the rest of the trip. Santosh was to take off from Hyderabad at 9:30
pm on 22nd and as things would have it he left Hyderabad only at 11 due fog in Delhi. I reached the airport to recieve him only ot be told
the flight was diverted to Jaipur, a event that could candel the whole trip as it ment he wouldnt be in the city till the end of next day
leaving not enough time to do the trip. I reached home frustrated only to get a call from Santosh that he had landed, the trip was on !
We reached home from the airport at 3 am and this meant that our early morning start was screwed. We could only leave by 1 in the
afternoon on 23rd and left Delhi in a hurry to make up for lost time.
Time and Date: 2:25 pm 23rd Jan
Place: Greater Kailash 2
ODO : 7455
Leg Distance: 0
Average Speed: 0
Kilometers in Trip: 0
Started from Delhi at the worst possible time, peak traffic leading out of Delhi slowing us down to a crawl. Reached Ballabgarh amid
bad traffic and stopped to pick up fruits. The traffic pettered out as we gunned out of the city and was good going till we hit our first Toll
gate at Srinagar Toll Plaza. Paid 35 Rs and were off again. It was smooth sailing, engine at full clip, the temp and fuel looking good not
other noises not rattles, life was good and then "thunk" and no response from the accelerator pedal. We coasted to a stop and pulled
aside right next to a mechanic shop.
Time: 5:15 pm 23rd Jan
Place: Somewhere on NH 2
ODO : 7567
Leg Distance: 112 Kms
Average Speed: 37.33 Kmph
Kilometers in Trip: 112
Popped open the bonnet and quick inspection revealed a broken accelerator cable at the carb end. As luck would have it we had
stopped at a mechanic shop and he had the spare cable. Fixed the cable and some play in the clutch pedal and a general inspection
later started again. Lost about 40 mins here. Started off and stopped only about 7 kms before Agra.
Time: 7:15 pm 23rd Jan
Place: 7 Kms from Agra
ODO : 7647
Leg Distance: 80 Kms
Average Speed: 80 Kmph
Kilometers in Trip: 192
Stopped at the "Tee 'n' Gee pure veg" restaurant for a meal of roti, dal, fried chicken and omlette! Food was good. Enquired about how
th eroad conditions were and were being persuaded to stay back at the hotel as the fog was really bad ahead and no other place to
stop blah blah. We thanked the hotel guard for his info and left anyway at 8 to Kanpur.
Time: 2:00 am 24th Jan
Place: Hotel President, Kanpur
ODO : 7926
Leg Distance: 279 Kms
Average Speed: 55.8 Kmph
Kilometers in Trip: 471
About a 100 kms before Kanpur we hit fog, and boy was it bad. Traffic simply stopped dead. No movement absolutely and that made
things worse because people who could or needed to move were stuck behind traffic. In zero visibility we manuevered to the head of
the pack of stopped vehicles. A WagonR driver, a local, asked if we were from the army and could help as they needed to reach Kanpur
soon. We decided to help by leading them. Switched my lights to low beam, switched on my GPS on the phone and my wipers and
started out. Using the line markers on the road and the general orientation of the road from the GPS, we crawled on the road the
Kanpur. We realised that we had become a pack leader for 60 odd vehicles including truckers. The NH2 is surprisingly well made. Most
villages are bypasses by building the road elevated and bordered off on both sides to reduce road incursions. On the flip side it means
that to stop for food or access the village one has to exit the NH and those exits are hard to see in the day at high speed forget at night
or in fog conditions and are not at all marked. We reached Kanpur at about 1:00 am and with much difficulty reached the city as the
inner roads had no markers. We had to rely on my GPS to see how the road turns and plan accordingly. Helped the driver to a place
where he could go on from and reached the hotel at 2 am.
Hotel President: filthy, dusty and cheap. Checked into room 315 for 500 Rs and after making the beds with our sheets ( dont want to
think about the ones they provided) hit the sack.Woke up early at 7 and after a quick review of the fog situation finally left Kanpur at
9:35 am. Decided against stopping anywhere to maximise the distance to be covered during daytime. Felt for the first time things a re
going wrong. Gut feeling that the trip was falling apart but pushed the though away and continued on. Got stuck in a jam at Chodgra
where a bridge under construction made life hell. Frustration building, cuss words flowing till we jumped the kerb and after some yogic
manuevering left the jam behind. Only a Gypsy for this.
Time: 4:30 pm 25th Jan
Place: Outside Varanasi on NH 2
ODO : 8243
Leg Distance: 317 Kms
Average Speed: 52.8 Kmph
Kilometers in Trip: 788
After a break for lunch at a Reliance Khana Khazana, we were cruising along till I heard a loud whine from the engine bay, after a
moment of panic we slowed down and parked aside on the shoulder and popped the bonnet. A prlim inspection revealed a jammed
alternator. Again luck on our side( or is it?) we were about 100mtrs from a mechanic. Slow drive to mechanic and just before I can turn
the ignition off the fan belt gives way. The 'mistry' ( thats what mechanics are called here in UP) askes me if he should fix the old one
ore order a new one for 1000/- , he says its faster to put in a new one and we agree. A new one is brought in and th eprice is bumped up
to 1250/- finally at 5:50 pm we leave with a new alternator. We cross Varanasi on the bypass and after a toll bridge near Mughalsarai the
alternator light comes on and the vehicle starts stuttering, we just manage to enter Mughalsarai and catch the last mistry before he
shuts shop. The owner of the shop, a cussing but helpful sardar, tells us that the new alternator is shot and he has a refurbished Lucas
one for 2000/- and says the local ones are crap. He asks 2k and the old alternator for the refurbished one. After some discussion and
no budging from him we get it replaced but the battery is drained so he sets off to get another from a friend. Another mechanic joins the
party and finally things are fixed at 10:30 pm. We are asked to drop the mechanic at his place 12 kms enroute in our way. We think its a
good idea as we would have some one to help if things broke again. We set off in peak fog outside Varanasi and crawled to the
mechancs home and realised there is no way to go further due to the fog. Decided to turn back to varanasi. This proved to be a wise
decision.
On the way back about 5 Kms from the town, the lights started dimming and the engine sputtered to a halt. The self made no noise at all
. Not a whirr at all. The fog was blinding and we were in the middle of the NH2. Pushed the car aside.The thick fog meant that there was
no traffic on the road and the occasional truck was not willing to stop. Cant blame them I guess. So we take out our mobiles to realise
Santoshs phone is dead and mine has low power. We were hoping to use the car charger to recharge but the battery was now dead. I
tried calling Ashit and just managed to give him our location and situation before I get a low battery warning on my mobile. I was in mid
sentence when the battery died. I stepped out to find it chilling cold ( it was 4 degrees outside) and decided walking was out of
question. We looked at each other.
To be continued. Pics coming up as well. | 
31st January 2010, 12:03
(1)
Thanks
. Things did turn around after this tho
. I like this restaurant.
. You guys were into all problems!
