[Joy]

Congrats San, You have introduced a new place.

At least, peoples are getting interested. Great job done, my friend.

When the father of Indian routes (HVK sir) is asking for chandubi, you should be proud. Great going and keep driving.

[San Phrangmung]

Thanks Joy i myself discovered the place just two month's back. And its really peaceful out there.

The best thing is thats its not far from Guwahati and roads are in good shape too even if narrow.
I had a hard time locating the place on map as well.

The whole national highway is misplaced on google maps beyond Jalukbari. And since the snapshots are unclear, even if one zoom in its of no help.

Please let me know hvk sir's north east thread link as i would like to go through it.

[prince_pervez]

Hey Nice set of pictures those on the last page. Thanks for sharing. What have you done to your Waggy windscreen. I hope that is a temperory adjustment or something.

[San Phrangmung]

Thanks Pervez, 2nd trip snaps taken with 2mp Nokia, so not that clear. But it's got geo tagging so i prefer using it over the 10mp Sony.

As for Waggy's reddish facial, it does get curious looks, from cops specially.

But its so hot out here that i had to do it. Enjoying it till the day someone with authority says the official words!

[San Phrangmung]

Happy Independence Day too all.

For those living in Assam however its a curfew of sort with total shutdown as some organisations have given bandh.

Since road will be empty good day for drive though.

I will try to go out of the city and share the details by midnight.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by San Phrangmung

As for gps it does not work in most places in Assam just as mobile networks.

Which phone model? GPS works without GPRS. Just that GPS modules in phones aren't particularly good.

Originally Posted by San Phrangmung

I will try to go out of the city and share the details by midnight.

Careful!

Regards
Sutripta

[Joy]

HVK sir's all trip log can be found here : hvkumar

Happy Independence Day. Enjoy.

[San Phrangmung]

Just came back from a refreshing drive out of city.
Will log the details slowly in another thread as its a new route, towards Pabitara.
No rhinos but huge potholes abound on way.

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by San Phrangmung

@ Sutripta.
Right said, just signs are not enough, but i am happy that atleast its there.
On way to Nameri i had to forget staying at the eco camp and went all the way to Bhalukpong instead. All because there were no marking or sign showing the way.
So sign does matter a lot, but ofcourse they must provide amenities at the location they point towards.
As for gps it does not work in most places in Assam just as mobile networks. But where ever possible i have uploaded the snaps in Panoramio.

Yes, the road signs do matter a lot. I think Assam tourism need to learn a thing or two from Karnataka about road signs. Almost all over Karnataka you'll find Tourism Road signs just telling you how far are you from a particular tourist spot, be it a Lake or a historical monument or viewpoint. And these signs are of different look and can be distinguished easily from the normal road signs. Will take some pictures and show this idea to some people working at the Tourism Dept in Assam next I go there. May be they can implement something similar there too.

BTW, GPS works everywhere if you can see the sky, probably you were talking about the data connection? I've used GPS and tracked a few routes in Assam.

[San Phrangmung]

Its a Nokia 5230 @ Sutripta and assisted GPS taking que from towers at times. Sometimes it works even if mobile network is not available, its very confusing for me.
Maybe the weather plays a part too.

Thanks Joy i will look for the thread tonight possibly.

I have started a new thread as Guwahati Getaways: Pobitora with todays pictures.

[San Phrangmung]

@ Kaushik mine is a in built GPS with the Nokia 5230 and it acts funny.

It sometimes work at places with no network and won't at areas with 3.5g.

And. yes the local government needs to learn from other states.

[hvkumar]

Thanks, Joy, you can check out my North East India travelogue in teh following link:
kumar'snortheastdrivingholiday - hvkumar

San, I think you need to dispel the widespread notion that North East India is a dangerous place. I have driven to the region 3 times from Bombay and I have only good experiences despite it always having been tormented by insurgencies and such like.

Please give us tips too on driving around in the North East. Examples from my experience: Don't deny kids and youths the petty tips they may demand (impolitely called "extortion") on the highways.

I agree with Kaushik - despite some great work at places like Kaziranga, I have found some past infrastructure like tourist lodges totally abandoned in many places, especially in the north bank districts where I found not a single Assam Tourism lodge/restaurant still running between Baihata Chariali and Itanagar.

But I vote for some fantastic roads in Assam, I have not found too many bad roads in the arterial routes like Tinsukhia-Guwahati, Guwahati-Goalpara or Guwahati-Jonai.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

Yes, the road signs do matter a lot. I think Assam tourism need to learn a thing or two from Karnataka about road signs. Almost all over Karnataka you'll find Tourism Road signs just telling you how far are you from a particular tourist spot, be it a Lake or a historical monument or viewpoint. And these signs are of different look and can be distinguished easily from the normal road signs.
...
BTW, GPS works everywhere if you can see the sky, probably you were talking about the data connection? I've used GPS and tracked a few routes in Assam.

What I was saying was that lack of other infrastructure cannot be made up by road signs.

Originally Posted by San Phrangmung

Its a Nokia 5230 @ Sutripta and assisted GPS taking que from towers at times. Sometimes it works even if mobile network is not available, its very confusing for me.
Maybe the weather plays a part too.

Originally Posted by San Phrangmung

@ Kaushik mine is a in built GPS with the Nokia 5230 and it acts funny.

It sometimes work at places with no network and won't at areas with 3.5g.

Which software are you using? Sportstracker?

Early Nokias (esp the 5800) had a major firmware bug where it would not lock on without AGPS. Since corrected. I don't think the 5230 will have this bug being a recent phone. Still no harm in upgrading the firmware.

I am, as of now, not impressed by the inbuilt GPS modules in phones. It is much better to pair it with a proper BT GPSr. That way you can also keep your (expensive) phone out of the sun.

There are tons of posts on this forum regarding GPS. Pls. go through them.

Regards
Sutripta

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

What I was saying was that lack of other infrastructure cannot be made up by road signs.

Oops, I misunderstood ;-). Well, I've not travelled that much there so I can't comment about it. But from what I've heard it seems like they (Tourism deptt) need to pull up their socks and start doing some serious work. They must learn some lessons from states like Kerala. I mean the way Kerala is promoted is just phenomenal. They need to provide good roads, decent places to stay and eat and then promotion of these places. Just see the Nameri thread and if promoted properly that can even probably have similar amount of traffic flow as in Kaziranga or even Corbett. They are doing a job promoting Kaziranga and to some extent Manas, but other than that it's seriously lacking. I'll give an example, many foreigners I've interacted in some forums wanted to visit Majuli but they were bit apprehensive due to the lack of infrastructure of food and lodging. Hope the picture will change soon for better as the North East has amazing potential as for tourism is concerned.

[San Phrangmung]

@ Sutripta yeah the Nokia GPS acts funny. The OVI maps have not worked even once. Google maps pops up in a few seconds but OVi screeen remains blank forever.

I am going to get myself a GPS logger as suggested by @tsk at the earliest.