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From Kochi to Guwahati: A senior couple on an 11,500 km road trip

14th February 2024, 10:04 by Ananth Iyer

The plan was to start from Kochi by mid April 2023 as we had some engagements till 10 Apr, and return by end May before the arrival of Monsoon.

BHPian tomchacks recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Introduction

This is my first travelogue in Team Bhp, though I have been posting comments and replies. I started one in 2013, then gave up due to my own laziness and other engagements. We, ie, me and wife had made many long drives in the past mostly after retirement; all from our hometown Kochi. In Jan 2013 to Goa, Hampi up to Bijapur, Oct -Nov 2013 to Gujarat, Rajasthan via Karnataka, Maharashtra, MP, for 7500 kms and 45 days covering several Tiger reserves. 2017 started off in Feb with a 5000 km drive up to Chattisgarh via AP and MP. All these were in our VW Vento Diesel. We did a Campervan hire and drive covering the entire South Island of New Zealand in 2014 and the Tasmanian Island drive in a rental car in 2019. All these remain unchronicled to date, despite several prompts from friends and family.

Well, this time we promised everybody we will write somewhere and I thought it befitting to post in Team BHP, as we had gained so much information on travel details, road conditions etc from this forum. After my 70th Birthday celebration in Dec 22 and ruing over the lost periods of travel during the Covid period (except for annual drives to Bangalore via Bandipur or Kabani) we started our planning process for a self-drive from Kochi all the way to visit the 7 North East states. Sikkim was excluded as we had visited that state in Feb 2020 along with a Sunderbans visit along with my sister and brother in law.

I hope you will not find my travelogue too long, boring or old fashioned and please excuse any mistakes or errors in the data mentioned. I am all ears for your comments; good or bad.

Planning

The plan was to start from Kochi by mid April 2023 as we had some engagements till 10 Apr, and return by end May before the arrival of Monsoon. The funny part is that as per early Feb plans, and as a sequel to Sikkim tour, my elder sister and BIL were to fly to Guwahati from Delhi and we from Kochi, and then hire an Innova and they will be with us till Imphal. Schedules were made and an Innova was located by 4 Mar. Then my sister had a giddiness issue and they decided to drop out. This gave me an opportunity to proceed with my dream self-drive plan.

The routes to be taken were finalized after detailed study of recent travelogues in Team Bhp as well as from other Vlogs and You Tube videos. My wife Regie also drives and as a rule we avoid night driving and rushed itineraries. I had taken the advice of fellow Bhpians, Dhanush Menon for travel to Tawang and Gunin for general information. Both encouraged us and promised all help if needed. My son had two close contacts in Shillong and Agartala with whom we shared our plan and both gave us confidence on the safety aspects as well as road conditions in the hilly areas. The Shillong contact organizes Bike tours and was well updated on the road conditions in Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Meghalaya. Our initial plan was to drive from Imphal to Silchar and then drive to Aizawl and back as per data available from our study. He advised that the condition of roads from Assam border to Aizawl is very bad and suggested we take a flight from Imphal as flight rates were also low in these NE sectors. This seemed reasonable and on checking fares and frequencies of flights, we chose to fly from Agartala to Imphal which had estimated airfare of around 1600 per person one way. In hind sight the Agartala option proved to be a blessing in disguise as the later events would tell.

Then came another twist in the tale; on 15 March, my sister phones to say, she is OK and they will also join for 2 weeks. We told we had progressed with our self-drive plan and had made bookings too, moreover WRV will not be a right option for 4 passengers. Hearing their disappointment, I offered another solution; fly to Guwahati and hire a car with driver and reach Manas, where we will join by road. Then the two cars will proceed to AP, and up to Kaziranga, from where we will part ways and they will go back to Guwahati. This was accepted and I took on the responsibility of making a separate itinerary for them and book additional rooms. They agreed to arrange a car through their friend in Tezpur.

So the plan till Imphal was finalized and this was how it shaped out when we started on 10 April from Kochi. Considering uncertain weather, road conditions and our apprehensions on the road condition and weather we made booking till departure from Imphal. Flight booking was also left open.

The Plan made before we set off is given as a word file.

THE TRIP

Vehicle- Honda WRV VXD, opening ODO reading- 40,764 km
Tyres- Michelin Primacy original
Service and check up done one week back at Peninsular Honda. Dash cam fixed.
Drivers- self and wife

Day 1- 10 Apr Start from Kochi

Left our house at Vyttila by 1000. We do this late start to avoid the mad evening rush at Bangalore in the evening. Our son lives in Amrutahalli 2 km north of Hebbal and we have to cross the city from south to north. We took the SH from Alathur, Pollachi, Palladom, Avinashi to reach NH544 near Vijaymangalam, mainly to avoid the monotony of the highway and also to avoid Coimbatore bypass. Reached Amrutahalli by 11 pm, with relaxed tea and dinner breaks. 556 kms

Apr 11- planned as a rest day. Fortunately or unfortunately, I developed a fever and had to take rest, literally. As fever did not subside, son and DIL requested we postpone the trip. But as that will upset the plans badly, I decided to go ahead. This was agreed by the family on 2 conditions; start antibiotics immediately and then after every 2 hrs, hand over the wheel to my wife for the next 2 hrs. Usually I do 75% of the driving with two 1 to 2 hr break for Regie.

Day 2- Apr 12 to Vijayawada

Left by 7 AM taking the Hoskote, Chittoor, Tirupati, Nellore, Guntur route to reach Hotel near MG Road, Vijayawada by 7 PM. The two hour break schedule was strictly followed and I was much better by evening. 659 kms

Day 3 – Apr 13 to Rambha

Departure after breakfast by 0830, the drive being all along NH16. The 2 hr restriction was taken off and I was back to my normal drive times. The roads were good all along. Had read about bad patches in the Vizag bypass. Decided to take the bypass and surprisingly it was in good condition and I could drive along the newly built but unopened bypass all the way thanks to following a local car who took a relatively hidden deviation from the old bypass which took us to the new one within 500 mts and presto it was smooth sailing all the way. There were some deviations to be taken but smooth ones. Hardly anybody else for most of the time. Our destination for the day was Rambha where we checked into the Panthnivas OTDC, near the Chilka lake by 1915. 641 km

Day 4 -14 Apr

After 2 full days of driving we had kept our destination as Konark to have a short drive. We had visited Puri/Konark/ Bhubaneswar way back in 1992. Initially thought of taking the Janhikuda- Satapada ferry to reach Puri, but gave up as the OTDC staff said roads are narrow and very bad. Went by Highway and stayed at OTDC Yatrinivas, close to the Sun temple, which we visited in the evening & later the sound & light show. 163 km

Day 5 – Apr 15

After a visit to the nearby beach to see the sunrise, we left by 0830. Before reaching Cuttack, we observed that a scooter was following us and trying to catch our attention. So slowed down and saw it was a young chap. He got down and came to us saying he wanted to meet us seeing the Kerala registration. His name was Suman Kumar Satpathy and he had studied 3 years in Kerala and was now teaching in a nearby school. He was so happy to see us and after taking my phone number asked me to contact him for any help. He kept following up for the next 3 days on Whatsapp about our travel and health. These are the experiences you can get only on a road trip.
We had fixed Durgapur as our destination for the day and so turned away from NH 16 after Kharagpur onto NH 14. After some good 2 lane roads we came across bad patches but manageable. As it got dark and nearing Durgapur, we were forced to take a diversion by the police due to some festival and then Google took over to route us through narrow unlit but crowded bad village roads. There was no option but to follow the “ Google Lady”. We reached our hotel by 1920, travelling 544 km for the day.

Day 6- Apr 16

At the hotel while checking for Arunachal online ILP, it was seen that a negative Covid certificates were needed. So leaving at 0715, we decided to check for some labs on the way as shown by Google. None was there as shown and we ended up travelling along very bad roads to rejoin at Illambazar. We could mostly drive only in 2nd gear. We usually try to eat from small village dhabas and this time saw one run by a couple frying Pooris. They were glad to host us on their bench and opened up about how they had to go to Chennai for medical treatment 2 years back. After eating I gave him 100 rupees as against his demanded 55 and told him to keep the balance, he was reluctant to take that and my wife had to give it to his wife. Road condition improved thereafter and soon we joined up with the 4 laned NH12 from Kolkata. Our progress was impeded by our need to look for testing labs wherever google mentioned so. This proved a futile exercise as none was available or manned. Crossing the Farakka barrage, Malda and Kishanganj we reached our night halt destination Teesta Sundari lodge of WBTDC by 2035. The 522 kms took us almost 13 hrs because of diversion for finding a testing centre. The funny thing was the whole testing hunt became a “Comedy of Errors”. After checking in AP website for ILP, I found this time that no Covid test was needed. I was earlier looking up an old website which had not been withdrawn. An error that caused us a lot of agony in halting and searching for non existent labs! One good thing was the WBTDC place had clean well maintained rooms with all facilities like AC working smoothly. The service was also excellent especially compared to the OTDC lodges.

Day 7-April 17. Into Assam, Manas National Park

We left by 0805 after a good breakfast and soon entered our first destination state Assam. My sister and bro in law had as per earlier plan had flown into Guwahati on 16th and had already reached the Manas NP the same night by a pre arranged taxi. After entering Assam we got a call from her saying that they had gone for the morning safari and it was learnt that from this week onwards, there will not be any safaris at Manas on Tuesdays. We had planned to do 2 safaris on Tuesday. So, she wanted us to reach at the earliest to make it for the Monday’s AN safari. Being our first visit to Assam, we were driving leisurely stopping at the tea estates etc. With another 150 or so km to go and around 3 hrs left if we were to report by 3 pm, necessitated our driving the remaining distance at a faster pace. So decided that we will skip lunch, but have biscuits only. Despite bad narrow roads along the state roads going north from Barpeta on NH 27 to Manas, we reached our booked accommodation at Sikhhri Cottages by 2.30PM. Drive for the day was 308 kms.

The safari Jeep arranged by the hotel had already reached and we went for the safari straightaway entering the eastern gate. Manas NP is a vast green forest with thick grass and straight tracks. There a forest person with a gun came in and occupied the front left seat as we stopped at the check post. This is a routine arrangement after a rhino killed a tourist. Despite a 3 hour drive we could see only rhinos and elephants from afar. Bird sighting also was disappointing. We were travelling along tracks bordering the Bhutan side of the NP. We were happy that we could make it for at least one safari in Manas, UNESCO World Heritage site known for its biodiversity. The Sikhri cottages is located at the edge of the forest and the rooms are all made from bamboo.

Day 8 -Apr 18

Forced day of inactivity due to the Forest department decision making methods. We did some local sight seeing like going to the river side and watching a rhino and calf from the road to the Cottage, getting clothes and the car washed. We had a wonderful lunch from an outlet run by the local Bodo women. The Bodo people have been engaged in the NP as guides, drivers and now the area is peaceful after a period of Bodo agitation. We came across two groups of women singing and dancing and collecting money as part of the Bihu celebrations. The manager of the cottages had a long chat with us on how Assam is peaceful now after the Bodo and other issues were sorted out. He was apprehensive of our plan to visit Nagaland and cautioned us to check before we proceed. We managed to get the Arunachal ILPs for all four of us, which I had applied the previous day online, a fast response indeed.

Day 9- Apr 19 In Arunachal Pradesh

We decided to leave by 0745 so that we have some time in Arunachal before it got dark. The plan was to go to Tawang via Bhalukpong ,Shergaon along the route which I came to know through a Dhanush Menon travelogue of 2017 in Team BHP. This proved to be good route to choose. We entered AP through the Balemucheck post without any issues. The roads on either side of the check post for about 3 kms each were bad; but the rest of the roads till Shergaon was in good condition with sparse traffic, winding and climbing upto around 8500 feet. Most vehicles we came across were the army ones and this road was developed as an alternate Trans Himalayan Highway, from the Chinese border to Assam. The route is very scenic and in good condition. The driver of the hired car in which my sister and BIL were travelling had not been in this route and so I had to lead the way. We checked into Redberry Riverview homestay at Shergaon on the side of the highway by 4.30 pm travelling 267 kms. The host family were staying on the ground floor and we were on the first floor. They had another room on the ground floor plus a newly built cottage outside, which were all booked. Basic facilities, with a disadvantage of having a common toilet on the first floor. The plus point was that we could all sit around the fire place in the living area and exchange travel stories. The other boarders were youngsters and were thrilled to hear the adventures of we, the old guys. We retired for the day after arranging a guide for the next day to show around attractions nearby.

Day 10- Apr 20 - Shergaon the quaint Village

For those who haven’t been here, Shergaon is a mesmerizing village in the eastern Himalayan foothills, with forests around and a stream flowing through. Being April, we were neither here nor there ie; neither spring nor autumn; when all the colours of rhododendron, apples, plums and various berries come into play making it really lovely. One can enjoy the weather walk around or trek into the forest as we did for some time. The population is around 3000 only and people mostly have farms and orchards and live out of it. The guide was a novice as tourism is just picking up as our host told. We visited the Zengbu Gomba and local heritage village, and had a taste of local food at the only restaurant around. Talking of food, the homestay gave us rotis with vegetables grown in their yards and eggs to order. Tea always brews in the kitchen and in the living room at night.

Day 11- Apr 21 Crossing the Sela Pass on to Tawang

Breathing fresh air we left our onward climb by 0730, filled up Diesel (@84.55) at an outlet near Shergaon. There aren’t many in this route. At Rupa, joined with the regular highway from Tezpur. and We took the Bomdila bypass and then onto the winding roads via Senge, Baisakhi (where we stopped for lunch at the Army run canteen) Joginder Singh memorial and Sela pass. By then the roads had become bad and occasional fogs would make visibility difficult. Sela pass at 13700 feet was the highest point we had driven by our own car and we spent some time there enthralled by our achievement. The road conditions were bad for about 8 km after the Sela pass. Our Honda WRV behaved extremely well in the climbs and tricky roads. As Regie has vertigo issues, all the hill area driving was done by me for the entire AP stretch. The drizzle which greeted us at Sela became heavier and we moved on. The road condition turned from bad to worse due to widening works between Jang and Tawang. It was difficult to identify the road ahead due to slushy conditions and diversions. We reached our Hotel Vajra by 1715 when it was already dark. Tawang was the only place where could not find the accommodation we wanted due to many places being sold out by end March. This was a new Hotel, but the gamble was not bad. The rooms were good and comfortable with heaters, but the problem was the endless power cuts for which the Hotel was not equipped to cope with. The restaurant had good food choices then it took a long time to get them served.

Day 12- Apr 22 Tawang

Tawang was cold especially at night, with the temperature showing at 3 deg C. We started our exploration by visiting the famous Budhist Monastery. The streets are narrow and parking space is rarely found around the Monastery. There was a protest march on and lot of traffic blocks. After a lot of manoeuvring I manged to park the car and we walked up to the monastery. This is a big place and had lots of tourists despite the steady drizzle.After that we visited Ana gompa, which is a monastery for women monks, and a unique one. The monastery was empty as the inmates had gone for the procession. The view from the place was wonderful. Next place was the giant Budha stupa, which can be viewed from anywhere in Tawang. We walked around admiring the stupa and willingly accepted the lunch offered free to the visitors. We still had an hour before it got dark and so drove around the city and then booked our tickets for the light and sound show at the War memorial. Before the show started at 6 PM, we visited the War memorial museum. The L&S show by the army was a well organized one highlighting the war of 1962 with China, when their army came all the way to Tawang despite the brave resistance put up by our soldiers like Joginder Singh. The spectators were mostly senior citizens visiting Arunachal, Assam and Meghalaya as part of group tours from Mumbai. Naturally it was a special feeling for us who had heard of the Chinese war while in school, to be present at this place, where it all happened 50 years back.

In our planning we had left out visit to the Bumla pass as my sister felt it would be too cold and hectic. Now after talking to the travel group from Mumbai, she felt we should do it. So the hotel manager collected our IDs and arranged a licenced vehicle to pick us up early morning and bring back by 1 pm latest, so that we could reach our next booked destination in Sangti valley by dusk.

Day 13- April 23 Bumla Pass and descend to Dirang

A Scorpio came at 7 am as promised and the driver was confident that we could finish the visit to the pass and be back by 1 pm. The driver of my sister’s taxi after hearing about the change in plan and late departure became worried. It seems he had in a previous visit had got trapped while going down the Sela pass in the late afternoon and had to sleep in the car due to bad weather forcing the army to close the roads. We told him to be ready by 1 pm and assured we will make it to Dirang without problem. Think of it ; Driver from Kochi giving confidence to a North Assam young professional driver about mountain driving!

Tawang is around 9 to 10 K feet and Sangteswar lake at 12.5 K and Bumla pass is 35 km away at 15 K elevation. The drive up was smooth and after checking by Army personnel at the restricted entry point, we were soon amidst snow covered roads all round. Only army posts and barracks were on the road besides numerous water bodies. At the Y junction, our driver who was experienced and good in his job so far, suggested we visit the Sangteswar lake popularly called Madhuri lake first. By the time we reached there a steady drizzle of snowflakes were falling on us, but we got out and took some photos. Then we moved on to the Bumla pass entry check post where a line of vehicles were already there. By now snow fall had increased and after some 5 kms climb the vehicles were stopped and asked to put on chains on the wheels. This was done fast with the drivers helping each other and then crawling forward. Two vehicles at a time were being allowed to proceed up the steep climb ahead of us. It was taking a long time and after 5 SUVs had climbed up, the next one got stuck in the snow and the one 100 ms below also got stuck. The Army persons from the base had to go up to assist the struck vehicles each time and they were successful so long. But these two were not moving. There were about 12 vehicles ahead of us and behind us were 20 or so with more arriving. Minutes were ticking by and the stuck vehicles were not moving and we were now really anxious about our return timing. As status quo remained even by 11 am, we decide it was time for us to turn back if we were to cross sela before dark and this was concurred by our Scorpio driver. But turning back was another issue with so many vehicles behind on the narrow and dangerous roads. Our driver seemed to be well known and he could get the others behind to cooperate to give way one by one at a wide area. It was interesting to watch how the local drivers would call out loudly to each other for helping out our vehicle to move down. After an hour or so we had left the line behind us and very few vehicles were coming up as the entry was closed now. Our driver managed to take us to our hotel by 1 pm as planned and we were out on the way down by 1.30 pm. After lunch on the way and passing the bad stretches we were able to cross Sela pass by 4.15 pm much to the relief of our taxi driver. Our next halt was at Lanjom homestay in Sangti valley which is 8 kms from Dirang. It was 6.50 pm when we reached Dirang and we lost our way in the dark in the village roads and finally trusting Google and phoning up the Homestay we reached the place on the river banks by 7.30 pm. Though late they prepared dinner for us and we hit our beds in the cottages. 140 kms on the road, but a hectic day.

Day 14 – Apr 24. Sangti Valley

Initially we had thought of a halt at Dirang, but later changed to Sangti valley as we felt that is a better place for a break and relaxation. That is exactly what we did at the beautiful location close to the Sangti river. There was a lot of space for walking and just sitting on the river banks enjoying nature and the good weather. My sister Dr Susan Sharma and BIL Shashi Sharma used the day to visit Mandala Top, which has 108 Buddhist Stupas and also the monastery there. She champions protection of the environment and promotes wildlife through her website indianwildlifeclub.com, which has several of her videos right from the PAL/SECAM days about Corbett NP etc. We met other travellers staying in the property. A Gujarati gentleman who admired our adventure trips, was strong in recommending that we should not take the risk of visiting Nagaland, based on the feedback from his Assamese driver.

Day 15 Apr 25 On to the Plains

We had decided that the two cars are not going in tandem today as I had booked for a check up with Honda service centre at Tezpur and as the halt was at Kaziranga, my sister could make it for an evening safari. On the descending journey we passed through Bomdilla town, Bhalukpong and back in Assam via Balipara to Tezpur. The Honda check up at Honda SC was done fast and they changed the air and AC filter and everything else was OK. The roads were good mostly. We moved on to Kaziranga where we had booked at Kaziranga Eco camp near the central gate. Nice place with an enterprising Manager. 274 kms driven today.

Day 16 April 26 One horned Rhino

The day was spent in two safaris, one from the east gate and the evening one at the central gate. The east safari goes up to the Brahmaputra and covers more areas with thick foliage. The area is mostly made up of grass and wetlands. We saw several rhinos and one at close quarters crossing the road in the evening safari. Other sightings were hog deer, water buffaloes and a vulture, fishing eagle and a hornbill.

The Plan is attached as a word file and some pictures also are given below.

SELF DRIVE to NORTH EAST STATES Team Bhp.docx

Caption 1. Chilka Lake