I drove around 550 km over the weekend, since I couldn't take my SUV.

BHPian Sheel recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I got my Swift 1.2K ZXi+ 5 years back, but, never drove it on highways for over 100 kms. Thanks to elections & SUVs being targeted, I took the wheels of this to drive some 275 kilometres one way over this weekend. My Swift had barely done 30K over the past 5 years.

Initial 50 kilometres, I had to recalibrate for the flighty feeling because of the build quality, so I was cruising a bit slower (still faster than most traffic), but had not gained confidence. Crossed Siliguri and drove to the hills & jungle area.

While coming back, gained some confidence & had some fun, if I drive it more, will change the tyres to 195s and maybe get some damping done. But, it was fun in its own way, while returning, I was alone, and could have as much fun as I could, safely.

On a few occasions, after 5K RPM, I observed the engine / ECU trying to rev-match, I did this but had not done so on those occasions. While returning on a flat 2-lane highway I was having a blast, though somehow, the brakes, plus, the light feel were diluting the experience.

No pictures, sorry, instead, a small dashcam footage of the drive

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This time there had to be a plan. Bhutan policy for Indian tourists had changed.

BHPian shyamg28 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Wife, Strom & I - Bengaluru -> Bhutan -> Bengaluru, 2023

Bengaluru -> Nellore -> Vishakhapatnam -> Bhubaneshwar -> Durgapur -> Phunsholing -> Thimphu -> Phobjika -> Punakha -> Paro -> Siliguri -> Patna -> Ambikapur -> Bhilai -> Hyderabad -> Bengaluru.

Wife & I had been to Bhutan back in 2019. No SDF (Sustainable Development Fee), Green Tax, mandatory guide etc. We rented an extremely well maintained RE Thunderbird 350 back then. Did a similar route within Bhutan and returned home via flight.

Once again, the itch to ride back to Bhutan on our own steed

This time there had to be a plan. Bhutan policy for Indian tourists had changed. I do believe it was largely owed to a bunch of bikers who stood atop their stupas and danced to glory, while recording it for social media.

This thread should act as a solid guide if you want to head to Bhutan on bike/car yourselves.

The short of it is, the following charges are nearly non-negotiable -

• 4500 per day green tax for your own vehicle (regargless of whether it's a car or bike).
• 1200 per person per day SDF.
• Guide + car (yes, the guide needs a car even if you don't lol) - negotiable, can range between 3000-4500. If you have space in your car, the guide comes along and you save the cost of the rented car.

Sounds expensive yes, but once we decided we wanted to go, we went.

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The Kalhatti Ghat was easily conquered by the Beetle. The 1300 CC Beetle is really sporty and I understand was really excellent up the 35 hairpin bends

BHPian KPS recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Madras Heritage Motoring Club (MHMC) in association with GEDEE Car Museum, Karnataka Vintage and Classic Car Club (KVCCC) and Nilgiris Vintage and Classic Car Club (NiViCCA) had lovely drive to Ooty, after a stopover at Coimbatore.

Since I could not make it due to my work commitments, my good friend Srinand decided to take my Beetle!. He ditched his unfaithful British cars to understand the hype about this German car

The family and especially the kids were very happy to go in the Beetle.

Towards Coimbatore

They left early to beat the traffic

After Breakfast at Murugan Idli at Krishnagiri, they set off towards Salem, where the Madras Group would arrive

Speeds up to 50-55 miles can be easily maintained by this car

At Salem, the regrouping with the MHMC cars

At Salem, the regrouping with the MHMC cars

After an over night halt and display at GeDee Museum, the cars moved onwards to Ooty

Off to the Queen of the Hills

Ooty....

The Kalhatti Ghat was easily conquered by the Beetle. The 1300 CC Beetle is really sporty and I understand was really excellent up the 35 hairpin bends

Display at Ooty for two nights

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I managed to achieve an average of 93Wh/km, factoring the average cost of electricity across all charging sessions, cost per km was 1.95 rupee.

BHPian thilak29 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Preface - In July, MD (When 17 cars get drenched in the rains | 2000 km journey to the Konkan coast | Monsoon Drive 2023) helped me explore some beautiful stretches in the Konkan region, however the itch to travel was not satisfied completely. I was looking for an opportunity and that neatly landed on my lap. I work remotely on most days of the month and visit the office for some days for in person interactions, so there came the need to be in office around the 21st of Aug. The previous week also happened to be a long one. So, I decided to take a long drive from Puttur (a small town on the coastal belt of KA) to Bangalore. Instead of taking a routine route via Hassan, the idea was to take a longer one, really long!

Vehicle - Back in April, I did a Puttur - Hyderabad drive in Compass, this car is a good highway rider, munches miles well and feels comfortable onboard. I took delivery of Tiago EV around mid-March. Since then, I have done multiple trips to Bangalore in this and even been to Pondicherry recently. This car has its fair share of positives and limitations of its own. I felt a long drive in an EV could be an enjoyable experience to have, mostly seen as an experiment with potentially uncertain outcomes. Finally, the choice was the Tigao EV. The day before the journey the car was washed, minor DIY detailing and charged to the brim at home.

Intent - Old things charm me, things stuck in time or ones that act as time capsules/vehicles to take us back to a time when realities were different.
I have been planning a visit to Thanjavur for many months, for various reasons it just did not materialise despite best efforts. After watching the Ponniyin Selvan series of movies, this urge only became stronger. The other place which caught my attention is Karaikudi/Chettinad belt. The business adventure stories (stretching to far regions like Burma) of people from this part have engaged me in the past.

So, Thanjavur and Chettinad were central to travel, and any other interesting place around them were considered too.

Route -

Plugshare is that tool which EV owners rely on to plan their travel by meeting charging requirements. It's a simple app/web interface offering enough inputs to have fairly reliable route planning. I spent couple of hours and finalised this route -

Home - Palakkad (via Kozhikode) - Madurai(via Palani) - Chettinad - Thanjavur - Trichy - Mahabalipuram - Kanchi - Bangalore (via Krishnagiri) <few days in Bangalore > - Hassan - Home

Here is the route map:

Itinerary -

Day 1:

I started early (just before 5AM) as I had a longer distance to cover. The first stop for charging was at Kannur (GO EC), a marked site on the premise of a mall. I initiated charging and headed for a place to have breakfast, Indian Coffee House about half a km away. Tasty food, decent coffee. When I reached the car, it had charged to 90% and I decided not to wait further (the last 10% usually takes longer as charging rate significantly reduces to enable thermal and cell balancing activities). I had marked another charger at Perintalmanna (from GO EC), as I reached closer, I noticed the charger was occupied (app shows the status) and this town had a couple of other chargers to choose from, based on proximity I set destination to an EESL (Govt. entity) run charger. The site of this charger left me surprised - in the middle (literally) of a busy private bus stand (see pic). I initiated charging and started scouting for a good place that serves a good Avil Milk. After finding one and relishing it, I noticed the car was about to reach 85% and I made it back to the charging station to see curious peepers around the car. I disconnected the charger and set Palakkad as my lunch venue (with a charger, Go EC again). The drive to Palakkad was nicer than what I had experienced since entering Kerala. I reached the lunch venue (closer to 3PM, rather late for lunch, I know! But Avil Milk was heavy with all the rich fillings!). At this place, my aim was to get the car fully charged as the road ahead involves inclined elevation and there is going to be higher charge consumption. Restaurant had only North Indian curries and Kerala Parotta to offer that late (BTW- never understood the logic of not offering local curries with local breads!), lunch and a mocktail in and I was out of the restaurant. This location was like ones you notice in western countries where a stopover place has stores, restaurants, kids play areas, restrooms within a compound (of course this had EV chargers too). We need more of this! After some strolling, answering a few questions on charging from strangers, and helping a fellow EV owner figure out the charging process using the second gun, Tiago reached 100% levels. Next planned stop for a quick top up was Palani. There were two chargers in this holy town (run by Relux and Zeon individually). Zeon showed offline, tried calling their customer care, calls were not connecting at all despite repeated tries. I sent them a Whatsapp to know if there is any issue at their Palani site. I kept driving towards Pollachi and that evening drive was one of the best I have experienced recently. Top class roads, coconut groves on both sides, minimal traffic to encounter. This joy of driving was interrupted by a call from Zeon who informed me that the site will be under maintenance for the next two days. I knew at that moment; this wasn't a good sign. I exited Pollachi town and parked on the kerbside to look at options at hand.

• Option 1 - Continue to Palani, hoping Relux charger is available (may be with some waiting)
• Option 2 - Drive Dindigul and top up there (slight risk of experiencing limp mode)

I took my chances and decided to head to Palani. Sun gradually changed the hues in the sky, tall windmills on both sides of the road began to appear and disappear, roads were wider and very well laid. Somehow my mind was numb to these changes and kept wondering “What if?” and I still had about 180 kms cover for the day.

The Relux charger continuously appears busy. I still decided to take a diversion from the highway and drove towards the Relux charger site in Palani. Town was very crowded (for the weekend or for some religious reason?) The charger was set up right at the foot hill entry to the temple. A BYD Atto was plugged in and there were 5 Nexons in the queue for this charger. That sight made me realise, ‘What if’ is now a harsher reality to reckon. I did a quick calculation to see if I could make it to Madurai comfortably, the answer was no. I called up Tata in Dindigul to understand if they allow charging post business hours, they said yes! I was happy and the well-lit hills of Palani appeared even more beautiful than I found a few moments ago. By entering Palani and exiting it, I clearly lost some range. Now I had to drive conservatively, stay frugal for the next sixty-five kms to avoid limp mode on a highway. That is exactly what I did and reached the Tata charger in Dindigul, I put it to charge up and called the Hotel I had booked to inform about late check in. I pushed back and took a good nap. I woke up to the knocks on the windows, disoriented with an unexpected wake call, asked that stranger if something was wrong? He politely apologized for waking me up and asked if he could use the charger if my needs were met. Dashboard indicated 85% and charging, I happily agreed and moved on.

The drive to the hotel in Madurai was pleasant and I checked in. Before I checked in, I glanced at the trip reading.

Total Drive: 590 km

Duration: 16 hours (Google map says typical time is 14 hours, not bad, eh?)

Day 2 :

Plan for the day was to visit Chettinad and Athangudi. Courtyard by Marriott in Madurai had a Charge Zone set up, while the car got charged and spent time on breakfast.

My first destination was Athangudi Palace. Palace is situated in the middle of nowhere in a village, this place is popular for its unique designer floor tiles. Palace access was limited to a few portions, however whatever I saw was indeed beautiful. I stepped out and strolled the streets of the village to find a couple of antique shops and shops with woodwork on display.

On my way to this palace, I noticed a few huts preparing tiles and packing them (it was Sunday!)

On my way out I stopped at one of such huts to see them at work. The person kindly invited me inside and explained to me the entire process with a demo. As I was about to leave, he handed me over his cards and mentioned he has a YouTube channel highlighting designs and work, impressive!

I left Athangudi and reached Kanadukathan village. This village is full of deserted palatial buildings with planned,marked streets. I parked my car and took a long walk around this village only to find myself astonished. So many abandoned structures (some are being renovated or partly occupied with small commercial establishments) in a few blocks of this area. Beautiful buildings, well laid townships, large courtyards - indeed tragic.

I found a nice restaurant built in a renovated structure. The restaurant had just opened for lunch. The food was not ready, that gave me ample time to experience the beauty of that building and interiors. I relished a delicious Chettinad vegetarian thali, and it was the best one I had in recent times.

Post lunch I visited a couple of handicraft shops and liked a few of their works, ending up buying them.

Next in plan was to visit Karaikudi town to visit antique stores, Google said, being Sunday, most shops will be closed. I missed this detail during the planning of this day's itinerary. I headed back to Madurai, an enjoyable drive except for the blaring sun. I noticed EV efficiency dropped, possibly to keep the car cabin and battery at optimal temperature.

Back in Madurai, headed back to the hotel, parked the car and headed for a walk. I took interest in a couple of eateries around, tasted local snacks and tried a popular drink called jigarthanda in a shop serving this for the last five decades (not impressed)!

Day 3

Visit to Madurai is incomplete without visiting Meenakshi Temple; I personally prefer visiting temples early in the mornings for the serene experience it offers. After I had returned from Chettinad drive, the car was not charged. Since I left home, the car was getting charged with fast chargers only, I wanted to break that cycle with a slow charging session. I had noted two Zeon chargers within a couple of kms of range where I could get this done. Both locations were within premises of prominent hotels, around 4 AM I checked out from my hotel and the car had 13% of charge left. I visited the charging point (JC Residency) and found it occupied with an ICE car parked. Security refused to move the car stating there was limited parking space at their hotel. He even tried to falsely claim that the charger was out of order, which was not the case. I left that place and headed to the other one (Regency), I left the car to charge. The car indicated that it may need approx. 4.5 hours for slow charging to complete, I was in no hurry either. Temple of few kms away and I hopped on to an Auto. Being a popular temple, there was some crowd already, the entire temple complex was imposing. After some wait, I entered the temple's sanctum sanctorum. After darshan, I roamed the temple complex to experience its vastness and beauty. I left the temple complex, looked up Google for a good breakfast joint and found one. A good long walk and tasty food there made it all worth it. The car was showing inching towards 90 plus SOC and I headed back to the place where it was parked all this while. As there were a few more minutes left for it to reach 100% level, I began planning the day (possible charging stops, place of interest, hotel check ins etc.), the next destination was Trichy.

Driving to Trichy from Madurai involves some extremely good roads and beautiful recurring landscapes I have experienced. After a couple of hours of driving, time to charge and take a break. I reached Trichy and completed the check-in formalities at the hotel I booked and without wasting much time, I headed to Thanjavur. When I reached, it was past my typical lunch hour, I looked up for a good place to find a popular one and reached to find it crowded, waited a bit and the meal was delicious.

Next stop was a handicrafts shop run by TN Govt, near the restaurant where I had my lunch. I made some purchases and asked the store manager if he was okay with having my car parked in front of their shop for the next couple of hours. He happily agreed (insisted I return before 7 PM though) and I left for a city stroll and reached the magnificent temple of Thanjavur.

Words fail to describe its magnificence. The sheer fact that someone conceived the idea and executed it so well makes my heart swell with pride for the engineering and management skills we natively had many centuries ago to execute projects of this scale.

On my way back I stopped briefly for a charging session and headed back to the hotel.

Day 4

Srirangam is a river island and is famous for the temple with the largest Gopuram in the world. I started at the wee hours after checking out, the drive was short, town was waking up to the smells of flowers and filter coffee. There was some waiting to enter the innermost portion of the temple but nothing discomforting.

After Darshan, I started my drive for the day - Mahabalipuram was the destination. The previous night, I had planned my itinerary in detail with stopovers for charging/food breaks. I reached Mahabalipuram in the afternoon. Since it was Independence Day/Holiday, it felt there was a good number of people in that small quarter of the area. The entire city was choked with traffic and the sun was blasting mercilessly. I had decided to leave my car for a slow charging session at a resort and take a walk to beach side structures. The folks at the resort were friendly and allowed parking/charging.

That day Red Bull had arranged a sea surfing event as well, which had many onlookers. I did not find this place exciting, unsure if it was poor crowd management or scorching heat or the way ASI managed this site. I left Mahabalipuram and drove to Kanchi.

Day 5

As you would have guessed from earlier posts, my morning routine is to visit a prominent temple, so I visited Kanchi temple. The temple is well maintained (must have been renovated) and serene.

I had to reach Bangalore in the afternoon, so I left Kanchi to finish breakfast. There were two routes to opt from, via Hosur or Kolar. Based on charging option availability, I felt Hosur one is better compared to one via Kolar (this route has chargers but not well spread).

I made two stops (Vellore and Krishnagiri) for quick top ups, reached Bangalore. Chennai - Bangalore highway is undergoing maintenance and makeovers at multiple points, so the pace was not that great.

Roads & Drive -

• KL is working on widening their highways, state highways were decent but national highways were terrible
• In KL, Buses were rash, I wonder why no one protests (considering the state has a thing for protests) for their unsafe driving putting citizens at high risk, I have witnessed so many near misses due to their negligent timing.
• Palakkad to Madurai was a beautiful drive to experience with a good mix of roads through the rural setup of Pollachi and good highways.
• 99% of roads I experienced in TN were in top shape, kudos to those who made this possible, no wonder this state is progressing well.

What I couldn't do -

I wanted to visit Pamban bridge and reach the tip of Dhanushkodi from Madurai. However, two chargers enroute to enable this were not reliable, hence dropped the idea.

Charging experience -

• Charging stations (barring one, near Melur) had marked parking and easily accessible.
• TN and KL has best charging infra as on date, undisputedly
• Chargers were reliable, experienced power outage only once which was restored within a few minutes.
• Most use hardware from ABB or Delta, few in KL seem to be China made.
• In KL charging costs nearly half much as seen in TN or KA
• Have patience to answer questions (most are repetitive to you) from curious individuals

Efficiency & cost -

I managed to achieve an average of 93Wh/km, factoring the average cost of electricity across all charging sessions, cost per km was 1.95 rupee.

After a couple of days spent in Bangalore, I headed home and when I reached home the trip meter showed above numbers.

That concludes my solo drive in a little EV.

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.

We want to explore some places while we drive to Croatia or Norway. If there is a 3rd place someone could recommend, that would be amazing.

BHPian humyum recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I have just landed in Netherlands 2 days back and my girlfriend and me are planning a roadtrip from Amsterdam to either Croatia or Norway from this Friday 28th to 5th Saturday. She has her holidays starting from Friday in the 2nd half and we would want to leave right then.

I have never driven in Netherlands before but I have driven in India for 20 years around of my life and have lived in Uk for a couple of years where I have driven a few times.

We want to explore some places while we drive to Croatia or Norway. If there is a 3rd place someone could recommend, that would be amazing.

I saw car rentals online and most of them for a small hatchback with unlimited mileage are coming to 28 to 30 thousand rupees for 8 days.

Can you please help me plan this trip as I left from India with such a hectic work month that I never got a chance to plan this out.

Here's what BHPian NomadSK had to say on the matter:

That's around 7 days road trip and Norway is quite a big country to explore, from South to North. It took me 5 weeks to explore a bit of Norway+Sweden.

Both Croatia and Norway are quite far from Netherlands for a 7 day road trip.

If at all you want to explore, Germany, particularly South Bavaria (Fussen - Neuschwanstein castle) is an amazing place to visit. In addition, can plan for nearby Austrian alps for salt mines and lovely village at Hallstatt.

It will give you good enough "drive time" and exploring few exciting places within the duration.

But if you are hellbound for Norway, Then,

Head straight to Port Hirtshals, Book a Ferry and cross over to Norway, Drive to Stavanger/Bergen/Voss and head back to Netherlands. I guess that would be possible in 7 days.

Here's what BHPian dileepcm had to say on the matter:

I have been to both of the destinations from Netherlands by road. Honestly 7 days is just not enough to have a good trip. If I have to make a recommendation out of the two, South of Norway would be my pick. Here is my travelogue on Norway (A glimpse of Norway - a week on the roads).

I don't have a write up for Croatia but if you have any questions, pls let me know.

Alternatively, South of Germany (Black Forest area) or North of Italy are good alternatives.

Austria (Road trip during Corona times - Netherlands to Austria) is also a good destination for a week.

Here's what BHPian libranof1987 had to say on the matter:

To be honest: looks like you have a lot going on, and you want to accomplish a further lot in this short time. Understandable  But it doesn't seem practical.

First, forget Italy. It is a good way across the continent, and you'll spend your time to and fro, rather than in Italy. I suspect the main objective is for you two to spend time together, rather than go on a whirlwind sightseeing tour?

How about focussing on nearby cities / countries? Perhaps Belgium and north-eastern Germany? Or even the UK - if your visa allows entry. You've specifically said road-trip; if that isn't a hard criteria - train / bus / flight travel will open up all of Europe!

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Total toll charges came to around 9500/-, which worked slightly more than 1Rs/KM

BHPian PrideRed recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

For quite some years now, we having been doing road trips. With kids however we realized we cannot do road trips the same way we used to do earlier. In 2022 we were planning for a road trip, my younger kid was yet to complete 2(elder one was 5) and were not sure if kid can endure long distances. Northeast was under consideration, due to distance and kids age we decided to do Uttarakhand circuit. And instead of driving all the way from Bangalore, we flew to Delhi and then rented a self-drive car (Creta), drove from Mussoorie- Auli-Ranikhet-Rishikesh and few more places. Returned to Delhi by including Amritsar. We had covered close to 3K KM’s which gave us confidence and idea on planning trip with little ones.Come 2023 we were sure of doing roadtrip from Bangalore and had shortlisted Sikkim and Arunachal. While Sikkim was easier and would comfortably suit within 17-18 days leave, we had in hand, northeast was always a dream. After weeks of planning, finally shortlisted a plan. Thanks to friends, tbhpians who helped in refining and finalizing the plan.

While we did not have concrete plan for return journey and were keen on taking the same route back (visiting Vizag), made some changes last minute and decided to drive via Varanasi-Nagpur. During our Uttarakand trip, we realized 8-9 days on same terrain gets boring due to which we ended up driving to Amritsar for a change. So, we repeated same and ended up driving via Varanasi. Below is the itinerary and plan we finally did:

The circuit

The car for our trip

Day 1: Bangalore-Rajahmundry

We started from home at 4:00 AM and hit Tirupati highway in no time. Had packed sandwich for breakfast and Parathas for lunch which helped us in saving some time. Kids slept until we stopped for breakfast somewhere post Tirupati. Reached Rajahmundry by around 4:00 PM and checked in at Anand Regency which we found first while entering the city. Checked-in, freshened up and took a rickshaw to Godavari ghat. We spent some time at banks of river Godavari and returned back post sunset. Did some local shopping and back to hotel by 7 pm. Had dinner at hotel which was decent.

Hotel and Road

Hotel Anand Regency was decent and within city limits and was clean. Comfortable beds, spacious room. Since we kept most of our luggage in car, secure parking was important which the hotel had.
We took the usual Bangalore-Tirupati Road, which is in fantastic shape. One can easily do Tirupati in 3-4 hours. Tirupati to Nellore had some bad patches though did not have much issue with Fortuner. I driven via same road, 4-5 months before while visiting Vijayawada. Nellore- Rajahmundry was breeze, mostly 6 lanes as I recall.

Beautiful Godavari

Day 2: Rajahmundry-Bhubaneshwar

Day 2 was relatively easy journey as we had to cover only around 600 odd KM. Thought of visiting Puri temple but cancelled plan later as kids would find it difficult with queue and heat. Chilika lake was on the way and we spent some time by the lake. We were ahead of schedule and on the way decided to visit Gopalpur beach. Nothing fancy but a good and clean beach nonetheless. We had our lunch at a restaurant by the beach. It’s about 10-15KM detour from highway. Reached Bhubaneshwar by 4:00 pm. There were plenty of speed cams as we reached closer to Bhubaneshwar. So far haven’t received a challan, so assuming I did not go over speed or speed cams were not functional. Later for dinner, we went out to meet my college buddies and had a good time revisiting memory.

Hotel and Road

We stayed at highway Hotel La-franklin. The hotel was very close to highway which means easy exit next day. Rooms were good and had secure parking. Nothing fancy, just clean place which is what we were looking for.
Roads were good throughout though there was some traffic we encountered after exiting Rajahmundry city. The bypass to Vizag was okay and did consume some time. Roads are mostly 4 lanes, however one need to keep watching out for speed cam. Post Vizag bypass, we did not find good place for breakfast/Lunch.

@Gopalpur Beach

Hotel Parking

One with LC 300

Day 3: Bhubaneshwar-Kolkata

Started at 7:00 AM from hotel as we were anticipating rather easy drive. We did not find decent restaurants but few KM’s and we found series of sweet shops (might be Pahala) at highway and stopped for quick breakfast. We had some variety of rasagulla, some chats and some more sweets. While the place is not very hygienic, food tasted good and our tummy did not go for a toss. By noon we crossed WB and stopped at a Bengali restaurant for lunch. We reached Kolkata at around 3PM and settled at hotel Fortune Panchwati. Having visited Kolkata earlier, did not dare to drive and hired cab from UBER. Visited Victoria Memorial, Howrah Bridge and few other popular places. Did some shopping before settling at Haldirams for dinner. We found taste ok and did not rekindle same memories as last visit. The Jhal Muri near Victoria memorial which we had earlier was quite good. We spent good 4-5 hours exploring the city and felt the city hadn’t changed much since my visit couple of years ago.

Hotel and road

We stayed at hotel Fortune Panchwati which was at outskirts of city. We usually look for hotels which are closer to highway which helps us to check-in sooner and checkout without having to drive through traffic next day. The rooms were typical 3 -4-star grade and got a parking right in front of my room.

The roads were bad in some sections though nothing that caused problem to Fortuner or for that matter any other car with good GC. We took little more time than anticipated though, thanks to bad roads and diversions. I think Bangalore to Kolkata can be done in 2 days if you plan well.

Legendary Kolkata Taxi

@Kolkota hotel parking

Day 4: Kolkata-Siliguri

Going by threads here in tbhp and discussion with friends, this was supposed to be among the challenging stretches due to traffic, road conditions. We started early at around 4AM. Filled diesel on the way and gmaps took us through tiny villages. I don’t really recall the names and the exact route we took. While the roads were good it did take some time. Once we hit 4lane it was breeze/ We crossed dreaded Farakka in no time and after Malda, roads were pretty good. We did not stop for breakfast instead decided to use our packed theplas/snacks in car. For lunch, stopped at a restaurant before Farakka. Overall, may be the day we travelled or the time, the drive turned out to be much easier than we anticipated. A lot of bypasses were open, which also helped the drive. We were used to seeing tea estate in mountains but were fascinated to see tea estate in plain lands as we approached Siliguri. We stopped at places to click some pictures and some locals allowed us to take car inside the estate. Initially we planned to stay at city as we did not find good stay in outskirts but later found out a decent hotel near highway. Turned out its little interior though rooms were good and big. While we are used to staying at secluded place, was a bit apprehensive this time as we were the only guest at hotel. That said we didn’t encounter anything bad, had good dinner at hotel and called the day. Morning, we clicked lot of pictures and the campus was really beautiful amidst tea estate.

Hotel and Road

Stayed at Swastika Eco Park – while the place is nice, surrounded by tea estate, would not recommend to all as it is secluded and away from city and highway. Food was decent and hygienic. The approach road is bit off-road and might be difficult for sedans.

The roads as I mentioned turned out to be much better than we anticipated. Compared to previous day, felt the road surface was better and traffic was lighter too. Some bypass appeared to be opened recently, which helped the drive.

On the way to Siliguri

Captured at Siliguri Hotel

Day 5: Siliguri-Mangaldoi

Started at 6M and drive was scenic amidst tea plantations. Stopped at a small restaurant and had hot parathas for breakfast. We were not sure if to drive to Guwahati or stop at some other place. We could not find many decent places other than Bongaigaon, which we felt was too early. While casually browsing found a hotel Repose at Mangaldoi and decide to stay there. Found a Toyota service centre by highway at Barpeta Road and tanked up AdBlue. The local staff recommend hotel Rekha and we had sumptuous Assamese thali. While we were few KM’s away from hotel, spotted school folks practicing/celebrating Bihu and kids wanted to have a look. We parked car at about 50M away and event was happening at school ground near road. While we were at venue, noticed few folks in bicycle approaching car and trying to peek at stuff inside. Immediately we rushed back to car, they started moving back as they saw us come to car. It might have been folks were curious but I realised that we should have avoided parking as we were in a KA car in an unknown place. Nothing untoward happened and we reached hotel at around 5PM .

Hotel and Road

Stayed at Repose Highway Resort – one of the best stays in our trip with clean, well done and beautiful rooms. They had large play area for kids where we spent rest of the evening. Attached restaurant served some lip-smacking food and among the cleanest kitchens I have seen.

The roads were good and scenic. No major cities and driving across countryside were beautiful. Mostly 4 lane roads with few diversions. Also noticed a lot of huts supplying AdBlue, the price was around 57, which is significantly cheaper than Toyota AdBlue. Wasn’t sure about quality hence decided to fill at Toyota. Drove via Bongaigaon-Barpetta-Mangaldoi. We were driving very close to Bhutan border and on the way, we could spot a lot of Bhutan registered cars. Looks like Bhutan loves Toyota, lot of Old Prado/LC were seen.

Bihu Celebration near Mangaldoi

Day 6: Mangaldoi-Dirang

The drive was a short one though we had to climb. Probably could have made it to Tawang but we wanted to keep it short. Had a breakfast at hotel and started at around 8AM, and driving slowly, taking pictures and enjoying the drive. Stopped at what appeared like a tiny hut for lunch which served some good Momo’s and noodles. It was a nice lunch while some locals engaged in good conversation. Reached Dirang around 4PM. Initially we planned to stay at Bomdila but decided to push towards Dirang. There are few places you can visit like Shyok valley, Thembang village etc. We decide to visit monastery, which was beautiful and stroll around the sleepy little town. Dirang is at lower altitude compared to Bomdila and is by the river which is a different experience. We spent good enough time at monastery enjoying the views.

Hotel and Road

Stayed at Hotel Mandala which was neat and clean, just what we needed for a night. For what it offers, was a bit pricey but again had good parking and car could be seen from room. The hotel again is on the way to Tawang, which means easy start next day.

Road is fantastic, though single lane and twisty. We were asked for ILP (which we procured online) and checking was done quickly. The security personal checked IDs and let us through. We could see some snow-capped mountains. Traffic was sparse and we did take some detour which took us to some beautiful places.

Beautiful Dirang Monastry

Little waterfall near Dirang

Continue reading BHPian PrideRed's travelogue for more insights and information.

If you're alone & feel uneasy, pull over and take a 30-45 minute break. Take your meds, hydrate yourself & then only continue.

BHPian joelinf recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Dear BHPians: Driving means a lot for us. What if we have a fever or migraine during driving? What precautions are to be followed for such minor illnesses? Should we stop driving till we get normal or is it ok to drive with some moderate uneasiness? Can't find a relevant thread.

Here's what BHPian Geo_Ipe had to say on the matter:

Yes you need to STOP driving if you are physically unwell. Something which you may consider as minor or moderate, like a fever or a headache will tire you out and can cause your reflexes to slow.

I do get migraine attacks and I always carry my headache meds in the car. A migraine doesn't attack suddenly - you'll know when it's starting. The key is to take the pain killer early and not allowing it to blow up into a full on attack. I make sure I'm well hydrated, even though it means more frequent bio breaks and wear sunglasses as glare is a trigger factor for me.

If you're alone & feel uneasy, pull over and take a 30-45 minute break. Take your meds, hydrate yourself & then only continue. If you have someone else to share the wheel with, do not hesitate to ask them to take the wheel - no shame in doing so.

Yes, driving does mean a lot to all of us - provided it is done SAFELY!

Here's what BHPian supermax had to say on the matter:

In Sweden, driving when ill or when fatigued, or sleep deprived is treated exactly as drunk driving; with a stiff fine and impounded license. Minor cold, throat pain etc should be okay, but a severe headache or even a very persistent cough is not good to drive with.

Here's what BHPian anjan_c2007 had to say on the matter:

We as adults should be wise enough to adjudge as to whether we are physically fit at the moment to drive the distance involved.

If the answer is "yes" can go ahead. If "no" we must decide not to drive but either take help from a driver, friend or else engage an aggregator's cab.

It is always advisable to drive a four wheeler even if we feel a wee bit unwell. Its less strenous than driving a two wheeler.Always avoid driving a two wheeler with even a minor health setback.

Here's what BHPian rajeev_sulu had to say on the matter:

Any condition which renders you less than 100%, warrants that you don't drive. However, situations may arise where you may have to drive with minor conditions. All you need to do is be xtra careful. Most importantly, avoid driving after taking medication for cold etc. Antihistamines make you drowsy.

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I have enjoyed these drives more than the newly built expressways with lots of traffic.

BHPian ChiragM recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

A few drives in the direction of Mysore have shown me some very very good B-roads to drive on very close to the city. These roads are through the calm and peaceful countryside, with the window down and fresh air, through small villages, with greenery and flowing rivers and streams around, and very little traffic. I have enjoyed these drives more than the newly built expressways with lots of traffic.

I also enjoy late night drives through the empty city streets.

I haven't done any off-roading and driving flat-out on a track so no opinions there.

Enjoying these drives has also got to do with the N-Line - a small hatchback with enough power and a good exhaust note (in the city and the countryside).

All these pics were taken very close to Bangalore, at the max, at Ramanagara, and some before Bidadi as well:

So what kind of roads do you prefer to drive on?

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

Awesome thread!

• Early morning is my first preference as I am an early riser. Compared to late nights, early mornings give you superior visibility, empty roads & no drunk drivers.

• Also love night cruising around Bombay.

My ideal local drives:

• Early morning drive to Lonavla. Beautiful expressway, lovely mountain roads, yummy misal pav for breakfast.

• Early morning drive to Shahapur / Igatpuri. Good tarmac, no expressway. Fun only early in the morning as traffic picks up later.

• Early morning drive to Pawna Lake as my sibling has a beautiful place there.

• Early morning around South Mumbai. Marine Drive (sit & view), Colaba (breakfast), Gateway, Ballard Estate, then top it up with the Freeway to come back home.

Here's what BHPian revsperminute had to say on the matter:

Some of my favourite roads that I drive frequently-

• Mumbai Pune Expressway- 5-7 AM, there’s an Irani Cafe in Baner that I go to for breakfast.

• Vashi- BKC- Sealink- Marine Drive- Eastern Freeway- Vashi between 12 AM and 5 AM with good music and the sunroof open.

• The Old Pune highway towards Saltt, Karjat or all the way to Lonavala- best during weekdays in the afternoon

• Malshej and Tamhini Ghats during Monsoons- Take a SUV sometimes given the road conditions

• Poladpur- Mahabaleshwar- Takes quite a bit of time to reach the road, usually clubbed with an overnight stay at Mahabaleshwar and a return journey via Wai.

• Igatpuri/Sula- This road is a hit or miss given the road condition and traffic on the route.

• Palm Beach Road- It used to be a good road to go for a casual drive to relax after a hectic day. However, people drive like fools there nowadays late at night so I only go there if one of my cars is sitting for too long and needs to be driven.

• Guilty Pleasure- NH348/JNPT road- sparse traffic, butter smooth, 6 lanes, no sharp corners to speak of, bet you can figure out the rest

Here's what BHPain arjab had to say on the matter:

Hill roads. Being a resident of Eastern India, specifically, Calcutta, the hilly roads of North Bengal was, is and will be our "go - to" driving destination. The car of choice for these drives is always a naturally aspirated compact hatchback. An MpFi Zen or a Honda BRIO. Turbo's are a big "no-no".

There are so many lovely roads in the lap of the North Bengal hills one cannot imagine. Darjeeling side, Kalimpong side, the sinewy tarmac along the Dooars forest belt etc, etc. The old Hill Cart Road to Kurseong is one of my favourite.

Recently re-surfaced and devoid of traffic, (as the bulk of the tourist traffic goes up via the alternative Rohini route which is shorter), it is technically challenging as well as aesthetically pleasing to sore city eyes & nerves. The road from Ghoom to Siliguri via Mirik has also been resurfaced. Try that at the dead of night, preferably on a full moon night, and you'll truly understand what goes in to make "Live To Drive".

Here's what BHPian tharian had to say on the matter:

Since I am short of time most of the days because of a toddler at home, weirdly, I do a late night or early morning drive to the airport and back. It totals to around 70 kms and it helps a lot in de-stressing. Towards the airport is usually a sedate drive due to traffic, but the return is when I have fun, especially if it is early morning.

During the lockdown, I used to sneak out towards Kolar and since traffic was almost non existent, I could do a quick drive or ride up to Hoskote and back and enjoy it as well.

Here's what BHPian sierra__foxtrot had to say on the matter:

Living in Hyderabad I can say the ORR. Sometimes it's from Gachibowli to RGIA or sometimes the entire loop around the city. Taking the leftmost lane with windows down early morning at a 70 mph cruise locked, this helps me unwind from all the work stress and reboot the mind.

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