It was still dark when I got up. I started driving immediately. After couple of kilometers, something told me I was on the wrong road ( a nagging feeling of doubt at the back of my mind ). Luckily, I found an old man loitering ( my luck ) and he told me that the road went to Kota. I had to turn back in the cold dark foggy night. After reaching the right road i made a mental note to look at the signboards properly henceforth, because, I had gone on wrong routes several times now, geez! Slowly, day light came but the fog grew thicker. I had to follow other trucks all the way till Guna, when it cleared a bit. Another horror happened after there was proper day light, stray catte too had come in their bulk to enjoy the sun in middle of the highways. It was a nightmare driving through groups of cattle who decided to relax in middle of the road. MP has most number of stray cattle let loose on roads. My eyes had to be literally stuck in my windscreen lest I encountered any. The MP roads compared to UP were poor, with lots of craters and potholes, except certain portions. After Biora the roads became better. I had some of the food I carried and had lunch near Shajapur.
toll pe toll, toll pe toll, toll pe toll...rah gaya bas is jeevan mei..toll hi toll, toll hi toll...
bambai mi aali...thamba zara...
enjoying dhaba food as always...it was delicious...
Around 3pm I reached Indore and halted in its outskirts, before driving again. After I crossed Mhow, the dreaded Chambal section began. It is said, in early times dacoits used to pop from the rocky hills around ( the ghats ), stop vehicles and loot the caravans. Would I encounter any? The sun was going down that time and it made the scenery perfect for a scary dacoit movie. I clicked few pictures here with my heart in my mouth. Its a steep decline and one comes through various warnings to drive carefully down the slopes - never drive in neutral gear while decending hills.
sunset@chambal...gabbar, phoolan devi...where art thou?
It was 7pm evening and dark when I reached Shendhwa toll plaza and decided to stop for the day. The terrain had freaked me out a bit as I was still in Chambal area. I didn't want to take risk and drive further alone at night. Also, I'd heard that Dhule/Malegaon area had miscreants at night, that bikers would follow and try to loot. So, I thought it much safer to stay in the toll plaza where there were trucks passing every minute and also toll officials, guards and CCTV. I'd navigate rest of the journey in day time. I slept quite good. I found out, police don't disturb if you are parked at the toll plazas, so, thats what I continued - park the nights near toll plazas.
After a peaceful night's sleep, I got up early morning and freshned up. In day light I saw where exactly I was parked - outside someone's compound ( not far from the toll plaza ). I got back on the road and started driving. I had breakfast at a dhaba just before I reached Lucknow outskirts. It was a small dhaba and the owner also had tea with me.It was nice and cozy. Everyone were gathered around a little bon-fire ( by the road-side ) warming themselves, I joined in and got chatting with them. I bought some more water from them ( I already had plenty in the car ). At about 9am or so I reached Lucknow. There's a point after crossing three flyovers, one has to take left towards Kanpur, before reaching Lucknow assembly. I misjudged and went straight ahead. The highway goes right through Lucknow city so to again return was bit of a challenge in heavy traffic. I asked several people and finally headed back to the junction I previously skipped by mistake. Once I was on the right road, I sped on the highway. Most of UP roads are coloured red. There is another point where once the road ends one has to take left. It was older part of Lucknow city. I drove on towards Kanpur. At some point I halted for a break and the cycle of drive and breaks continued. I had lunch before I reached Jhansi at a dhaba again and chilled out a bit.
entering lucknonw city... lunch at dhaba near jhansi... after breezing through kanpur, orai relaxiing in midst of paddy fields...jhansi ab dur nahi...
Rani of Jhansi...
By 4.30pm I had reached Jhansi city. I clicked picture of the famous Rani of Jhansi statue...and hurried, because, Shivpuri was another 100kms away and I had to reach before dark. I passed through the border town of Sikandara where an MP police stopped me. He was like 'roof carriers are not allowed in MP', and, I was like, 'where I come from and where I am going roof carriers are allowed, so, let me go'. ( Incidently, roof carriers are not allowed in WB/MP and few other states ). Anyways, he let me through. On entering MP, the landscape had changed drastically. It was a dry rural type area I was passing through. The road to Shivpuri was bit scary as well, as slowly thick shrubby forests started appearing on either sides of the road and signs of habitation dissappeared completely. And it had started to get dark too adding to my discomfort. As I drove in the dark, I was scared of dacoits popping out of the bushes. I also took straight route that went to Kota. ( I had to take a left turn that went Indore instead ). I halted in a toll plaza for the night at around 8pm. It was a peaceful night and I realized my folly the next morning. Of all states it was the coldest in MP.
2ND TRIP
On day 5th of my 2nd trip, I had already reached Maharashtra by evening. Early morning I drove from MP, and by evening I was inside Maharashtra. Late evening around 11pm, I reached Nashik. I thought of halting, but decided to drive anyways. I halted little while in a small toll plaza after Igatpuri. Around 2.30 am or so, I crossed the Kasara Ghats. Its a haunted place, so, crossing at that time was quite spooky, but there were other cars/trucks, so, wasn't as terrified. The terrain becomes dark with those high cliffs on each sides, without any street lights. After crossing the Kasara Ghats, I halted for some time again before driving the under-repairs highway ( 'twas bumpy ). I reached home early morning.
3RD TRIP
Early morning I started driving from Sendhwa and reached Kasara ghats by late evening. I intentionally halted near Vasindh, so that I could wait till day light; else, I'd have reached at mid-night itself. I saw several people walking bare-foot in long lines and groups, carrying lamps and wearing glowing t-shirts. They'd be walking till Shirdi on foot all the way from Bombay. As faint day light started coming, I drove home and reached, with birds chirpng me a grand welcome.
It was still dark when I started driving early morning and left Muzzafarpur. North India is too foggy during this time, even in dark you see clouds of mist or white foggy lumps rushing at you in front of your car head lights. Its quite tricky to drive and there is hardly any visibility. It continued all the way. It didn't help much when I drove straight and took a wrong road towards Sitamarhi, instead of taking an instructed left turn that went to Gopalganj. And that morning, there was no one in the streets to ask for directions either. I sensed something wrong and went back to the fork where there was a split and left turn. Alas, I did reach Gopalganj. The area was too dirty ( pigs and filth everywhere ) and most part of the flyover was broken for repair works. I also unfortunately saw some tilted trucks and after some time I decided to halt and freshen up. Till noon, the fog was persistent and I had to follow other trucks so as to be on track. Also, I learnt to always drive over the painted white marks in middle of the road during such foggy stretches, and keep either the indicators or the parking/hazards lights on. By evening 5pm, I reached Ayodhya toll and parked near it for the night. This night was quiet and I had a good night's rest.
Welcome to UP... a golden coloured buddha statue welcomes you as you enter UP... crossing toll plaza...
and miles to go before I sleep...
so peaceful...
After one crosses Gopalganj, theres a narrow bridge that one has to cross to reach UP. It was too crowded and had to wait almost 2 hours to cross that tiny bridge, one vehicle at a time.
2ND TRIP
On day 4 of my 2nd trip I had already crossed lucknow and halted the night in Kanpur outskirts near a petrol pump. That night was eventful as police kept knocking. I had parked just near the highway, so, I guess it was bit risky ( and also I learnt its illegal to park near the highway, my fault ). Early morning, I crossed Kanpur and reached Guna toll plaza where I parked for the night.
dhaba break somewhere near gorakhpur bypass...
plenty of random stops...
Just as I was clicking this green road sign ( pic below ), a man stood underneath it and was halting other cars with a gun in his hand ( at first I thought he was some cop doing checks ). I saw the gun much later, and wondered why all the cars were stopping. I was busy clicking picture of this sign. Later, when I saw what happened I could only thank my luck at what I narrowly escaped. Some places in UP are notorious for gun culture esp Kanpur/Jhansi. Didn't expect it it near Ayodhya o
3RD TRIP
On day 4th of my 3rd trip I had already crossed Shivpuri. I crossed Ayodhya in the evening of the 3rd day itself ( the above pic ). I did take a wrong road near Ayodhya and had to come back. Phew, its difficult navigating unknown roads at night, but I survived. ( At night I was awakened by 'jai shri Ram' chants and processions as it was during the inauguration of the new temple in Ayodhya ). Anyways, on this trip, I was almost two days ahead. I passed by the area near Indore by late noon where I went over the road-divider ( on my 2nd trip ). Again between Indore and Mhow, the road was dugged and there was slow traffic. On the ghat section, I had a freak incident where when I was driving at about 80-90 speed ( decent in my opinion for ghat region ), someone kept honking. I made way for him, but, he came and intentionally slowed the car in front of me. It was scary as he kept applying brakes right in front of my car ( there was no traffic at this point ). I didn't know what he wanted, but, after some time the car sped away giving me quite a scare. It was the Chambal area, I was reminded of dacoits. Were they modern day dacoits? Phew! Anyways, I was determined to reach early so drove on till I stopped for the night near Sendhwa toll plaza.
In january, mornings are foggy in Bihar. Infact, till almost noon, I could barely see the road. From Siliguri I started driviing early morning while it was still dark. I drove the flyover, the police had instructed me the previous night how to reach Darbhanga. I reached another flyover that went right. An army guy stood there, who told me that the road went to Kakarbhita in Nepal. Seeing my car he asked me if I was on a 'bharat bhraman'. He showed me a narrower road which opened to Naxalbari which I had to take. So, I took that road. It was so narrow, that when I took a turn at its chowk, I scratched my car bad against a wall. I remembered reading somewhere that cars are frequently stopped by youth carrying sticks in the morning or evenings, to extort money in that area, so was alert throughout. I did spot some youth carrying sticks; however, they let me go. I halted at a place to freshen up. It was so foggy, I had to follow the tail lights of trucks ahead to keep on track. The road was dug in many place for widening and one had to cross three very old steel bridges which seemed like they'd collapse any moment. After I crossed Araria ( asking people for correct turn ), the fogs disappeared and the road became clear. I crossed Forbesganj, Darbhanga, Jhanjharpur, Koshi Bridge and by late evening I reached Muzafarpur ( one needs to take right towards Gopalganj from here ) and halted for the night in a quiet corner ( of a service road ) which was not going to be as quiet as I soon found out. Police car after police car kept disturbing, telling me that it was not a safe place. This time I was angry and told them they were the ones troubling me, not thieves or dacoits. In the end, they went off. From Bihar onwards, I decided to speed up my journey; because, I didn't enjoy driving in Bihar much. Although, the roads were good, east bihar is quite under-developed. The roads had 'chara', dried-hay stacks or 'maize' left to dry in middle of the highway itself, clothes hung on the railings and cow dung everywhere and stank of it.
foggy roads..could barely see a thing...
eating at dhaba near darbhanga...
2ND TRIP
I started from Araria ( near the school where I parked ) and drove till I reached Gopalganj at night. While crossing through Forbesganj some youth were waving hands and stopping the cars. Thankfully, they didn't ask me anything and let me go.
3RD TRIP
Third day of my 3rd trip I was already crossing Lucknow by early noon. I had halted the night just outside Lucknow. Before entering Lucknow, I re-arranged my stuff. At the junction where I had to turn to Kanpur, I got confused and went straight past the Lucknow Assembly. I immediately learnt my mistake and came back again via a u-turn to another folly of taking the smaller road that went parallel to the main highway I was supposed to take. It was challenging to turn back ( it was a one way ) without cops noticing me; and getting on the main highway. Also, a new flyover was being constructed in the old lucknow area, so, there was lots of slow traffic. Eventualy, it got clearer. I halted a bit near a field at the Sikandara check point and continued driving after it got little dark. I reached Shivpuri by late evening. This time I was not scared to drive in the dark ( I knew the area quite well after so many trips ), and kept on driving till I reached the exit toll plaza. Late-night driving helped me speed my journey by many hours.
I woke up and saw my surroundings. I was parked near the bus stop and in day light I got better understanding of where I was. I washed my face and ate the left over pizza that I had, and an apple. I also understood why the man was knocking my window the previous night. The water bag that I carried on my roof was leaking, and there was a pool of water gathered in the rear of my car near the wheel. Since this trip I was travelling slow, I started driving at almost 10 am. I crossed the Aiipurduar section and jumped traffic. A blue uniformed WB cop came running and demanded 100 bucks as fine. I was in no mood to pay him ( although it was my mistake, I didn't see the red light because of a huge truck in front of me ). I told him to send me an online challan, but, he let me go ( maybe he wanted to pocket that 100 bucks himseklf. The rule I follow - no matter you are at fault or not, always ask for an online challan and also, never hand over physical copy of driving licence and RC ). This part of the journey I really enjoyed because, the views were most awesome. I turned to reach the elusive Hashimara which was about 30 odd kms, but took forever to reach. WB had too many police checks; and the roads, although national highway, was very narrow at most places. And the frequent high and oddly built speed breakers were most annoying. Hmph!
the road to alipurduar from barobasha...
I crossed forests after forests ( before and also after Hashimara ) in this route and my excitement knew no bounds. Buxa, Jagdalpara, Gorumara, Chapramani, Mahananda forests etc...and tea gardens so many of them. By noon, I had still not reached Hashimara, I decided to have my lunch of ready-to-eat food. I opened my butane stove to warm up my rice and chole. Half way on this route, there's a split in the road and one side goes all the way to Phuentsholing town in Bhutan border. Although I was tempted to turn towards Bhutan too, I concentrated to reach Hashimara.
tea gardens...
cooking in the wild...err warming up my ready-to-eats...
I had parked my car on side of the road that had tea gardens on both sides. As I ate lunch, I saw several tea-pluckers at work. It was a blissful moment. I toyed the thought of halting the night there itself, but, reluctantly I moved on and finally reached Hashimara. Once I crossed it, more forests and tea gardens followed. Mere 30 kms distance took me almost three hours to reach. But I loved it, as I was in no hurry.
forests galore...love highways that run through thick forests...
To go the Sevoke route, I had to go via Mal Bazar town and had to ask directions at several places. Police too stopped me few times as roof-carriers are not allowed in West Bengal. In one traffic check, they wanted to ask questions etc, but, I was like 'hey..let me go..I have to reach Siliguri before dark'. After showing RC they did let me go...but asked several questions like 'why I was going alone, where was I going, why was I travelling etc etc'..I told them 'I bought this car to travel, people travel in cars thats why they buy a car'. Phew! I can't blame them, because, they hardly see a female driving all alone in those parts of the country much less go on a cross-country solo road trip. They must've thought me crazy. Insipte of these annoying cops appearing in the little towns, I enjoyed thoroughy. I reached Kalimpong district after which a steep climb followed. Then, I reached the historical 'coronation bridge' that connects India to the NE. It was breathtaking but I had to make a quick exit, as there was lots of traffic on this narrow bridge, and cops were making each car pass fast without stopping. I did manage to stop little away and caught glimpse of the bridge atop the Teesta river which gave company for quite a whie untill I started decending. Last forest on this route before I reached Siliguri was the dense Mahananda.
the impressive 'coronation bridge' at Sevoke, WB...
It was almost twilight when I crossed Sevoke town. The road was so crowded that I could barely move the car. Thankfully, a cop gave me directions towards Siliguri and how to each Fulbari/ Bagdogra without much questions. It helped as I told them I had to go to Darbhanga in Bihar. By the time I reached Siliguri, it was dark and I simply followed other cars, having no clue about the roads as such. There was a section where there was a 'road diversion' due to repair works. I panicked a bit lest I reach some place else, thankfully, I reached the main city amid signs that said 'Bagdogra'. In my mind, I had to cross Bagdogra to reach the end point of Siliguri, so, kept driving. But it was so late, I had to pull over in a side. I saw a huge flyover near Fulbari junction and decided to stop. It was 6pm, so, decided to rest for the night. At night however, several police knocked on my door and told me to go to the lighted section of the road as I was alone. I told them I was waiting for a friend who'd join me in the morning - a blatant lie, lol. I had parked in a dark spot. So, although, I didn't like the suggestion, I complied as I didn't want to fight with police of a different state at night. It was bit noisy, so, my sleep was rather disturbed.
2BD & 3RD TRIP - I skipped this route in my 2nd and 3rd trip.
On 2nd trip, I continued my journey from Hashimara, but avoided going the Sevoke route, instead, took a turn at Birpara towards Dhupguri. I had breakfast by the road-side of ready to eat poha near the railway line that runs alongside a jungle. I reached Siliguri around 11.30am and could see the snow capped Himalayan Peaks from such distance. It was quite amazing. i bypassed siliguri town from Fulbari, and drove to Ghoshpukur ( there's a certain left-turn one needs to take to skip Siliguri ). A traffic cop who asked for my PUC at the stop showed me the direction. The highways were a pleasure to drive here as they are newly built and quite broad. After I reached Ghoshpukur, I left the express- way, to take the state highway towards Araria. After crossing Naxalbari, whiie going towards Thakurganj, I took wrong road and reached a place called Panitanki. The road was so narrow, unlike the last time that alarm bells started ringing in my head. I asked few passing ladies, and they told me I left Thakurganj way behind. I turned my car and drove back to the chowk where I had taken the wrong route. Finally, a person showed me the correct way.
This time, this patch was memorable ( for all kinds of weird as well as bit scary reasons ) because as I was headiing towards Araria, I saw long line of trucks and cars waiting from opposite direction. But, I was the only one driving in my direction. I didn't notice it first, until, I saw several tyres burning in middle of the road. I reached a place where a crowd was gathered. People with bows and arrows stopped my car shouting slogans. They said, someone died due to negligence of the road workers so nobody was allowed to go ahead. Their demand was fifty lakhs from the authorities. They told me to take some other local road. I was alarmed as I didn't know any other way. I talked to them, and they came batch by batch - arguing and refusing to let me. It was quite scary. Some of them did understand that I was on a long trip, so, ultimately they did let me go past the barrier. I was so relieved because at one point I had almost lost all hope. They were quite stubborn. But as I was the only car, perhaps, thats why they let me in. It was evening when I crossed the very busy Araria and crossed its toll plaza at amost 6pm or so. At first I parked in front of some closed shops, but, a person from another open shop further away kept knocking in my door. Every few minutes he'd come and knock. Atlast, I got out and gave him a piece of my mind for disturbing. He was like, why are you parked so long. I told him its none of his business, and I'll be parked whole night if I wanted. Few other people came and told me to stay put. However, I decided to go and ultimately when I went past a school I decided to stop for the day near it, under a huge tree. Bihar police did come knocking, but, I assured I was okay and they let me stay. Throughout the night...they were parked little away, keeping an eye I suppose.
In my 3rd trip, I had skipped Hashimara altogether and went on the short-cut route via Alipurduar main town -Falakata and Dhupguri to reach New Jaipaiguri. It was the fastest of all my three trips and I reached NJP on the first day itself. I rested the night at the toll plaza. The journey started early and this time I was mindful not to go the Araria route ( never! after all those bows and arrows drama in my previous trip ). Instead of leaving the highway at Ghoshpukur, I continued on it to reach Islampur, Kishanganj, and then finally Purnea. Its a longer stretch than Araria, but, it was a good drive. This trip was fastest of the previous two, so I reached Gopalganj on 2nd day itself.
