Road plus boat trip to Kapilmuni's Ashram, Gangasagar, West Bengal

Pradip Bala was at Kapilmuni's Ashram, Gangasagar, WestBengal.
During 'Sankranti' in mid-January every year, lakhs of devotees from across India throng the island for a holy dip at the confluence of Hooghly River and Bay of Bengal.
As of now there's no last mile direct road connectivity of the island to the rest of the country.
Very rare photos which are bound to impress a lot of roadies.
Gangasagar is a 'must visit' atleast once in a lifetime for all Hindus across the world.

Photo: Pradip Bala.
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#IndianRoadie #GlobalRoadie #ShetravelsIndia #BackpackingIndiaOnRoad
#TravelPhotography

E-bike rental service in Digha, West Bengal w.e.f. March 2018

With effect from March 2018, visitors to Digha in West Bengal has the option of moving around in electric bikes.

Something paranormal spotted in Kuldhara, a haunted and deserted village in Rajasthan, India

Indian Roadie follower Neeraj Pandey from Gurgaon, loves driving around India, a huge and fascinating country in his small Maruti car.
During his solo road trip to Rajasthan in August 2016, he clicked a photo at Kuldhara, infamously known as a deserted and haunted village.
He claims that there was no one around for miles when the photo was clicked. However, when he looked at the photo later, he spotted the paranormal, wherein he saw a group of people in a huddle!

(Photo & content credit: Neeraj Pandey)

Must do, see, visit, eat in Amritsar, Punjab

Golden Temple, Amritsar





Jalianwala Bagh




Durgiana Mandir



Durgiana Temple, also known as Lakshmi Narayan Temple, Durga Tirath and Sitla Mandir, is a premier temple situated in the city of Amritsar, Punjab. Though a Hindu temple, its architecture is similar to the Golden Temple.

Wagah Border



The lowering of the flags ceremony at the Wagah border is a daily military practice that the security forces of India (Border Security Force, BSF) and Pakistan (Pakistan Rangers) have jointly followed since 1959. The drill is characterized by elaborate and rapid dancelike steps.

Best places to eat in Amritsar:
1. Kesar da Dhaba, Amritsar (Palak Paneer).
2. Bharawan da Dhaba, Town Hall, Amritsar (Non-veg).

Drive to Tal Chappar, Rajasthan

Vinay Subramanyam drove to Tal Chappar from Jaipur in 2017.
Sudipto Roy drove to Tal Chappar from Kolkata via Delhi and Jaipur.
Both have confirmed Road was very good.
The Havelis of Shekhawati are famous at Fatehpur and Mandawa.



Tal Chappar is actually a stunning black buck sanctuary known for very interesting species of birds and mammals such as the laggar falcon, imperial eagles, desert cats, desert foxes, spotted creeper and many more. It's also known for the salt pan.

The best place to stay is the fairly large forest rest house at Tal Chappar itself. However, during the peak winter season, the place gets sold out. There are a couple of homestays, too.

Route (about 250 kms each way):
Option 1: Jaipur - Sikar - Laxmangarh - Fatehpur - Ratangarh - Tal Chappar.
Option 2: Jaipur - Laxmangarh - Salasar - Sujangarh - Tal Chappar.

Drive to Bidar, Karnataka

Places of interest in Bidar:
- Shri Jharni Narasimha Cave Temple
- Bahmani Tombs
- Chaukhandi of Hazrat Khalil Ullah
- Papnash Mahadev Temple
- Gurudwara Sri Nanak Jhira Sahib
- Bidar Fort
- The Madrasa of Mahmud Gawan
- Barid Shahi Park
- Chowbara Clock Tower
- 108 Feet Statue Of Basaveshwara


Bidar Fort:
The present-day Bidar fort was rebuilt using red laterite stone around the old fort in 1428 by Ahmed Shah Bahmani. Constructed on the edge of the plateau, Bidar fort has a haphazard rhombus-shaped layout. There are over 30 monuments inside the fort.

The major attractions inside the fort are:

- Bidar Fort Museum
- Rangin Mahal
- Solah Khamba Mosque
- Tarkash Mahal
- Gagan Mahal
Diwan-i-Aam
Diwan-i-Khas/ Takht Mahal
Gunpowder Room
Shahi Matbakh
Naubat Khana
Bomma Gondeshwara Tank

With a 55 km long wall, the fort has a unique triple moat with depth of 30 feet. There are 37 bastions on the fort wall with The Munda Burj being the most prominent one. The fort has seven gates:

Gate 1: The Mandu Darwaza, the main gate
Gate 2: The Kalmadgi Darwaza,
Gate 5 – The Delhi Darwaza,
Gate 6 – The Kalyani Darwaza,
Gate 7 – The Carnatic Darwaza,
Gates 3 and 4 are without a name.
The ingeniously designed Mandu Darwaza has its entrance through a well defended underground tunnel.

Drivers of taxis, autos, e-rickshaws can use private driving licence

The government at the centre has done away with the requirement of a commercial licence for driving taxis, threewheelers, e-rickshaws and two-wheelers (food delivery, etc), allowing drivers to use their private licences for the same. However, the mandate for a commercial driving licence remains in force for trucks, buses and other heavy commercial vehicles.

The road transport ministry issued an advisory on 2018-04-16 to the state governments to follow this norm in order to comply with a Supreme Court order of July 2017.

Ministry officials said this is likely to increase employment opportunities for lakhs of drivers.

Till recently, getting a commercial licence was necessary to drive any transport vehicle. Usually, people needed to wait a year after obtaining a private driving licence for a commercial one. “This will end a lot of corruption involved in obtaining transport or commercial licences,” said a ministry official.

Source: The Times of India, Kolkata edition dated 2018-04-19.

Subho Nobo Borsho 1425 (Happy Bengali New Year)

This is Deep Banerjee (Founder - #IndianRoadie, #GlobalRoadie, #ShetravelsIndia, #BackpackingIndiaOnRoad, #Marketingpundit, #MarketingGyanology, #CarrotNStick, #KeepStrongStayHappy, #EducationAndCareerPundit, #RottenEnglish, #LaughAloud, #HowIndiaTravels, #HowWorldTravels) wishing Subho Nobo Borsho 1425 (Happy Bengali New Year) to all my friends, relatives, well wishers and their dear ones.
Keep strong. Stay happy.

The look of homes across Kerala, India as you drive around the state

Homes across Kerala, India have a very different look and feel than the rest of India.
This home seen in the attached photo was clicked from a moving bus by @foxonfeet (on IG) while traveling from Kochi to Munnar.

JOIN the Facebook 'groups' #IndianRoadie, #BackpackingIndiaOnRoad, #ShetravelsIndia, #GlobalRoadie for all your queries about India and please invite your friends to join, too.

India is a representation of everything beautiful that one can crave to see around the world.
Traveling by road is the best, safest & most economical option for wanderlust expatriates and Indians to get the true essence of India.

Who are the expatriates visiting India and willing to be my car travel buddy?

As a corporate marketing strategist and visiting faculty at b-schools pan-India, I gather out of the box marketing inspirations while driving around this huge and fascinating country with expatriate travel buddies in my own VW car.
Let's drive entire India or a part of it (and even Bhutan, Nepal) together in my own car absolutely hassle free and as travel buddies in total safety, comfort, flexibility and affordable cost.

However, this friendly offer/ invitation to expatriates worldwide should not be misconstrued as a business proposition.
Interested? I am all ears. Please revert to roadieindian@gmail.com or WhatsApp +91 82408 49300.

Fuel for motorized fishing boats being ferried in bullock carts in Rameshwaram in Tamilnadu, India

Bullock carts with plastic jerry cans filling up fuel from an Indianoil filling station at Rameshwaram in Tamilnadu, India for onward transportation to far flung remote fishing villages to fuel motorized fishing boats in mid 2017.

Photo: Navtej Singh (@nattysingh on IG)

It's not a simple fill it, shut it, forget it for a large chunk of the Indian populace whose life would come to a grinding halt without regular supplies of petrol, diesel or kerosene.
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#IndianRoadie #GlobalRoadie #ShetravelsIndia #BackpackingIndiaOnRoad #HowIndiaTravels

Road trip to Mallickaa Resort, Tajpur, West Bengal by Debashis Goswami in April 2018

Tajpur Sea Beach in East Midnapore district, barely 185 kms from Kolkata (Victoria Memorial), is a popular beach location in West Bengal.

Debashis Goswami, a resident of Kolkata drove down to Tajpur with wife and children and spent a lovely weekend at Mallickaa Resort in early April 2018.

The resort comprising of a couple of air-conditioned cottages within an unbelievably large landed property of 33 bighas is full of greenery, has innumerable fruit bearing trees, well manicured garden and a huge pond where large number of ducks swim around.
The sun-kissed beach of the Bay of Bengal is just about 300 mtrs/ 5 minutes walking distance from the cottages.

Tariff: Rs2300 per day for an air-conditioned cottage. Cost of food is extra.
Contact person: Chandan Mondal (+91 96095 95667).

Route to Tajpur Sea Beach from Kolkata:
From Kolkata drive on NH16 upto Kolaghat. Turn left and drive to Nandakumar. The road ahead (RA) leads to Haldia, while the road on right (ROR) will take you to Kanthi and onwards to Digha.
On the Kanthi (Contai) to Digha Road, cross Chaulkhola and then a road on left (ROL) from Balisai to reach Tajpur.

Indian Roadie meet-up on 2018-04-09 at Golden City Restaurant, Salt Lake, Kolkata

Matured and like-minded IndianRoadie followers spent a lovely evening together at Golden City Restaurant, FD-30 A/2 Salt Lake, Kolkata on 2018-04-09, 7pm onwards.
The star roadies of the evening were Sajjan Tailor and Debasish Mukherjee.
Others, viz Debasish Dey, Sanjib Rana Bose, Abhijit Sarkar, Rajeev Agiwal, Sandip Hunday and I (Deep Banerjee, Founder - IndianRoadie) thoroughly enjoyed each other's company.
Looking forward to the next meet up soon.