Travelogue of road trip from
Guwahati to Jamshedpur
(Guwahati_Jamshedpur) and
Jamshedpur to Guwahati
(Jamshedpur_Guwahati) via a different route.
Date of Travel:
Guwahati to Jamshedpur via Berhampore 4th May 2023, overnight stay @ Behrampore hotel and 5th May 2023 Behrampore to Jamshedpur total Kms :- 1367 kms
Total toll paid:- Rs. 1690
Route:- the usual taken for last 6 months,
Guwahati Alipurduar Jalpaiguri Malda Berhampore Dankuni Kharagpur Baharagora Jamshedpur
Its always exciting on the eve of the date of travel..... The young driver in me gets super excited about the journey next morning, and mental preparations begin with route planning and stoppages and all fine details including a Rs. 2000 top-up in the Fastag wallet. Idfc Fastag has been working flawlessly without any hassles for almost a year since the car Nios was purchased. Leaving early morning always helps, specially from Guwahati, since the day time traffic navigation at Lalmati / Lokhra can be a real pin in the @ss.
Route from Guwahati to Bongaigaon is excellent all upto the gossaingaon stretch with a few diversions here and there, roads are smooth. Reaching Jalpaiguri around 1 in the afternoon always helps and having lunch @ tried and tested Bengali dhaba is the best thing enroute. Not to forget fuel top-up in Assam before entering WB since petrol prices are almost Rs. 9.5 more in WB as compared to Assam, so guys, plan accordingly. The Bengali Dhaba is situated on the Islampur bypass road and a must try for the highway cruisers. Navigating the West Bengal traffic throughout is messy due to the barricades put across by the administration on the main highway to help locals cross the highway easily (quite ironical). Also I must add to the fact that the entire stretch of Bengal highways is flooded with Electric three wheelers or totos as they are popularly known in WB, making the highway journey even more painful experience in the state. Reached Behrampore around 9 pm, chkedin hotel and did some quick pending work on the laptop. Since I was driving solo, I wanted to leave early morning so as I reach Jamshedpur by evening. Fuel top-up at BP Behrampore and off I went, the summers heat helped as there were lesser no of road occupants during the day time due to the scorching heat and I could drive smoothly till Dankuni, with a 15 mins of tussle with the heavy traffic at Dankuni intersection, I was able to cross the toll plaza and hence forth the drive was a breeze. Thankfully I had a word with Mr Purusottam Singh who is a very good friend from Jamshedpur and is working with Hitachi India, so I had the chance to visit their Kharagpur facility, it was an enriching experience, I must add that the Japanese company harnesses almost 80% of total energy requirements from Solar power. They definitely deserve praise for the state of the art facility where the first Excavator by Hitachi is on display. A must visit for every machine enthusiast.
Reached Jasmshedpur around 5 pm and it was a journey to remember with some good memories enroute. I must mentione before I forget that the car returned a milage of 20.7 kms to a liter during the journey.
Jamshedpur to Guwahati 12th May 2023
Dalkola to Guwahati 13th May 2023
Total Kms run:- 1249
Total toll paid:- Rs. 1450
The child in me refused to sleep on 11th May since I had to begin the return journey from Jamshedpur to Guwahati and this time after a detailed discussion with Deep Banerjee da, we finalised to take the Bihar route instead of WB usual route. The route is
Jamshedpur Bundu Ranchi Ramgarh Hazaribag Barhi Koderma Nawada RajgirMore Mokameh Barauni Begusarai Purnea Dalkhola Alipur Duar Gossaingaon Bongaigaon Guwahati.
Left Jamshedpur at 5 am and 7:35 am I was at my in laws place in Ramgarh cantt. Had delicious homemade breakfast and packed some parothas and sabzi for lunch and Left Ramgarh cantt at 9:45 am. Jamshedpur to Barhi is probably the best stretch. Top-up at BP Barhi before i exited Jharkhand as the fuel prices in Bihar are one of the highest in the country. With Deep da, we had initially planned till Bakhtiyarpur and taking right turn towards Barauni, however at Rajgir More i was suggested by Google and even the locals adviced to take a right turn towards Sarmera, which i happily did and it turned out to be. Agood decision. The roads from Barhi to Nawada are excellent and some patched work in progress, since the work is in progress toll isn't being collected on this road, Rajgir more onwards the tate highways in Bihar are in good shape, till Barauni it's two lanes highways but in good shape and one can maintain an average speed of 50 to 55 kms to an hour. Ganga crossing takes a toll due to heavy traffic as discussed with Deep da, however I was lucky to navigate the Ganges within no time. Barauni to Beusarai is all four lanes and one thing worth mentioning is that the all four lanes have vehicles moving in all the directions, one has to drive on this stretch to understand the woes of a organised driver, i mean it's messy, and total caos on the route, tractors, bullockcarts, two wheelers honking, and what not you name it and you these will be heading like rockets towards your vehicle. However from Begusarai to Purnea is two laned road, in good shape but but but, another but, the road is hijacked by local farmers with the crop spread on the road, I reached Purnea around 7 pm and Dalkhola around 9 pm. Deep da called in between and we zeroed on hotel Raj Darbar #blacklistedhotel #indianroadieblacklistedhotel on the highway itself, with the unexpected hospitality at the chkin counter, I decided not to stay there and immediately booked JMD and chked in that property. Had dinner and crashed. Next morning got up at 5 and messaged deep da about early departure, roads are smooth and little to no traffic till 9 am. Had breakfast at Bengali dhaba and continued my onward journey towards Guwahati. I must mention here that near Gossaingaon, the roads are almost done with one or two diversions remaining, near Bongaigaon at least flyover work has started at atleast 3 places which will make the future journeys even more quick. Since it was a Saturday, and probably a non working Saturday, i could reach Guwahati around 4 pm 550 kms in almost 11 hours maintaining an average of 50 km to an hour.
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