Tour planning query approved.

Please share your detailed plan along with the dates before asking for the inputs.

Like SunilG said, this is not itinerary, this is just a wishlist, atleast, that's how it appears to me; kindly do the homework by mapping dates to the places realistically. Use GMap for aid for now & make a proper itinerary & then we'll take it up from there.

I too repeat...
Will guide you for the NE part. Can accompany too!

Thanks a LOT vickks! That particular part of the trip had always been my Achilles heel! & was worried about it. Add to those woes now this Assam problem has cropped up. If you can guide me or even better join me in that leg I'll be very grateful. So far as my itinerary is considered I have tentatively planned the dates, distances etc. But they are very ambitious. i.e. I want to finish the entire trip in 30-40 days. The trip details posted up in the post may be rightly called a tour plan rather than itinerary. I have PMed my details, If it's alright with you pls PM your tel no, so that we can discuss more expediently.

To my information, there is police protection to highway users along the affected areas. It is strictly advisable to take the Goalpara route for entry and exit of Assam as that route isn't affected by the recent violence, barring the initial few kms. Also, the clash is bit down nowdays, so I don't think it will be any problem. Other than that, there is no other problem in any part of Assam as only the western part was under the heat! Will check out my pm.

Vikrant, with reference to Northeast Meghalaya xBhpians have covered few parts of Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur and Assam in the last few years. We have covered Shillong to Nagaon to Dimapur to Imphal and Shillong to Silchar and to Mizoram route but haven't yet covered the rest of the route as per your map. The road from Imphal to Moirang (near Loktak lake) is good but not sure about the road from Moirang to Aizawl and the rest. You can expect very bad road condition from Silchar towards Jowai but from Jowai to Shillong the road condition is much better.

Some Tips:

1. By experience it would be better if you have friends who can guide you especially in Manipur and Nagaland. We can help you with some friends in Senapati (Nagaland-Manipur border), Kohima, Aizawl, Silchar during your tour in Northeast.

2. It is HIGHLY requested not to ride at dark if you are not riding along with the local friends especially outside the town/city.

3. You can expect day-light extortions by policemen along the whole journey at various check-gates - a hundred to two hundred would be sufficient for the "Chai pani" otherwise if you are unlucky like us (who rode at night) were demanded about 2K for each bike at Koirangre checkpost while entering Imphal.

4. Just from Khetri (Assam) to Imphal (Manipur) via Dokmoka, Howraghat, Dimapur and Kohima you can expect about 12 check gates. Perhaps you can carry two wallets for the extortion trick - You know what I mean.

5. Find out info of few respected politicians because if your ID, Licences, Papers, etc. don't work with drunk officials at check-gates, their names might help you get through - the reason is that majority of the drunk officials only want to trouble you for the "Chai-Pani". Better not argue because most of them don't know sh!t about "real" documents required for motorbikes - this by experience

6. If you feel you are about to be extorted at checkgates, take out your DSLR camera, it might just work the trick and back them off - provided you know they are not drunk otherwise it will only instigate them. This worked during our last tour.

7. Army personel are usually much more friendly in NE than the Policemen.

8. You will be requiring Inner Line Permit to enter major parts of Northeast like Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh especially if your are visiting from outside Northeast. You can check this website for information on attaining the permit. Protected/Restricted Area Permit in India or this weblink: http://goindia.about.com/od/northeas...ia-permits.htm

9. Just Chill, enjoy the ride, make new friends, click some photographs and be safe! You are welcome to Meghalaya and let us know for any further information.

My contact number: 09863472920. You may also contact "Dodz Moore" and especially the well-experienced rider "Mark Shullai" in facebook who was one of the key person guiding us during our last tour to Nagaland and Manipur.

Check out the attached itinerary and advise

The duration in the itinerary is derived from G Maps and is 50-70kmph which I feel is a bit difficult to achieve on India roads. On four legs of the trip the duration is more than 10 hours per day. The terrain of Siliguri to Kathmandu, is it mountainous? Pls assess the entire itinerary and advise
Thanks

I'm going to comment ONLY on the routes that I've traveled based on my timing & few based on hearsay, because I believe, except HVK Sir, no one else can give you 99.99% accurate timing, distance, facilities, road & Weather conditions.

Bhubaneshwar - Cuttack - 30 min
Cuttack - Badhrak - 1:30 Hrs
Badhrak - Baleswar - 1 Hr
Baleshwar - Kharagpur interchange - 2 Hrs
Kharagpur interchange - Kolkatta - 2 Hrs

Ahmedabad - Vadodara - 3 Hrs
Vadodara - Ankaleshwar - 1:00 Hr
Ankaleshwar - Kamrej - 45 min
Kamrej - Valsad - 1 Hr
Valsad - Manor - 1:30 Hr
Manor - Mumbai - 2:00 Hr

Udipi - Mangalore - 1:30 Hr
Mangalore - Kasargod - 1:30 Hr
Kasargod - Kannur - 2:00 Hr
Kannur - Thalassery - 45 min
Thalassery - Calicut - DON'T KNOW
Calicut - Thrissur - 3:00 Hrs (not sure if you're taking the Ponnani route, in which case, I don't know)
Thrissur - Ernakulam - 1:30 Hrs
Ernakulam - Sherthala - 1 Hr
Sherthala - Alapuzha - 45 min
Alapuzha - Karunagapally - 1 Hr
Karunagapally - Kollam - 45 min
Kollam - Trivandrum - 2 Hr
Trivandrum - Kanyakumari - 2 Hr
Kanyakumari - Tuticorin (Hope you're taking ECR since u mentioned Pondi) - 2.5 Hr
Tuticorin - Karaikal - (hope you're not going to Rameshwaram) - 6 Hr
Karaikal - Pondichery - 2.5 Hr
Pondicherry - Chennai - 2.5 Hr

Chennai - Bangalore - 6 Hr via Chithoor or via Hosur

Bangalore - Hyderabad - 5 Hr

Once again, IF YOU'RE SERIOUS about your ride, get in touch with Mr HVK Sir to succeed.

There are already 37 items in that wishlist of yours. Many items on those list take more than 1 day to complete even for the best of us.

The wishlist itself is a bit haphazard.. Will need a lot of finetuning.

If you are riding solo, it is not a very good idea to ride beyond 7.30PM under any circumstances, this cuts down travel-able hours greatly when compared to a group ride. Do keep this in consideration when you plan the itinerary.

Best of luck, ride safe .

P.S.: Also do what Mr.Aargee says in the last line in his post, thats the mantra to success.

Starting tomorrow at 5am and sticking to the itinerary, the days may stretch as per situation but places I shall strive to visit in the specified order. Thanks for the comments & advise

Tks for your kind words, but drop the MR, just RG is sufficient

Good luck; pls do update the outcome of your ride; we (personally I) will be very eager to read your experience. All the best!!!

update

prakash sir is already on the trip solo. started this saturday from hyderabad and reached kolkata yesterday.. today must be in siliguri..

heavy rains on the way and the cbr performed flawlessly.
will keep updating..

hats off to that guy.. sad part is i could'nt join him as we planned initially.

will keep updating this thread by the updates i get everyday.

I had contacted him in evening, he halted 100kms north of Kolkata today due to rain. Should reach Guwahati by day after tommorow.