Re: New Delhi-Kolkata-Kharagpur-New Delhi

4000 km personification approved

Re: New Delhi-Kolkata-Kharagpur-New Delhi

[MENTION=61437]SidharthaN[/MENTION] : nice pic there!
ride on!
fotos + log - bring 'em on!

Re: New Delhi-Kolkata-Kharagpur-New Delhi

Why I termed this travelogue as nostalgia is because I never expected this trip to happen, however when it did I realized that it is was something which I would cherish for the rest of my life.
My life was as usual a combination of boring office life and dull mall culture of New Delhi/NCR. Was getting desperate to break free from the structural monotone for a few days. In the month of June I had done a 800 kms Delhi - Ajmer ride in a single day to check the consistency of the bike and me. I had done that ride with the background in my mind that I would do the Delhi-Kolkata circuit in July. The bike had perfomed flawlessly and to some extent I was able to manage the 800kms with not much difficulties.I actually belong to Kharagpur which is close to 200kms from Kolkata. From New Delhi to my place is around 1700kms. Had already decided in June that the trip would be happening in July. Convinced my better half to let me go since she was very skeptical whether I would be able to cover such a long distance with my bad back (spondylosis).
Route decided was simple. Follow NH-2 till Kolkata and then follow NH-6 till Kharagpur.
I took a week's leave from office Friday-Monday. Itinieary was start early morning on Saturday,reach Benaras by evening,night halt,start early on Sunday and reach Kharagpur by evening.Preparations made for the bike were simple. Got Motul 5100 filled up, got the chain lubed , got new bungy cords.

Day1 New Delhi-Benaras:

Started at 04:30 am from New Delhi after saying my goodbyes. Got onto NH-2, traffic was minimal hence maintained average speeds of 80kmph. Around Palwal there was a long jam since an electric pole had fallen right across the 4 lane. Reason there was a marraige party and they had got too excited to bring down the pole . Followed other bikers and took the bike across the divider to the other side of the highway for some distance, and then again crossed the divider to get the bike back to my side. My P220 was loaded hence the process seemed to be tedious. The bright side of the incident was the trucks,buses and cars were all caught up in the jam hence the highway was completely empty. I would like to mention here that I always felt the seats of the P220 were hard and if I sit on it for some kms I start developing !@#$ pain. Pretty soon realised that I was getting uncomfortable in the saddle.Took my first of the innumerous !@#$ breaks at a dhaba before Agra. The dhaba owner was curious to know where was I heading to. I told him Kanpur since did not want his eyebrows to fall out of his at the mention of my destination. Got back on the saddle and crossed Agra by 08:00am. I was maintaining lower speeds since NH-2 has a lot of undulations between the Delhi-Agra strech and I was taking it a bit easy on my back. After Shikohabad which is around 40 kms from Agra there is a huge difference in the landscape and the roads. It got deserted from hereon with flat good roads and very minimal traffic. Heat conditions were bearable. To some the strech after Agra might seem boring and there are chances of dozing off if you are travelling alone. I have always been a solo rider since I enjoy my style of riding and manage my schedule. I do not find it cumbersome since I take a lot of sutta/chai breaks. Crossed Etatwah by 11:00am stopping at desolate villages sometimes to grab a cola. In these areas I was stared at since I guess they di not see a guy and a P220 regulary loaded like a truck. If you are used to dhabas of North India in the Agra,Jaipur,Himachal Pradesh,Uttaranchal belt you would be in for a suprise. There were not good dhabas since the time I had crossed Agra. Reached Kanpur and took a longish break at a Trucker Dhaba. The hygiene and the ambience made me decide on chai and biscuits, which seemed a better option at that point of time. The Kanpur bypass is amazing traversing the entire city in a single strech. Post Kanpur I crossed numerous small villages. I got hit by stones while crossing one of them by small kids wo were having a rocking time chucking stones at the vehicles. I was lucky that the stone had hit my arm.It was painful but did not made me stop. Like I mentioned before you would be crossing numerous small villages and desolate roads on the NH-2 post Agra.You would have to be careful at choosing the halts and not get into any altercations for personal safety. I chose to stop at the villages for my breaks and not on the empty streches. Between the Kanpur,Allahabad and Varanasi strech you will come across a section of toll roads before Allahabad which is a six laner with amazing tarmac. The only glitch is you have the medians which have undulating surfaces. So if you are doing 85-90kmph on the smooth tarmac you would suddenly come across the humps which would make you fly off the seat. My bike was pretty loaded and the luggage shifted forward at all the lurches. Had to keep pushing back the same with my back to make space. NHAI ensures that you do not doze off on the empty streches.. My target was to cover my first day before sundown to avoid any mishaps. Would be continuing the 1st day log later....have to leave for office!

Re: New Delhi-Kolkata-Kharagpur-New Delhi

Nice write up and congrats for your ride bro, Solo rides always built confidence in you, specially long once....

Waiting for the rest.....

Re: New Delhi-Kolkata-Kharagpur-New Delhi

Continuation Day 1 New Delhi-Varanasi :

The toll roads before Benaras are awesome till around 70 kms after which you start encounterng local traffic and small towns with badly devastated roads. Till now the weather had been sunny and clear but approaching Benaras I encountered thunder cloud formations. Pretty soon it started drizzling and I had to cut down my speed which extended my reaching Benaras. The diversion from NH-2 to Benaras is a dark strech of busy road with trucks,cars,and all vehicles driving on high beam. It was around 07:00pm that I reached the outskirts of the city. Since it was my first time I did not know the places to halt for the night. Used my common sense to figure out there would be affordable joints close to the Railway Station. Asked for directions to the same and moved on. The drizzle still continued and there are non-existing roads as soon as you enter the city.There are streches of pothole ridden roads and craters the size of half the bike tyres. Reached the railway station and after enquiring for cheap accomodation found one. Had a bath, ate some grub and retired for the night. I was supposed to start at 04:00am in the morning. Was a bit skeptical since was entering Bihar from hereon and was confused whether it would be advisable to start so early. However set the alam for 03:00am and packed up.

Day 2 Benaras-Kolkata-Kharagpur:

Woke up as per the scheduled time, got ready, loaded the luggage and moved on. Filed up the tank at a petrol pump. For Delhi residents we are so used to paying Rs.68.00/litre it seemed to pinch me to shell out Rs75.00 for the same litre everytime. Got on to NH-2 and continued. It was dark at around 04:30 am and the projectors of the 220 did good service. I was maintaing speeds of 90-95 for an hour when the oil indicator on the consle started blinking. I was perplexed since I had filled up 1.2 litres of Motul before my journey and expected it to last for at leat 3500-4000kms. Checked the oil level and it seemed to be full. I was standing right in the middle of a deserted patch on th e highway and decided to move on maintaining lower speeds. Cut down the average speeds to 85kms for the rest of the journey. Bihar was devoid of any landscape which comparitively I found in Jharkand. You get a lot of twisties after Dehri on Sone which are fun to ride . Doubled up with the scenic view the ride became a bit interesting. Like I have mentioned earlier on the entire NH-2 you might get bored maintaining the long empty streches without any landscape. Crossing Jharkand was surely entertaining.Took a lot of breaks in this strech to capture snaps. Before entering Bengal had stopped at one of the local pan shops for a cola and sutta. The shop owner and a guy asked me where I was travelling from seeing the Delhi numberplate. I casually remarked I was coming from delhi. The look he gave to his partner sitting there was sort of what he would have given if he would have met SRK. I quickly finished the cola and paid him and left. I encountered such incredible quizzical stares all throughout, since my P220 had become dirty from the muck of the rains and so were my jeans and shoes. Reached Asansol(Bengal) in the afternoon. The entire strech from Asansol till Durgapur was filled with pothole and craters turning up from nowhere in the middle of the smooth tarmac. This belt is an industrial zone, hence traffic had increased, There were a lot of bikers who were triple or double riding and on seeing me wanted to race. They revved up close to me and seeing I was disinterested speeded up looping left to right. I have seen a lot of bikers doing this. If they loop they think they are matching up speeds and skills of Rossi.It took me a lot of time to pass the Asansol-Durgapur belt since there were areas where the roads made you wonder as to whether you were travelling on a NH. After the Durgapur I was back on amazing tarmac all the way to Kolkata. Saw around 10-15 superbikers around Burdwan in the opposite direction revving away hard. I was in for a suprise since I am a lad from Bengal and when I was growing up or my initial younger years never found the biking culture in Bengal. However I guess the biking scene if different now since also found along the same route a couple of bulleteers all loaded up heading somewhere. Stopped at a cluster of Dhabas after burdwan to grab some tea and was mildly suprised to be served the same in an earthen cup. This is quite a speciallity in Bengal and made me remember my earlier days of having tea from the same. In fact the cup was so small I drank three of them much to the perplexed looks of the owner.I took a diversion before Kolkata to NH-6 which leads to Mumbai from Kolkata.The state elections were in full swing in Bengal and I found political rallies taking place. Infact the CM was on a visit somewhere and the entire strech from Kolkata to Kharagpur was infested with cops. They were not allowing vehicles to stop on the curbs. After riding for around 50 kms I stopped to take a pic of the Kolaghat bridge which flows over a tributary of the ganges. The bridge was special since whenever we travel by train from KGP-Kolkata the bridge is the midpoint for us to figure out the distance. A cop strolled up to me seeing me taking snaps. He started off in Hindi seeing the DL license plates but pretty soon toned down on hearing me speaking Bengali. I informed him was just taking a !@#$ break since was travelling all the way from Delhi. That left him speechless. Thumbed the starter and was off to cover the final home strech. Reached home by around 07:00pm to give an awesome suprise to my parents who were shell shocked for around 30 mins.

Will post the following Kharagpur-Kolkata ( 1Day )
Khapagpur-Chandrakona ( 1 Day )

Re: New Delhi-Kolkata-Kharagpur-New Delhi

Congrats SidharthaN for this trip.

Going at too fast a pace

Re: New Delhi-Kolkata-Kharagpur-New Delhi

That's quite the distance you covered, mate!! - "The highwayman" pictures are great & narration is captive. Keep going!

Re: New Delhi-Kolkata-Kharagpur-New Delhi

Kharagpur-Kolkata :

I had spent a couple of days at home resting my A@#$ when decided to visit Kolkata on the 3rd day on an errand. Kolkata is roughly 172kms from KGP. My brother decided to join me on the ride.Was back on NH-6 early morning and covered the distance in around 2.5hrs. I was entering Kolkata through the Vidyasager Setu Toll Road. As I approached the bridge my brother decided to click a snap of Howrah bridge from a distance since would not be traversing that. My bro is a school kid,16yrs old chap.As soon as he took out the camera and was focusing a PCR van pulled up with 4 cops. Questions were asked as to what I was doing. I coolly told him that I was taking a snap of Howrah Bridge. He got agitated and started saying that photography was prohibited on the structure and we should have seen the signboard mentioning that. I seriously had not seen the signboard ( if there was any )and started feeling the gravity of the situation since was with my kid brother. The cop started threatening that we would be taken to the PS and a a case would be filed, hassles,etc,etc.If the same situation would have happened in Delhi would have been out of the story in a flash. But this was unknown territory and the cop had noticed the DL plates on the 220 to take advantage of the situation. Negotiated the slime for Rs500 to let go. In my entire bribing career in Delhi have never fished out more than Rs100 and this bloke swiped 500bucks from me.
That was a bad start to the city. Anyways entered the city and went to Esplanade to have a cup of tea. Decided to show Victoria Memorial to my bro so headed there.In Delhi wherever you stop and put your foot down you have a parking. Things were different in this city. Was informed there was no parking in front of the structure and have to park the bike back in Park St area. Though I was visiting the city after 10years or so knew the bylanes in this part of Kolkata as the back of my hand. I did notice the lack of parking in the entire city which was seriously a problem.Parked the bike back at Park St and walked back to the memorial. Visited the museum there to capture some interesting history of the monument and the era. Also visited St.Paul's Cathedral which I guess is the biggest church in Kolkata. I was cautious while taking snaps since already had a harrowing experience.The absence of something in a city might be the abundance in another. Kolkata is filled with pedestrians which are almost scant in New Delhi. Got to capture the new KTM RC8 in one of the showrooms while walking back. Had some roadside lunch which is dirt cheap in the city. For Rs30.00 one could get a meal there.Had to visit a relative in South City Mall which I knew was close to Gariahat in South Kolkata. Started heading towards the same. Being used to New Delhi traffic I found the city traffic there very chaotic and slow paced. Kept moving on asking directions. However I reached Jadavpur and the directions I had got till now from the locals was " Go straight ". After trying in vain to search for the mall for nearly 2hrs decided to call up my relative and inform him that I would possibly meet him some other day. Came back to Dharamtala to get some pastries from the Old New Market which my mom had ordered. The New Market ( SS Hogg Market ) as it is known now still holds the old world charm. I had grown up buying toys, clothes, and goodies from this place. During my college days had purchased a lot of stuff for my gf's from here. The place did hold a lot of nostalgia for me. Headed back the same route through Vidyasagar Setu to Kharagpur. I had to capture a snap of the Howrah Bridge and the Vidyasagar Setu. Looked ahead and behind, jeft and right and clicked a couple of snaps. The entire situation with the cops had made me adamant to capture the same.Headed out of the city back on NH-6 and was back home in 3hrs.

Re: New Delhi-Kolkata-Kharagpur-New Delhi

Kharagpur- Chandrakona:

Chandrakona is around 60 kms from Kharagpur. It is a small,lazy town with an upcoming Film City. Decided to visit that. My parents also joined in the plan since it was a day-off for everyone. Though we have a 4 wheeler at home my Dad decided to join me on a bike. We also have a Honda Shine, Bajaj Chetak ( 30 years old ) at home. The shine was chosen over the Chetak for durability but trust me guys the Bajaj is 30 years old and still going strong. During my entire 1 week stay at KGP I only rode on the Chetak. Two reasons, one I had learnt my riding skills on that and two enjoyed riding an icon. My Dad and Mom on the Shine and me an my bro on the 220 we headed on NH-60 towards the place. On route we passed through thickly infested maoist areas and forests. Though it was an amazing visual landscape ( Salboni's ) it held a lot of danger. Reaching the film city we found that it was still under construction in the middle of nowhere.Since we had passed through villages to a desolate piece of land, and found the joint to be up for construction, on top of this the charges to enter were 350.00 per head, decided against it since was a waste of expenses and time. Now since we had travelled so far decided to picnic out with the family. Returned by evening riding in heavy drizzle since I had visited Bengal in the monsoons and it rains pretty often there. My mom enjoyed pillion on my 220 since she wanted to sit on the bike. Being 60yrs old she managed to climb the 220. She found it more comfortable than the Shine because of 2 reasons , better suspensions and second Dad has a habit of not changing gears in potholes and not braking. The rains combined with the ride with my family in the dense jungles was an amazing experience !

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Khargpur-Kolkata-Benaras : Return Day 1

Started back for Delhi early on Saturday morning. Destination to reach was Benaras by sundown. Got onto NH-6 to Kolkata. As I was approaching the city it stated drizzling heavily. Took a chai/sutta break to wait for the rains to stop. After 30 mins decided to move on since had a lot of ground to cover. Speeds dropped drastically because of the conditions. Got onto NH-2 and maintained average speeds of 60kms on the tarmac. Soon the drizzle died down and was able to increase speeds to 90kmph. Took some A#$% breaks and reached Asansol . I was still facing the issue of lack of Dhabas in this belt. Took a longish break for tea/snacks at a ramshackled joint and moved on. Entered Jharkand and the rains seemed to be playing hide and seek with me. I had to stop under trees when the downpour became heavy. I was generally waiting for the showers to die down a bit and then start again. However the cat and the mouse game with the rains was contributing in loosing daylight. decided to carry on irrespective of the weather. The rains cleared out gradually and I got clear sky. Crossing Jharkand captured some snaps of the landscape. It is true with every journey that the return is generally boring than the oncoming. The deserted streches of NH-2 made me speed up towards my destination. Crossed Bihar and was about to reach Benaras when it started pouring heavily around 40 kms before the city. The sheet of water made it difficult viewing the road through the visor. I cracked it open halfway to have dirt rainwater splashed from the trucks right in my eyes. Since it had become dark with heavy cloud cover and evening approaching suicidal bugs came in huge numbers. I managed to kill a couple of them at the bat of my eyelids. The itch in my eyes became horrific but decided not to rub them. Nearing the city got stuck in jams on the highway because of the rains. Navigated through, entered the city and chose to stay at the same joint where I had stayed earlier. Took a shower , applied some eye ointment and retired for the night after dinner.

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Benaras-NewDelhi - Day 2

Started early morning from Benaras on NH-2. The strech between Benaras-Kanpur is amazing with the tolls helping you build good speeds. Crossed Kanpur by afternoon and had reached Agra by evening. The strech between Agra-New Delhi as usual is congested and the road conditions are not that good. Entering Delhi again encountered rains. Got stuck in traffic jams as usual. Finally managed to reach home by 07:00pm. Epitome comes to an end !!

Re: New Delhi-Kolkata-Kharagpur-New Delhi

[QUOTE] However I reached Jadavpur and the directions I had got till now from the locals was " Go straight ". After trying in vain to search for the mall for nearly 2hrs decided to call up my relative and inform him that I would possibly meet him some other day.[/QUOTE]

That means I was not the only one who faced the same situation when I visited Kolkata (on my way to Sikkim and Bhutan Trip). After reaching Kolkata at 8.15 p.m. I could reach my friends home at Behala (20 kms away) at around 11.15 p.m. after being continuously guided by the locals to their best extent, (they always has two options to reach the next point which was quite confusing for me) and my friend could also not guide me to his house from Kolkata since he has lived in Delhi for most part of his life.

You have covered Kolkata beautifully.

Re: New Delhi-Kolkata-Kharagpur-New Delhi

[QUOTE=Hoodibaba;970185]Sirjee the situation was not so bad in Kolkata,however with time I guess the city has become confusing !!!!