[Nabodit]

Originally Posted by Machalu

That's a big inspiration Thank you for sharing the details. I sure will have questions.

Would you mind sharing the overnight halts?

Anytime.

Sorry for replying a bit late.
Overnight pit stops were at Indore (do not remember the hotel name), Lucknow (Hotel Legend Inn), Siliguri (Hotel Cindrella) and Guwahati. Which routes are you considering? will you be travelling with family/friends/alone? which vehicle?

[Machalu]

Originally Posted by Nabodit

Overnight pit stops were at Indore (do not remember the hotel name), Lucknow (Hotel Legend Inn), Siliguri (Hotel Cindrella) and Guwahati. Which routes are you considering? will you be travelling with family/friends/alone? which vehicle?

Hey Nabodit,

I'm thinking about going via Nagpur through the SMM express way. If I take that route, I'd probably end up taking the Varanasi route. I'm unsure of the road conditions from Nagpur to Varanasi.

Traveling solo on Sonet Auto.

[autoweirdo]

I travel to Sahebganj (before MZP) yearly from Pune. Last travel was during diwali vacations and planning another May end if leave sanctioned.
Pune - Nagpur - Take Samruddhi from Aurangabad (take left from Waluj, towards Dhule highway for entry to Eway. This helps in avoiding city traffic)

Nagpur - Mohania (in Bihar, GT road) - Roads are 4 lane throughout and in good condition. Katni and Rewa bypass works were on last time so had to slow down a bit. For avoiding Varanasi use Mirzapur bypass (keep on 4 lane cemented highway and avoid entering Mirzapur, goes via Chunar). This will take you to Tengra Mod GT Road junction from where you take right towards Mohania.

Mohania to Muzafarpur - Mohania Ara 4 lane road construction was on nearly 50% work was completed should be better now. You can go towards MZP by 2 routes from Ara
1) Ara - Chapra -Rewa Ghat - MZP
2) Ara - Danapur - Sonpur - Hajipur - MZP

I generally do 2nd route as by the time hit Ara its evening so avoid 1st one as it has less traffic. Hope this helps in route planning.

[BoneCollector]

Originally Posted by autoweirdo

1) Ara - Chapra -Rewa Ghat - MZP
2) Ara - Danapur - Sonpur - Hajipur - MZP

I generally do 2nd route as by the time hit Ara its evening so avoid 1st one as it has less traffic. Hope this helps in route planning.

As of now, I'll suggest to avoid the no. 1 route because of overloaded sand trucks blocking both the lanes of Ara-Chhapra stretch as well as one of the lanes of reverse direction. People have got stuck for over 8 hours between Ara and Chhapra due to this and the police is helpless.

The No. 2 route has improved a lot as per someone who travelled from Varanasi to Sitamarhi 10 days back.

[autoweirdo]

Originally Posted by BoneCollector

As of now, I'll suggest to avoid the no. 1 route because of overloaded sand trucks blocking both the lanes of Ara-Chhapra stretch as well as one of the lanes of reverse direction.

Thank you @BoneCollector for updates, I also heard of sand mafia on this stretch causing huge trouble to traffic by blocking trucks on bridge. Another route I generally take to reach Rewa Ghat is via Bela rail factory.
Ara - Danapur - Bela - Parsa Bajar - Maker - Rewa Ghat.
This route has less traffic but it’s 2 lane road, helps to avoid Sonpur Hajipur traffic which sometimes can be quite time consuming. But take this road only in daytime.

[autoweirdo]

Originally Posted by Machalu

Hey Nabodit,

I'm thinking about going via Nagpur through the SMM express way. If I take that route, I'd probably end up taking the Varanasi route. I'm unsure of the road conditions from Nagpur to Varanasi.

Traveling solo on Sonet Auto.

Saw your old post, since you are planning for Jorhat you can plan following route which will be mainly 4 lane throughout (till Bihar border).

Pune - Nagpur - Jabalpur - Mirzapur
From Mirzapur city take road to Varanasi and take bypass before entering city.
Take Gazipur exit from bypass (this will be post crossing Sarnath exit). From exit keep on 4 lane till Gorakhpur bypass and then take right towards Kushinagar- Gopalganj - Muzaffarpur - Araria - Dalkhola - Kishanganj and onwards towards Asom. The time will be more or less same going via Patna but will have less traffic issues. Hope this helps to plan your trip.

[BoneCollector]

Originally Posted by autoweirdo

This route has less traffic but it’s 2 lane road, helps to avoid Sonpur Hajipur traffic which sometimes can be quite time consuming. But take this road only in daytime.

The Sonpur-Hajipur stretch has 4 lane construction going on. The railway overbridge at Hajipur is now 4 lane. It used to be a bottleneck. Most of the times, there is no jam there. And with the Gandhi Setu fully repaired, traffic generally is free flowing now except at Paswan chowk.

[Machalu]

Originally Posted by autoweirdo

Saw your old post, since you are planning for Jorhat you can plan following route which will be mainly 4 lane throughout (till Bihar border).

Pune - Nagpur - Jabalpur - Mirzapur
From Mirzapur city take road to Varanasi and take bypass before entering city.
Take Gazipur exit from bypass (this will be post crossing Sarnath exit). From exit keep on 4 lane till Gorakhpur bypass and then take right towards Kushinagar- Gopalganj - Muzaffarpur - Araria - Dalkhola - Kishanganj and onwards towards Asom. The time will be more or less same going via Patna but will have less traffic issues. Hope this helps to plan your trip.

Thank you for the suggestion. It definitely helps.

I was suggested the following route as the optimal route by HVK's Routo team, which I am sure they are right, but it looks really a long route, showing almost 60 hours.

4175A - Shirdi - Nagpur Expressway

4191 - Nagpur ORR WEN (Till Bhandara Road Exit)

4195 - Nagpur - Raipur

4901 - Raipur - Sambalpur

7012A - Sambalpur - Kharagpur

7501 - Bhubaneswar - KOlkata (From Kharagpur)

7010 - Kolkata - Asansol

7014C - Asansol - Nala - Dumka - PUrnea

7016 - Purnea - Siliguri (via Siliguri)

7016X - Purnea - Birpara (to avoid Siliguri)

7020 - Siliguri - Bongaigaon - Guwahati (From Siliguri/ Birpara)

7700A - Guwahati ByPass WE

When I asked them for the reason for not advising the other route, they just replied that this is the best route

[autoweirdo]

Originally Posted by Machalu

When I asked them for the reason for not advising the other route, they just replied that this is the best route

The other route is also fine but will have traffic congestion in WB. I am not sure about current status of Sambalpur Kharagpur stretch as this used to be painfully slow due to road widening in past and not to forget its red corridor. Do check in other threads on current status and take a call.

[subuiyer]

Originally Posted by Machalu

When I asked them for the reason for not advising the other route, they just replied that this is the best route

I did a solo run on Mum-Guw-Mum in Mar-Apr 2023. A summary of the route I took - hopefully of some help to you.

Onward
Mum - Nag - Sambhalpur - Konark/Puri - Durgapur (avoiding Kolkata traffic) - Siliguri (via Farakka-Malda-Islampur) - Guwahati in Mar 2nd half, sticking to day-time drives of <12 hrs (~500KMS) each leg (except Mum-Nag on 1st day). These were also my overnight stopovers.

I did not take the Sambhalpur-Kolkata route, but was told by locals the road is now much better than earlier except patches and single lanes through forest.

In WB, what I saw was highways were barricaded after every 1KM and I saw this right from Sonakania at Orisa border till Sankosh bridge on Assam border, so never able to cross 80 KMPH. Roads were OK most parts, but all sorts of motorized assortments and cattle seems to be on the road slowing you down. Farakka barrage - cross during day, not early morning or late evening to avoid trucks.

Return
In early April returned Guwahati - Siliguri - Sarnath/Varanasi (via Naxalbhari - Araria - Forbesganj - Darbhanga - Chappra - Arrah - Buxar)- Rewa (additional stop because I fell sick) - Nagpur - Mum. Only Naxalbhari - Darbhanga was misery due to road widening for 100+ kms (still covered the stretch under 2.5hrs before 9 am). Recommend the alternate route via Purnia till work on above route is complete. Rest of the route was good. In Bihar/UP where you cross major rivers Gandak / Ghagara / Ganges - sand trucks are nuisance.

I took different routes just for the experience.

Always took available bypass over going through cities/towns. Stayed in hotels on bypasses instead of within cities (didnt care of amenities as long as I could get 6-7 hrs of sleep and most importantly save time). Planned my stops and bookings were such that I could cancel till check-in, in case of delays. Finding decent restaurant is an issue in certain stretches (both routes), so carried fruits and small snacks. Roads are good all the way baring patches of broken roads. A Sonet or any hatchbacks can do either of these routes nevertheless.

[Machalu]

Originally Posted by subuiyer

I did a solo run on Mum-Guw-Mum in Mar-Apr 2023. A summary of the route I took - hopefully of some help to you.

Onward
Mum - Nag - Sambhalpur - Konark/Puri - Durgapur (avoiding Kolkata traffic) - Siliguri (via Farakka-Malda-Islampur) - Guwahati in Mar 2nd half, sticking to day-time drives of <12 hrs (~500KMS) each leg (except Mum-Nag on 1st day). These were also my overnight stopovers.

I did not take the Sambhalpur-Kolkata route, but was told by locals the road is now much better than earlier except patches and single lanes through forest.

In WB, what I saw was highways were barricaded after every 1KM and I saw this right from Sonakania at Orisa border till Sankosh bridge on Assam border, so never able to cross 80 KMPH. Roads were OK most parts, but all sorts of motorized assortments and cattle seems to be on the road slowing you down. Farakka barrage - cross during day, not early morning or late evening to avoid trucks.

Return
In early April returned Guwahati - Siliguri - Sarnath/Varanasi (via Naxalbhari - Araria - Forbesganj - Darbhanga - Chappra - Arrah - Buxar)- Rewa (additional stop because I fell sick) - Nagpur - Mum. Only Naxalbhari - Darbhanga was misery due to road widening for 100+ kms (still covered the stretch under 2.5hrs before 9 am). Recommend the alternate route via Purnia till work on above route is complete. Rest of the route was good. In Bihar/UP where you cross major rivers Gandak / Ghagara / Ganges - sand trucks are nuisance.

I took different routes just for the experience.

Always took available bypass over going through cities/towns. Stayed in hotels on bypasses instead of within cities (didnt care of amenities as long as I could get 6-7 hrs of sleep and most importantly save time). Planned my stops and bookings were such that I could cancel till check-in, in case of delays. Finding decent restaurant is an issue in certain stretches (both routes), so carried fruits and small snacks. Roads are good all the way baring patches of broken roads. A Sonet or any hatchbacks can do either of these routes nevertheless.

Thank you for sharing your experience Subuiyer! Now I'm sure whichever route you take, there will be some challenges.

[Machalu]

Originally Posted by subuiyer

I did a solo run on Mum-Guw-Mum in Mar-Apr 2023. A summary of the route I took - hopefully of some help to you.

Onward
Mum - Nag - Sambhalpur - Konark/Puri - Durgapur (avoiding Kolkata traffic) - Siliguri (via Farakka-Malda-Islampur) - Guwahati in Mar 2nd half, sticking to day-time drives of <12 hrs (~500KMS) each leg (except Mum-Nag on 1st day). These were also my overnight stopovers.

I did not take the Sambhalpur-Kolkata route, but was told by locals the road is now much better than earlier except patches and single lanes through forest.

In WB, what I saw was highways were barricaded after every 1KM and I saw this right from Sonakania at Orisa border till Sankosh bridge on Assam border, so never able to cross 80 KMPH. Roads were OK most parts, but all sorts of motorized assortments and cattle seems to be on the road slowing you down. Farakka barrage - cross during day, not early morning or late evening to avoid trucks.

Return
In early April returned Guwahati - Siliguri - Sarnath/Varanasi (via Naxalbhari - Araria - Forbesganj - Darbhanga - Chappra - Arrah - Buxar)- Rewa (additional stop because I fell sick) - Nagpur - Mum. Only Naxalbhari - Darbhanga was misery due to road widening for 100+ kms (still covered the stretch under 2.5hrs before 9 am). Recommend the alternate route via Purnia till work on above route is complete. Rest of the route was good. In Bihar/UP where you cross major rivers Gandak / Ghagara / Ganges - sand trucks are nuisance.

I took different routes just for the experience.

Always took available bypass over going through cities/towns. Stayed in hotels on bypasses instead of within cities (didnt care of amenities as long as I could get 6-7 hrs of sleep and most importantly save time). Planned my stops and bookings were such that I could cancel till check-in, in case of delays. Finding decent restaurant is an issue in certain stretches (both routes), so carried fruits and small snacks. Roads are good all the way baring patches of broken roads. A Sonet or any hatchbacks can do either of these routes nevertheless.

Started my journey yesterday and spent the night at Nagpur.
Still wondering which route to take to go to Siliguri from Sambalpur.
Quick question, how was the road and traffic from Sambalpur to Konark?

[subuiyer]

Originally Posted by Machalu

Still wondering which route to take to go to Siliguri from Sambalpur.
Quick question, how was the road and traffic from Sambalpur to Konark?

Apologies for my late reply. Sambalpur to Bhubaneswar/Cuttack was misery because the first 100KM section is under construction with lots of diversions - something to do with the contractor going bankrupt within few months of being awarded the work. Again, sorry my late response if you have already taken this road.

For Siliguri, preferably you take the Sambalpur - Ranchi route, unless you are looking to visit Konark or Puri.

[Machalu]

Originally Posted by subuiyer

Apologies for my late reply. Sambalpur to Bhubaneswar/Cuttack was misery because the first 100KM section is under construction with lots of diversions - something to do with the contractor going bankrupt within few months of being awarded the work. Again, sorry my late response if you have already taken this road.

For Siliguri, preferably you take the Sambalpur - Ranchi route, unless you are looking to visit Konark or Puri.

No worries

I already travelled. I went from Sambalpur to Kolkata directly via Kharagpur - Kolaghat and the roads were excellent throughout!
The only annoying part was in WB, where the fun of drive was spoiled by barricades being placed by Traffic police which actually is very risky from my pov.

Other thing I felt is there were lots of amateurish driver in WB who feels they are driving an F1 and they can enter through any gap between two trucks not one but I saw this on multiple occasions and I had to stay away from those.

I also saw a beautiful Kia EV6 and what's more interesting was a bunch of rich kids chilling and having beer inside the car 😁

Just thought of sharing.

[subuiyer]

Originally Posted by Machalu

...I went from Sambalpur to Kolkata directly via Kharagpur - Kolaghat and the roads were excellent throughout!

Glad you enjoyed the drive. Looking forwards to a travelogue with pictures soon!

Originally Posted by Machalu

The only annoying part was in WB, where the fun of drive was spoiled by barricades being placed by Traffic police which actually is very risky from my pov.

Agree. It is not something we see in other states. It's there even on tolled roads. I was happy to crossover to Assam for not having to deal with barricades anymore.

However, given the relatively low road density in WB and general (lack of) road safety culture, barricades are a cheap and effective (though not very scientific) safety measure for pedestrians and traffic at junctions. Sure slows and irritates drivers. I liked how they have uniform at each junction to direct local traffic even in rural.

Truck and e-rickshaws rule the roads in that part of the country - both are dangerous.