[BlackPearl]

Nice crisp travelogue Partha and that is one hell of a vehicle that you own. I have been dreaming about the Safari ever since I drove your truck. I wish I had the moolah.

[Wanderers]

Originally Posted by gmhossain

Is it common to drive on the wrong side of the to cross this border?

We are planning to drive to Chandipur in the next weekend. So thanks in advance for your response.

Hi

In Eastern part of Indian driving on wrong side to cross the Border (For ex- Bengal-Jharkhand, Bihar-UP, WB- Orissa) are more of a compulsion than a norm as we do not have separate commercial vehicle lanes like Gujarat, Maharashtra. Even Bihar-Jharkhand border has got it as an exception.

While approaching any unknown borders, please watch out for other 4 wheelers as how they are proceeding ahead. You may wait & observe before following any local 4 wheeler on wrong side.
I normally drive till the point, I could see the lines of trucks and turn back if required and move to the other side.

[psurelia]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

Nice crisp travelogue Partha and that is one hell of a vehicle that you own. I have been dreaming about the Safari ever since I drove your truck. I wish I had the moolah.

Thanks Sumitro.

Originally Posted by gmhossain

How is the overall condition of the read between Kharagpur and Jaleshwar? I mean, the diversions that you mention, do they continue up to Kharagpur? Or do they exist only near Jaleshwar?

The entire stretch from Kharagpur to Jaleshwar is, more or less, full of diversions

Originally Posted by gmhossain

Secondly, I heard that to cross the WB-OR border, often one has to drive on the wrong side of the dual carriageway as both the lanes of left carriageway are mostly blocked by the stranded trucks in the border. Is it common to drive on the wrong side of the to cross this border?.

Originally Posted by Wanderers

Hi

In Eastern part of Indian driving on wrong side to cross the Border (For ex- Bengal-Jharkhand, Bihar-UP, WB- Orissa) are more of a compulsion than a norm as we do not have separate commercial vehicle lanes like Gujarat, Maharashtra. Even Bihar-Jharkhand border has got it as an exception.

While approaching any unknown borders, please watch out for other 4 wheelers as how they are proceeding ahead. You may wait & observe before following any local 4 wheeler on wrong side.
I normally drive till the point, I could see the lines of trucks and turn back if required and move to the other side.

@gmhossain, I agree with Wanderers on this point. Even if it is not a norm, but it is a very common scene near the state borders. You need to rely on your observation and prudence. But generally the truck crews, cops and toll-booth workers show helpful gestures to the private vehicles.

[Abhinandan_86]

Thanks for such a wonderful travelogue Partha da. Its really informative. I have also planned for a PURI trip in my New Maruti Estilo LXi K10 variant. Initially I planned for a train journey but due to some unfortunate incidents the trip had to be postponed twice. So this time I did not do any planning beforehand and let everything in the hands of lady luck.

Originally Posted by psurelia

The road surface was good all along but an endless series of diversions started after getting onto AH-5. Vehicles with lower ground clearance need to be really careful on this road.

Can you please suggest that will it be very difficult to take my car across the stretch from Kharagpur and Jaleswar? I had driven earlier across many bad stretches NH34 uptil Murshidabad and also on the Morgram Suri Highway from Panagarh in my Estilo. These are very difficult places to drive in Bengal I believe.

Is the road worse than that?

Moreover in the West Bengal Odisha border checkpost toll tax plaza do they check car documents?Actually I have given my smartcard (bluebook) for Hypothecation removal. I have the money receipt of the same as well as the Hypothecation reciept from Motor vehicles Kolkata. Will that Suffice?

Please suggest as this is the first time I making an interstate journey.I am planning to start tomorrow at 4:00 AM early morning so waiting for a quick response form the experts here.

Thanks in Advance.

[psurelia]

Originally Posted by Abhinandan_86

Can you please suggest that will it be very difficult to take my car across the stretch from Kharagpur and Jaleswar? I had driven earlier across many bad stretches NH34 uptil Murshidabad and also on the Morgram Suri Highway from Panagarh in my Estilo. These are very difficult places to drive in Bengal I believe.

Is the road worse than that?

Not at all. In fact, the road is pretty good. It is easily negotiable with your Estillo. But, the bad stretches come as surprise. You get tempted to go fast on the good stretches and then when the surprises come, there is hardly any time to reduce the speed to a level that won't cause any damage to the car. Then there are stretches with wide cracks along the length of the road with both sides of it at significantly different levels. These cracks, if driven over, can cause instant damage to your tyres, wheels or axles. Therefore, as I said in the travelogue, you need to drive carefully with a look out for these rogue spots. Since, you are driving for the first time on this road, my advise would be to keep the speed below 80 in this stretch while going. On the return you can definitely go faster because you will have an idea of exactly what to expect and more or less when to expect on the road.

Please refer to Arav's travelogue on his recent trip to Puri. The pictures in the first post of that thread will give you slight idea of what to expect. Here is the link

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...i-kolkata.html

Originally Posted by Abhinandan_86

Moreover in the West Bengal Odisha border checkpost toll tax plaza do they check car documents?Actually I have given my smartcard (bluebook) for Hypothecation removal. I have the money receipt of the same as well as the Hypothecation reciept from Motor vehicles Kolkata. Will that Suffice?

I am not 100% sure, but I don't think that will be a problem. Just stay below the radar and go with the traffic in the Bhubaneshwar-Cuttack stretch which is where the police interceptors ply. During my trip to Darjeeling and Gangtok, I did not even receive my smart card because there were delays in delivering smart cards due to the 2014 elections

[Saurabh M]

Hi All,

I am planning to do a Kolkata - Puri trip during 1st week of Jan. I have taken this route for the last time, back in 2012. Those who have recently traveled on this route, please help me with the following:

1. How is the road condition now, especially NH60 (between KGP and Bhubaneswar).
2. Are there any alternate routes now or do I need to go upto Bhubaneswar and then take the road to Puri?
3. Is Jaleswar still a pain to cross, at the WB-OR border? Do they still charge the state tax (they did not charge me last time, when I was on my way to Bangalore).
4. Is it safe to do this route at night (i.e. leave Kolkata around 11:30pm-12am).

Any inputs are welcome. Thanks a lot.
-Saurabh

[saion666]

Originally Posted by Saurabh M

Hi All,

1. How is the road condition now, especially NH60 (between KGP and Bhubaneswar).
2. Are there any alternate routes now or do I need to go upto Bhubaneswar and then take the road to Puri?
3. Is Jaleswar still a pain to cross, at the WB-OR border? Do they still charge the state tax (they did not charge me last time, when I was on my way to Bangalore).
4. Is it safe to do this route at night (i.e. leave Kolkata around 11:30pm-12am).

Did this route just a month back:
1.Road condition is perfect. Even those uneven patches over culverts that used to be there even a year back have been mended.
2. You need not enter BBSR anymore, theres a new road that has come up. Keep an eye on your left after you cross Cuttack.
3.No state tax. jaleswar border is also a lot clearer now with the truck terminus up. You MAY not need to do the wrong lane driving as well and would cross the border smoothly. (was the case for me)
4. Can be done easily. However would recommend early morning start from Kolkata.

[Saurabh M]

Thanks saion666. These are valuable inputs as I would be travelling with my 1.5yr old son.

[rahul4640]

Originally Posted by Saurabh M

I am planning to do a Kolkata - Puri trip during 1st week of Jan. Is it safe to do this route at night (i.e. leave Kolkata around 11:30pm-12am).

I have done this stretch many times, mostly driving at night. There is no security issue, unless you drive a very expensive car and stop unnecessarily. But dense fog may make your drive real slow and difficult.

[Saurabh M]

Thanks Sir. Will keep in mind. Mine is a humble Esteem, so, no worries.

[psurelia]

Originally Posted by Saurabh M

Hi All,
...

Any inputs are welcome. Thanks a lot.
-Saurabh

Originally Posted by saion666

Did this route just a month back:
1.Road condition is perfect. Even those uneven patches over culverts that used to be there even a year back have been mended.
2. You need not enter BBSR anymore, theres a new road that has come up. Keep an eye on your left after you cross Cuttack.
3.No state tax. jaleswar border is also a lot clearer now with the truck terminus up. You MAY not need to do the wrong lane driving as well and would cross the border smoothly. (was the case for me)
4. Can be done easily. However would recommend early morning start from Kolkata.

Hi Saurabh,

I went to Puri again couple of months back and I agree to all the points mentioned by saion666. I would just like to add the following.

2. Please make sure that you do not take the first bypass road, Naili Road via Gop, to Puri. This one starts from a service road underneath a flyover. I have crossed out this road in the map below and pointed to the correct intersection with an arrow. There is a hotel next to the correct intersection (I don't remember the name of the hotel) and there is not flyover anywhere near it.



3. While it is true that Jaleshwar is way better these days, you may still want to drive on the wrong side.