[ABHI_1512]

The headline might seem misleading to some but then, that’s the idea

There is no better joy for me than a chance to drive to Arunachal Pradesh. Every year, the Republic Day weekend offers me a chance to venture out somewhere nearby to the hills. This year, the Republic Day was bang in the middle of the week. So, by managing some days with my work, managed to chalk out an idea. The idea was to spend some time with friends from school after I am done with my work commitments in Guwahati.

Incidentally, while chalking out the plan, there was this another plan of meeting with some members of Assam chapter of BHPians but that went up in smoke because of the rising cases of Omicron and unavailability of some key figures who were out on work in some distant lands.







Sharing some pictures to start with, just to make sure that folks reading this don’t get dozed off after the first itself !!

























It was never meant to be a pleasure trip since the number of days for leisure was limited to a weekend but then when you do get to spend time with your childhood buddies, it’s not the time but the moments which are at a premium. This post is primarily an account of the drive taken and not necessarily a travelogue although I will try ardently to make it one !

[ABHI_1512]

By this time, I guess whoever has read my previous accounts of travel, knows that I love to drive through the night. One great thing about travelling through the night, specially through this route of NH 34, is that I can reach Guwahati by the evening and also that I get to travel through some congested stretches without much of traffic.

Default route these days, for people travelling to Siliguri from Calcutta is Calcutta-Mogra-Krishnanagar-Berhampur Bypass-Moregram-Malda Bypass-Raigunj-Domohona-Islampur Bypass-Siliguri. This route is good throughout with some little bad stretches between Krishnanagar and Moregram. Raigunj bypass, Karandighi Bypass and Dalkhola bypass work is ongoing and should be over soon. At least Dalkhola bypass and rail over bridge should be operational soon. Calcutta- Siliguri can be done inside 10-11 hours easily these days without taking too much of an effort.

Since my destination was not Siliguri but Guwahati, I bypassed Siliguri early in the morning by taking the Fulbaari bypass and took the Gazoldoba route to connect back to NH 31 at Odlabaari. Started at 10 in the night from Calcutta and it was an effortless drive all throughout.







Okay, before that, since I was driving alone, I have made some plans to meet friends en route. One of my very close friend and senior from school got recently posted in Dooars, before anyone guesses, he is with the Indian Army. Accordingly, I called him up when I was at Malbazaar. And as luck would have it, he told me that he will be passing Malbazaar in a convoy and that we must meet. Also, as I sipped my morning tea at my favourite joint in this part of the world, the wonderful Petrol Bunk- Roy & Cousins, saw an interesting menu card at their Tea Moments outlet beside. I have been informed about this menu card before by fellow BHPians but this was the first time, I was actually seeing it.

I have mentioned about this unique Petrol bunk in one of the previous posts: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/stree...ml#post5106531 (Unique, one of a kind petrol pumps in your travels)




They have carefully printed the whole post and have thanked Team-BHP for the mention. This tells something about the reach of the forum that a Petrol Bunk in a small town like Malbaazar is recognised by the enthusiastic owner.

Morning tea over, I started and moved towards Birpara. Meanwhile, me and my friend were constantly on the phone while we were on the way towards each other. Somehow, midway while passing through the forests, we both lost the mobile network. As the route was straightforward and we knew each other’s vehicle, somehow we managed to wave each other out midway near Chapramari Sanctuary.



We were meeting after almost 28 years, as my friend said, we were meeting after bloody donkey’s years !! He let the convoy move forward and got down from his Gypsy with men all around him and we just met as school boys during our school days. Frankly, these are the moments which remains with you long after the actual moment is gone. We were in touch always but never had the chance to meet because he was mostly moving. This chance meeting on the road will remain in my mind forever, never mind that I will now get to see him more often, at least for some months or so.

We met after 28 years and just spent some 10 minutes on the road but it never occurred to me that we were meeting after so long. Anyways, meeting over and I promised to see him soon. Rest of the journey until Assam Border was uneventful. It was at Srirampur that I was stopped and was asked about the double vaccination part. No fuss and it was a routine stop and I was allowed to proceed. For the next few hours, I was stopped at four Police check points. I was cool through two of them but snapped at the third since it was getting irritating. Upon asking why I am being stopped so frequently, they replied that they have some kind of information on WB 02 series of vehicles. It helped that I could speak Assamese and they didn’t really misbehaved. All these checks slowed me down immensely and I finally reached Guwahati at around 4 in the evening which could have been earlier.







Reached Guwahati after around 18 odd hours of drive and it was one of the most comfortable drives despite many number of rumble strips donning the highways after Bongaigaon all the way till Guwahati .

While I was on my way to the hotel, thought of seeing another good friend and BHPian Reeturaj Yogi at his home. He was just his usual chirpy self and we spent some good time sipping tea and some chit chats. He is a wonderful guy and it’s always a pleasure meeting him.

[ABHI_1512]

Next day it was a Friday and work took over but not before I got Baahon cleaned up at one of the better known places for car washing, at least for me. I have been visiting this place since long for the washing needs of the car whenever I am in Guwahati. Service is always good and this time I found that they have created a waiting lounge as well with comfortable sofas and auto magazines to boot.





Work took over the entire day. Also, found a new automated multilevel parking near PanBazaar Guwahati while searching for a parking place. Neatly parked the car and then went about my chores. At the end of the day, while taking out the car from the parking, was surprised to find that there were no parking charges. As I got to know further that the parking lot has been set up by the government of Assam and parking charges have been waived off. I am sure this has been done to encourage people in getting to use the facility. But to my utter surprise, the facility was barely used !!





Guwahati has made rapid strides in terms of infrastructure and it was wonderful to find many new and swanky road over bridges and flyovers. Anyways, it’s always nice to see the getaway to the north east getting the much needed infra structure boost.





Work over and the evening started off well with friends. A new Starbucks outlet opened it’s door in Guwahati for the first time and it was wonderful to spend some time there. My childhood friend and fellow BHPian Rupak was missing in action though due to some work commitments. It was in Starbucks while talking to him, that an impromptu plan was made for a drive to Eastern Arunachal Pradesh while we both were scheduled to visit the Upper Assam town of Dibrugarh anyways in the upcoming week.

Now, this sudden plan was exciting since I have been longing to drive through the new Dhola Sadiya bridge over the Brahmaputra and on towards the eastern sector of Roing, Dambuk and Pasighat. I grabbed a quick bite of some lovely local delicacies and fixed up a plan to start at midnight for our drive towards Dibrugarh.

[ABHI_1512]

So, at the stroke of midnight with temperature hovering around 9 degrees, me and Rupak started off from Guwahati. Got the car fuel tank filled up to the brim near the Meghalaya side of Jorabat. Fuel rates are less in this part of India compared to what I pay in Calcutta.

From here on, it was the start of a roller coaster drive with no certain plan at all. First real stop came at Nagaon roundabout for a round of coffee. Roads were good and Nagaon bypass was in top shape with occasional humps. Then came the dreaded stretch of Kajiranga with speed cameras all through. The entire stretch of Kajiranga has speed limits of not more than 40km/hr. Trust me when I say this, this entire stretch was a sleep inducing drive, specially when not one vehicle was in sight !!





It took a lot of effort and will power to finally finish the stretch but not before stopping for some well needed break. Soon it was the sunrise time and I got to click some well meaning pictures.



There is a wonderful café named Laheke Café in Kajiranga that I wanted to explore but it was closed obviously because of the unearthly hours we were crossing the stretch. It was too early for anything to be open anyways.





Proceeded further and crossed Jorhat bypass and soon we were at a place named Gaurisagar. Stopped here for breakfast and got a nice place to eat







Ford vehicles are abound in the north east and it was wonderful to find a new Endeavour while we stopped for breakfast. The breakfast though was good, specially good since it was very early in the morning and we got piping hot poori’s and an equally good cup of tea.

The road surface through this route is not that great but it is not an impediment in maintaining decent speeds. Soon we were crossing Sivasagar- a historically strategic town of Assam.





Sivasagar used to be the capital of the Ahom kingdom. The Ahom kings ruled Assam for many centuries until they were defeated by the Burmese. The place has many historical places to see and is a fascinating place to explore. Due to paucity of time, we didn’t go inside the town and used the bypass and continued moving towards Dibrugarh.



It was around noon when when we were bypassing Dibrugarh and were moving towards the Dhola- Sadiya bridge. The roads improved greatly once we were on the Dibrugarh bypass. There was this replica of Jagannath Temple which we saw from the roadside while we were crossing the bypass.

[ABHI_1512]

Roads were becoming more and more enticing as we were moving further. Soon we were within the touching distance of Dhola Sadiya bridge or the renamed Dr Bhupen Hazarika Setu. Just before the start of the bridge, we found a nice Dhaba and decided to have our lunch. The main highlight of the Dhaba apart from the food was next level cleanliness. The kitchen was spankingly clean and so was the restroom area. I have seldom found such cleanliness in a Dhaba and I have travelled fairly well across to say that.







Lunch was fabulous and was served in typical Assamese minimalistic thali style. We devoured the Mutton curry in no time, liked it enough to get it packed when we were returning to Dibrugarh the next day !! The lunch and the subsequent drive was one of the highlights.











The Dhola Sadiya bridge over the Lohit river- a tributary of Brahmaputra is right now the longest bridge over water. The bridge is a fantastic piece of engineering and is capable enough for the military tanks to use it.











Roads were fantastic to drive all through and after passing through the border gate at Shantipur, we proceeded to what was to be our final stop for the night- Roing. Since our accommodation was not pre booked, we went to look for Bomjir Resort, which is near Roing and which came highly recommended by my friends. Bomjir is a small hamlet situated beside a river between Dambuk and Roing. Folk must have heard about Dambuk Orange Festival which has made quite a name for itself in recent years and which is nearby Bomjir and Roing.







Bomjir Resort is also known as Zaktum Notko in local parlance. To our disappointment, prior booking was required at the place and since our plan was an impromptu one, even after talking to folks there, they somehow couldn’t accommodate us even though the resort looked to have rooms.







Nevertheless, the property impressed us with it’s location which is just beside the river and the cottage style of rooms and I would certainly like to stay in future. In fact, many cottages were right on the banks of the river and I am sure it would be wonderful experience to be able to wake up in the morning beside the river. The owners also provide for river rafting and off roading sessions. The thing is, earlier Dambuk remained cut off from the rest of the world for most of the year due to pathetic roads. It’s only in the winter’s that one was able to reach Dambuk and that too after driving through dry river beds and worse. Since it was getting dark and our quest of accommodation was still on, we decided to skip going to Dambuk, leaving it for some other time. Roads are all great these days and that road from Roing to Pasighat through Dambuk is one of the best in terms of scenic beauty and road surface across whole of India. To think, during my younger days, reaching Roing from Itanagar was a Herculean task !!











Now it was getting dark and our search for accommodation continued through. We visited two of the properties among which one was Mishmi hills camp and the other was Jia organic Eco resort. Mishmi hills camp was nice but was like the same old cottage style property and Jia Organic couldn’t provide us a room and offered us sleeping tents instead. Since it was dark already, we asked around in Roing market for a better place to stay and finally we landed at Hotel Zeemuko. It was a proper Hotel with all the modern amenities and frankly, I wasn’t expecting that in a place like Roing. As for the car parking requirements , car was parked inside the owner’s own house compound just across the hotel in a secured way.

[ABHI_1512]

We met a long lost senior from school in a chance meeting at Roing. The wonderful thing about spending our childhood in Naharlagun, Itanagar is that friends are scattered all over Arunachal Pradesh, working in various positions at various places. We had a wonderful session of reminiscing our childhood days.

Next day morning, we made a plan to visit Mayodia Pass. Mayodia Pass receives snowfall every year and this year was no different. The pass falls en route to Anini, another sleepy little town of Arunachal Pradesh. We went out early, sun was out in full force and it made the chilly winter morning so much better.









Roing is a lovely little town, it reminded me of my childhood days in Naharlagun, Itanagar. The town still retains the original government quarters which are now a rarity in Itanagar. The whole town was resplendent in the morning sun.



We started towards Mayodia and the roads were very inviting, to say the least. Most of the roads in border areas are made by BRO and they have made some brilliant roads all throughout Arunachal Pradesh. The road starts to narrow down once you start to get closer to Mayodia. The road surface is brilliant all throughout. Sharing a video link:

https://youtu.be/AA0f8Oq-ROY

When we reached Mayodia finally, the crowd buildup took us by surprise. Though manageable, it was getting crowded with each passing second. Then we enlisted that it was a Sunday and people from nearby areas were thronging the spot. The traffic was at stand still because BRO guys were clearing the snow at the pass. Many trucks tried to cross the stretch by tying nylon ropes but failed due to black ice was preventing them from moving forward. It was extremely slippery and not many vehicles had proper snow chains anyways. Presenting some pictures :

[ABHI_1512]

The real trouble started while returning back from Mayodia Pass. As it is, the roads were narrow already but people made it worse by parking their cars in haphazard manner. Some people stalled their car, some couldn’t reverse in the black ice and some just parked their cars and went away. It was nightmare and there was no solution in sight.





We got stuck in the massive gridlock for more than 60 minutes. The gridlock extended to almost 1.5 kilometres and with no clear light in sight, Rupak decided to get down and walked for some time before directing vehicles in opening up the gridlock. It was his initiative finally which made us get through the massive jam and we finally were on our way back to Roing.









We both were famished by the time we reached Roing around 4 in the evening. We found a nice little café and decided to have something there.













The café was very interesting and the decor was spot on. Seating was nice and the mood was relaxed. Food was great and the dessert was fabulous. AR-16 Cafe was a fabulous experience, I was surprised to find a sizzling brownie and the brownie was baked to perfection. Upon asking further, got to know that they baked their own goodies. Truly a wonderful experience in such a tiny place.





We left Roing with a heavy heart as our weekend came to end. We proceeded towards Dibrugarh for one final hurrah before the start of the week. Driving through the Dhola Sadiya bridge again, this time during the night was a cathartic experience. Sharing a dashcam video of the wonderful approach:

https://youtu.be/t5nxFslOdcQ

P.S- AR 16 is also the vehicle code for Roing.

[ABHI_1512]

Dibrugarh is two and a half hour drive from Roing. We entered Dibrugarh and straightaway checked into Hotel Tree Fern. This was a newly opened property and has top notch amenities with ample car parking.





We simply ordered dinner for the night and sat for one last chat session before our weekend was finally over. Rupak is a regular guest at Tree Fern and he recommended that Caramel Custard is a must try and boy, how he was so right





Next day morning, we both went for our respective work. Rupak had to stay back in Dibrugarh for some more days and I was to proceed towards Naharlagun, Itanagar in the evening. But before leaving Dibrugarh, we did find some time to have lunch together at one of the most visited and recommended Dhaba in the outskirts of the town. The Dhaba is named BONDHU DHABA and although the place is not that great, the food is top notch and lip smacking. They serve in typical Assamese thali style just as all the other dhabas in the state do. Got to sample the special fresh water fish BOROLI and it was delicious, just as well the mutton curry.









Lunch over and it was time for me to move towards Naharlagun, Itanagar. This was again going to be a new route for me since this was to be the first time that I would use the Bogibeel Bridge over the river Brahmaputra. The journey was uneventful with few broken stretches near the bridge but once I crossed the bridge, the road surface was simply brilliant. I reached Naharlagun in the evening and called it a day.

P.S- One selfie just for the sake of it and memory

[ABHI_1512]

Entire Naharlagun is under chaos these days because of the road widening work of NH 52A inside the town. Nevertheless, it’s always good to be back in a place where you grew up. Just one new development and which is very commendable for a place like Naharlagun came up in the form of a small Library. An open library at that, which is more like a book exchange place for free.









A day after was my return back to Calcutta but not before some work in Guwahati again. Now Naharlagun to Guwahati is a straight forward route but due to road widening between Gohpur and Tezpur, the entire stretch is in a mess barring some stretches between Biswanath Charali and Tezpur. It still takes around six- seven hours to reach Guwahati from Naharlagun. During this drive, took lunch at a fabulous place. I had heard the name of this Dhaba many a times before but never had the chance to try the place. Nevertheless, this time I got the chance and I could make out why the place is rated so highly.













Samaroh Dhaba is situated right before the start of Kaliabhromora bridge over Brahmaputra. The place can’t be missed since the entire place is done with bamboos.
Food is wonderful but the service is little slow. I don’t blame the service though since the entire place is scattered and the food is prepared fresh.













Reached Guwahati well into the evening and after finishing some pending work, called it a day. The forecast next day in Guwahati was to receive hailstorms and it was raining continuously. The next day morning was no better and it was already raining since very early. The entire travel to Siliguri was measured since it was raining continuously. The rest of the journey was my usual route and without any surprises. A quick getaway with a childhood friend came to an end when I reached Calcutta. There was this great temptation of going to Darjeeling once since the town was receiving snowfall in plenty but then, better sense prevailed.




















The entire travel of around 4000 kms came to and end and it was time to give Baahon a proper wash the next day just as it receives one, after each long road trip. I hope readers are not bored by road and food pictures. From two childhood friends who are now part of this forum, this journey to Roing was special.



Until next time, stay safe

[Eddy]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing.

[Prakritij]

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

Bomjir Resort is also known as Zaktum Notko in local parlance. To our disappointment, prior booking was required at the place and since our plan was an impromptu one, even after talking to folks there, they somehow couldn’t accommodate us even though the resort looked to have rooms.

Abhi da, loved reading your TL and the pics.
I too traversed a part of the route you travelled and stayed at the Bomjir Resort. Was Lucky to get accommodation with prior booking.

I have penned down whatever I could here:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5261180 (A day long drive in Arunachal Pradesh)

[graaja]

Fantastic travelogue.

What a way to spend the weekend with childhood friends, awesome food and just drive. Thoroughly enjoyed it. This also brought back memories of the recent Arunachal drive and has triggered an itch to go on a long drive.

[Mile_Breaker]

Wow Abhi ! One more awesome travelogue with spellbound pictures. Your travel stories are like those motivational speeches which immediately arouses the travel bug and in addition brings sensation in our taste buds. Good to see Baahon got some fun in the ice. Lets catch up sometime to hear the detail in person.

[adriansarita]

Super pictures and great travelogue. Tempting me to change my plans

[HornNotOkPlease]

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

Reached Guwahati after around 18 odd hours of drive and it was one of the most comfortable drives despite many number of rumble strips donning the highways after Bongaigaon all the way till Guwahati .


Attachment 2273916

It simply amazes me how effortlessly you cover such mammoth distances with such ease