[thirugata]

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

First things first- let me congratulate you on completing this enormous drive. The tenacity and perseverance needed for something like this can only be gauged by what you have written through your entire log. However, I have some points to make over here :

It’s commendable that you have touched all the states in the country and the moot theme being capital connect, you made your presence known. But somehow, I felt that you just made a dash for the places and never really got to understand the places better. Like you visited Itanagar but could only manage to go to the Gompha but not the Itafort after which the city is named or for that matter you visited Imphal but didn’t go to see the Loktak lake- the largest fresh water lake South Asia or for that matter- the historical INA museum at Moirang. Of course, it’s just my view and I understand that the purpose of your trip was different from a regular guy who wants to visit a place to explore.

Read about the ILP fiasco for Mizoram, but you could have easily made the ILP’s at Silchar only, would have saved you time and effort both. Also, regarding Silchar, the breakfast options are available from 6.30 in the morning onwards but you needed to ask the locals for that. I don’t know which part of Silchar you stayed in since the town gets pretty busy in the morning and breakfast options are galore.

Sorry to hear about the encounter with Kolkata Police, but since you had a local contact in the city, the unreasonable demand could have been averted. Also, demanding a receipt for paying a fine is the basic criteria regardless of police in any state across India. That you fell for a whatsapp receipt is surprising since you were anyways new to the city.

It was great to see the NE states from your point of view, more so because I know and have visited each of the places but I would want you to visit the NE again and explore the region more and not just the capitals.

Lastly, enjoyed reading through the experiences that you both had. It’s experiences like these that will remain all throughout the life and the memories will be cherished. Mighty congratulations to you both again, Special mention for the Fabia too. What a journey !

Thank you very much for the appreciation.

This trip was not about visiting all popular travel destinations, agenda was to visit capital and visit one or 2 destinations in the capital depending on where we get to stay and what time we arrive.
I will keep the suggestions made by you noted so that I can use it whenever I plan to visit these states again exclusively to visit all the places.
Regarding the traffic police episode, my local contact, a friend with whom we were staying was temporarily staying there, so not a local. And more over I didnt fall for the whatsapp receipt, I knew that wouldnt come, but didnt find any merit in arguing with someone where I had nothing to gain. Its not that he would have returned my money, but point taken.
I was aware that ILP option was available in Silcher, but the way the travel was going, I used to reach Silcher by evening and leave next day morning. So applying for ILP in Silcher meant I had to spend more time there. It was highlighted to show how easy it was in other states compared to Mizoram. I feel it is very inefficient way of managing the whole process where the person responsible goes missing for 2 hours. Imagin a situation where the person has some emergency and he had to wait. And as per the locals it was a regular practice there in the border, so not one off incident.
Regarding the breakfast option in Sicher, I had asked the locals including restaurants I visited in evenings, hotel staff I was staying in; answer from all was "breakfast is options open by 8:00 Am onwards. I certainly accept that I am not aware of all options in an unknown city, so you should be right. But that information now is of no use, will keep it in mind for next time.
I was running a thread with daily updates about how the trip was progressing and asking people for suggestions for the next destination I was headed. Guess that thread was not noticed by you. Else I would have got this input from you then and would have had my breakfast in Silcher.

[Orange GTX]

This is truly enormous
Heat/snow, rivers, jungles, desert, mountains, smooth/rough roads, food/drinks, Photos/videos, ... we name it and you have it.
Writing, editing, compiling, uploading and what not. I appreciate your efforts to take us through our beloved country.
The idea of coloring the respective state on the map was very nice and unique.
You inspired me for a road trip.
Kudos to you both and car too. Take a bow.

[Archisman]

Sir
Take a bow. What a phenomenal trip and beautiful pics.

[sam264_2000]

What a magnificent travelogue! Consumed my entire 1st half of Monday morning. I must congratulate you on going this far with the road trip. I wish I have the luxury of spending 70 days on a road trip. Some day! Though I might do it a bit differently. For now, I am in AWE.

[ulhas.ahirrao]

Truly phenomenal! That is unseen resilience to be on road for 70 days and cover the entire country. Your travelogues also helped me validate some of the routes I am planning for my road trip (nowhere close to what you did). Wondering how did you manage to take the time off for this epic trip!

[airbus]

Thanks for sharing your epic road trip. Hats off to you and your wife. Amazing travelogue and awesome photography

I am glad that I was able to provide you some information about Assam / North East.

I still feel bad about not giving you a call when we started our return journey from Sivasagar, Assam to Bengaluru, Karnataka on 7 May 2022. I was under the impression that you have already left the North East. We could have met somewhere near Shillong. Then again we missed meeting you in Kolkata where we stayed four days. Hopefully we will meet soon in Bengaluru

[smrsraja]

thirugata, Thats a phenominal travel. Congrats to you and your wife. Amazed at your spirit for travelling. Appreciate your wife's spirit also. Not everyone accompanies such a long travel.

I too have a 10 year old Fabia Petrol and it has never let me down so far. Have done 80K kms including atleast 10 round trips between Chennai and Tirunelveli and few other 1000kms trips.

[thirugata]

Originally Posted by Orange GTX

This is truly enormous
Heat/snow, rivers, jungles, desert, mountains, smooth/rough roads, food/drinks, Photos/videos, ... we name it and you have it.
Writing, editing, compiling, uploading and what not. I appreciate your efforts to take us through our beloved country.
The idea of coloring the respective state on the map was very nice and unique.
You inspired me for a road trip.
Kudos to you both and car too. Take a bow.

Thank you very much, I am glad you liked it.

Originally Posted by Archisman

Sir
Take a bow. What a phenomenal trip and beautiful pics.

Thank you very much, I am glad you liked it.

Originally Posted by sam264_2000

What a magnificent travelogue! Consumed my entire 1st half of Monday morning. I must congratulate you on going this far with the road trip. I wish I have the luxury of spending 70 days on a road trip. Some day! Though I might do it a bit differently. For now, I am in AWE.

Neither did I have the luxury per say, but I guess the desire to do the trip overpowered every other hindrances. I can understand if you are employed and what you mean by luxury is taking leave, I had that advantage of not asking for a leave to do this trip.
And whenever you do, would love to see your version of it. Good luck.

Originally Posted by ulhas.ahirrao

Truly phenomenal! That is unseen resilience to be on road for 70 days and cover the entire country. Your travelogues also helped me validate some of the routes I am planning for my road trip (nowhere close to what you did). Wondering how did you manage to take the time off for this epic trip!

Do reach out if you need any input during planning phase if the route you are going to take overlaps with what I did. Will share whatever I can though you will get latest updates from recent travels here.

Originally Posted by smrsraja

thirugata, Thats a phenominal travel. Congrats to you and your wife. Amazed at your spirit for travelling. Appreciate your wife's spirit also. Not everyone accompanies such a long travel.

I too have a 10 year old Fabia Petrol and it has never let me down so far. Have done 80K kms including atleast 10 round trips between Chennai and Tirunelveli and few other 1000kms trips.

Thank you for appreciation. Fabia is a wonderful car, at least it has been for me. I am glad you too have good things to say about it.

Originally Posted by airbus

Thanks for sharing your epic road trip. Hats off to you and your wife. Amazing travelogue and awesome photography

I am glad that I was able to provide you some information about Assam / North East.

I still feel bad about not giving you a call when we started our return journey from Sivasagar, Assam to Bengaluru, Karnataka on 7 May 2022. I was under the impression that you have already left the North East. We could have met somewhere near Shillong. Then again we missed meeting you in Kolkata where we stayed four days. Hopefully we will meet soon in Bengaluru

Yes sir, I was not aware that you were in Kolkata when I was there too, else we could have met there. And if not for flood threats we would have met in Assam itself. We will certainly meet in Bangalore, lets find a convenient date.
And thank you once again for providing the inputs during my NE section of drive.

[arun_747]

Dear Thirugata, all the best words have already been expressed by our Team Bhp Friends for Your travelogue.
A rare trip indeed. Congratulations !
Just wondering how You were able to get 70 days leave.
And finally, You have proven that a Skoda too is reliable for such a long trip.
I guess You just need a break now & plan for Your next trip

[chaitanyakrish]

Travelogues like this, stand the test of time and stay relevant for years to come. Thanks for sharing.

[Pennant1970]

I took my time reading through your travelogue and taking in the pictures. On and off, I composed replies and comments in my mind on how I would compliment you (both, including your wife) on your spirit and attitude. By the time I finished reading, I realised that words were mere nothings before your adventure. So, I restrict my response to a heartfelt thanks for taking me along on a journey that I have long dreamt of but will probably never take up. Thank you both for the vicarious vacation.

[Dhar's]

This is one 'Big Daddy' of all roadtrips!!!
Kudos to you and your partner for undertaking this. This is was one heck of a read. Really appreciate all the details especially the road conditions. Very well detailed.

[thirugata]

Originally Posted by Dhar's

This is one 'Big Daddy' of all roadtrips!!!
Kudos to you and your partner for undertaking this. This is was one heck of a read. Really appreciate all the details especially the road conditions. Very well detailed.

Originally Posted by Pennant1970

I took my time reading through your travelogue and taking in the pictures. On and off, I composed replies and comments in my mind on how I would compliment you (both, including your wife) on your spirit and attitude. By the time I finished reading, I realised that words were mere nothings before your adventure. So, I restrict my response to a heartfelt thanks for taking me along on a journey that I have long dreamt of but will probably never take up. Thank you both for the vicarious vacation.

Originally Posted by chaitanyakrish

Travelogues like this, stand the test of time and stay relevant for years to come. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you very much for the kind words and appreciation. I am glad you liked it.

Originally Posted by arun_747

Dear Thirugata, all the best words have already been expressed by our Team Bhp Friends for Your travelogue.
A rare trip indeed. Congratulations !
Just wondering how You were able to get 70 days leave.
And finally, You have proven that a Skoda too is reliable for such a long trip.
I guess You just need a break now & plan for Your next trip

Thank you, I am self employed So I have the advantage of not asking for leave.

[keroo1099]

Took me 3 days to finally finish the trip of a lifetime. Kudos to all 3, and thanks for sharing.

The coffee cup is my favourite pic, and your better half can shoot some mean snaps.

Can't believe you travelled 300 odd km on a leaky tyre without incident !!!

[sukhbirST]

Real Guts to Glory adventure which was successfully accomplished. Took me 2 full days to read and assimilate. Wonder how you felt after this trip? Still trying to figure out how you continued this long. 70 days is a very long time and that too summer in many states. Must also give full points to your wife and car for the true support all this while. Thanks for bringing it live for all of us. Wish you more trips in future.