Bird’s eye view:
After a long time, my travel biographer would take an interest in the proceedings, because today we travelled 400 km from Patna to Asansol (incidentally, from one sister’s place to another’s). We left Patna at 7.30 am and rang the bell at Asansol at 2.45 pm, a little more than 7 hours, including meal and fuel breaks. That’s a fair run, given that in many places, speed drops to below 30 kmph.
We travelled through three states - Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
Roads in Bihar are better than we thought they would be. Both the Patna-Dobhi road, which ran south for 140 kms past Gaya and Bodhgaya, as well as the subsequent NH19, which actually runs from Delhi to Kolkata (1269 kms), were in great shape, though a lot of road expansion going on in the Bihar part queered the pitch a bit. The state seems to have received high funding for projects. Jharkhand roads, the little that we travelled today, were a dream as usual. West Bengal was also good, except for the ubiquitous road barriers at minor junctions.
Weather started cloudy, but the sun quickly threw aside its bed sheets and declared that it meant business today, no cuddling under covers. Asansol is now at 30 degC, and the highest today might have been 34. Not too bad, considering.
Leaving Patna (7.30 am):
When staying with a relative, it is always difficult to leave without breakfast. Protocol prohibits. So my cousin Chumki made poha for us, with cut fruits by the side, so that we don’t faint on the wheel. The early morning weather was lovely - cloudy and windy. It did not seem like a Bihari summer at all.
We packed our bags and loaded up by 7.30 am. Google maps was showing a straight run of 7.5 hours, so, with breaks added, I expected to reach between 3.30-4.00 pm. Lunch would have to be outside, of course. We said goodbye to our cousin, with a promise to visit in the winter months.
As we drove through the light morning traffic of Patna, we marvelled again at the transformation of the city, as well as the change it brought to our impression of the place, compared to the old idea we had of Patna - a small chaotic town, full of gangsters. This was a bustling Tier-1, ready to go places, mate.
Lunch at Topchanchi (1.00 pm):
We drove south past Gaya and Bodhgaya (IIM Bodhgaya is truly a landmark by the road), till we reached Dobhi 140 km south, and then turned left (eastward) towards Dhanbad and Asansol.
Topchanchi is a tourist attraction because of a dam and a lake, but we just drove by it, stopping for a bite of lunch. The usual simple fare at Hotel Annapurna - a thali of rice, daal, potato wedges and mix vegetable, with an add-on of boiled eggs (don't get misled by the pic; we didn't eat that much rice). Now that we were so close to the finish, we did not want to instigate jinxes that were currently playing cards, having lost interest in us.
In fact, there are many places of natural beauty here in Jharkhand, whose names had become household words for Bengalis, for short holiday trips as well as longer health recovery staycations - Giridih, Deoghar, Madhupur, Dumka etc. I have made a mental note to separately plan a trip for these beautiful spots.
Reaching Asansol (2.45 pm):
Thanks to the excellent roads, and the fact I drove a majority of it at 100 kmph, we were running before time, and clocked in at 2.45 pm to my cousin Piu’s flat at Asansol. She was at school of course (she is a teacher), but her father, my meshomoshai, was at home and we celebrated the fact that our first stop on this 41-day trip had been this house in Asansol, and so was our last stop.
Tomorrow we drive to Kolkata, the final leg of the uttar mahayatra.
Photo credits: Panna Rashmi Ray
Pro driving tips: The hairpin bend:
In hill driving, the hairpin bend, where there is an U-turn in the road, combined with a steep climb, is often the nemesis of plain drivers, but it need not be. In fact, assuming your car is not grossly underpowered or overloaded, that is, it is strong enough to climb the slope with some momentum, there is no reason for getting stuck. It becomes a challenge only if you are forced to stop during the climb on the bend, or any slope for that matter. So how to keep moving around the U-turn?
Firstly, the road builders make sure that the width of the bend is much wider than the straight parts; in my experience, three cars can pass each other on a hairpin. So if you are on the outer side of the turn, stick to the outermost edge, and the other driver will manage his space easily. If you are on the inner side, it is better to move slightly to the centre of the road before the bend, then squish to the inner edge as you turn. This will ensure that your rear wheels never drop off the road in a tight turn, especially if you have a longish car like the Innova. This curve funda holds true whether you are ascending or descending. However, the descending guy has more responsibility to make sure that the ascending guy has a clear path. Happy climbing!
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