Uttar Mahayatra

  Bird’s eye view: Today we travelled 300 km, leaving Lucknow at 7.00 am and entering our hotel at Khatima at 2.30 pm. Not every day has a Jhumritalaiya or Prayagraj break in the middle. This was a straightish drive, consequently more tiring. Nor did we have big breaks for breakfast or coffee, since I was harbouring an indigestion (the bane of bengalees). We just put our heads down and drove, intent on getting to the final destination alone, like Dhoni in the slog overs (oops, did I put my foot in it?) Leaving Lucknow (7.00 am): As planned, our choice of hotel allowed us to get out of our Lucknow stable pretty fast, and we hit NH30 again (the one that goes to Delhi). Today we drove mostly in UP and the last bit in Uttarakhand, but I must say that roads in this part of the country, be it NH, SH or simple roads, were very very good. Lot of truck traffic on NH30, of course, and one had to recall video-gaming skills in order to weave between divers vehicles in t...

Bird’s eye view: Around 350 kms once again. National highways in UP are good. One can cruise on without strain. We were on NH30 most of the time, and there was a stretch from Prayagraj to Lucknow that was practically devoid of traffic. Makes one feel downright nervous, you know. We left today at 7.15 am and reached our hotel in Lucknow at 3.30 pm. Not a bad stint, though the morning weather was unsettling. But first things first. Leaving Varanasi (7.15 am): Sunrise over the Ganges was there in riotous colours and we had front-row seats, sitting on the open terrace sipping earl gray. Yesterday’s road-tripper couple joined us there, and together, we ushered in the new day. We were leaving at 7.00 am, as usual, in order to get onto a quick start (which implies an early finish too, which I love). Our homestay owner had kindly packed breakfast for us, so that we could have it on the road at any time of our choosing. It is these personal touches that endea...

Bird’s eye view: A straight drive (a la Rohit Sharma) of 350 km today, leaving at 7.00 am, reaching our Homestay at 2.00 pm post-lunch. Nothing to complain of. Yesterday we had passed through Jharkhand and entered Bihar. Today we entered UP. As we passed from J to B, the rough patches on the highway started showing up a bit. I mean, we would have a stretch of silky three-lane highway for a while, and then suddenly start jumping about amongst patchworks and potholes. Average speed was less than 50 kmph. Our Tata Punch has a slightly hard suspension, so it is quite at home over rough patches. Weather was hazy, much to the chagrin of Panna, our official photographer, who likes her pictures to be as crisp as British bacon. Leaving Bodh Gaya (7.00 am): Today, there was no cousin to dish out emotional blackmail, so we left on the dot. We had a very pleasant run till 9.00 am, when we simply stopped at a locality called Kans and popped into - hol...

  A journey of 320 km from A to B via C (in this case via JT) should not have taken 9 hours, but it did. The diversion to JT took up some time, but what was not anticipated at all was a 1.5 hour traffic block due to an accident. Looked like one or more vehicles had rammed into the barriers on a mild ghat stretch near Chouparan and done some winter-sledding down the hillside. I thanked my stars and my laziness that had inspired me to keep planned driving times within 5-6 hours. Else today we would have been knocking at our Bodh Gaya hotel in the sonorous depths of the night and rousing an irate receptionist to let us inside his gates. Moral of the story - unforeseen delays can happen anywhere on a road trip, and it is sensible to limit the driving plan and keep a couple of hours’ cushion in hand. Jharkhand starts as soon as we cross Barakar bridge near Maithon, and roads were very good upto Barhi, from where we turned right to have a pop at Jhumri Talailya. Subsequent ro...