We covered 2251 kilometers in approx 50 hours. Sharing you our experience and a few tips before you start your pending road trip!
There’s always this desire I had to go on a road trip, see new faces, and breathe a different air. My idea of a staycation with my current work schedule was a distant dream. Thanks to my work from home arrangement that I decided to take this trip from our Gurgaon home to Jorhat home, a distance covering 5 states in 3 days (which later happened to be 3 and half days). That someday was today!
Here’s the snapshot:
Vehicles: Maruti Suzuki Wagon R Vxi 2016 and Ford Ecosport 2020
People: Me, my wife, my brother, and our 9-month-old Japanese spitz
Route: [Haryana] Gurgaon > Sohna > Palwal > [Uttar Pradesh] Jewar > Agra > Fatehabad > Karhal > Kannauj > Aoras > Lucknow > Barabanki > Faizabad/ Ayodhya > Basti > Khallibad > Gorakhpur > Kushinagar > [Bihar] Gopalganj > Motihari > Muzaffarpur > Phulparas > Forbesganj > Araria > Jokihat > Bahadurganj > [ Bengal] Thakurganj > Bhajanpur > Panitanki > Naxalbari > Bagdogra > Siliguri > Jalpaiguri > Dhupguri > Hasimara > [Assam] Srirampur > Gossaigaon > Bongaigaon > Barpeta > Rangia > Baihata charali > Sipajhar > Dhekiajuli > Tezpur > Jakhalabandha > Kaziranga > Bokakhat > Dergaon > Jorhat
Driving plan: Drive in daylight rest at night
Food: Pre-packed like cakes, fruits, toffees, sabji rolls
Day 1 – Gurgaon > Sohna > Palwal > Jewar > Agra > Fatehabad > Karhal > Kannauj > Aoras > Lucknow > Barabanki > Faizabad/ Ayodhya > Basti > Khallibad > Gorakhpur
Distance – 829.5 kms
Travel time – 14 hours – Started at 4:40 am and reached at 7:50 pm
The idea was to start early at 4 or 4:40 am in the morning but as we packed the cars, we were 10 mins late. So at 4:40 am we started off from Sec 50, Gurgaon. We depended on Google as this road was never explored by me before. 10 mins after we started, I remembered that the sunshades on the rear windows were still on. Hence we stopped and removed the shades as many states don’t allow tinted glass/ sunshades etc.
We proceeded towards Sohna and then Palwal but the problem is to hop on the Yamuna expressway I had to detour via Palwal as the Eastern peripheral expressway doesn’t have a cut towards Yamuna expressway. Hence it was a waste of around 1 hour 30 minutes. Once you are on the Yamuna expressway, there’s no looking back. I cruised at 100 kmph till we reached the refreshment zone at 7:30 am for a quick tea and cake break. We then started off as we crossed Agra and the Yamuna to hop on to the Agra – Lucknow expressway. This expressway is new, sleek and there’s no layover stop in between, except for those refreshment zones which are situated at designated points, unlike the Yamuna expressway. We stopped in on of these food courts at 10:25 am for a break as Coco needed to eat his breakfast. We munched on some snacks as we started towards Lucknow. At 1:30 pm we reached Lucknow. We made a quick stop at the BP petrol station to refill 30 liters of petrol.
Day 2 – Kushinagar > Gopalganj > Motihari > Muzaffarpur > Phulparas > Forbesganj > Araria > Jokihat > Bahadurganj > Thakurganj > Bhajanpur > Panitanki > Naxalbari > Bagdogra > Siliguri
Distance: 607 kms
Travel time: 14 hours 30 mins. Started at 5:00 am and reached at 7:30 pm
We started early around 5 am. It was still dark, however, the weather was quite welcoming. It was a bit cold and the darkness was yet to be lifted. Priority 1 was to get the refilling done for both the cars. We proceeded towards Kushinagar and got the 1st petrol pump. Waited for 5 mins as those sleepy folks try to start the pump, and failed. I couldn’t waste any more time. Quickly jumped on the highway for the next pump which was in 13 kms – Sushil Automobiles, Indian Oil petrol pump. The attendant was old and enquiring about both cars traveling together. Refilled 19 liters of petrol here and was desperately looking for some tea. There was a toll in few minutes and post that toll there was a small tea corner. We caught up with some coffee and some homemade snacks as the day ahead was Bihar and we had to cross this state and reach Siliguri the same day.
Bihar
After driving for another 2 hours, we thought of some breakfast. The problem you see here in this part of UP is that there are hardly any dhaba available. Most of the places didn’t seem user-friendly due to the lack of parking or being too dim. Finally got this place called Lallan Dhaba, which google refer to as D.J. Restorent Point. Google didn’t find this but I saw this place as its just on the road. The place is Rampur Khajuria and time – 8:25 am. In fact, there are 2 restaurants both sharing a common wall. We went to the one which looked beautiful, but they didn’t have much to offer. We were looking for some Poori sabji kind of breakfast. Lallan Dhaba which looks like a classic village/ desi style restaurant was my second choice. As I was speaking to the owner, he said he can prepare these paranthas which were poori style. I never had poori style parathas and now that there were no nearby dhabas, we decided to take the dive. These parathas looked how it should be but when I took the first bite, I was on cloud 9. These parathas were dipped in pure ghee + deep fried from the outside and from inside the potatoes, chillies and onions were not mashed but chopped. So I could make out which vegetable I was happily chomping. We spied and saw that when the paranthas were cooked, he dip these half-cooked pieces into a bowl full of ghee. Then he takes them out and then again fries them on the tawa. We were also served some dal and eggplant sabji. The dal was amazing. I ended up eating 2 paranthas and so did my brother. The owner was kind enough to share some freshly made curd. This homemade curd had that pure flavour, lipsmacking ofcourse. I avoided much as too much curd invites laziness. After paying around Rs 480 for this breakfast, we started off for Bihar at 9:18 am.
The transition from UP to Bihar is smooth until you find these huge barricades. As we reached the first gate, they stopped our cars and peeped through the windows. Since my car was all luggage hence they were more concerned. After they saw the car behind with a puppy inside, they knew we were clean. The guard let us go and just as I was about to leave one asked – Wine to nhi hai na? (There isn’t any wine you are carrying along?) Bihar being a dry state, it’s illegal to carry alcohol. I said no and he let me pass.
As we moved 100 meters, the 2nd gate stopped us. There were around 8 – 10 policemen as one was noting down our car numbers. Here the questions were like – coming from, going to, etc. They even check my luggage and peeped through the 2nd car. Made me and my brother come out for inspecting the car as well. The policemen were friendly yet suspicious. They let us pass through in around 10 minutes.
The road is smooth and in few parts there are speed meters installed. Our 2nd fuel refill was at Forbesganj. It was a HP petrol pump and I refilled 25 liters of petrol. Also took a loo break. Time check – 2:46 pm as we too the highway.
As we couldn’t find any dhabas we decided to keep moving till we reached Araria. Araria is the point from where we need to take a diversion to Siliguri. It starts with a bus stop with an endless number of people waiting or boarding or deboarding buses. The place was crowded with those battery-operated rickshaws. It was a full of chaos. There were places to eat here but since the road was bad I guess the food included the dust and dirt from the road as well. The time was around 3 pm and coco needs food. We all were hungry but pet comes first. We took a small stop as coco had his cerelac. This highway is being renovated, hence not the kind of road I was expecting. There were bridge diversions where big lorries were going slow. JCBs working on the bridges as people gather to see what’s being dug by those machines. And yes, loads and loads of fish markets. From Araria to Thakurganj it took us nearly 2.5 hours with a distance of around 90 kms. The Bengal flavour kicks in at Thakurganj as the view changes. There was another 55 kms left till Siliguri.
Way to Siliguri from Araria
After Thakurganj, there were lines of trucking waiting to unload their consignments of vegetables, etc., and the traffic jam these trucks created was massive. We got stuck near this godown where these trucks are waiting to unload. Since Google Maps showed us a left turn, which we couldn’t take and the traffic police asked us to go straight fo Siliguri. It was now dark and we were following trucks and since the road was narrow we couldn’t overtake. The good part here is that there are a lot of eateries on the road. You can stop and have some egg roll or noodle or momo to pacify your stomach. At one point I saw Bagdogra airport was 2 kms and at the next toll gate I asked how to reach Siliguri and he said, just go straight. We reached our hotel, The Forresta at around 7:30 pm. Thanks to the Araria – Thakurganj road we lost our precious time. The hunger kicks in. Coco jumped on the bed as we ordered food.
Day 3: Siliguri > Jalpaiguri > Dhupguri > Hasimara > Srirampur > Gossaigaon > Bongaigaon > Barpeta > Rangia > Baihata charali > Sipajhar > Dhekiajuli > Tezpur
Distance: 528 kms
Travel time: 16 hours. Started at 5:30 am and reached at 9:30 pm
The weather in Siliguri was just fantastic. Cool breeze flowing in keeping the weather a bit cold and cloudy. We started at 5:30 am bit late as the excitement of reaching home kicks in. The plan is to reach Jorhat the same day, but we stayed back at Tezpur rather than driving till Jorhat as we were late. As usual, first stop was this beautiful petrol pump named Royal Service Station at Sitaguri, Jalpaiguri highway. It’s a Bharat Petroleum dealer. Refilled 16 liters of petrol as we head towards Alipurduar. We took a small tea break near Jalpaiguri intersection. We crossed this beautiful river Teesta and after that Google map somehow showed us a wrong way making us leave the national highway and take a detour via Maynaguri and again making us take the same highway as we end us losing around 30-40 mins. At this point, I quit google maps and moved to apple map right away. The highway is super. We reached Srirampur gate, the Assam border at 10:30 am. Since we were hungry, we headed to Hotel Sankosh, its a nice hotel on the road at the border. We had these amazing poori sabji here.
Assam
The roads in Assam is comparatively ok and not good like UP or few few parts of Bihar and Bengal. The problem in Assam roads are not just the patch but those white speed breakers. It was quite annoying that at every 100-200 meters there was this speed breaker. Our speed decreased which also increased the fuel consumption. We crossed Bongaigaon as we could smell petrol in the air. It’s one of the largest oil refineries in India. We took a short break after Bongaigaon since it was past noon already and coco was hungry. We reached Barpeta road at 3 pm and we decided to have lunch at Smriti Rekha dhaba, a small authentic Assamese dhaba. We took thali which was ok. The transition from masala food to a non-masala Assamese thali was huge. I felt everything bland, even the water was bland. We left this place at 4 pm, which was of course late than our usual track. We decided to halt at Tezpur that night instead, since in this part of India, day light ends sooner than the rest.
The road splits at Bihata charali, as one road goes towards Guwahati and another towards Tezpur, bypassing Guwahati and its traffic. Before reaching this split, we refuelled at NRL petrol pump, Patacharkuchi, Barpeta with 17 liters of petrol.
Once we took the Tezpur route, chaos kicks in. The road is the narrowest of all and since it was dark, overtaking was a challenge. In the entire trip this drive was challenging. Since we were behind this trail of vehicles driving slow, we lost lot of time. At one point we thought of overtaking them as we risked everything. By the time we reached Tezpur it was 9:30 pm already. It took us almost 4 hours to drive 150 kms. Imagine! We checked into this amazing hotel named Palazzo Prime in Tezpur. The food and hospitality were amazing here.
Day 4: Tezpur > Jakhalabandha > Kaziranga > Bokakhat > Dergaon > Jorhat
Distance: 164 kms
Travel time: 4 hours 19 minutes – started at 9:11 am and reached at 1:42 pm
We started late as last night’s driving experience was not worth it and we wanted to start with our stomach full. The breakfast was too good at Hotel Palazzo Prime, Tezpur. The first stop was this Shell petrol station near Tezpur where I refuelled 18 liters of petrol. At Kaziranga, we took a quick loo break at Bagori lodge. This is a roadside open place with rooms etc. We had some red tea with pakoras as coco and we all relieved ourselves. We again started our journey as we hit this beautiful highway before Jorhat. We reached our Jorhat home at 1:42 pm. Almost forgot to mention, beware of the speed cams in Kaziranga.
Read the return journey here
Here’s the summary
Distance: 2251 kms
Fuel expense: Rs 13,850
Fuel: 131 litre (20 litre remaining) = 111 litres
Milage: 20.27 kmpl with AC
Gurgaon to Lucknow : 542 km
Refuelling at Lucknow: 30 litres
Milage: 18.1 kmpl
Lucknow to Kushinagar : 339 kms
Refuelling at Kushinagar : 18.7 litres
Milage: 18.13 kmpl
Kushinagar to Forbisganj : 439
Refuelling at Forbisganj: 24.7 litre
Milage: 18 kmpl
Forbisganj to Jalpaiguri: 198
Refuelling at Jalpaiguri: 16 litre
Milage: 12 kmpl
Jalpaiguri to Barpeta: 358
Refuelling at Barpeta: 21 litre
Milage: 17 kmpl
Barpeta to Tezpur: 217
Refuelling at Tezpur: 18 liters
Milage: 12 kmpl
Quick tips
- Start early around 4:00 or 4:30 am – This will make you avoid the general traffic that usually crops up from 9 am onwards.
- Get a cartoon of drinking water bottles – It’s important to stay dehydrated. Whenever you get a chance drink water.
- Pack some food – You can either cook or get some food delivered the previous night of the journey. We packed roti rolls with potato sabzi inside, fruits cut into pieces and packed in tiffin boxes, dry fruits, biscuits, namkeens snacks, etc No non-vegetarian food.
- Tissues – carry loads of tissue paper since we don’t want our cars to be dirty from inside
- Pet care – if you are traveling with a pet, carry their bowl, and dry food along. We only fed coco cerelac in the morning. All the way we fed him dry food from pedigree.
- Service – get your car serviced at least a week before. Get a general checkup done from the service center including coolant, brake oil, engine oil and battery water checked.
- Tools – make sure you have all the necessary tools in your car, like wrenches, jack etc
- Torch – keep a torch handy at the car boot. Get the one with LED lights
- Tyre pressure – Make sure your car tyre pressure is maintained the same across all the tyres, including the stepney. Since my Wagon R was supposed to carry all the luggage hence the tyre pressure was kept at 33 psi. I believe if the weight of the car is more, then the tyre pressure has to be standard. If there are few luggage then keep the tyre pressure less than 33 psi. In summers, the roads heat up and that heats up the air inside the tyre as well. If the tyre pressure is more, there are chances that the tyre might blow. I saw such situation on the Agra-Lucknow expressway. Lots of tyre leftovers on the road.
- Get car accessories – I got a dashcam, digital tyre pressure monitoring tool, puncture tool, tyre inflator pump, few car tyre bolts, mobile holder so that you can glance the map at times etc.
Abracadabra 
Good one. Enjoyed reading about your journey.
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Thank you Arnab. Glad you liked!
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Had a great time reading the blog Parth! Loved how you have shared your experience with the world, covering every small technical and non tech detail. I am sure it will really come handy to all those who love to be behind the wheels and keep up with road trips. Cheers! 😊🤘
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