3-and-a-half-day journey covering 2,315 kilometers starting in Gurgaon via Delhi Mumbai Expressway, KMP, Yamuna, and Agra Lucknow Expressway.
Day 1: Gurgaon to Gorakhpur | 825 kilometers in 13 hours | Toll: Rs 1,665
After this Delhi Mumbai Expressway came into the picture, this time we were quite relieved as we didn’t have to venture Palwal City to reach Yamuna Expressway. To give you a background, technically there is no direct Expressway that connects Gurgaon to Yamuna Expressway (that starts from Noida and ends in Agra). Prior to Delhi Mumbai Expressway, one has to take diversions from Sohna to reach Palwal and then circle inside Palwal and take narrow roads to Yamuna Expressway. This route is long and the roads are not good either. Plus, erratic traffic.
Reaching Agra from Gurgaon
Now after this Delhi Mumbai Expressway, traveling to this part of the world was never so convenient. From Sohna just hop on to Delhi Mumbai Expressway, then drop on Kundli Manesar Palwal (KMP) Expressway and then again hop on to the old Delhi – Agra highway (NH 19), because as I said, there’s still no direct Expressway connectivity from Gurgaon to Yamuna Expressway.
So what we did this time was that we got off from KMP at Palwal and then we traveled to Vrindavan on this old Delhi-Agra highway. From Vrindavan, we cut across the entire town and then hopped onto Yamuna Expressway. It saved a lot of time and traffic. The other good part is that since this is an old highway, the roads and nice and wide, there are many eateries and fuel stations along the road.
We started off at exactly 4:00 am and reached Vrindavan at 6 am. Had a tea break for 20 minutes and hopped on Yamuna Expressway at 6:50 am. We reached Agra at 7:30 am and by 7:35 am we were on Agra-Lucknow Expressway.
We reached Lucknow at 11:20 am and by 12:25 pm we crossed Gomti Nagar. We had our lunch at KFC in the Crown Mall parking lot. By 3:00 pm we were in Ayodhya and at 5:00 pm we were in Gorakhpur. 3:10
Here’s a video of the journey:
Day 2: Gorakhpur to Siliguri | 648 kms | 13 hours | Toll: Rs 715
Knowing that this would be a long trip, we started before 4 am. We had to cross entire Bihar today and reach Bengal, while we just started in Uttar Pradesh.
The roads are nice as we reached the Bihar integrated check post – at 5:55 am. They treat this area like any country border. They let my car pass but stopped our Ecosport as it was full of luggages. 2 policemen were busy scrutinising the luggage to get some thing. I too joined them but then they soon realised we were clean and let us go. Now this check post has 2 gates, one at around 100 meters. The next gate guard asks his sipahi boss – “sir, please make the dog bark!” The sipahi boss be like teasing coco and as coco starts to bark, they let us go. I wonder where these policemen get their (non) sense of humour from?
Now in Bihar, our next milestone was Araria, the place which sends chills down my spine due to its bad roads. We need to had some breakfast too, and the plan was to reach Radhe Radhe in Darbhanga before noon. Before that we had Gopalganj, Motihari nd Muzaffarpur to cross.
At 9 am we reached the restaurant which is a very nice place to have breakfast and snacks. It’s right on the highway. They have a variety of options from fresh biscuits to a variety of sweets. They also have any damn cold drink to go along with all poori or chole bhature. And with coco, we usually sit outside but the interior and the washrooms are spec clean.
We reached Araria at 12:45 pm and the plan was to have lunch at the only roadside dhaba/ restaurant in Jokihat. As expected, the roads were bad here but better since last year. We reached Sagar restaurant at 1:20 pm. It has a huge parking and can take pets inside. We had chicken masala and chicken do plaza with naan. The food was good. The only problem is that the place is dirty. You have to keep an eye on the glass, spoon etc., if they are wiping those before serving you your table. Since this is the only option, there’s no choice. Moreover, I checked with some other travelers on this road and they too suggested this place.
Siliguri was a few kilometers away but the time it was showing was double. All thanks to the bad road. By 4:15 pm we crossed over to Bengal. Now here’s a catch. When you travel from Bihar to Siliguri via Araria, make sure you enter Siliguri from Bagdogra and not from the village route. Avoid the right turn that Google Maps might suggest. This village route has less people/ traffic but it’s lengthy and narrow. Also, it would make you enter Siliguri from the busiest locality and I was stuck on that Siliguri flyover for a long time. People drive rashly in the city and one guy even took the liberty to brush past his Wagon R and dent my bumper. Very reckless.
Hotel Saluja, Siliguri – the thugs!
Hotel Saluja: I had a very bad experience here. I booked this place from booking.com as it was recommended by a fellow traveller that they accommodate pets. Everything was fine till noon but by evening they were restless. Even after I assured them that I was just a kilometer away, they canceled my booking. I believe they were looking for some token money. I reached at 5:30 pm and they were offering me 2 non-AC rooms. The reception was also passing comments in Bengali. So like usual I called up The Forresta and booked 2 rooms there. I wonder why I skipped Forresta in the first place. Saluja’s are thugs. They shall waste time and also money if you had paid them any token amount.
The Forresta
No words will be able to decorate this place. As the name says, this place stands tall at the Eastern Bypass road which makes us easy to go to Assam or Kolkata. No Siliguri traffic in between. Pets are allowed here and the staff is very friendly. The rooms are very comfortable and since the hotel in not in the city, this place is very peaceful.
We reached Forresta at around 6:45 pm and called it a day.
Check out the short video below:
Day 3: Siliguri to Guwahati | 457 kms | 11 hours | Toll: Rs 495
We started off at 4:25 am as we struggle to put the luggage in side our cars due to the heavy rain. It was pouring cats and dogs.
Our route to Assam was via Coronation bridge as I simply love that road and the view is amazing.
We reached Coronation at the first light around 5:05 am. The rain subsided and our folks decided to click some picture of the mighty Teesta river. Me and Coco teased some monkeys on the bridge, as we head forward.
The breathtaking views can only be explained in pictures or video. Please view the video below to experience the scenic beauty. I turned off the AC and pulled down the windows as we cross through various villages guarding the zig zag roads. At one place we even sighted a mini truck carrying chicken, falling by the road as the chicken rests by the lane.
We reached the Assam highway at 6:50 am before we halted for a quick tea break. Coco also needed to relieve himself hence the break was an important one. We turned left towards Assam and entered Alipurduar which is the last destination in Bengal before we cross over to Assam at Srirampur.
By 8:45 am we reach Sankosh Valley restaurant. This restaurant is at the edge of the border as after this we were in Assam. We had our breakfast of Poori Saabji here and also refilled some water. The sun was up and was in full glory. The car mud had to be cleaned as well. After an hour, we were on the road again crossing Srirampur gate. We also refilled our fuel at the first Assam fuel station at Srirampur.
In few minutes were were in Kokrajhar. The roads are terrible in Assam. Either there were long rumbles/ speed breakers or there were this accident-prone area signage with caution. I believe Assam has the highest accident-prone areas in India. The beautiful highway from last year perished and made way to diversions. There are no upkeep of these roads and its a very sad sight. SInce time was crucial, we planned to have our lunch on the road instead of in Guwahati, since Coco might not be allowed in many restaurants there.
Somewhere after Nalbari we reached this Highway Platter dhaba at 1:17pm. It’s a bad place to eat. The AC cabin had beer sticker all over the table. I somehow gulped whatever we ordered and left at 2:45pm. The service took eternity to deliver. The cook was taking orders!
By 3:30pm we were crossing over the mightly Brahmaputra via Saraighat bridge. Our Homestay was near Guwahati MEdical College hence we had to take the city route. By 4:10 pm we reached our Homestay.
Watch the video below:
Day 4: Guwahati to Jorhat | 311 kms | 6 hours | Toll: Rs 115
Since this was a short journey, we started at 7:45 am after we had some nice breakfast. After few quick stops like Govindam and refilling, we were on the highway at 8:30 am.
After crossing an angry biker who was so pissed at me that we actually hand gestured to hit me, we reached this place called Banraja Resort at 11:45 am for a tea break. This resort is nowhere near to any resort. Most of the food items are unavailable, except tea and Marie Gold biscuits. By 12:17 pm we were out and passing Kaziranga. The 16 crore worth speed sensors were defunct, hence there was a speed tracking van which the police monitors – manually. Since it was drizzling, hence we were below their cut of speed of 40 km/hour. I wonder why they have such a speed limit. I never crossed an animal on this road my entire life and even if I do I will stop my car. But 40 km/hour speed limit is too less!
We reached home around 2:30 pm amidst the oncoming dark cloud and rain. Finally, the journey ends.
The return journey was planned via Kolkata and Varanasi. That story will be up next. Enjoy the day 4 video below.
Abracadabra 
Leave a comment