Next day we planned to start at 11 as we had to cross Lodhasuli and reach Kharagpur before twilight around 5 and cross the danger zone. But due to unavoidable circumstances we reached dimna chowk and into NH 33 at 1.15. I knew i did not have much time and could not waste much time anywhere. We were now prepared for the bad roads as we had just came through that road the day before. Infact we were expecting worse conditions as it has rained from the morning.
My next stop was Baharagora and did not stop anywhere in between and tried to make up in between in good patches of road but intermittently had very bad roads and i tell you braking system in Manza with its ABS is excellent, saved many potholes with ease
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Few pictures below :
We reached Baharagora at around 4. Took around 10 mins break. Infact it is a good practice to halt after every 2-3 hrs and give the engine a breather and time to cool down.
However we were now approaching the danger zone, the bad roads(cant say road even) and the jungles. Twilight was falling and it was becoming dark and it had started to drizzle again and everybody in the car was slowly becoming quite and looking at their watches every 2 mins and my road log. I could feel their tension but i had to keep myself calm and focused. Frequently we were getting calls from my friends house in Jamshedpur to know how far we had reached. Everybody was tensed to cross the jungle before night falls but it was not to be.
Once we started towards Bengal Jharkhand border we started seeing a long queue of trucks. We stood for 5 mins but could not wait much as we were loosing time and night was falling. We inquired with some of the trucks about the road ahead and started to cross them. They said if you move immediately we can cross otherwise it would become very risky. However we started
moving as there was no way back for us. Moving ahead the bad roads started.
Following are some pictures of that stretch:
The worst is yet to come. Here they come. No one can imagine driving a sedan through these stretches. These are not along the road, these are what we went over. I was almost certain that we are going to get stuck here. But my lady didn't screw me. She endured all these.
Following are the pictures:
The worst was over but very bad roads lay ahead before the jungles start. It was getting late and there was pin drop silence within the box even music being switched off. Everybody was sitting upright and every body had lost the urge to take any more pictures. It was almost 5.30 pm and we had not yet entered the jungle stretch. It was raining and almost dark. However we crossed the bad patch and entered the jungle stretch. Everybody was sitting upright looking at front. I was trying to speed but found that the van in front of me stopped me and they were moving at a moderate speed and nobody was overtaking where there was lot of space for that and i could see at least 10 trucks moving togather and i was the last of the lot. Understood that they were moving togather in a convoy and i did not do anything silly by doing something different. I followed them till that stretch got over. Beside the roads we saw trees felled over a stretch, there was naxal backed bandh the next day. Maybe that was the reason not sure though.
Some pictures while approaching that stretch:
Everybody was in attention pose so more pictures could not be taken. We found joint forces at the crossings trying to scan through the cars giving hard looks at everybody. Found very less private vehicles plying in that road. Once we reached Khemasuli at around 6 and there was a sigh of relief that we have crossed the danger area. Suddenly it became very noisy within the box and everybody was laughing and talking and happy that we crossed that stretch unharmed. Instantly music was put on. It was already dark and i badly needed a break from the tension and the monotony. It was thrilling to be honest and risky as well. Well we reached kharagpur at around 6.15 and parked my car at a hotel. We took a break for an hour as i had to cool my nerves a bit. Had some snacks, tea and stretched my myself. I was beginning to fatigue but 140 kms more to reach home.
From kharagpur we are in the GQ and it was a 4 lane drive. Easier than earlier. It had started pouring heavily but could drive through. Next stop was Kolaghat. We reached at around 8.20. I did not speed in between running at around 60-70 kms/hr as it was raining. At Kolaghat we spend another 15-20 mins for a tea break. This was our last break and we started off around 9 from Kolaghat. We were impatient to reach home now but a thud at a pothole told me that focus should be same on all roads as i was loosing a bit of concentration.
After about half an hour it started raining heavily and everything was a whitewash and could not see anything in front. Immediately the fog lights were put on(front and rear both) and moved very cautiously. Sometimes could not move beyond 3rd gear. It was not visible beyond 50 meters and everything was blank in front. Thought of parking util the rain stops but carried on. Suddenly a truck came through the wrong side and honestly by instinct maneuvered the car left and the truck whizzed past.
However, slowly but steadily we reached NH 117(Kona Expressway) and over second hoogly bridge into kolkata. Dropped my friends and reached home at 11 pm. It took some time to get over the buzzing sound in my ears and had to recover from some cramps. At night i was a dead man sleeping
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That's the end of my story. Hope you guys like it and it would contribute to this community. Will come with more stories later on.
Bye to all. Drive safe and keep revving