Dag 12. Darjeeling til Guwahati. 485 km 10 timer

Vi var tidligt oppe idag. Emma vores værtinde havde smurt madpakker til os, så vi bare kunne stoppe på vejen og spise. Og i dag så vi endelig Kanchenjunga, rigtig flot og majestætisk i morgensolen. De første 3 timer kørte vi kun 75 km, det var ned fra Darjeeling til lavlandet. En rigtig flot tur, men udsigt til bjergene. Dette område af Indien har utroligt mange floder/bække så vi må have kørt over mindst 80 broer.

                                              Big river - En af floderne

Da vi endelig nåede en 4 sporet vej var Michael glad. Glæden holdt dog ikke længe, for indiske hovedveje er ikke for sarte sjæle, at køre på. Der cykles, køres i den forkerte retning, der er græssende geder, de små gedekid ligner små hundehvalpe på vejen. Landmændene driver deres køer på vejen osv, osv. Totalt kaotisk.

                                        Slow moving traffic on highway - Trafik på hovedvej

                                           Small goat on the road - Gedekid på vejen

Undervejs mødtes vi med Janet og Louis, vores rejsekammerater fra Bombay. Vi fulgtes ad det sidste stykke vej til Guwahati.

27.5 Distance 485 km, driving time 10 hours.

Left Darjeeling at 6.30 am. Emma was kind enough to make a packed brunch for us. Clear skies and fabulous views this morning, so we got to see the Great Kanchenjunga in all its might and glory. ( 3^rd highest mountain in the world)

                                                                 Kanchenjunga

The drive from Darjeeling to the plains was very scenic and beautiful. We started at an altitude of 2100 meters, and drove 72 km downhill, to an altitude of 182 meters.

This 72 km took us 3 hours of driving time.

At the plains we crossed as many as 80 river bridges. 

                                          One of the rivers - En af floderne

We then drove the first part through a heavily guarded military area, until we reached the east-west highway. This highway bought a smile to my face, as now we could open up Blackie. This was short lived as all 4 lanes of he highway soon became a  2 way on each side for trucks, bikes, cattle and goats.

                                           Close call - Ikke megen plads

                                          Cattle on the highway - Køer på hovedvejen

We enjoyed Emma’s packed lunch on the highway and as we were zipping along slowly, we saw a BMW parked at a Dhaba. 

                                                                Louis and Janet

This was Louis and Janet our travel companions, who had stopped there for lunch. It was great meeting them and we celebrated with a cup of tea. We reached Guwahati together at 5.30 pm, after driving though an enormous bridge over the mighty Brahmaputra.

Bridge to Guwahati - Broen over til Guwahati 

A long and enjoyable drive. 

Darjeeling. May 2016

                Follow the link to see the photos
               Click på linket for at se billeder

Dag 11 og 12. Darjeeling

Darjeeling ligger i Himalaya bjergkæden i 2000 meters højde, med usigt til Indiens højeste og Himalayas 3. højeste bjerg, kaldet Kanchengjunga. Desværre har vi ikke set Kanchenjunga da det har været diset, overskyet og regnet begge dage her. Vi har så i stedet for gået ture i byen, da det nærmest er umuligt at køre. Vi har spist lækre Momos og nydt godt af værtsfamiliens gode hjemmelavede mad, dejligt efter en uge med købe mad. Vi var også på Te cafe og prøve den berømte Darjeeling te, det var ikke noget at skrive hjem om. Husene er byggede på virkelig stejle bjergsider, så det er spændende bare at gå tur og se bygningerne. Desværre fik vi ikke billetter til det berømte bjerg tog og da vi gik hen for at se den zoologiske have, var der allerede lukket.

                                         Narrow streets - smalle gader

                                           The Momos shop - Momos restauranten

                                                         Darjeelig view - Darjeeling udsigt

                                          "View of the mountains" - "udsigt til bjergene"

                                         And the mist is coming - Disen breder sig

                              Waiting for the weather to clear - Michael venter på at tågen letter

                                                                    Local babes

                                              Shrubbery park - Darjeelings største park

25^th and 26^th May, Darjeeling

Distance 15 km (walking the narrow steep streets.)

The main goal was Mount “Kanchenjunga”, which eluded us due to mist and fog. The toy train tickets were all sold out, which was also a bummer, but not to worry, there were no views anywhere.

We had Momos for lunch both days, fabulous. Our hosts cooked us fabulous homemade food every evening. They have two small girls.

Darjeeling is a must for any car enthusiast, biker or trekker.

This town pushes you to the limits, but I was not impressed with the tea. The teas we tried here were “First Flush” and “Exotic First Flush”, if anybody wants flush or exotic please go to Thailand. 

Dag 10 Bhagalpur til Darjeeling. Ca. 300 km, 7½ times kørsel

I dag havde vi bedre vej og knap så meget trafik. Området var det meste af vejen meget frodigt. Inden vi nåede Siliguri og opstigningen til Darjeeling, begyndte teplantagerne, de er meget anderledes her, end dem vi har i Sydindien. Her er teplanterne meget små og holdt meget lave i højden. ( Assam te)

Hold da helt op, opkørslen til Darjeeling var skræmmende, ca 80 km på meget smalle bjergveje uden nogen form for vejkant. Hver gang vi mødte modkørende trafik og det var ofte, måtte vi holde tungen lige i munden for at komme forbi. Taxierne kører som død og helvede og kunne ikke vente med at overhale os. Da vi endelig nåede Darjeeling, var det heller ikke bedre. Igen smalle veje og meget trafik. Vi fandt frem til vores værtsfamilie (vi havde denne gang booket via Airbnb), desværre havde de ingen parkeringsplads, men det er der næsten ingen som har her. Parkering koster næsten lige så meget, som en lejlighed. Så vi holder parkeret på vejen tæt på deres hus. En hyggelig familie med 2 små børn.

Emma and Roshans bungalow - Vores værtsfamilies hus.

24.5 Distance 300 km, driving time 7½ hours

The long winding road to Darjeeling did take its toll on us.

We started of quiet and easy on NH 31 which was full of potholes, but 4 lanes, so we did make progress. Every time we hid a toll both my face lit up, expecting good roads ahead but it was just ok.

We passed through some of the most lush, green fields, we have ever seen on this journey. It reminded me so much of the Malnad area, bananas, pineapples and areca. The green, green grass of home.

Tee plantation. - Te plantage

Suddenly, in the horizon, we noticed some mighty mountains, the Himalayan range. We now passed acres and acres of tea gardens. This tea is commonly known as Assam tea, and the tea bushes are about half the size of an ordinary tea bush. 

The winding road - Den farlige vej.

We then hit the town of Siliguri, and had our lunch there. From Siliguri to Darjeeling 80 km (the short road) as the main road was closed. This was the most treacherous, winding, scary road I have ever driven on. The road is very steep uphill; narrow so 2 cars can not pass each other, and kamazaki drivers coming downhill. We were on the way uphill, driving on the valley side, which made it even scarier. Following us were local taxis that were determent to overtake at any cost. Blackie kept them at bay.

Heavy traffic - Meget trafik.

We reached the town of Darjeeling and checked into Emma and Roshans beautiful bungalow, which we had booked through Airbnb. No hotels available here as this is the high season. They have a lovely bungalow overlooking Darjeeling and they even served us delicious homemade meals.

 

Bihar roads May 2016

Click to see pictures
Click på linket for at se billeder. 

Dag 8 Varanasi til Patna, Bihar.  255 km, 7 timers kørsel

Dag 9 Patna til Bhagalpur, Bihar. 215 km 5½ times kørsel

I dag kørte vi fra Varanasi i Uttar Pradesh til Patna i Bihar. Bihar er Indiens fattigste delstat, hvilket kunne ses når vi kørte igennem små landsbyer med stråhytter.

Vi var kommet til traktor området, der bliver transporteret alt muligt med traktorer. Vi så også rigtig mange scooter transport køretøjer.

                                                           Traktor

Fra Patna til Bhagalpur kørte vi lange Ganges floden det meste af vejen, der ligger rigtig mange murstens fabrikker. Der var også rigtig mange landsbyer som man skal køre igennem, hvor vejene er meget smalle og hvor der sælges alt muligt langs vejen. Michael klarede det med bravour, det var ikke et let at sno sig i de gader. Vi kom igennem et område hvor der dyrkes majs, og majs kolberne lå på vejen for at tørre. Alt i alt en meget spændende tur igennem et helt anderledes Indien end vi er vant til fra Bangalore området.

Da vi nåede vores hotel og kom ind i værelset var det fyldt af røg, det vil sige det var mygge gift, så vi overvejer hvem der dør først, myggene eller os.

                                                       Heavy load / Tungt læs

22.5 Distance 255 km, drivning time 7 hours

Leaving Varanasi we hit the NH 2, which really got me in a good mood. This NH 2 is spotted with beautiful places to stop and eat and relax, but since we had just finished breakfast this was of no use to us.

We left NH2 for a smaller road to Patna and here the going got tough – Tractors, tractors and trucks.

                                               1000's of Tractors / Tusindvis af traktorer

 It took us the next 5 hours to navigate 170 km. Crap, was it slow and tiring, we also missed out on the longest bridge in the world over a river ( 5.5 km) but took the shorter one which was as exiting (4 km).

                                                              The Bridge - Broen

  After we crossed the Ganges we drove through very small village towns, full of traffic and tuk-tuk’s. Crap, was it hot and hard. Reached Patna, a big sprawling city, at 3.30 pm and had lunch at 4.30, a long, hot, tiring drive.

                                                      Narrow roads / smalle gader

23.5. Distance 215 km, driving time 5½ hours

This is a maddening, winding, dusty road which follows the Ganges, from Patna to Bhagalpur.

This road is dotted with villages all along the way. As we were following the Ganges, everybody seems to be on the road, and the most common mode of transport, is the Indian tuk-tuk’s ( picture enclosed).

                                                                           Tuk-tuk

Driving here is a loosing battle as all the odds are stacked against me and Blackie. Sometimes the roads were so narrow through these small towns, that Blackie could just about squeeze through.

It was amazing to see 1000’s and 1000’s of tractors carrying clay for all the tile factories that we passed. This area reminds me of Mangalore. Very fertile plains with tile factories. The clay is drawn from the banks of the Ganges, for bricks and tiles. This river Ganges really amazes us, with its might and its fertile soil and livelihood of millions and mostly chaotic roads bordering it. We also passed through the flat plains of paddy fields, as far as the eye could see, an amazing sight in India.

Corn is also grown here in abundance and onion and potatoes.

We reached Bhagalpur which also had very narrow lanes leading up to our hotel. We checked into the Ashoka Grand, and found out that all the rooms in the hotel had just been fumigated. We took our chances, dived into bed.


Tile factory - Teglværk

                                                                                                                                                               








                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Corn - Majs

Varanasi

Click to see pictures form Varanasi
Click på linket for at se billeder

Dag 5-6-7 Varanasi

Varanasi er en meget hellig by for hinduerne. Varanasi ligger ved Ganges floden. Langs floden er der trapper ned til floden kaldet Ghats. Disse Ghats er inddelt i forskellige områder. Ved nogle af dem foregår der ligbrændinger og ved andre bades der i floden, hvilket siges at være rensende, helbredende eller vaske synder væk. Der brændes ca 400 lig pr. dag og der drukner ca 50000 personer om året i Ganges. I dag gik vi ad disse trapper langs floden, og senere var vi på bådtur på floden. Vi så 2 lig blive bragt ned til brænding, jeg synes det var et rigtigt sørgeligt og barskt syn.

Hver aften ved solnedgang er der en hellig ceremoni kaldet “Ganga Aarti” med 5 + 7 hellige mænd, med bimlende klokker, trommer og ild.

Den 6. om morgenen var vi igen på bådtur langs de mange Ghats, hvor vi så alle de badende hinduer. Vi holdt et lille stop ved af de vigtige Ghats, Assi Ghat, hvor der hver morgen er fælles yoga, et imponerende syn. Michael var inde i et tempel imens jeg nød en kop te serveret i en lerpotte. For at komme ned til floden, skal man igennem en hel labyrint af smalle stræder, nogle steder kunne vi næsten ikke komme igennem for køer og andre steder kom er motorcykler kørende – alt i alt en spændende oplevelse.

I dag den 7. var vi ude og se Sarnath, stedet hvor Buddha begynde at undervise hans disciple. Vi mødte en familie fra Bihar som vi fulgtes med rundt i tempel komplekset, og tog nogle billeder med. Der var også et meget interessant arkæologisk museum, hvor jeg følte mig som et dyr i zoo. Der var en skoleklasse på museet og de unge piger var mere interesserede i at kigge på mig og snakke med mig, end at se på de udstillede genstande.

Højdepunktet i dag var næsten den fantastiske Lassi ( indisk smoothie) vi fik serveret i en lerskål – himmelsk.

En del af vores tid her i Varanasi er blevet brugt på at planlægge vores rute de næste 5 til 6 dage af turen.                                

  Cycle rickshaw still very much used here. - Cykel rickshaw er stadgvæk i brug her i Varanasi.

                                                         Narrow lanes - smalle stæder

Varanasi from 18th to 21st May

Varanasi takes no prisoners. It is one of the most colourfull, chaotic, noisy, enchanting, indiscreet place on earth. This is regarded as one of Hinduisms most holy cities, pilgrims come to the Ghats to wash away a lifetime of sins ( like me) or to cremate their loved ones. This is also magical but not for the faint hearted.

We spend the first afternoon with a walk along Ghats and a guide first took us to the cremation ghat called Manikarnika Ghat, this will live long in my memory ( barbeque nation) we then hired a boat and sailed down the Ganges. Our boat trip provided the perfect introduction to what the Ghats were all about.

The next morning at the crack of dawn we left the hotel at 4.30 am and went down to the Ghats again. We sailed past the most important Ghats being Assi Ghat, ( Varanasi gets it name from it) the Tulsi Ghat, the Kedar Ghat, popular with south Indians and many more. We had a pit stop at the Assi Ghat and was surrounded by Yoga freaks all doing their own things in different poses. Some of them did look healthy. We sailed back to the main Manikarnika Ghat which is the most auspicious place for a Hindu to be cremated. We then walked up to a temple called Vishwanath temple, this is dedicated to Shiva as lord of the universe, non Hindus are not allowed so Susanne stayed outside and drank chai. Since being barefoot in the temple, and having a guide with me, I just could not take standing in queue for over an hour so I pushed my way out and breathed a sign of relief.

Back to our hotel and I was relieved to get a shower and later have breakfast, all this is part of the Varanasi shakedown.

The next day we went for a drive to Sarnath. Buddha came to Sarnath to preach his message of the way to Nirvana and gave his first sermon here. Sadly Muslim invaders sacked the city in the 12^th century and Sarnath disappeared all together, it was rediscovered by a British archaeologist in 1935. We first went to the Dhameks Stupa where Buddha preached his first sermon and then to the archaeological museum, this was the cleanest and best museum I have ever been to in India, the highlights were the Ashoka pillar which has been adopted as Indians national emblem, and beautiful ancient treasures from the 2^nd and 3^rd centuries AD. The other highlight of the day was drinking the best lassi (out of clay pot) en route to the Benares University, where we saw the new Vishwanath temple (built by the Birlas).

Another highlight Susanne experinced in the museum, everybody wanted to talk to her, try out their English, take pictures, discuss her hometown and still did not believe that she lives in India. It became annoying after some time, so I left Susanne with all her fans and enjoyed the otherwise peaceful museum.

Back at the hotel the people working here are pretty impressed with a car from Bangalore and they are going out of their way to help us find places to stay in the next cities we are going to.

Dag 4. 18.5

Afstand 450 km fra Jabalpur til Varanasi.

I dag var en lang dag, vi tog afsted fra Jabalpur kl 7 med madpakke fra hotellet. Turen tog 8½ time, på meget af turen var vejen ikke særlig god. Nogle steder var der kæmpe huller i vejen. Hver gang der var en strækning med god vej, blev Michael rigtig glad.  I dag var der også rigtig mange køer på vejen, og folk som kørte i den forkerte side af vejen.

Vi har fundet ud af, at vi ikke skal forvente at finde restauranter på hovedvejen i denne del af Indien, så i dag klarede vi os med madpakken fra hotellet.

Vi stoppede 2 gange undervejs, under et stort vejtræ, så vi kunne holde i skygge, men med op til 45 grader havde vi ikke lyst til at stige ud af bilen.

Da vi nåede Varanasi havde vores GPS ledt os ind i byen, så vi skulle igennem de smalleste gader, godt vi ikke mødte nogle modkørende biler.

Godt trætte ankom vi til vores hotel i Varanasi og lige da jeg står ud af bilen er der en som siger hej Susanne, det var en golf ven fra Bangalore som tilfældigvis var på forretningsrejse til Varanasi.  

Day 4. Jabalpur to Varanasi

Distance 450 km, driving time 8½ hours.

Left Jabalpur at 7 am in the morning, since we knew it was going to be a long drive to Varanasi. Little did we know what lay ahead!

The road from Jabalpur to the border of Uttar Pradesh was ok, but with heavy traffic and a nonexistent NH7. Things got really bad when we crossed the border to Uttar Pradesh and found out that there was no road, just potholes. Driving in 45 degrees C, on a nonexistent road, dusty and with trucks driving all over the place mainly on the wrong side, kept us really on our toes. To top it all, the road was filled with what I call Indian speed breakers ( cows, cows and cows). When are they ever going to lift the ban on beef?

We had asked for packed breakfast before leaving the hotel and we soon found out that this was the only food we would have for the next 8½ hours. Restaurants were nonexistent on this highway. We stopped twice, to have our snack and to rest, but did not venture out of the car, as it was too hot. About 100 km before Varanasi we crossed the Ganges, it was a pitiful sight.

On reaching the town of Varanasi at 4 pm our Gps took us through some of the narrowest lanes that I have ever driven a car through. We finally reached our hotel and as soon as we stepped out of the car we bumped into Suresh – a golfing buddy from Bangalore.

We will be spending the next 3 days in Varanasi, exploring the city and living in an oasis in the middle of a chaotic city.

                                          Huller i vejen  / Pot holes on the way

Ganges

Morgenmad i skyggen af et træ, det er for varmt at stå ud af bilen. Breakfast in the shade, too hot to get out of the car

Day 3.

Distance 300 km, driving time 6 hours.

Left Nagpur at 9 am in 39 degrees and had patches of god and very bad roads. I am planning to buy a selfie stick to hand over cash in the toll booth so I do not have to roll down the window. Checked into hotel Ashoka where we finally have internet. It is not easy to venture out of our hotel at 5.30 in the evening, since it is still 40 degrees outside. Our hotel politely offered to drive us into town, which we accepted.

Yesterday and today we noticed that everybody covers their heads with scarves and only show their eyes, at times they look like zombies and at times you feel like you are in the Gulf. Another detail we noticed today was that the more north we drove poorer the people are. Here bicycles are a common mode of transport and houses in the villages are like what Magundi village looked like 50 years back. “Wow” our villager’s are rich in Karnataka compared to the standard in Madhya Pradesh.

                         Michael  med "kølende" tørklæde - Michael with his new cooling scarf

Dag 3. 17.5

Turen i dag var fra Nagpur til Jabalpur, en kort rute i dag, ca. 300 km som tog os ca. 6 timer. Nogle steder var hovedvejen fantastisk og mange andre steder var den så ikke så god. Igen en meget varm dag. Fremme i Jabalpur kunne vi ikke lide det hotel vi havde bestilt, så fandt et bedre et. Både i dag og i går så vi at mange som kører på motorcykel eller går udenfor i varmen har et tørklæde viklet om hovedet, så man kun lige kan se øjnene, i dag fandt vi så ud af hvorfor. Vi købte et par tørklæder, og ham vi købte dem af forklarede, at vi bare skulle vride dem op i koldt vand, så køler det hovedet ned når man er udenfor i 40 graders varme.

Vi kan også se at folk at fattigere her længere nordpå, man ser mange på cykel, hvilket efterhånden er et særsyn i Bangalore og omegn.

NH 7 / Hovedvej 7
Click on the link and see our pictures / Click på linket og se billeder

Dag 2. 16.5

I dag gik turen fra Hyderabad til Nagpur. 450 km på ca 6½ time.

Det første stykke var hovedvejen rigtig god og flot med blomstrene træer på begge sider af vejen. Da vi nåede Maharastra var det så som så med kvaliteten af vejen og vi var nået op på 45 grader, så vi ville for en hver pris finde et sted med Air condition til vores frokost, men det viste sig at være sværere end som så. Endelig fandt vi et sted som lovede air condition, udefra så det meget pænt ud, med det viste sig at være et lidt skummelt sted, hvor man kunne leje værelser pr. time. Så Michael fik tilbudt at leje et værelse for 70 kr i 2 timer så vi kunne spise frokost der og hygge os lidt. Nå, det var vi ikke lige i hopla til varmen og forholdene taget i betragtning. Stedet havde kun herre toiletter, så jeg blev henvist til tjenerens værelse, som var fyldt op med løg og kartofler og et ret ulækkert toilet. For at komme dertil skulle man igennem køkkenet og diverse side rum og mange murbrokker. Tilbage i vores lille aflukke bestilte vi nogle snacks, dem spiste vi kun få af inden vi nærmest løb derfra og ud til bilen.

Fremme i Nagpur var vi en tur i en lokalt shopping center, eftersom der stadigvæk kl 18 er 38 grader opfordrer det ikke ligefrem til gåture.

Day 2:

Distance 450 km driving time 6 and a half hours.

Left Hyderabad on national highway 7. The highway from Hyderabad is a fantastic 4 lane highway, upon reaching what they call a integrated border crossing ( we almost had to show our passports) we drove into the state of Maharashtra with great expectations. The road in Maharashtra to Nagpur is what our highway under construction from Bangalore to Hassan used to be 10 years back. The temperatures ranges from 32 degrees at 9 am in Hyderabad and shot up to 45 degrees at 1 pm.

We were desperate for a pit stop and finally we saw this great sign saying A/C – Bar and restaurant, we dashed in there and guys it is the last time I am stopping at a bar on an Indian highway. We were shovelled into a cabin, curtain pulled and a massive fan in the ceiling was what they called the A/C part. The waiter then very boldly tells me that he will give us a room for 2 hours for 700 Rs. When asked, he replied the A/C is better there, and I could relax with the lady as I wanted. My Hindi was not fluent enough to tell the joker that I did not have to pay 700 Rs to relax with my lady. We then asked him where the ladies toilet was and good lord, he took us through the kitchen and broken down rooms into what must be his own bedroom full of onion and potato sacks and left us with a very dirty smell, toilet and looks. Back to the cabin and I was hell bend to get out of here in a flash. We ordered some snacks from the same dirty kitchen we walked through, 2 bottles of water, paid our bill, grabbed the bottles of water and ran to the car in 44 degrees heat.

The rest of the day after reaching Nagpur was spend trying to find the famous Nagpur oranges to dilute our vodka. Came back to our hotel called Flora Inn and found out we had no internet, so drank the vodka neat.

                                                          Highway no 7

                                                  Langsomt kørende trafik på hovedvejen