We started at about 06:00 hours, visited the "Zero Mile Stone" of India. The petrol pump behind it is no longer there, thankfully, less of an eye-sore, me thinks!!! The road exiting Nagpur was quite good, no jarring. The road through Buldhana up to Gondia is excellent, only had to slow down as we approached the dhabas along the road; never know when some vehicle OR someONE can shoot out onto the road!!!
Soon we entered Chattisgadh (yes ... I'll spell it the way :) ) and very thankful that we were on bikes and not four-wheelers, especially at the forest check posts. There were long queues of trucks on either side of the check post, but we were able to get through quite quickly. At about 10:00 hours and we were in Rajnandangaon and also we had been able to do 1000 kms on our trip. Yaayyy! :)
Another 10 kms and we we reached the Durg bypass. Another stretch of road to write poetry about!!! :) First time I have paid toll for a two-wheeler, quite worth it, by the way!!! The next 40 kms to Raipur were excellent, some intermittent "kamikazes" on the road.
We had lunch at Raipur, ready to move to Sambalpur. While asking for directions to Sambalpur, the truck-driver urged us to “move along” quickly if we wanted to reach Sambalpur in good light. Not something we wanted to hear, knowing about the "Naxalite Area" stories. "Gulp!".
The road till the place called as "Daheli phata" (at least that what we think the spelling should be. Not too sure, though) was good albeit a horrid amount of traffic. The road from "Daheli Phata" and out seemed to have deteriorated a bit, but nothing too bad. The area around Mahasamund had some good scenic views, but we were not stopping much ... trying to reach Sambalpur in good light remember! :) :)
At about 16:00 we were at Saraipali, very happy with the distance we had been able to cover. Asked the local people if there can be any trouble along the road and they assured us that it is all OK till 12 at midnight. Yeah ... right ... 12 at midnight ... we were thinking 16:00 hours would be too late and this guy is telling us not to worry!!! The roads here were nothing great, especially the sections near the bridges were bad.
As we neared the Orissa border, the scene at the Chattisgadh border and the forest check posts was repeated, but this time in wide screen; eight lanes of trucks, each at least about 15-20 trucks long. Yikes!!! Man ... was it nice we were on bikes and not fourwheelers!!!
Moving on, the roads were bad in general, worsening near the villages; potholes
and stuff. As we approached Sambalpur, we crossed the Mahanadi, and the question as to why she is called the “Mahanadi” were answered!!!
Entering Sambalpur, we were acquainted with more "kamikazes". Also, the traffic mostly consisting of trucks, one should quickly get to wherever on is going, else it gets quite tiring behind one truck after another.
Once inside Sambalpur, strictly stick to the main road, do not get onto the back roads as you never know which of these roads could be crossing a train track and you are very likely to get stuck in a traffic jam.
Soon we entered Chattisgadh (yes ... I'll spell it the way :) ) and very thankful that we were on bikes and not four-wheelers, especially at the forest check posts. There were long queues of trucks on either side of the check post, but we were able to get through quite quickly. At about 10:00 hours and we were in Rajnandangaon and also we had been able to do 1000 kms on our trip. Yaayyy! :)
Another 10 kms and we we reached the Durg bypass. Another stretch of road to write poetry about!!! :) First time I have paid toll for a two-wheeler, quite worth it, by the way!!! The next 40 kms to Raipur were excellent, some intermittent "kamikazes" on the road.
We had lunch at Raipur, ready to move to Sambalpur. While asking for directions to Sambalpur, the truck-driver urged us to “move along” quickly if we wanted to reach Sambalpur in good light. Not something we wanted to hear, knowing about the "Naxalite Area" stories. "Gulp!".
The road till the place called as "Daheli phata" (at least that what we think the spelling should be. Not too sure, though) was good albeit a horrid amount of traffic. The road from "Daheli Phata" and out seemed to have deteriorated a bit, but nothing too bad. The area around Mahasamund had some good scenic views, but we were not stopping much ... trying to reach Sambalpur in good light remember! :) :)
At about 16:00 we were at Saraipali, very happy with the distance we had been able to cover. Asked the local people if there can be any trouble along the road and they assured us that it is all OK till 12 at midnight. Yeah ... right ... 12 at midnight ... we were thinking 16:00 hours would be too late and this guy is telling us not to worry!!! The roads here were nothing great, especially the sections near the bridges were bad.
As we neared the Orissa border, the scene at the Chattisgadh border and the forest check posts was repeated, but this time in wide screen; eight lanes of trucks, each at least about 15-20 trucks long. Yikes!!! Man ... was it nice we were on bikes and not fourwheelers!!!
Moving on, the roads were bad in general, worsening near the villages; potholes
and stuff. As we approached Sambalpur, we crossed the Mahanadi, and the question as to why she is called the “Mahanadi” were answered!!!
Entering Sambalpur, we were acquainted with more "kamikazes". Also, the traffic mostly consisting of trucks, one should quickly get to wherever on is going, else it gets quite tiring behind one truck after another.
Once inside Sambalpur, strictly stick to the main road, do not get onto the back roads as you never know which of these roads could be crossing a train track and you are very likely to get stuck in a traffic jam.
