Lang's electric car and boat trip to india

Getting out of Patna was nearly as bad as getting in.

We finished up in teeming alleys getting narrower and narrower then having to reverse against the tide of tuk tuks and motor bikes. Penelope our Google Maps English guide was screaming at Chantelle our American GPS guide with each pointing in different directions. Nothing worse than two argueing women back-seat drivers!

Finally got on the road to the new section of "freeway". 10 toll gates with two for cash and a line a kilometres long and 8 for Smart Card with not one vehicle passing. It was only 5 kilometres beyond the gate that Highway 32 degenerated into a crawling ants nest at the first village.

We were blocked in a line of traffic today behind elephants on two occasions.

Anyhow we got to Bhagalpur after two floating bridge surveys and we should have a pretty good run along the river (water wise not road wise) all the way to the Hoogly River down to Kolkata.

Nearly all commercial vehicles are gaily decorated. Just a shot of a little bus as a typical example.

Greetings. enjoying your posts- reminds me of times I had except mine were in Africa. For instance, many a time I had to do an expresso-bongo run from Nairobi to Kampala which means a sunrise start out of Nairobi and put foot for the border, this time in an 8 x 4 Iveco tipper with the wheelchock along for the experience. Had a cracking run and were making good time until we got to the outskirts of Kampala where it all turned to shit. The road is a dual lane carriageway with dirt separating the 2 lanes each way but this doesn't matter in Uganda- if the 2 lanes coming out of Kampala are light on traffic African logic allows those lanes to be used for vehicles going into Kampala. We were 7 vehicles wide crawling along at a snail's pace with Matatus coming up on the inside to cut back in when a culvert hindered their progress. I stuck the Iveco up the arse of a semi trailer so no bugger was gonna get in that gap and we carried on like this for hours. When cars 7 vehicles out tried to forcibly merge untold accidents happened slowing things down even more. They had to merge as the first set of traffic lights had police controlling [???] them. Once we got past the first set of lights we were able to use top gear again and we were looking forward to a good feed at the red chilli backpackers when we got there but the kitchen had closed so we got on the piss- steak & eggs in every bottle. As for lack of lighting on vehicles, Egypt is much the same as you've experienced and no doubt will experience again. I won't. Keep safe Lang - the wheelchock enjoys your posts aswell as she has been to India a few times.

A`couple of pretty slow driving days have been our lot. The roads are so bad and traffic so heavy that 10 or 12 hours driving results in little more than 200 km covered.

Yesterday to Farakka (the barrage that crosses the Ganges where the Hoogly branches off to Kolkata) was a doozy.



Leaving Bharampur we found that trucks are not allowed into town at night. So, leaving early we were confronted with a line of trucks camped on the road 15 km long. This left one lane for the multitude of other vehicles traveling in both directions. It was the wild west with thousands of a....s coming through gaps against the flow then entirely blocking the road three wide between the inside drop-off and the line of stationary trucks. We failed to proceed for about 20 minutes in every hour.

Terry has resigned himself to an early death and relaxes as my video game proceeds avoiding moving obstacles, none of whom have the slightest regard for anybody else, by millimeters. He sat with his note book ticking off trucks in groups of 10. When he reached 2,400 he lost interest.

I too had lost interest and we decided to force the GPS to bypass the highway into the one lane country roads through rice fields. This took us away from the trucks into dirt-poor villages where people are living very tough struggling as they did 200 years ago.

Unfortunately we started to see young pups on motor cycles carrying flags. This started to thicken with groups of walkers also carrying flags chanting about the new enactment of immigration laws seen as discriminating against moslems. Of course the crowds were all moslem but in more of a holiday mood than angry despite the clowns with loud speakers trying to work them up.

At every track coming on to our narrow road more groups were pouring in heading for a rendezvous somewhere ahead. Quite soon we were totally blocked moving at walking pace as a`part of the parade. By the time we got to the meeting village people were streaming in from all points of the compass in gay mobs waving flags and shouting on loud speakers. After about an hour covering 5 km I saw the cross roads in the village ahead with all the front flags heading in a particular direction. The mob was in my estimate about 5,000.

We had to do something so despite the flags going down our course I broke out of the throng onto an ox cart track – and then the adventure began. We started to go through villages who I believe thought the British still were governing India or possibly the local Maharaja. The GPS and Google maps were on a lunch break so were of no help whatsoever.

Anyhow after some adventures which included suddenly appearing in a huge open cut coal mine which had just kept digging away right across the road. The road was apparently no longer a thoroughfare but with no where else to go we joined the 50 ton dump trucks loading at the face and whizzed past them as they crawled at 20 kph up the haul road. I saw a security vehicle racing across the pit with lights flashing but he was poor competition for a Toyota Innova with a couple of Australians on board popping out over the top and fleeing across the rice paddies.

More disasters ensued as we crossed the huge Farakka Barrage bridge twice and found a hotel with complimentary second hand sheets and no hot water for the night.



Amazingly this morning we had a fabulous run to Berhampore on the Hoogly River and found a nice hotel well before lunch.

Thanks for the reports, Lang.
My Wife is enthralled by your journey but agrees with me in saying we are glad it is you and not us. She says that with the traffic, the conditions and the food, she could not cope in India.

As they would say over there "It is all too much for me, isn't it"
"Isin't it" being shorthand for "Isn't it the truth" and said while shaking your head from side to side.

The arrival in Berhampore signalled our transfer from back roads to the main highway between Kolkata and Siliguri and the Brahmaputra valley.

Hopefully our progress will proceed at a less frantic pace down the Hoogly River.

This city is quite nice, wider streets and far less crowded than those experienced before. The electric tuk tuk is king here as it has been all the way. The traditional diesel or gas powered tuk tuks are still in droves but are more and more being used on longer runs and in rural areas . Several cities ban motorised tuk tuks from the city centre for certain periods.

The electric tuk tuks are much more basic and very rough to ride in. They are very slow and several times we had to change vehicles because they ran out of electrons. At least it is much quieter without the knock-knock-knock of the diesel machines. The other thing is the traditional ear-splitting raucous screech of the tuk tuk horns is replaced on the electric versions with a gentle squeek like a small mouse having his balls squeezed.

I definitely think this change to electric is working well towards pollution reduction.

The language has transitioned from Hindi to Bengali with almost nobody (including hotel stsff) speaking English. Nevertheless the people continue to smile and are extremely keen to help. The general opinion we always have had of Indians has been reinforced as calm, friendly and welcoming people regardless of their station in life.

The outrageous driving habits, easily the worst in the world could only exist with that basic calmness. You seldom hear a raised voice even with the highest provocation of idiocy and total disregard for anyone else on the road. The same circumstance in Australia would see the road blocked with stopped cars every hundred metres with drivers fighting it out. In the USA the highway would be strewn with bodies resulting from numerous road rage gun battles.

Our Toyota Innova, loaned so generously by Sun, has been the perfect vehicle. The Ganges Marine Navigation Pilot we received at the Waterways Authority at a meeting organised by Sun with the Director is of no use as a navigation guide for our small electric boat.It is a fantastic guide tothe weather, significant features along the river but more importantly the best travel guide of India I have seen.

The Indian Waterways have done a wonderful job of collecting the history and significant features of scores of towns and rivers along the way.It is great reading.

Anyhow we are over small bridges and remote farm tracks and the river from here on is large ship capable with good roads alongside all the way to Kolkata. We are hoping to meet a few people there who might be interested in the project.

I am looking forward to meeting Ravi again with his high energy, numerous contacts and ever present enthusiasm.

Lan

Your Pictures are taking me back 20 (odd) years Lang..
Apart from the Vehicles being a Little bit More Modern. Looks like nothing else has Changed..

Was this taken outside the Telstra call Centre..???

https://www.hcvc.com.au/forum/attachment/15373

LOL

Well, we arrived home after a hectic time in Kolkata.

The car had a new mirror put on and a polish to get the back blocks scratches out and is on its way by transporter back to Delhi.

A very successful trip and all systems go with a can-do team in place setting up the electric boat journey later this year. We have decided to include handicapped/womens/older people groups for certain legs. The team can pull big strings in high places to make it work.

All we wanted to do was relax in Kolkata before coming home after a full-on two week drive but unfortunately we are captured by the Indians.

Since arriving in Kolkata just wanting to relax, our program has been.

Meet a couple of contacts at the Tollygunge Equestrian and Golf Club
Unannounced long dinner at the club with "VIP's"
Breakfast at the Taj Bengal 5 star hotel with Pooja somebody, the famous Bollywood actress who is engaged to our electric boat man.
Tour of the biggest vintage car restorer in India workshop.
Dinner at the Elgin-Fairlawn historic hotel where we are staying.
Electric boat planning meeting at The Lake Rowing Club
Somebody's 60th birthday party.
Visit the big Vintage Car Rally at Fort William Sunday morning.
Lunch in the Officers Mess
Farewell dinner on Sunday evening
Fly out to Malaysia midnight.
Land KL 0730 captured by yet another helper for full day of sightseeing and club lunch.
Fly out to home 2300 - thank Christ!!!!

Lang

Sounds like you didn't have time to scratch yourself.
I just watched an old episode of Mega Factories and this one was on the Nano, 2 cylinder 4 door car. Did you see any of these thigs while you were there?

Yes, plenty of Nanos.

Unfortunately even for India they became too expensive for what you got. After starting out as a money losing "cheapest car in the world" price, Tata gradually had to increase the cost until they were up to the beaut little Suzuki Maruti which is much better value and the biggest seller in India (as it is in Australia in its class). The Nano is now dead.

Lang