Road Trip to North East – Mizoram & Nagaland (Nov-Dec’ 2017)
Distance Travelled – 8440
Duration – 17 Days
Dates – 25th November 2017 to 11th December 2017
Vehicle – Mahindra XUV W8
Day wise details on the route taken and road conditions.
Day 1: Chennai – Vijayawada – Rajamundry – Vizag – Bhubaneswar – Cuttack – Bhadrak [12.30 AM – 10.45 PM] // ODO – 0-1440 / 1440 kms.
Roads were very good & free flowing till Vijayawada and from there on had to deal with 2 wheeler traffic and so many barricades till Vizag. Post lunch from Vizag, had to deal with city traffic and no dedicated fast tag lane till we crossed Andhra. All these caused considerable delay. Once we entered Orissa, our pace was better but road conditions remained patchy until Balugaon. Once we crossed Bhubaneswar roads were much better.
Day 2: Bhadrak – Kharagpur – Asansol – Jamtara – Palajori – Deogarh – Banka – Bhagalpur – Purnea [8.00 AM to 10.45 PM] // ODO – 2298 / 858 Kms.
Roads were good till Asansol bypass but once you take right for Jamtara you are on 2 lanes roads. Roads after Palajori is in very bad shape and it got better when we neared Deogarh. At Jharkhand – Bihar border, the road was suddenly closed. It was 6:33pm, the detour suggested by locals had fabulous road surface. There are very bad roads in Katoria & Banka and it was like that more or less that way until we reached Bhagalpur. Road from Bhagalpur was good.
Day 3: Purnea – Siliguri – Coronation Bridge – Bongaigon – Rangia – Guwahati – Shillong – Jowai [7.25 AM to 10.50 PM] // ODO – 3088 / 790 Kms
Roads were good almost on the entire stretch except some pot holes, under construction stretches until we cross the infamous Srirampur border. Roads improved after that and got better once we enter Meghalaya.
Day 4: Jowai – Silchar – Vairangte – Aizawl [7.45 AM to 7.00 PM] // ODO – 3428 / 340 kms
Roads from Jowai to Meghalaya border was good and it got bad after entering Assam. There is a junction at Kalain where both roads go to Silchar, we took the left one and the road is pretty bad. Lot of pot holes & craters all through, even beyond Silchar. From Vairengte to Aizawl, the road condition is pathetic and it took us 4.45 hrs to cover a distance of 130 kms, feel pity for those who travel on those road day in and day out. On our return we took Aizawl – Sihphir – Lundgai, which is much better compared to Sairang route.
Day 5: Aizawl – Selling – Keifang – Kawlkulh – Khawzawl – Champhai [9.00 AM to 6.50 PM] // ODO – 3621 / 190 kms
Roads are good at patches but not up to the mark. There are stretches where you will not find any traces of road as well. When you pass through villages & towns you will see some tarmac and that’s it. Once you cross them then the roads will bad, very bad & worse. The average speed will come down to 15kmph in some stretches and the max will be 30kmph. Though, we could see road work is happening in some stretches, it’s a long way to go.
Day 6: Champhai – Rih Dil – Champhai – Khawzawl – Biate – Lungdar – Keitum – Serchhip – Thenzawl [5.30 AM to 9.00 AM / 10.50 AM to 6.35 PM] // ODO – 3873 / 252 kms
Champhai to Rhi Dil is around 36kms but it will take about 1.5 hours. The roads are a mixed bag and there is road widening happening from Mualkawi. Once you enter Myanmar, road is much better, though you would travel only a few kms into Myanmar, it will be a relief after travelling Mizo roads.
Back to Champhai, the roads from Champhai to Biate is somewhat good compared to the roads we traveled so far. There were occasional pot holes, some bad patches but much better than the previous day. After Biate, the roads are bad and it took us 40 minutes to cover a distance of 13km to reach Lungdar. From Lundgar to Thenzawl the roads are okay in some stretches & bad to worse in some stretches. At Keitum, we intersected with NH 54 and the next 10 kms to Serchhip was fabulous and one of the best stretch in whole of Mizoram so far.
Day 7: Thenzawl – Vangtawng – Lunglei – Lawngtlai – Zero Point – Saiha [7.45 AM – 4.00 PM] // ODO – 4103 / 230 kms
Roads from Thenzawl are decent until Tlawng bridge and one can do 35kmph easily (so far the best). The next 9km from Tlawng bridge is in very bad shape and roads are narrow in many places. After Lunglei till Hrangchalkawn junction roads are decent again. From there on till Saiha, the roads are fantastic 95% of the time and it got bad only when we were some 10km away from Saiha.
Day 8: Saiha – Kalchaw – Phura Rd – Kaladan River – Lawngtlai – Lunglei [9.30 AM to 6.00 PM] // ODO – 4278 / 175 kms
Saiha to Zeropoint the roads are good and at Kalchaw we turned off to try our luck to visit Phura. Locals said roads are OK, but when we ventured out we could find only the dirt track and it got treacherous and narrow with slush as we went on for about 7 kms. We decided against visiting Phura and took the road back to join the road to Lunglei. From here on, the roads are good until we reached Lunglei.
Day 9: Lunglei – Thenzawl – Sialsuk – Aizawl – Sihphir – Lungdai – Vairangte – Silchar [7.00 AM to 6.30 PM] // ODO – 4610 / 332 kms
Few kms after Lunglei the bad stretch is about 8kms and once you cross that roads got better and can drive at 35kmph speed all through till Aizawl. From Aizawl, we took the route Aizawl – Sihphir – Lungdai – Joined NH 306 before N.Kawnpui. This is much better than the sairang route. This will save you about 1 hour while reaching Vairangte compared to Sairang route.
Day 10: Silchar- Halflong bypass- Mahur- Langting- Lumding- Lanka- Nilbagan- Doboka-Dokmoka-Manja- Dimapur [6.30 AM to 6.30 PM] // ODO – 5025 / 415 kms
First 35kms from Silchar is a breeze and then the reality of the road hit us. There are a numerous potholes & craters, slush and what not. Follow the bypass route all through else you may end up in some very stretches. There is a railway underbridge before Hajrangjao and the road is very bad and even our XUV wouldn’t have made it due to such a bad road. There is an alternate route which is slightly better to avoid this bad stretch and joins at the start of the village. From there just follow the bypass until you reach Haflong. Roads are bad throughout but manageable. An horrendous drive of about 5 hours we crossed Haflong. After Haflong, the road will change to 4 lane and you could do a steady 90kmph until you reach Doboka. Roads will become 2 lane and is in decent condition until you reach Manja. From there on you will see a lot of potholes and bad stretches until you reach Dimapur.
Day 11: Dimapur – Kigwema [8.30 AM to 11.30 AM] // ODO – 5115 / 90 kms
Roads are OK to bad and there is a lot of road work happening throughout this stretch. It will take 2.5 to 3 hours to cover a distance of 90kms.
Day 12: Kigwema – Viswema – Dzoku Valley [10.30 AM to 4.00 PM] / Took cab to Viswema village and then trekked to reach Dzoku Valley.
Day 13: Dzoku Valley – Viswema – Kigwema / Again a trek from Dzoku to Viswema and then took cab to reach Camp David.
Day 14: Kigwema – Dimapur – Manja – Nagaon – Guwahati – Bongaigaon – Alipurduar – Coronation Bridge – Siliguri – Purnea – Bhagalpur [6.15 AM to 2.30 AM] // ODO – 6201 / 1076 kms
Kigwema to Dimapur took about 2.5 hours and then crossing Dimapur city took another hour as there was so much traffic. Once you cross the city, roads are bad till Manja and become better until you reach the turn to Nagaon. From there on it’s 4 lane road all through and excellent to drive on till Bongaigon. Bad stretch & some under construction roads after crossing Srirampur and then onwards good roads all through.
Day 15: Bhagalpur – Banka – Deogarh – Sarath – Chitra – Chapria – Jamtara Bypass – Asansol Bypass – Kolkata [9.00 AM to 5.30 PM] // ODO – 6679 / 478 kms
Till Deogarh, road is a mix of decent and bad, especially the bad stretches around Banka and Katoria. To avoid the bad stretch to Palajori, we took the shortcut from Sarath to Chapria via Chitra, not only did we have much much better roads but we also saved quite some distance. At Jamtara, we bypassed the town by taking another parallel route which saved quite some time. Once we hit NH2 at Asansol, it was going to be GQ for rest of the journey.
Day 16: Kolkata – Bhubaneshwar – Srikakulam – Vizag – Rajahmundry – Tanuku [6.15 AM to 12.30 PM] // ODO – 7837 / 1158 kms
Roads are excellent throughout and FastTag lane was followed strictly in West Bengal and to some extent in Orissa. Once you touch Andhra it’s very difficult to find the fast tag lane as the indication isn’t correct and it may be in extreme left lane or the one before that.
Day 17: Tanuku – Vijaywada – Nellore – Chennai [6.00 AM to 12.30 PM] // ODO – 8440 / 603 kms
Roads are good throughout, no issues here.
