Day Three
Visakhapatnam to Brahmapur – 275 km | Ryan Lee
Since mine was the last stint behind the CLA’a wheel yesterday, I was kindly given the chance to drive first today. The smooth roads and clement weather added to this early morning drive of mine, and before I knew it, it was time to hand the key over to Ravi.
Brahmapur to Bhubaneswar – 172 km | Ravi Chandnani
Having rested for the whole of day two, I was glad to be back in the driver’s seat, headed towards Odisha. The highways were wonderful and there were hardly any obstacles either to slow us down or to dampen our spirits. The latter in spite of the fact that rain was a constant companion on this particular leg. We reached Bhubaneswar just in time for lunch. We also visited the Mercedes-Benz service centre there for a quick pit-stop for the CLA.
Bhubaneswar to Sonakania – 292 km | Aninda Sardar
Excitement! I could almost smell home just beyond Odisha. Rain and bad roads, however, slowed us down. Besides, good stretches of road were far and few between. The view of the landscape around us, however, was breathtaking – an invigorating lush green. For me West Bengal brings a sense of connection. For the first time I could speak to the people around in their mother-tongue as well as mine. Some 50 km into my home State and I handed over the wheel to Ravi.
Sonakania to Kolkata – 185 km | Ravi Chandnani
I drove half way through Odisha and, as we exited the State, I found myself back in the driving seat. We entered West Bengal at dusk and soon it was dark. Numerous diversions and the ever-present rain slowed us down considerably. The downpour became even worse as we neared Kolkata; at one point the visibility on the road was down to just a few metres.
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Day Four
Kolkata to Durgapur – 170 km | Ravi Chandnani
A quick visit to the Mercedes-Benz service centre and we were back on the road. The CLA continued on best behaviour despite the broken roads outside Kolkata and even when the driving conditions in general were far from ideal. We ran into a storm as soon as we hit a slightly better patch of NH 2. Our average speed came down to 35-40 km/h on account of very poor visibility.
Durgapur to Sherghati – 291 km | Sanjay Raikar
A day’s rest did wonders for me. Refreshed and rejuvenated, I was back in the driver’s seat as we left West Bengal behind and entered Jharkhand. We had to be careful here; not because of the Naxalites, but because the road surface was awful. The CLA comes equipped with low-profile tyres and the potholes on NH 2 in Jharkhand and Bihar were treacherous. I drove very carefully for the next 291 km before entrusting the driving duty to Aninda.
Sherghati to Kanpur – 571 km |Aninda Sardar
This was possibly the worst stretch of road that we traversed. Soft sub-soil meant at places the road had simply sunk into two deep ruts with a high ridge in between – essentially truck tracks. Incessant rain only made things worse. We had to be ultra-careful with the CLA but were amply rewarded when we fetched up in Kanpur without an untoward incident.
