Road Trip NOIDA to Bilaspur in Chattisgarh

In Jun 2014 we took a road trip from NOIDA to Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh via Allahabad, Bandhavgarh, Amarkantak and then finally to Bilaspur.

NOIDA to Allahabad.

From Noida to Greater Noida it was the expressway till we reached the turning point for Yamuna expressway. This is a six lane expressway till short of Pari Chowk in Greater Noida. The speed limit is 90 km per hour but watch out for the dumpers, trucks and cars exceeding the speed limit and cutting suddenly in your lane and also for the traffic coming from service lane. Avoid office going and coming back time as it crowded and movement slow. Also keep a sharp look out for the dumpers and vehicles which have stalled in your or other lane with no indication or lights. A number of accidents have taken place due to these stalled vehicles. The traffic police are now installing intelligent traffic management system it is expected that traffic management may improve. Fill up fuel before you leave as it has no fuel pumps for 30 Km till Yamuna expressway and then 168 Km to Agra. Yamuna expressway has very good concrete surface and the speed limit is 100 Km/hr but watch out for the stalled vehicles and vehicles over speeding and overtaking from left and right both sides. It has three toll booths and a rather high price tag of Rs.320/= till Agra which you can buy in one go also. Bath rooms and restaurants are only after each toll booths. Bath rooms are good but the restaurants a little bit expensive. The whole expressway has no fuel pump except one which is 2 Km off the expressway somewhere in the middle. Do not stop in between toll booth as there have been quite a few armed robberies. There are no trees or shades on the central divider so you get glare in the night. Avoid night driving if possible. You come out on NH 2 about 11 Km after Agra. Turn left on the NH2 to proceed to Kanpur. For Agra you will have to take a U turn at about 1 Km after entering the NH2. You take this road till Firozabad where you will have to slow down as the highway passes through city with rumble strips at each crossing and an over bridge. But the problem starts as soon you come out of over bridge and come across the crossing at which the trucks take a right turn to avoid going into the city. This is a bottle neck area. After this you will be passing through Shikohabad and then bypass Etawah. At present the highway from Etawah to Kanpur is being made six lanes with a number of over bridges under construction. Hence you take the side road which has speed breakers and it brings your speed down.  Therefore this 170 Km stretch from Etawah to Kanpur will take approximately double time as compared to what it used to take earlier. After the Kanpur –Jhansi highway joins the NH2 then keep a good watch oh traffic especially, tempos, taxis and maxis till you reach the over bridge. The only good eating place on this stretch is at Skindara, approximately 70 km before Kanpur, where there is BP petrol pump and a dhaba next to it with a good parking behind the dhaba and reasonably good bathrooms and a place for family to sit and eat. The food is reasonable priced and is worth a break. By this time you will have covered approximately 380 Km from NOIDA, slightly more than half way through. At Kanpur you take the over bridge for another 25 Km of elevated road which effectively bypasses the whole Kanpur and come out to surface level after Chakeri near the Industrial area. The road from here is four lane with good surface but watch out for traffic coming from opposite direction of cars, trucks, tractors and motorcycles .The tractors and motorcycles keep popping up from various cut which locals have created.. This will continue till you reach Allahabad. At over bridges you will find buses, taxies, tempos parked on it thus reducing the width to effectively one lane. After Fathehpur you will find the road narrowing and suddenly your way blocked by a Mazar. The road takes a sharp right and back again to avoid it. Please keep your speed under control here.  $0 km short of Allahabad you come across an over bridge where the straight road will take you to the bridge on Ganga and then to Varanasi and a right turn after reaching the top will take you to the approach road to Allahabad. This 40 km road is two lanes with traffic of cycles, motorcycles, tempos and buses. Passing though habitation will bring the speed to almost crawling and the road is not very good either with speed breakers and potholes, some big enough to swallow your car. It is 40 Km till High Court and then this road, known as Kanpur Road, will also take you out of Allahabad to another bridge on Ganga at Daragaj and then to Varanasi after meeting the NH 2 about 35 Km from Allahabad. You can also take the road straight rather than turning right at 40 Km marking and go straight, cross Ganga and then take a loop to join the Lucknow- Allahabad road and come back to Allahabad after crossing Ganga again at Phaphamau. It is approximately a 680 Km trip from Noida to Allahabad which can be done in about 10 hours but with highway widening it now takes about 12 hours to reach Allahabad. So start early to avoid traffic near Allahabad and in the city. There are no public conveniences after you leave Yamuna expressway. The only reasonably good bathrooms are in the dhaba at Sikandara after Etawah and about 70 km short of Kanpur. There may some bathroom facilities in some big petrol pumps but that you will have to ask and check.

Allahabad to Bandhavgarh

Allahabad to Bandhavgarh is about 280 km via partly NH 7 and state roads. You can take NH 7 till Rewa and then turn left to take the road to Govindgarh and then the state highway to Shahdol. About 60 Km from Rewa you take a right turn and this road will take you to Bandhavgarh. The other road is to take NH 7 up to Amarpatan and then turn left to take the road to Badhavgarh. The third route is via Katni and is longer. We took the road via Govindgarh.  You come out of Allahabad towards the newly constructed Yamuna Bridge and take the straight road on the crossing after the bridge to go to Rewa. The road till the border of UP and MP, that is Chak Ghat, was a typical UP road passable but with potholes and in between good road. Avoid this stretch in the late evening and night as it is a nightmare to do this in the late evening and early night. The road from Chak Ghat to Rewa is being made six lanes and hence was reasonable only in parts with a lot of diversions and with little indication as to which direction for you to follow. So please use the vehicle ahead as a guide whether to divert left or right. At places the road was good. Hopefully in another year the road will be ready. Before entering Rewa leave the HN7 and turn left to go to the city and this road will take you as a bypass for the city to meet the road going to Govindgarh.  At Govindgarh turn right to take the state highway towards Shahdol.  About 60 Km and crossing the ghat section you approach a dam on river Son, you can take a slight diversion to go to the reservoir and enjoy the beauty. A few kilometers ahead, right next to the dam on the right hand side, there is a restaurant where you can get snacks (Poha, Dosa, Idli, stuffed paronthas, etc.), lunch and enjoys the beauty of dam and the river. The restaurant has its own garden for vegetables and fruits and the location is good with clean bathrooms and if you wish to stay then they have a few rooms also. Take a break and some rest here and enjoy the garden and the gardener gives lot of free advices on how to maintain your vegetable and fruit garden. Bandhavgarh is a small but good national forest where the chances of spotting a tiger are good. The reservation to safari is right next to the forest rest house.

Bandhavgarh to Amarkantak.

From Bandhavgarh there is a short route via Umaria to Shahdol but the road is not good till Umaria so we decided to come back the 40 Km to the state highway and turned right for Shahdol. The road a state highway was two lanes but with good surface and with little traffic it was a pleasure to drive through the forest. Before entering Shahdol take the bypass to go to NH 78 towards Budhar. After Shahdol, please be extra careful as the road passes through deep pits of open coal mines. Not only the road is bad for about 3 Km but at places it disappears in black soot completely. At Budhar you leave the highway and turn right to go to Amarkantak . It is a 76 km drive to Amarkantak with ghat section and beautiful forest and scenery. It is two lane road but good surface and little traffic hence you can enjoy the scenery. Amarkantak is famous and a religious place as it is the origin of two rivers, where Son River flows eastward and the other Narmada flows westward. It is place full of temples with beautiful scenery.

Amarkantak to Bilaspur

From Amarkantak there are two routes for Bilaspur. The state highway via Pendra, Kathgora and the other one the shorter one is via Achanakmar Wildlife Sanctuary. The road from Amarkantak via Achanakmar is two lanes but less in width and is a jungle road but reasonably good. At places some plaster has come out but motorable. It passes through the wildlife sanctuary hence you have to enter the details while entering and also on leaving. Most of this road is either ghat section or forest road and hence the forest and scenery is worth enjoying. Near the exit gate they have a booking center where you can take a guide from forest department and visit the scanctuary in your own car or take a gypsy on hire. It is called Achanakmar because earlier it was a dense forest and was full of leopards and they used to jump from trees to catch their prey. The drive through the forest is enjoyable and you might see bison, deers and maybe a Cheetah. This road will join the state highway coming from Mungeli a few kilometers before Bilaspur. This road will take you to Bilaspur city. In case you wish to go Raipur or by pass the city then before entering the city take a right turn on the bypass to go to Raipur.

Bilaspur to Allahabad

On the return trip we took a different route from Bilaspur to Amarkantak via Pendra. The road was good except the last 40 Km where the road was bad and we took hour and half more time than the route through Achanakmar. It is advisable to take to road through the Achanakmar wildlife sanctuary. This road comes out slightly ahead of Amarkantak and bypasses it. The route till Rewa was the same as we had taken earlier. At Rewa we decided to take the old road to Allahabad via sirmaur. T had less traffic even though it was two lanes but with good surface. If you take this road then make it a point to ask for directions to go to Chak ghat. The most surprising point was that the road took us to Chachai falls and we had to cross the river barely 100 meters from the 200 meter fall. It had rained so the river was full and it took quite an effort and skill to negotiate the 20 meters of the river. It was only after crossing the river that we realized how close to the falls we were. The fall is beautiful with a small hotel on the hill from where you can enjoy the falls and river. This stop revived my old memories of 1963 when we had visited Chachai and Kyoti falls as a kid. The road was almost a single lane but with good surface and we came out near Chak Ghat to take a left turn on NH 7 for Allahabad.

Allahabad to NOIDA

You take the Kanpur Road or the GT road to come out of Allahabad. But it is better to take Kanpur Road as it is less crowded and the GT road passes through the city with high density of traffic. The road will take you past Sulem Sarai, Bamrauli air force station and the Manauri air force station and finally will meet the NH 2 after traveling a distance of 40 km after Allahabad. Then the road is the same as was described earlier.