Thursday Oct 17th
This P.W.D. Resthouse is one which every traveller should avoid. We
were not allowed to use the Beds & I slept outside whilst Elsie used
the Van. There were about 12 men talking loudly & laughing
till very late, this was disturbing & again they were about
early & woke us up. Well we had had something to eat we
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asked the fellow who had told us that he was the Works Supervisor
for the Bill, he said the charge was 2.75. I gave him 3 rupees
and the amount of 2.75 was entered into the Book. Then he
demanded that I pay the Gateman 10 Rupees & also He wanted
5 Rupees. I demanded that he signed for this but he would
not do this. He opened another book & I wrote in this, but
he would not sign. Whilst I argued about the amount the
Gateman stood by his side with a length of Cycle chain &
Padlock. For the 18 Rupees paid we could get nothing other
than the 2.75 that was entered into the Book. I have the
address of this Road House & also the name of the Works
Supervisor & intend to write to our Police Officer friend at
New Delhi & also report it later to a Tourist Information
Centre, after leaving we hoped to travel along this road
as far as Barhi, then divert away from the R.A.C. route &
thus avoid Culcutta by doing this we would save about
150 miles. All the way along the road to Barhi the road was in a
terrible condition, at one stage we were behind a lorry when it had to
pull over into the mud to allow another lorry from the opposite direction to
pass, it went down into a Pot hole & I braked hard because it all but
fell over on to its side. Another lorry carrying coal had hit the side of a bridge
and overturned, it blocked the road but the oncoming lorries just drove
straight through the Coal which covered the road. Other Lorries had
broken down & thus caused havoc. We had to stop at 2.30PM because
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the driving in 2nd Gear had caused the engine to overheat. We stayed for
just over an hour to let it cool down. The Temperature was in the 90s . We had
the usual audience at this Stop, Women beggars pester you, but my
advice is to ignore them, because if you give to one then you must expect the
whole of India to feed. It is obvious that the Transport Minister of India
does not use the road, he certainly has no idea of the conditions under
which the Tourist has to drive. We did not reach Barhi so decided to stop at
a Rest House. This overland journey from England to Australia was to have
been a holiday for us, but it had become real hard work because of the
appalling state of the roads, it was 5.30 & we found a P.W.D & stayed the
night the milage 9908
Friday 18th Oct
We were quite satisfied with this Rest house & they charged 2.50. This is about
the correct amount to be charged as we did use the Beds & had the benefit of Air
Conditioners. We left about 8AM and struggled along the roads, to emphasis the
poor quality of the roads it took 1 hour & 20 minutes to cover 22 miles, at long
last we reached the crossroad at Barhi and turned left. This road was very
good and we were able to keep the speed of 40 M.P.H. When driving conditions
improve such as this the engine has a chance to keep cool despite the
Temperature. In my previous notes I have quoted about Lorries being unfit
for the road & one passed us with a piece of Outer Cover Tyre bolted on through
the original. I just wonder how far he would get with that in Britain. It was
evident, all along the road, that today was a Public holiday. Music
Dancing Gay Colour Dresses & Bunting. Another smash up with 2
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Lorries, it was evident that neither would give way along a single
stretch of road & they had collided almost Head on, one driver was laid
out on the road which was blocked. I managed to only just get past but
was dangerously near the edge. Traffic from the other direction was
being diverted across a field & to get back on to the road they had a 6 ft
climb. This in the Insurance books would go down as “Knock for Knock” because
it was evident that both drivers were to blame. We pulled in at a Daf Bungalow
although it was early only 3.30 the Milage was now 10044.
Sat Oct 19th
Children woke us at 5.30 there was about six of them around the Van at that
time, so we rushed through breakfast and got on our way. The comment
passed at this Rest house, which did not charge, was No Bed No Charge
This road which we decided to take proved to be the best road we had driven
on in the whole of India. It continued to be good apart from a few Road repairs
we drove along as far as the State Barrier at 12.30 we had by then covered
139 miles. We had difficulty to find a place to park for a while. The Trees
were part of the Villiage & that meant that if we stopped there where the people were
we would have the whole population Trying to View inside the Van. We found a
spot marked No Parking & took a chance. After a Cup of Tea we drove on & saw
a Rest House we decided on it as we had covered 182 miles if the 6 hours of
travelling Milage now is 10226
Sunday 20th Oct
This Rest House was not to be praised. Some of these places are really good
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whilst others are deplorable, this was one of the bad ones. It is the very
first time in my life I have slept on a Straw mattress which was thin & dirty.
The Pillows were so dirty that we discarded them and used our own from the
Van. We soon had the onlookers from the Villiage. I did pass a remark
that if the girl was to go and wash here Dress instead of just staring at us she
would do something useful. These men & women wear clothes that are really
dirty. Almost every girl appears to have a baby no matter how young they appear to be.
I spent the evening giving the Van a wash. The Indian brought out the
Book and demanded 5 Rupees but I refused to pay that. I gave him 3.50 and
told him to be satisfied. We had no trouble & went on our way after we had
done 111 miles we stopped at a Police Station to make enquiries about changing
money. It was Sunday so we were trying to find a Hotel that would change
because we were in need of Petrol and getting short of Currency.
A Policeman came with us to the Rajmahar [Rajmahal] Hotel in Bhubaneswar. They
would not change & as we did not like the Place, we were told by a
Student of the Tourist Guest House, he came with us and after having a
drink we took him back. He had made offers to show us around this
Town but we declined. We ‘booked’ in at this State Guest House
for four nights deciding that as we now had 24 day in which
to reach Madras [now Chennai] which is under 800 miles we would rest. This
Guest House is not mentioned by the R.A.C. but is should be placed very
high on the recommended List. The charge for a double room is 61 Rps
per night & this includes: Early morning Tea, Breakfast, Lunch,
Afternoon Tea & Evening meal, the charge of 61 Rps is for 2 people
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sharing a double room, this is a big difference to the Imperial & Clarkes
Hotels where we paid 160 Rps just for a double room each night.
This Guest House states No Tipping but will accept a donation towards
Staff benevelant Fund, but it is natural that a tip will improve the
Service & that here is to be commended
Monday 21st Oct
I was thankful that we were here for a few day rest. It was relief for
Elsie not to have cooking to do, because in India the Temperature is in
the 80-90s & with the Stove on in the Van it does get terribly hot
Motor Caravans like this one we have are ideal for Touring around Britain and
on the Continent but when you reach places as near to the Equator they tend
to hold the heat & life inside becomes uncomfortable. We were asked today
at Reception whether we preferred Indian or Western cooking. Western was
our choice. Each room is fully Air Conditioned & quite cool, the only trouble
we have experienced is Power Cuts, sometimes for two minutes somtimes for an
hour, but the Staff rush out with Candles. We went to the Bank in a
Rickshaw, first time we have ever been in one, changed our money and are now
satisfied that we have enough to see us to Madras.
Tuesday 22nd Oct
We are taking it easy at this State Guest House and are quite comfortable
it is a place to fully recommend to any Traveller. It is raining heavily
and I mended the Puncture that we had at Agra, we did not leave this
place at any time during the day because of the Rain
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