Week 15
(India)

Delhi - Agra - Kanpur - Allahabad - Varanasi - Kolkata

Week 16
(India, Bangladesh)

Kolkata - Haridaspur - Benapole (Bangladesh) - Jessore - Rajbari

Week 17
(Bangladesh)

Rajbari - Dhaka - Comilla - Chittagong

Time for the long drive across the north of India on National Highway 2, NH2. 1400km, or 800miles in proper units. 6 full days of driving. The first 200km from Delhi to Agra was a blissfully empty dual carriageway. But from then on, it was full-bore frustration, caused both by the road condition and by the users occupying it.

The road surface resembled a mid-session prehistoric dig, following an overnight aerial bombing raid. Some potholes were so deep, there were complete communities living within them.

The road users ranged from cattle to trucks, with every form of legged animal and wheeled contraption in between. All individually going about their business, oblivious of the existence of fellow road users.

Road camaraderie is a word without translation in Hindi. For example, at one point, there was a stretch of open, clear road with a single

A typical town scene on NH2, National Highway 2.

Photo taken from the driving seat, while contemplating the odds of overtaking an elephant with a 20foot wide load on its back.

The cobbled road here was actually one of the better surfaces of the journey on NH2 across India.