Day 8 – It begins to get tougher by the minute on our Renault Kwid adventure

It is when the times get tough that truly showcase one’s mettle. And the North East is not for the weak. As we would find out after beginning our second week on the road.

We couldn’t afford to have Monday blues

That relaxing evening in Tezpur was to be quickly forgotten as we had a long day ahead. Mileage wise it was barely 300-odd km, but the estimated time required was enough to get ourselves pumped up for the day. And for the early hundred kilometres we were quite confident for the day up ahead. It wasn’t until after that that we took the challenges seriously.

From smooth tarmac to lunar landscape

We had to go through craters after craters on roads that once used to be perfect. The road work that began in 2015, is still under construction. The distance of 60km to Kohima from the Nagaland state border town of Dimapur took close to four and a half hours.

Next up – Manipur

The itinerary for tomorrow takes us to Imphal to chalk up state number 13 – Manipur. With that we will have just three of the seven North Eastern states left to conquer on the Renault Kwid 29 States 29 Days Challenge. However, the monsoons have wreaked havoc, causing several roadblocks further along. The situation has become pretty dire on our proposed route as there are reports of a bridge collapsing coming through. With network still acting up as well as the limited number of roadside eateries, the challenge is to soldier on. Whatever be the case we’ll be up at the crack of dawn and blasting off. Stay tuned as we get through this extremely difficult state of the drive.

Click here to read the previous blogs on the 29 States 29 Days challenge.