Day 5 – The Renault Kwid goes from west to east

The heat was killer but the Renault Kwid survived

Never did the mercury drop below 40°C. All throughout the northern and western leg of the Renault Kwid 29 States 29 Days challenge it was hot. You could feel your skin burning. Even with the AC unit in the cars working overtime, the heat was unbearable. The fifth day of the Renault Kwid 29 States 29 Days Challenge was turning out to be a hot tiresome. Thankfully, Uttar Pradesh’s wide highways continued till its border with Bihar. Even people’s traffic senses took a turn for the better with truck drivers more or less sticking to their lanes. By now we were on the fifth consecutive paratha-for-breakfast stop and quite frankly it was getting a little boring. I suppose we’d have to wait till West Bengal for something different.

Road conditions for the Renault Kwid head south as we head east

Through UP and into Bihar the roads change drastically. The first 30-40 kilometres was a messy mass of troughs, grooves, dips and potholes. Clearly the summer heat had done its work on roads that were, inexplicably, not built to withstand that heat. After a while the roads did improve somewhat but they weren’t as plain and smooth as the highways in the Yogi’s backyard. The going was becoming tougher and we were beginning to feel it. Not our Kwids though as the pair plodded on through everything without so much as a squeak.

The Renault Kwid finds the joy of cornering

Our aim for the day was the town of Siliguri in West Bengal. The town is significant for it is not only the gateway to the Seven Sisters in the north-east but also to the hill state of Sikkim. From Bihar to West Bengal – we crossed the state border at around 9pm, things got worse and the highway never got better. In fact the final few kilometres to Siliguri were particularly harsh, forcing us to drive even our sturdy Kwids gingerly. But it wasn’t all bad either, for now we got something that we hadn’t since we left Dehradun – corners. Soon enough things got lively and we were testing out the cornering grip on our Ceat Milaze tyres that were holding admirably in spite of having clocked 2,500km, a milestone we touched today.

The Renault Kwid is set for the Seven Sisters

The Kwids on their Ceats and with tankfuls of HP petrol have battled hard over the past five days and crossed eight states without a single battle scar to show for. That gives us great impetus as we head into the toughest zone that we will experience on this entire journey – the North East. Making matters more difficult will be the monsoons that have arrived already. But we have confidence in our Kwids as we battle on in this 29 States 29 Days challenge.

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