We had a small 4-day gap thanks to Netaji Jayanti and Republic day, and this small trip was decided upon. Hence, it was decided we will take the train from Kolkata to NJP and thereafter ask a good friend for his car keys. The car in question a Tata Nano.
We were 4 adults and a 7-year-old kid and I had questions in my mind whether the Nano will be okay in hills with full load.
Anyway, got the train tickets made and started waiting for the day.
Upon reaching NJP, quickly went to the friend's house and got a jolt. Upon taking the car out of garage, I realized the Nano does not have a boot. Now luggage will have to be carried inside with all the people and that was a problem, though we managed somehow.
I had never driven a Nano before and it took some getting used to. I needed to get acquainted with the 2-cylinder engine. The Nano is pretty top-heavy and it was scary initially on curves. Nonetheless, we got along pretty well and I have say, this little thing manages pretty well.
Day 1, had to be NJP (Siliguri) to Mirik and stay there. I took my time driving the Nano in the hills and we reached safely. Got a hotel at very cheap rates due to it being off-season and all. My concerns about it taking the hills with all this load had vanished by now. Nano could take steep roads rather well I would say. We even visited the Mirik Monastery, the road to which was rather steep and we had no problem.
After visiting the lake and monastery, we decided to retire for the day.
Day 2, we started rather early (9 a.m. or so
) for Darjeeling. This route is pretty scenic but the road surface was pretty broken and bad. Settled down in the hotel and hotel staff tried to sell the usual stuff. "Your car cannot go to Tiger Hill and Rock Garden. You have to hire another car, etc." Told them, that is tomorrow and will think about it tomorrow.
Went ahead and visited the Darjeeling Zoo, rode the cable car and visited Roy Villa, (where Sister Nivedita spent her last days and has been renovated recently).
Day 3, again started early (10 a.m. or so
) went to Tiger Hill. I have say here, the road conditions to tiger hill was really bad. There has been no maintenance it seems and most of the places, there are no roads. Steep inclines with no road conditions sometimes makes life very difficult in these places.
The climate was all foggy, so there was no Kanchenjungha for us at Tiger Hill. Got down from there quickly and went to Rock Garden, which was a horror. Last time, I went there driving my Alto, road was bad but road was there. Those who know would confirm that road to this place is insanely steep. This time, there was no road. After going down a couple of kilometers, I started to lose my nerve. Stopped and pondered whether to go any further or not. Asked a local driver if the road condition was any better beyond the point. Answer was a no but he said "aste aste chale jaiye." Took his advice and went down not knowing what will happen when actually we ascend.
Rock Garden was devoid of any tourists and felt rather sad at the condition of the place. No maintenance and no tourist, nonexistent roads. I hope the local authorities wake up soon.
The ascent was pretty dramatic. At least at a couple of places, the vehicle stalled, not because of any fault of the vehicle though. If there were any semblance of roads, the Nano would have gone. Totally broken roads made me to go slow and lost the momentum. Anyway, had to engage reverse and go down get a couple of people out of the vehicle and ignore bad roads and build momentum to ascend. Attaching a couple of videos to give an idea about the road condition and kind of ascent I am talking about.
Anyway, once we reached Darjeeling again, had lunch and visited a couple of more touristy places before retiring for the day.
Next morning, we had a train to catch and so started early (this time 5 a.m.) and thanks to Rohini road, which is a toll road and beautiful, we were at NJP station around 7:30.
Returned the car to its owner and returned.
One of the reasons I wrote this is I wanted to share my views about Tata Nano. It is a small car perfect for city use. It does take hilly roads pretty well despite the 2-cylinder engine. Only grouse, absence of a boot. One other thing that bothered quite a bit was, it is rather top-heavy and even while negotiating uphill hairpin bends, one needs to slow down which is no good.
Otherwise, really worth every paise. I spent 900 rupees on petrol in total, which is real CHEAP.
Taken a few snaps.....just point and shoot type. Sharing here.