[gearhead_mait]

The Prologue:

Winter: the time when most of the people do not want to leave their homes and love to make themselves cozy under blankets sipping hot coffee, my heart wanted a change.
Therefore, bags packed and we were off to the road again to experience the chills and thrills of the Himalayas. Yes, a road trip to West Sikkim, Kaluk to be precise, to the roads which are meant for SUVs and not suitable for hatchbacks. Friends and relatives advised EON will not be able to meet your expectations and you do not have prior experience of driving in the hills, so DO NOT GO!.
But for me, one has to begin somewhere, sometime and has to be a novice to become an expert at the end. I started the journey and my famiy joined me in the adventure. Results?? Just have a look

The bright hues adorned by Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary


Meandering roads by the Teesta


Prayer flags fluttering in the breeze


Bunch of colorful wild flowers


Cascading waterfalls


My partners in the adventure


The snow-capped peaks : which drew us here


That's my "hatchback" and yes it exceeded my expectations

[gearhead_mait]

The vastness of the Himalayas has always attracted me. The meandering roads, the terrain- partly rugged and partly green, the deep gorges with the rivers flowing, numerous streams (jhoras), wild colorful flowers and the people have always made me go back to the mountains again and again. And driving in those meandering roads had been a long nurtured dream.

The moment I received a mail of the holiday list of 2015 and saw that 1st January would be Thursday and a holiday, me and my wife started quickly looking for a place to visit. After many debates we decided Kaluk in West Sikkim (although pronounced as Ko-look by the local inhabitants.
It was decided that we will be driving to Siliguri (distance from Kolkata 660 KM) on the first day and would have a stay over there at night. The next morning we would be starting for Kaluk (160 KM from Siliguri via Ravangla, Legship).

Choosing the route was a little difficult as last time we visited Malda via Baharampur, NH34; the poor condition of the road till Baharampur made it the last possible option to take.
One of the options was the Dumka, Bhagalpur stretch via Asansol. Again the news of the traffic jams on the Vikramsila setu made us rethink on this route.
We therefore decided to take the route through SH7 through Bhatar, Nabagram till Moregram and merge to the NH34 from Moregram.
As Kaluk is a small village with limited number of staying options available we looked for some of the options and booked Ghonday Village Resort as it claimed to offer a good view of the peaks Kanchenjungha, Pandim, Joponu, Freys, North and South Kabru etc.

Day1, 1st January 2015:

We started from our home at 4:45 AM on the very first day of the new year. It was foggy and the city was lit with colorful lights for the new year eve. The sun hid its face until we reached Shaktigarh and stopped there for breakfast. After having some hot kachoris, sabzi and tea we started again. In no time we reached Bardhaman and merged with the SH7. After driving for about 7 KM we were stopped by some local people as the bridge near Narjja village had collapsed and we would have to take a different route to reach Moregram.Only two-wheelers were allowed to take the temporary bridge that had been constructed to bypass the bridge. I had read about this news in newspaper few days back but also read that small cars could go through the temporary bridge. Therefore we had to take a U-turn and take a right turn from the Machanda more ( People going from Bardhaman will have to take a left turn, i was coming back hence right turn for me).
I had to reset my GPS through Suri, Rampurhut to reach Moregram.

Few snaps from the route:

Customary shot at Shaktigarh:


Beautiful Bengal



The Autumn is gone, the Winter is dry, so are the Kash flowers


Nearing Shantiniketan, the red soil welcomes us


But road trips always has some surprises in store. Just before Bolpur, the bailey bridge was under repair and closed. The way out? A 2 km track beside the farm lands, which was needless to say "unpaved", it was torturous.

After crossing Bolpur we had a tea break, which has become a custom for us. The uniqueness of this tea break is we pack the tea in a thermos flask, and have it in the middle of "serene Bengal". Couldn't stop myself to post a few snaps of the serene location:





After that, we continued to Suri and onward.

Panagarh-Morgram highway(NH60) is in excellent condition now, barring the stretch between Dubrajpur-Suri and Rampurhat-Nalhati


We had our lunch at Morgram, filled the tank of the EON to the brim and moved on. Apart from the 1.5 hours traffic jam at Kaliachowk, the rest of the journey was uneventful. Luckily we didn't face any congestion at Dalkhola. But I had to give many short breaks for the ease of elderly parents who were traveling with us. In Siliguri, we were to stay at my Aunt's home overnight and start for Kaluk in the next morning. Reached Aunt's home around 11:15 pm and she was unhappy that we were staying for such short duration. We promised her to start early on our return from the Hills so that we can spend some time with her on that day. Then I had my dinner and went to sleep. My parents and wife were chatting with my aunt and cousin at that time, such was the enthusiasm!

[gearhead_mait]

Day 2, 2nd January 2015:

This was the day we head for the mountains. Being a first timer as far driving in the Himalayas is concerned, the excitement was too high for me to get a tight sleep overnight, in spite of a tiresome long drive from Kolkata last day.

I woke up around 5:30 am and surprise surprise! Everyone was already awake and getting ready. So, its not only me who is super-excited.

Before I go ahead with the travelogue, I would like to highlight upon the route to be taken for the onward journey to Kaluk.
In the TBHP kolkata meet, I had some useful inputs from fellow BHPian HimadriMondal. I came to know that the usual route through Jorethang is in bad condition and he advised me to take the route through Singtam-Ravangla-Geyzing. So, I would follow NH31 till Singtam, which is in good shape.

So, coming back to the day of our travel, we started from our aunt's home around 7:30 am. I tanked up my EON at an IndianOil pump and there I came across a Mahindra Maxx commercial vehicle reading "Melli-Jorethang-Nayabazar". I immediately went forward to the driver and inquired about the condition of the road. He confirmed that from Melli till Jorethang the road is in bad shape. His reply was - "Bahut hilne wala rasta hai bhaisaab! Ahista jana parega chota gari ko."
This reply immediately solidified my decision to take the route through Ravangla, though I was skeptical about the route from Ravangla onwards to Kaluk. Nevertheless, I moved on.

Soon, we were cruising through Sevoke Road and through the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary. The aroma of the mountains soon unfolded. The atmosphere was calm and quite. There a cool breeze blowing with occasional chirping of the birds. There were Monkeys everywhere in groups beside the road. I gently rolled down the windows and drove at a sedate pace enjoying the divine feeling of driving. What a joy it was!





EON says - Let's wash my face before I see the Mountains!


Soon, we had the first view of Teesta, and the mountains too!


A shot of Teesta at Sevoke


The famous Coronation Bridge, one has to cross the bridge to go towards Lava, Rishop as well as the Dooars.


For us, the road lies ahead!


Soon enough, we were at the Teesta Bazaar. A shot of Teesta river from the Bridge.


My ride on the Teesta Bridge! One has to cross this bridge to venture towards Kalimpong/Gangtok. A diversion before this bridge leads to Darjeeling via Peshok road.


After crossing the Teesta Bridge, we stopped for breakfast at a road side Cafe. And guess what we ordered? "Wai-Wai with vegetables". I don't know what they add for spices, but these items tastes totally different from home preparations of the same item. We relished every bit of our breakfast.

Soon we were at Melli. The bridge (in picture below) has to be crossed to reach West Sikkim districts via Jorethang. The access to the bridge is not barely a left turn, but a right sided U-turn after Melli Bazaar.
But, as told earlier, via Jorethang is not our onward route. So we headed towards Singtam.


Some pictures taken on our way to Singtam.


Clouds playing hide and seek game with the Sun








As we gained elevation above sea level, river Teesta started to show its real colour - Majestic!






My stalwart overlooking the meandering roads!


Sikkim welcomes us at Rangpo


A policeman asked us here at Rangpo where from we are coming and whether all are Indians. We replied affirmatively. Then he pointed us to proceed but we thought he asked us to stop by the side for some enquiry.
So, my wife produced the PAN cards to him. Seeing that, he replied:

"P-a-a-n Card! Not required. Go Go".
People are really helpful over here in Sikkim. They are really simple and willing to help anytime.

After crossing the Rangpo, the scenic beauty of the entire route was awesome. Let me share a few pictures on the route between Rangpo and Singtam.






As we approached Singtam, I knew that there are some tricky diversions in Singtam that branches off to Gangtok, North Sikkim as well as to Ravangla, our final intermediate stop. So, I crossed the New Singtam bridge, took a left turn and then I knew that I had to cross another bridge to avoid going towards North Sikkim. But, this time MMI signaled wrong and we took a bridge too early. After going for some time, MMI continued to signal that I was in the correct path, but looking at the condition of the road, I was not confident at all. At another diversion, MMI signaled to go straight, but the road it was pointing to was pure "kaccha road" full of slush. The other road on the diversion was going up and was comparatively better (not tarmac, loose gravel road with good binding) and I decided to give it a try. After 3-4 turns, MMI knew that I was going off-route. Even was I! I saw an Alto coming from the opposite side and asked the driver about the directions. There were two guys and one lady at the back. He confirmed that I was on the wrong path and this path leads to a "Basti". He was very friendly and asked us to follow him and he will show us the correct route. The road was narrow, so turning the car was a ob in itself. I considered myself lucky to have a small car. After going down the same path, I could see the Alto guys waiting for us at the diversion where I got confused and lead us to the path that MMI showed us earlier (Alas! MMI was correct.) I followed him blindly, as now I had the courage "If Alto can, so can EON!". After some 1st and second gear driving, I could see a bridge and then I realized that this was the bridge I should have crossed, not the earlier one. I thanked the guy, he was very helpful. He told us that road ahead is the Highway that connects to Ravangla, and I should not divert at any point and ask anyone whenever I feel like. My sincere thanks to them!

Approaching Singtam


As we left NH31 after Singtam, the road ahead was narrower and had some broken patches. But overall, it was drivable and the scenic beauty more than compensated for that. In the mountains, the weather changes rapidly, and as we crossed Tarku, it started drizzling and there was a cool breeze blowing. So, the woolens were taken out from the suitcases. At Tarku, a diversion takes one to Namchi via Temi tea garden (picturesque road). But we had give that a miss and take the road to Ravangla (which was no less in terms scenic beauty).

The road from Tarku to Ravangla: Overhanging cliffs and slight drizzle added to the magic


Within an hour and 15 minutes drive from Singtam, we reached Ravangla. It was 1 pm, but we decided to move on and have our lunch in Ghonday Village resort, our hotel at Kaluk.

One front angle shot of EON with the background of Ravangla city


And one Family shot at the same location


A beautiful tree at a hairpin bend


As we approached Legship, the weather started getting brighter and the snow capped mountains were gradually becoming visible. We were told by a group of people that it was snowing in the Mountains.

First shot of the snow capped Mountains: Though eyes had better views than the camera.


Beautiful "flower-adorned" roads in bright sunlight near Legship

[gearhead_mait]

Day2 - Continued.

West Sikkim - here we come!


Apart from a road closed for repair near Legship, it was smooth sailing till now. As we took the Legship-NayaBazar road, MMI showed us only 11 kms to our destination in Kaluk. But who knew till that time what was in store for us ahead. After traveling for a kilometer, MMI guided us to take a right turn. The road it was pointing to was going up and it was muddy road (from initial investigation). A group of people were having tea at the junction where the road starts. I quickly went up to them and asked:

Me : "Bhaisaab! Kaluk jana hai. Yes rasta jata hai?" - pointing to the muddy road.

A helpful guy : "Ha, yes rasta jata hai. Par rasta bahut kharab hai, aisehi mitti wala rasta hai pura aur upar aur zada kharab hai, gari ke niche lagega."

Me: "Yeh rasta kitna km hai Kaluk tak? Aur doosra koi option hai Kaluk jane ka?"

The helpful guy : "Iss raste se to kum parega. kareeb 12 km. Aur ek raasta hai, yehaan se sidhe jaiye Reshi Bazaar, waha se ek rasta upar jata hai Rinchenpong aur Kaluk ke Taraf."

Me: "Woh raaste se kitna distance parega?"

The helpful guy : "Reshi Bazaar 10 km aur fir upar 25 km. Magar rasta accha hai, pitch wala."

As we were having the conversation, I saw a mini truck loaded with stone chips was going up through the muddy road.
I went back to consult my parents and wife and decided to take the longer route through Reshi Bazzar. But somehow I was not happy with the decision. While driving for the next 2 kms, I was continuously showing my disinterest in traveling 35kms whilst we could have done that in 10 kms (At the back of my mind, the road that we left, attracted me). After 2 kms, everyone in the car submitted to my request. A U-turn and we went ahead to that road. And history was made! (joking!)

A snap of the road whilst going up


The condition of the road at the beginning was okay. Few slush spots, but EON managed beautifully. But as we continued, the muddy road became more bumpy (thanks to load carrying trucks). Then progressively, road became dusty and narrower with very few places where two small vehicles can cross each other. There was signs of landslide everywhere and not a single person to be seen anywhere, no cars, no trucks, nothing. We went forward for ~2 kms and then there was a hairpin bend rise and in that bend, there was loose mountain soil, so deep that my cars tires sidewall was totally submerged in the dust. And then there was wheelspin and thats it! I tried to rev hard once but I knew that with full load and FWD, it was nothing more than torturing the engine. I stopped, went down and investigated the position and decided to make a U-Turn and return. I never faced a road like this, and with my Family with me, would never wish to.
Making the U-Turn was a job in itself, with limited space available with firm ground.

Interested folks can go forward and watch the video (Please view it in 1080P mode) - The part of the video of getting stuck and making the U-Turn was scary, so I decided to cut that part. This video shows the road while ascending till just before we got stuck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEcr...ature=youtu.be

A snap taken at the point where the U-Turn was made, at the start of the descent


The descent was more dangerous, as now we can directly see the treacherous road ahead and the car needs to controlled so that it doesn't scrape at the bottom.

The video of the descent

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHb9...ature=youtu.be

After that, I knew that we have to take the 35 km route through Reshi Bazaar. I drove steadily, a little fast, and we reached Ghonday Village Resort at Kaluk in about 55 minutes.

After we reached our Hotel, we were welcomed by a silk cloth around our shoulder and a welcome drink on arrival. The resort itself was awesome and supremely located. Probably the best property in West Sikkim. One can get a 180 degree view of Himalayas from every corner of the resort and the rooms that we booked (view facing) had a large window and the entire Himalayan range was before us. The location and quality of this resort took away all the stress imposed by the treacherous road that we encountered (shared earlier).

EON getting a well deserved rest at the resort


We ordered soups, momos and tea from the reception. The quality of service was impressive and food was equally tasty. Each and every rooms was tastefully decorated and there was no cheap items anywhere. We were at first surprised to find such impressive decorative ideas in a remote village like Kaluk, until we got to know that the owner of this hotel is a Civil Engineer and he designed every bit of the resort.

A family shot at one of our rooms


The steep road leading to our resort from Kaluk Bazaar


The view from the window of one of our rooms : Cameras just can't capture the essence properly. These lights were shimmering.


It was an eventful day, and how could it not end with the same essence?

When I parked my car in the resort, I saw a Renault Duster AWD in the parking area. Looking at the number plate I knew that it was from my city Kolkata but I was very hungry and in the process overlooked something. After gulping on the momos and other delicacies, and after sharing some good time together with my parents and wife recapitulating the journey today, I decided to go downstairs to my car and fetch the SJ1000 dashcam to transfer the videos to my laptop. As I approached my car, I suddenly noticed a set of very well known letters in the Duster's rear glass pane. A closer look revealed "www.team-bhp.com". I was just . I rushed to the reception guy and enquired about the owner. He replied "That car arrived yesterday afternoon". I told him to let the owner know of my intent to talk to him. Then I went back to my room. At the time of dinner, the reception guy introduced me to the owner of the Duster AWD, and it was fellow TBhpian "DriveTrain". And it was his car. He is a nice person and we had a lot of conversations later.
The resort had two cars in the parking area for guests, and both were TBhpians!

A shot of our machines together

[Aditya]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues Section. Thanks for sharing!

[delix]

A very nice and detailed travelogue and very well written. The pictures were great. We can easily gauge the level of your excitement. It really gives a breather when you suddenly bump into another fellow bhpian in a trips like these.

[mercedised]

Loved your write-up. Please update the travelogue with the route/gmap of the route you took. It would help people like me if visiting the same place to plan.

[saket77]

You are the man! I am sure there is more to come, but it is amazing that you took your Eon to W. Sikkim. Serves as an invitation to take my Zen to the place. So, do you think that a car like Zen, which essentially means even lower ground clearance than the Eon can make it? Kindly post the route you took plotted on GoogleMaps.

Beautiful pictures, esp. the opening pics. Please post more of your log. Totally hooked up to this thread.

Thanks!
Saket

[sridhar-v]

Excellent photos. Which camera & filters did u use?

Looking forward to exploring the Himalayas as I have done most of the south!!

Sridhar

[sumitgovil2311]

amazing ride so far. The description is so crisp I feel like travelling along. Wait is getting longer now.

[Dieselritzer]

Lovely pictures. The color of the river water is unbelievable. Ask any Mumbaikar if he has seen a river of that color and he will think its some blue chemical in it. The roads are superb too. As others have asked too, please try and upload pictures of routes on a map to give a better clarity. Awaiting more of your journey :-)

[petrolhead_neel]

There you are gearhead_mait. You have executed a job which I thought to be impossible. As I go through your pictures, the thought occurs to me that this is the same Eon that I saw in our Kolkata meet, and was driven by someone who was very friendly to me during the whole time. Still remember the moment when we were sitting inside the dhaba and you told us that you will be doing this highly adventurous trip. You were seeking help from BHPian himadrimondal and BlackPearl about driving in thr hills. You were very excited and the excitement was worth it.
Excellent photography and superbly detailed writeup.

[niranjanprabhu]

What is the song that is being played in the videos you have uploaded? Awesome. I have downloaded some of the beautiful photographs posted by you. Absolutely DIVINE.

[gmhossain]

Hats off to you for successfully completing such an amazing trip! Given you had mentioned about it in some other thread, I was checking Team-BHP travelogue section regularly for last one week to see whether your adventure with a Hatchback in Himalaya is already public . Frankly, it was worth the wait and waiting for more to read.

Cheers,

[Ddrive]

Great log there gearhead_mait, You know exactly what im gonna say, Yes, the road from Siliguri towards Coronation bridge, the long standing companion Teesta, and those colourful trees on both sides (i loved the colours in pic no 4322 especially) all these reminds of our trip to Sikkim last year. Wanting to go there again, its like the Himalayas tend to make people addicts to travel there atleast once in an year. Super write-up, lovely pictures and nice videos (especially the decent). Keep them comin. Regards.

Originally Posted by saket77

Serves as an invitation to take my Zen to the place. So, do you think that a car like Zen, Saket

Saket, the Zens and Altos are hillride favorites i presume mine is one.
During my last trip to Darjeeling and Gangtok I could see almost 90% of the cars are small cars from Maruti. Oops, no offense anyone Thanks.