21st November 2018, 21:08
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| BHPian  Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Kolkata
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| Alto K10 goes to Kanchenjunga - Kolkata to East Sikkim Some appetizers    We moved back to Kolkata at the beginning of the year and while the ladies took a flight, I drove the K10 down from Bangalore to Kolkata. Since then, apart from the office commute and city runs, the only time she saw the highway was when we made a trip to Tajpur in June. Hailing from the south, my wife lamented the lack of quick getaway options around Kolkata. I, being born and raised in Kolkata, naturally felt obliged to defend the glory of my home state. Eventually, it boiled down to the most logical option for a denizen of Kolkata – a roadtrip to the Himalayas! We decided to stay back in Kolkata during Durga Pujo and enjoy the revelry that we had missed for many years. I figured that we should also be able to beat the mad rush of tourists to the hills by staying back. Pujo was immediately followed by a roadtrip to Vizag to visit my in laws. I accomplished two objectives, ran in a new set of tyres (replaced the stock Bridgestones after 6 years of duty) and also collected some brownie points with my in laws. The trip to the hills was to happen a week after we came back from Vizag and despite the 1800 km roundtrip just behind us, we were raring to go. While it was to be a Himalayan roadtrip, I did not have a specific destination in mind. Being a Bengali, Darjeeling was one of the usual suspects, more so since the wife is yet to visit. I was not keen apart from perhaps passing through on our way back. Darjeeling has been done to dust and did not want to drive up only to tear my hair out figuring out where to park. Bhutan was an exciting prospect but with the additional distance involved, we put it on the to do list. Thus, I had the perfect excuse to burn more hours poring through travelogues in TBHP, not that an excuse is really needed. The Kolkata chapter of TBHP has been making a serious dent in the Himalayan road tripping scene. Sedans and hatches have been making short work of treacherous mountain roads. Trawling through the TLs helped narrow Sikkim down as the most feasible choice. The last trip I had made to this tiny kingdom in the Himalayas was a couple of decades back and memories of the Tsomgo lake are still etched in memory. I needed to do more research as all that I could recall from my previous trip were Gangtok and Tsomgo. However, I knew that a readthrough of a few TLs would make me no less than a destination expert before the day was out. The following TLs by fellow members Gearhead_mait <https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...chey-gaon.html (From Snarl to Old Silk Route : Rishi Khola, Gnathang, Kupup (East Sikkim) & Icchey Gaon) and Samba https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/174581-east-sikkim-sailed-through-old-silk-route-hatchbacks-sedans-thar.html> grabbed me by the eyeballs, more so because they were done in hatches. Gearhead_mait has been taking Sikkim by storm in his ‘Sherdil’ Eon and I felt an instant kinship since we drive small cars long and far. Thanks to these TLs, the east Sikkim circuit became a de facto choice, with the old silk route through Zuluk as the prime attraction. The minute detailing of routes, sights and where to stay made me lazy and our plan was woven around how these gents had traversed these parts. Out came the woolens to be mothballed before being pressed into service. Luggage space was always going to be at a premium and I solved the problem by stuffing my surplus underwear in my backpack, so that the ladies could have the lion’s share of packing space. I made a couple of calls to the homestays we planned to stay. This was an improvement over our usual practice of trying our luck at hotels without a confirmed booking. A lot of tea has been spilt and much has been written over the state of the roads linking Kolkata to Siliguri. The straight NH34 is no longer an option and one often has to do some sightseeing in Bihar before getting a whiff of the mountain breeze. As a pujo bonus, in the run up to the festive season, repairs of the Farakka bridge was announced. The time taken to cross this crucial link over the Ganges could play Russian roulette with driving schedules. Suddenly, it seemed that we had one too many mountains to climb. Fortunately, we were going a couple of weeks after pujo, and I knew more than a few fellow forum members would drive up this route. Sure enough, updates poured in that the traffic was being managed well around the repairs and that the pain will be the same, and not more. We scurried for some last moment shopping with the ladies picking up some jumpers. I wanted to feel prepared and unable to think of anything else, bought a sturdy hammer and a bigger flashlight besides stocking up on nylon ropes. The K10 was on song during our Vizag drive and hence, I opted for a quick check at Sumanda's (Alok Automobiles) over a full fledged service. With the checklist all ticked out, we were set for an early morning departure from Kolkata on the 4th. 4th November – Kolkata to Siliguri via Bardhaman, Futisako, Moregram, Farakka We would have left the day before on Saturday. But mid term report cards were to be handed out that day and as conscientious parents, we had to at least pretend that grades took precedence over road trips. Therefore as planned, we left our south Kolkata home at 4 AM on Sunday. I made some silly mistakes in choosing the right route out of the city, getting ourselves caught in truck traffic. We made it to Saktigarh soon after dawn to munch on some monster langchas. Dankuni approaches  Great snack, just not the right time of day!   Just after Moregram  Barring some confusion near the chaotic railway station at Burdwan town, the drive till Moregram was uneventful. Right after the BP COCO, I expected diversions due to Farakka repairs. I was not disappointed as entire stretches of the north bound flank had turned into parking lots for trucks. When we made it to the bridge eventually, it took me a few moments to realize that we were on Farakka, what with all the dust and trucks around. I was happily inching along when without warning, the traffic ground to a halt. And that was that for a good hour or so. I rarely push the K10 on the highway nowadays and generally stay within the 80-90 mark. That and the bridge delay meant it was dark by the time we entered the Botolbari – Dhantola stretch. We were at Islampur around 8 pm and fumbled around looking for a municipal guest house to stay the night. Unable to locate it, we decided to make a dash for Siliguri. Checked into Hotel Vinayak on Hill cart road at around 10. Hill cart road by night  5th November – Siliguri to Rishikhola via Kalimpong and Pedong The ladies were excited about starting the business end of the trip today. I went about the boring stuff of refueling and withdrawing cash – both are in short supply on the Silk route. We were using a Nikon Coolpix P&S with 38x zoom along with our smartphones. The lens on the Nikon sticks out quite a bit, giving, at least to me, the impression that it’s the next best thing to a DSLR. Never mind that the photos can sometimes be out of focus. But that is down to me. Mahananda wildlife sanctuary   Some lessons being dispensed, so what if its a holiday!  Pehle aap  It did not feel like a dream mountain roadtrip as we limped through the congested Kalimpong traffic. At Pedong, the roads narrowed down such that I almost drove inside a school compound, not able to tell the town exit road from a side street. This is a landslide prone area and the road surface worsened as we came across three inclines one after the other. There was no tarmac, only dust and a generous few inches of it. The second incline was a monster and the K10 lost traction sliding down on the first attempt. After parking the car at the base of the rise, I did a recce on foot. I was nervous, my patchy grasp of high school trigonometry failed me and apart from coating my footwear liberally with dust, I was none the wiser. The layer of dust was dry, fine and thick. To ensure enough thrill, the gradient was liberally garnished with rocks. As I stood scratching my almost bare scalp, a youth came up on a pulsar. He was a local resident passing through and stopped when he saw us standing by a tiny hatch with a registration number far away from home. He suggested that I could try reversing the car up the slope, after building some momentum. All the aimless googling that I keep doing on automobiles also rang a bell in my head, to attempt something similar. Our good Samaritan then proceeded to dune bash his way up the slope on his Pulsar. He parked his bike and stood at the head of the incline, with an expression that said he does not have all day for this. The wife was also looking nervous, with only Joyee able to see the funny side of things. I chose my intended line of assault, kicked a few stones out of the way and then did a 15 point turn on the narrow road to have the car facing the other way. The three cylinders roared in unison as the K10 scrambled half way up the slope, before losing traction. There was furious wheelspin, an ugly screeching and an unappetising smell of a clutch beginning to fry. I slid a bit before gunning the engine, the tires dig in and the brave K10 scurried to the crest with her bum pointing up. I was overwhelmed and pumped the hands of my guide in gratitude. He appeared bemused before dashing away in a cloud of dust. We faced another one of these but with my tail up (figuratively) the K10 was able to sail through. We crossed a Sikkim police checkpost shortly after and were at the point where we had to park the car by the road and trek down a wooded descent to the resort by the Rishi river. After about 10 minutes, we realized that our woes were worth it We made it look harder than it was  The Reshi eco resort down by the river  Shot of the valley  Babbling brook, glad to be able to use the phrase!  Let me chew in piece  6th November – Rishikhola – Rongli – Nimachen The first order of the day was to reach Rongli and get the permits done. The route from Rishikhola to Rongli is in good shape, especially in comparison to what we faced the previous day. Reached Rongli and asked a couple of cabbies where to go for the permits to be told that the police station issues these. Parked and went to one of the Xerox shops dotting the main street where they help you fill the form out and of course, make copies of the permit to be submitted at each of the checkposts on the way. I walked down to the end of the street to the PS with the filled in form and was granted permit through Zuluk, Gnathang and Kupup all the way to Gangtok. The process was so smooth that after the cop returned the stamped form to me, I looked back and around, wondering, that’s it?! Our destination for the day was Nimachen, 20 odd kms from Rongli and on the old silk route. The first of the permit photocopies was handed over at a checkpost before Nimachen and with that, we also stamped our presence on the legendary route. Munched on some momoms here  At Nimachen  The green building is the Tsu Tsultim, our homestay at Nimachen  Too tired to pose  and apparently to eat as well, the meal was lovely though  Fog swoops down in these parts in a blink of an eye  Dusk...   Last edited by hothatchaway : 26th November 2018 at 15:26. Reason: K10 goes to Kanchenjunga - Kolkata to East Sikkim by road |
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24th November 2018, 21:40
| #2 |
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Kolkata
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| re: Alto K10 goes to Kanchenjunga - Kolkata to East Sikkim 7th November – Nimachen – Zuluk – Nathang – Kupup – Tsomgo – Gangtok I had dreams of spending nights along the silk route like the caravans of yore used to and wanted to explore stay options further along the route. I chatted with Mr Pasang Sherpa, the owner of the homestay regarding this. He recommended that the next morning, we do a day trip upto Kupup lake and recon the viewpoints along the route to identify the best among them to catch the sunrise. He suggested that we could come back and stay a second night at Nimachen as lodges at Zuluk are not up to the mark and Gnathang would be freezing. We could leave for Gangtok the following day he added. I was warming up to the idea, however the missus was not too keen on going halfway up, only to turn back and cover the same stretch the following day. Mr Sherpa then asked if I had refueled at Rongli, adding that there were no pumps on this stretch all the way upto Gangtok. I stared at him and blinked rapidly a few times. I had topped up at Siliguri and while climbing to Nimachen glimpsed on the console that two bars had already disappeared. Mr Sherpa helpfully observed that the car will guzzle fuel at that altitude. Of course, I was so preoccupied with buying hammers and torches that this simple prep had eluded me. I should have known that oxygen would be scarce at 4000+ metres forcing the engine to run a richer mix. Mr Sherpa advised me to go back to Rongli and tank up. That did it. I had no intention of going back past the checkpost that we had crossed in the morning, the momentum was already too strong on this one. I figured that I should have enough gas in the tank to get us to Gangtok. The missus was also keen on pressing on, we had come to drive after all. We planned to leave the next day as soon as the sky turned pink and that happened around 5 in the morning. We were grateful to be served some tea in the wee hours. It was quite cold and it took some doing getting up early to brew tea.  Catching the first rays of the sun  Interesting times ahead  Time to wrap up  Zuluk from above  The K looms up     The route lies uncoiled    Could not wish for a better backdrop  From the beaches of Kerala to the mighty Himalayas, this one has seen it all    Must mention that almost all the drivers we met on this route were friendly; one chap driving a Bolero at Rishikhola even shared his cell number with me in case I ran into any difficulties. I got a lot of real time intelligence on route conditions talking to the cabbies. We are recreational drivers after all, spare a thought for these guys who earn their living driving on these routes. A young couple at the Thambi view point asked me whether I was not scared about driving all the way here. I thrust my hands deep into my pockets, bit my lips and quipped – “only a little!’’  Greenery gives way to blazing colours as we gain altitude          Kupup lake, glad that you can only see it from a distance  Kupup village break for piping hot maggi  Pulse race at the sight of snow   Last edited by hothatchaway : 26th November 2018 at 15:21. |
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25th November 2018, 11:53
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| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Kolkata
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| re: Alto K10 goes to Kanchenjunga - Kolkata to East Sikkim    Its amazing the joy kids experience when snow is around  Tsomgo    Some memories of my childhood trip to Tsomgo came back in snatches. The place has certainly changed; don’t remember it being wrapped in concrete twenty years back! There is a ropeway which charges Rs 300 per head including taxes. I was not keen but kids have a thing for rides like these. So up we went. After driving down the silk route this felt like meh to me. Joyee however liked it.  At the top   Home stretch  Felt some sense of accomplishment after giving back the original permit back at the fifth and last checkpost some 20 kms from Gangtok. The excitement which had risen to fever pitch in the last few days had now given way to a sense of relief. The fatigue of being on the move for the last few days hit us like a ton of bricks. We urgently needed a place to crash. The thirst for adventure was giving way to a craving for creature comforts. I knew that parking would be a headache at MG Marg, where all the action in Gangtok is and many of the hotels are. Drove into the first place with a free parking slot in front, happened to be a hotel called Cardamom Residency. Hot water and a shave never felt so good. Shopping at MG Marg, Gangtok  8th November – Gangtok – Kalimpong via Rangpo We were initially planning on driving to Ravangla to extend our stay in Sikkim. However, after learning that the route from Gangtok to Ravangla was in very bad shape, we decided to take a rain check on that and start driving down instead. Checked out at 9 after a leisurely breakfast, bumbled our way a bit in Gangtok city looking for the exit before taking NH10. The plan was to stay overnight at Kalimpong, relax and then start heading down to Kolkata. A milestone dusted  We had the river for company  Yummy pork & chicken rice at a local Kalimpong eatery  Holumba Haven, Kalimpong, our homestay    Our driver. A tad cantankerous but mostly steady behind the wheel. Has already made himself available for the next trip to the hills  9th November – Kalimpong to Raiganj & 10th November – Raiganj to Kolkata Did not want to push ourselves now that the trip was done. Would have loved to linger longer on the silk route but there is always a next time. Decided to check out late from our Kalimpong homestay and stay at the Raiganj tourist lodge for the night. Had already booked a room online Adieu to the snow capped peaks, until we meet again  Parting shots of the Teesta   Notes – Try and eat at the BP COCO at Moregram and use washrooms etc as there aren’t many family friendly rest stops after this. There is Mango leaf while passing through Malda town and Golden Park just after. Very slow service at both (which we experienced) and overpriced. Try and cross the Botolbari – Dhantola stretch while there is still daylight, especially if you are not familiar with this route. While I did not find it unsafe per se crossing it around 7 PM, the roads are narrow with the shoulders jagged at the initial stretch Breaking the journey at Raiganj is a good idea if you want to take it easy and especially if you are delayed at Farakka. Also, there is a municipal guest house at Islampur which Gearhead_Mait had mentioned in his TL. I personally liked the Raiganj option better than Siliguri. We took the route via Pedong from Kalimpong to reach Rishikhola. The last few kms before Rishikhola are always broken as there are frequent landslides. If you plan to stay at Rishikhola, you may want to drive via Rongli even though its longer and especially if you are feeling less adventurous! I found the self drive permit process to Silk route at Rongli to be a cakewalk. Do ensure that your vehicle papers i.e. RC, Tax token, insurance and PUC are in order and carry ID cards for each of your family members. As it was obvious that we were a family (with a child to boot) there were no questions asked, however it is possible that a largish group of unrelated individuals may face more scrutiny. I was charged a total fee of Rs 150 by the copy shop owner which included the cost of forms, assistance in filling it and the copies made. The homestays in East Sikkim charge boarders on a per head basis ranging from Rs 800 – 1000/ day and half the amount for a child. This also includes all three meals and tea and snacks. The food tastes exactly as expected – home cooked. I felt the homestay experience, instead of impersonal hotels, is a highlight of East Sikkim. Do carry cash and tank up before you leave Siliguri. The last petrol pump is at Rongli and again at Gangtok. I did not spot any ATMs after leaving Siliguri. Spotted one noodle joint at Thambi view point and again a few small eateries at Kupup. There would be refreshments available at Zuluk but were closed when we were passing. Last edited by hothatchaway : 26th November 2018 at 15:23. |
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26th November 2018, 15:36
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| Team-BHP Support   | |
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27th November 2018, 11:54
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| BHPian  Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: KOL-DEL-LKO
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27th November 2018, 15:00
| #6 |
| Distinguished - BHPian   | Re: Alto K10 goes to Kanchenjunga - Kolkata to East Sikkim Brings back my memories from 2016! I can imagine how much fun you had driving the pocket rocket on the curvy roads of Zuluk! Getting the view of a clear Kanchenjunga in a bright sunny weather is always enchanting. Thanks a ton for sharing this excellent travelogue.  Cant resist myself from sharing a couple of pics from our trip!   Last edited by Samba : 27th November 2018 at 15:02. |
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27th November 2018, 17:33
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| Distinguished - BHPian  Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: India
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| Re: Alto K10 goes to Kanchenjunga - Kolkata to East Sikkim What a refreshing log of the travel. Brings back extremely fond memories of our journey through the same route, albeit with little changes when I was denied the permits from Rongli as I was on a motorcycle. We spent a day (& night) at Reshi, the same resort where you guys put up. Descending down to the resort from the road was an adventure on the motorcycle, but we descended (& ascended next day) and came out alive  Even the owners of the resort were shocked that we descended there with the bike!Next day after we were unable to secure the permits, we had to take the route to Gangtok via Pakyong at that time and then we procured the permits from Gangtok and approached everything from Gangtok side through kupup, Zuluk, Rongli and again Reshi later. Visited Pedong again last year in my hatchback (also went to Pelling, Ravangla & gangtok) making that consecutive trips to Sikkin in 2 years. Loved the pictures and your family's zeal to travel through such locations. Keep driving safe and keep sharing such beautifully crafted travelogues. Thanks, Saket Last edited by saket77 : 27th November 2018 at 17:35. |
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27th November 2018, 18:32
| #8 | |||
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Kolkata
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| Re: Alto K10 goes to Kanchenjunga - Kolkata to East Sikkim Quote:
Thanks Pawan. The Pedong route proved to be quite an adventure! We were lucky with the weather which ensured the glorious sights of Kanchenjunga. Read your lovely TL of your Bhutan trip. Quote:
Thanks Samba! Feel free to share more pics. Your TL was a great source of inspiration and information. Quote:
Thanks Saket. I too was missing my motorcycle on the loops. There is something about two wheels at these places which makes it all the more memorable. And indeed it was brave of you to go down that slope on a bike! | |||
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27th November 2018, 22:07
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| Distinguished - BHPian  | Re: Alto K10 goes to Kanchenjunga - Kolkata to East Sikkim Wasn't aware that you moved to Kolkota and thought you had done a Bangalore - Sikkim trip Hope you would have fun driving the peppy K10 around twisty roads. |
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28th November 2018, 03:36
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| Team-BHP Support  | Re: Alto K10 goes to Kanchenjunga - Kolkata to East Sikkim Lovely detailed travelogue hothatchaway. Alto K10 is a fantastic car for the hills. In fact it is a fantastic car anywhere. TLs on Sikkim always bring back a lot of memories, but this one specifically reminds me of our travel more than a decade back in the little Alto 800 - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post4421350 (12 years of the Himalayas!)  |
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29th November 2018, 11:29
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| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Anand(GJ23)
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29th November 2018, 15:13
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| BHPian  Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Jamshedpur
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29th November 2018, 19:14
| #13 |
| BHPian  | Re: Alto K10 goes to Kanchenjunga - Kolkata to East Sikkim Nicely written travelogue and it was nice talking to you as well. The pictures are beautiful and brought back a lot of memories. You are lucky to get the permit for the entire counter-clockwise route till Gangtok. Generally, the weather turns bad without any warming in this stretch, specially during the onset of winter. If that was the case, then it would have been hard to obtain permits. We witnessed ice-shower (not snow) during our stay in Gnathang. Though it was wonderful, at the same time it instilled a bit of fear of our downward climb the next day. Also, the view of the Kanchanjunga you got is mindblowing.  You had a nice family trip and it reflects in the pictures shared. I am glad my travelogue helped a bit in your planning. Keep traveling and posting such wonderful travelogues. |
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29th November 2018, 19:37
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| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2018 Location: Galavanting
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29th November 2018, 20:11
| #15 | ||||||
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Kolkata
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| Re: Alto K10 goes to Kanchenjunga - Kolkata to East Sikkim Quote:
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Your TL on the Himalayas are legion and I have gone through many of them. They are an inspiration for lesser mortals like me! Quote:
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Thanks Ashish. We went at the beginning of this month (Nov) Quote:
Thanks Soumyajit. Cannot thank you enough for answering my calls at odd hours and answering my questions patiently. Indeed your TL was an inspiration. In many ways you have been a pioneer when it comes to exploring Sikkim in a compact car. Looking forward to the log of your trip to West Sikkim! Quote:
Thanks Miyata. Missed tasting the pickle but stuffed our tummies with momos! Next time I guess. Last edited by hothatchaway : 29th November 2018 at 20:14. Reason: typo | ||||||
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