[topse]

For a while I was searching for a new destination to travel on wheels. Finally, the lull of this long waiting came to an end. The Durga Puja vacation gave me some respite from the routine of my daily office work. I started my travel back to my hometown Jalpaiguri from Kolkata on Oct 20, Saturday, and reached the next day. On reaching home, immediately I called Dulal (my childhood friend) up and presented him a proposal of traveling to the nearby Jaldapara National Park by car, spending the night out in a Bon-bungalow and making a night safari. I was in search of an adrenaline-pumping real adventure.

But it was like a bolt from the blue for me. Although it was an impromptu plan, just on the eve of our journey my father refused to let me drive our car because of the peril involved with us only two persons going in a deep forest and that is also relying on an amateur driving hand only, so told me to take a driver instead. But how can a wheel-maniac like me just sit idle on the back seat and watch someone driving? I was thirsty, this is the thirst of remote lonely roads, serpentine pathways, the endless boulevard, and nothing but a long journey on wheels would have quenched this thirst.

It was 10 PM. I dumped that old plan, briefly discussed with Dulal about traveling on a bike (His six-year-old 125cc Hero Honda Shine) instead, and set Darjeeling as our substituted destination. I was more excited than before, because I had a long desire of riding on the mountainous road of the Himalayas on a bike. We agreed upon meeting at my home at around 7:30 AM the next morning. On the very next day, he arrived at my place with a big handbag attached to one side of his bike. I advised it would be rather dangerous to ride a bike with such a big bag hanging around one side on hilly terrain. So, I replaced that, took all basic things like water bottles, warm clothes, repairing tools in two backpacks including mine, and started our literally ‘unplanned itinerary’.

The journey began. At around 9:00 AM, we reached Siliguri (approx 50 Kms from Jalpaiguri). There we took a small butt-break, chilled ourselves out with some soft-drinks, and resumed our journey again. While going along the Sukna area a blaring sound could be heard nearby, we understood that the Himalayan queen was coming.

The Himalayan Queen on its way to the Himalayas

Near the Sukna forest, we stopped and waited for a few minutes for the UNESCO world heritage Himalayan train to arrive, since I wanted to take a few clicks while riding along with the heritage train. I asked Dulal to kick-start the bike and get ready, I was sitting on the pillion seat holding my point and shoot camera, the train arrived and we too accelerated, now we were going in tandem with the train and the most beautiful moment was when a child with his mother in the train was jovially waving his hand at us. I too quickly captured a few moments on my small Nikon, but unfortunately missed that precious moment. Overall it was a good start for us and our journey was half successful till then.

After crossing the Sukna forest we got a bit confused about our possible route to Darjeeling.



Till then I was using my Nokia map on Lumia 800, but at the juncture of the mountain and plain the lack of any mobile signal made my Lumia helpless, so was I. But after asking a few motorists on the way and getting an idea about the possible route we resumed again. We were moving through SH-12 on the way to our first reaching point Kurseong.


Getting ready for more hilly roads ..........
with Kurseong town as the backdrop


Doordarshan tower in Kurseong

When we reached Kurseong it was around 11:00 in the morning. We took some food-staffs from a local shop to have it on our way to Darjeeling. At around 11:15 AM we left Kurseong.


Dulal Paul with his little Honda Shine

After riding a few kilometers, we felt a sudden chilled breeze, the atmosphere suddenly became damp, moist, humid, and rainy.


Fog like cloudy road ahead...

While an hour ago in the plains we faced a scorching autumn Sun, but at that moment it was feeling exactly like a rainy winter day. It was feeling like we reached a cold European country from a hot Indian city just within an hour. The clouds were running with us, sometimes the clouds were appearing from over the gorges and hitting the sidewalls of the hilly terrain and forming a small downpour on the road and making sudden deep smog-like atmosphere with visibility of mere 7-8 meters. We took a short break and had our dry food on the way. We took some photos of the beautiful surroundings and the charming cloudy climate.


Zooming in on a distant mountain town

Then we resumed our journey towards our destination again. Going uphill and frequent downshifting and upshifting of gear was a bit toilsome, so, throughout the journey after a few tens of kilometers, we had to keep exchanging our positions as rider and pillion.





And whoever became the pillion got the role of taking photos free handedly on the move as we had a very short time to stop and take photos.










Let's feel the mountain road









We were about to reach, the scenic beauty of Darjeeling from a bird-view amazed us.


Darjeeling Town from a Bird-view



When we reached Darjeeling it was around 1:30 PM on the clock. It was too cold out there and we had to put on our jackets and cover our freezing fingers with protective gloves.

We looked around for a hotel in the town and arranged a decent one. We checked in the hotel and freshened ourselves up with hot water. Then we came outside for lunch and some site-seeing.







We entered a small local restaurant and had our lunch with hot desi-murga and roti. Some people were drinking wine and whisky, maybe to fight off the cold or for some after lunch relaxation. After having our lunch, while walking along the hilly road we realized it was going to become an ordeal for us to see anything in the town just by walking.

We were too tired to walk after such a long ride and the steep slopes with frequent ups and downs might make our body completely exhausted, also we had a very short time left for walking and seeing. So, we came back to our hotel, took our bike, and headed towards the Mall Chourasta. When we reached Mall the Sun was setting and the temp was dropping fast. We warmed us up with a cup of hot tea, sat there for some time, and relaxed. There we saw that few tourists were riding horses and I too took a chance to ride a big horse. There was some antique and a book shop. I did some window-shopping of those antiques and rather bought Hitler’s Mein Kampf.



It was around 7:30 PM, the sky had become totally dark, shops were closing, roads were getting deserted and the air was getting much colder when we decided to come back to our hotel room. On the way back, we bought some tandoori-roti and chicken-gravy for dinner. We enjoyed the night discussing all the incidents and happenings of our journey, then went to the bed and signed-off for that day.

In the next morning, we were planning to visit the Mirik Lake on our way back, but got fumbled with the route and yes it’s my Nokia map again, my ultimate savior in such cases. Opened GPS and located our possible route for Mirik. Freshened up, got ready within 8:30 AM, and checked out.


We came down to Ghum station and from there took a 180-degree U-turn downhill. The road was good and the natural surroundings too.


On the way to Mirik

Riding down the sinuous and deserted country road was an incredibly pleasant experience.

As we were riding down the deserted mountainous road through the deep subtropical coniferous forests full of Rhododendron and pine trees at both sides, all I could hear was the buzzing sound of crickets (Jhijhipoka) and our own bike engine only.


The projected shadow of a Spongy cloud over a distant village in Nepal from the Indo-Nepal border area

We stopped on the way many times to relish the beauty of the queen of Himalaya and its flora and fauna.



While coming down due to the relatively high pressure of the lower atmosphere my ears were started feeling very awkward with a strange continuous humming sound emanating from my eardrums with a mild feeling of dizziness in my head. When we reached Mirik Lake it was around noon. The surroundings of Mirik Lake had become like a fairground.


Mirik Lake and its tranquility

Lots of travelers had come from around the country and abroad. They were boating, riding horses, and cheering around. We roamed out there for a few minutes, sat at the lakeside, and relished its pleasantness. We sat there for an hour, basked in the atmosphere, and relaxed. My ears had started feeling better and the dizziness and that awkward humming sound had almost gone then.


Mirik Lake side horse ride

We were very hungry and tired. So, had a stomach-filling lunch. It was time for us to go back. We took SH 12, which was a different route than before and reached Siliguri at 4 pm. Riding at an average of 80-90 km/hr through the Teesta canal-side road, we came back home at around 5 pm in the evening.

The whole journey and the chronological order of it were very special and full of surprises to us because each and every route, halt, and destination were totally sudden and unplanned. The distance of Darjeeling from Jalpaiguri is about 105 km and in 1.5 days we traveled over 260 km. It was unplanned, but complete and no kind of unsought incident happened. So, we were quite lucky to make such a journey within such a short period of time and with lots of beautiful experiences and enjoyment.

[adv.yzr]

Greetings,

A nice and inspiring post, it surely takes a lot of passion to do a trip the way you did it. Certainly, you have done justice to the fact that it is the rider that matters and not the vehicle.

Hats off. Great pictures as well.

Take care.

Thanks.

[Researcher]

A very crisp travelogue.

Originally Posted by topse

I started my travel back to my home town Jalpaiguri from Kolkata on Oct 20, Saturday...Till then I was using my Nokia map on Lumia 800.

Lumia 800. October 20 on a Saturday. I am guessing this is a journey you did back in 2012! If this is the case, then hats off to your memory to be able to recall this so clearly.

[haisaikat]

Nice TL Topse, your Ecosport is true Go anywhere car and North Bengal is awaiting to be conquered . Reminds me of our 2012 Trip to Darjeeling by Train and hired cars. It was September / October so likely similar time only. Mirik Lake was closed for boating as there were some Lake maintenance activities going on at that time. Some pics are shared below

[topse]

Originally Posted by adv.yzr

Greetings,
A nice and inspiring post, it surely takes a lot of passion to do a trip the way you did it. Certainly, you have done justice to the fact that it is the rider that matters and not the vehicle.

Thank you adv.yzr for the appreciation. Yes, we were very thirsty for an adventure, so happily picked that 125cc machine of my friend, which was also the only option we had since that was an impromptu plan, also I hadn't brought my Fzs from Kolkata to my hometown in Jalpaiguri back then. Those were still very small machines though compared to the litre sized bikes of these days, but still there was no dearth of excitement or adrenaline rush from our part. So, you said it true, that if there is an adventure thing within you, vehicle doesn't matter.

Originally Posted by Researcher

Lumia 800. If this is the case, then hats off to your memory to be able to recall this so clearly.

Thank you Researcher. Lumia 800, Nokia map etc legends were once the only navigation tech staffs which had always reliably accompanied me wherever I had visited and my day to day navigation needs back then are now a part of history and surviving as a good memory as of now.
I couldn't become a member of teambhp at that time but had already jotted down the story/travelogue for my personal blog back then. It was done during this festive time, so recalling some good travel memories again.

Originally Posted by haisaikat

Nice TL Topse, your Ecosport is true Go anywhere car and North Bengal is awaiting to be conquered . Reminds me of our 2012 Trip to Darjeeling by Train and hired cars. It was September / October so likely similar time only. Mirik Lake was closed for boating as there were some Lake maintenance activities going on at that time. Some pics are shared below.

Thank you haisaikat da. Ecosport is now giving me good company for all my mostly northern Kerala adventures including sea beaches as well as rainforests as different short beautiful trips. Every weekend travel with the steed is like exploring beautiful Kerala and knowing this god's own country in a better way, loving it. Last week, visited rain soaked picturesque hilly areas of Wayanad in western ghats section. Driving through those serpentine and steep hair pin bends on the ghats section were real fun. Hopefully I will be able to share those experiences through different travelogues soon.

Yes, North-bengal has many beautiful places to explore, and even though I am from NB, couldn't get enough opportunity to explore it still, expecting to do once I am able to stay for a little longer time at my hometown there.

Coincidentally, it was almost the same time you visited the Mirik lake. I can see the beautiful pics of the lake that you shared were almost identical to my pics except the construction work part, which might have been completed before a few days when I visited there.

[Stribog]

I know the south has its own amazing charms but I always feel jealous reading the travelogues of North and East Indian BHP'ians.... You guys have the ability to reach the majestic Himalayas in a 3-8 (max 12 hr) drive. We southies have to really plan it out.

But am convinced, am doing a drive into Spiti valley or some amazing Himalayan destination in 2021. Solely motivated by the amazing TL's like this one

[TheHelix0202]

Great travelogue. What I especially enjoyed was the fact that it didn't involve expensive or big loud bikes but a humble workhorse closer to the hearts of most people. That's the sort of experience I seek.

[topse]

Originally Posted by Stribog

I know the south has its own amazing charms but I always feel jealous reading the travelogues of North and East Indian BHP'ians.... You guys have the ability to reach the majestic Himalayas in a 3-8 (max 12 hr) drive. We southies have to really plan it out.

But am convinced, am doing a drive into Spiti valley or some amazing Himalayan destination in 2021. Solely motivated by the amazing TL's like this one

Thank you Stribog for the compliments and nice words. From Southern India to the extreme Northern India upto the border in the Himalayas, which has become a war-zone at present is going to be hell of a journey, and no doubt would be a great read for us to enjoy the adventure.

Originally Posted by TheHelix0202

Great travelogue. What I especially enjoyed was the fact that it didn't involve expensive or big loud bikes but a humble workhorse closer to the hearts of most people. That's the sort of experience I seek.

Thank you Thehelix0202 for the appreciation and nice words. Yes, it was a great experience for all of us including our small but much reliable and humble workhorse, the real 'Shine'.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by topse

Although it was an impromptu plan, just on the eve of our journey my father refused to let me drive our car because of the peril involved

Ah, the quintessential Bengali parent... killing all adventure due to some imagined peril or other! Completely sympathize with you and good that you didn't give up.

[topse]

Originally Posted by floyd

Ah, the quintessential Bengali parent... killing all adventure due to some imagined peril or other! Completely sympathize with you and good that you didn't give up.

Yes, you just quoted the traditional and age of problem we bong adventurers face back at our home.

[guptavis]

Originally Posted by floyd

Ah, the quintessential Bengali parent... killing all adventure due to some imagined peril or other! Completely sympathize with you and good that you didn't give up.

Originally Posted by topse

Yes, you just quoted the traditional and age of problem we bong adventurers face back at our home.

Well I think that problem is not just with Bengali parents!! Its the same with Punjabi parents too!! I guess its the same all over India. I dont even want to remember the hard times ive faced trying to get permission from my parents to go for trips with the sligtest adventure. What used to be flat refusals till they could control me, evolved into emotional blackmail after i got independent.

Whats unimaginable is that the emotional drama still continues!! Half the joy is killed even before starting the trip