Day 4: Suntalekhola – Paren
The day started with a lovely walk along the trails scattered around the place. After breakfast we embarked on our jouney at 10:30. We had to refill air for the front right tyre (a recently discovered puncture) and moved on through the tea gardens to Kumai Murti Picnic Ground. Here we crossed a narrow bridge over the Murti river and joined the Khunia-Jhalong Road. Maps stopped working as we lost network coverage soon after leaving Kumai forest. We stopped at Gairibas to ask for directions. That is where we realised, we missed our first attraction – Dalgaon view point, and we turned back.
Dalgaon View Point Jaldhaka river valley, Jhalong in view too
The roads were narrow upto that point, but not much of a hassle. From this point we took directions from people, with assistance of offline maps. We crossed Gairibas again with our onward route to Jhalong. We took Jhalong Bindu Road as we wanted to keep driving along the Jaldhaka river. Here the roads were ranging from patchy to bad. We saw the Jaldhaka Hydel Power Project II and stopped at The RJ for lunch. The RJ is a fantastic place with food complimenting the fantastic view.
Parents posing Lunch at the RJ overlooking Jaldhaka river
We reached Paren Nature Resort around 4pm, and settled in for the night among the towering forest. The roads here are now constructed unlike the photos I had seen earlier. As bhpian
gmhossain had mentioned, the updates by the government is remarkable. Even though these cottages look old, the facilities inside are UpToDate if not modern. The WBFDC cooks have managed to impress us in all the 3 places.
A stream beside the resort Paren Nature resort Day 5: Paren – Chisang
After some tea at 7,we went to see Bindu Barrage, which happens to be another connection point to Bhutan, but it is not used. The road was broken at sections, but the drive was scenic.
Panorama of Bindu Barrage
We stopped frequently to look around and enjoy the nature. After breakfast back at Paren Nature Resort, we started for Chisang. Since my parents were apprehensive of the upcoming elevation to Chisang, the owner of the homestay came down to our hotel with a driver. Our car followed the owner’s Alto upto The Wildwoods Homestay.
The Wildwoods Homestay
The views here keep getting better and cannot be described with pictures nor words. We parked our car, kept our stuff in the room and left for local sight-seeing to Todey bazar, Indo-Bhutan River Camping and Tangta Monastery with a hired car.
The road to Tangta Tangta Monastery Simana Khola. The river valley with Bhutan on the left bank and India on the right
The roads here were still being constructed, and a 4x4 was necessary. The beauty here is untapped and a plethora of homestays and farmstays are coming up. Dabai Khola and Simana Khola are two rivers here that join Jaldhaka, but are not shown on maps yet.
Dabai Khola River camping
The rest of the evening was spent lazily exploring. The homestay has its own farms and cattle. Everything there is purely organic and a treat for us visitors. Black whole cardamom is a widely exported item from the place. Chisang is set in the backdrop of Tendu Plateau in Bhutan.
An attempt at stargazing Day 6: Chisang – Siliguri
We woke up early to view a fantastic sunrise. The owner of the homestay told us a lot of stories and we could see the triborder of India-Bhutan-China from his place. Supposedly Doklam is just 21km by aerial distance.
Sunrise from Chisang Doklam as seen from the homestay Tendu Plateau
After a hearty open air breakfast we were out on the road by 11. This time no driver was required and I drove the way down. We later realised that the apprehension for the incline was unnecessary. We stopped at Jaldhaka Picnic spot to have a quick look around.
Inside Chapramari forest
This time we took the road through Chapramari Wildilife Forest and joined NH 17 and moved onto Siliguri via Damdim and Coronation Bridge. There was a 45-minute traffic line on Sevoke road before entering the city.
Coronation Bridge
We stayed at a relative’s place near Bidhan Market, for the night. We were struck with bad news that evening as my grandfather had taken ill, and appropriate arrangements were made to hasten our journey.
Day 7: Siliguri – Kolkata
We refuelled from HP – Bakshi & Palchowdhuy Gasolene which is my relative’s (cousin grandad) pump and started at 7. Dropped my mother off at Bagdogra Airport for her flight at 9:30 and we moved on with our journey. After crossing Islampur we met with heavy fog on the highway, but we kept up the speed. This time we took the Dalkhola route and the journey was smooth until we had to wait for 30 mins at the rail crossing. We carried on till somewhere in Shishai where we took a break. Here father took the driver seat. Had lunch at Banful Dhaba around 12pm. This time I moved to the back seat for some rest. We had tavelled just a litte when we came to a screeching halt. I opened my eyes to see a group of people blocking our stretch of the highway, there had been a bike accident not long ago. After about half an hour later we were allowed to go, when a vehicle could take the injured to the hospital. My napping trials went down the drain with the incessant honking, from Sujapur onwards. It was a slow pace till Sultanganj. I took the wheel after crossing Farakka. We entered Berhampore around 4:30 and the journey was fine till then. With father’s disapproval of night driving we moved on, as I wanted to be home by that night owing to my grandfather’s health (mother called later to inform us he was fine).
MountainDeep told me the way via Krishnanagar and acquainted me with all the niggles. There was usual traffic at all the towns and except Krishnanagar where it increased tenfold. From there we took the Badkulla route to Ranaghat, where I had to deal with messy autos. Entered Kalyani around 9 and reached home via Kalyani expressway by 10:45.
Total path traversed
I hope I could properly share my thoughts and experiences of this trip in writing, and I hope that you enjoy the thread.