Day 1 (Kolkata to Darjeeling, 648 km, 12 hours)
My mom had her flight on 16th October morning to reach Bagdogra. So dad and I decided to start from Kolkata on 14th night, drive leisurely to Siliguri & take rest for the rest of the day. So the following morning i.e. on 16th, we can pick her from the airport and drive to Darjeeling.
As per plan, on 14th October, post dinner we left our home at 10-30 pm. Google maps showed an estimated time to reach Siliguri by 12 noon. It looked perfect, so we can reach Siliguri have lunch and take rest.
The roads were relatively empty and it was a smooth sail. From Mogra we took the STKK road, crossed Kalna, Nabwadip & reached Krishnagar by 1 am. From Krishnanagar it was 4 lane and the cruise control was set at 104 km/hr. By 2 am we crossed Behrampur and by 2-30 am we crossed Moregram.
Farakka had a slight congestion, but it hardly took us 15 mins to cross the bridge. After crossing Farakka we took a 30 mins tea break near Kaliachowk.
By 4 am we resumed back our journey and once we were crossing Raiganj we could witness a beautiful sunrise with the paddy fields covered with fog. This was the first time I was taking the recently operational Dalkhola flyover.
From Dalkhola till Islampur bypass we had to drive through fog. Visibility was low. So had to be a bit cautious.
We reached Bagdogra by 7-30 am.
At 7-30 am my dad and I decided that there is no point in staying the whole day in Siliguri. Rather we can drive to Darjeeling and enjoy the day. From Bagdogra, as suggested by Bhpian Mountain_deep, we called hotel Sanderling and inquired whether they can provide us a room, and the answer was positive. Sanderling has a basement parking. Getting a hotel with a proper car parking in Darjeeling is quite the task.
From Bagdogra I took the road via Panighata instead of the regular route through Matigara. Bhpian arindam_xeta was in Darjeeling just a week before us and he suggested me to take this route. This route is very scenic & more importantly it was devoid of traffic.
We took the Pankhabari road and the progress was quite fast.
By 10 am we crossed Ghoom.
From Ghoom till Darjeeling there was some traffic congestion. Still we managed to check-in to our hotel room by completing all the formalities by 11 am.
View from our room
Took a short nap & decided to have a late lunch at the Keventers. How could we have missed their famous pork platter!
Took a stroll in the Darjeeling mall & came back to our hotel in the evening.
Post sunset view from our hotel room.
It was a long day. Plus the next day we had to start by 7-30 am to reach Bagdogra on time. Both of us were tired too, so we hit the bed by 10 pm.
Sanderling is a good hotel at a prime location with basement car parking. The rooms are comfortable and offer good view. On the flip side the food available is vegetarian & this hotel does not offer any Kanchanjungha facing rooms. To have a view of the mighty kanchanjunga, it will be a 5 to 10 mins walk from the hotel or one can view Kanchanjungha from the WBTDC Tourist lodge, which is just adjacent to this hotel.
Day 2 (Darjeeling - Bagdogra - Mirik - Ghoom, 184 km, 8 hours)
We woke up at 6 am and we walked in to the WBTDC tourist lodge to have our morning tea and enjoy the view of Kanchanjungha.
It was a clear view.
Came back, got ready and started by 7-45 am. Traffic was less and we came down to the plains via Pankha bari road in about a couple of hours. The flight was scheduled to arrive at 11-25 am. We already reached the plains by 10 am. Had enough time in hand, so we took a breakfast break! The added bonus was that the restaurant was in a scenic location.
Reached airport on time, picked my mom and again we took the road via Panighata, but this time instead of taking the Pankhabari road, we decided to go via Mirik.
This route is scenic. We took quite a few photo breaks on the way.
Our stay was booked at the Sterling Ghoom. We reached our hotel by 3-30 pm. The afternoon was spent viewing the Kanchanjungha from our hotel premises.