[PointZero]

Starting from 2021 things were coming in such a way that I was not able to take Lazy Turtle ( My Bolero) to the Himalayas. And it was continuously pinching me that I am becoming a sinner to Lazy Turtle. Nowadays my parents have also started thinking about the Lazy Turtle born with a Himalayan soul within it. The moment came when I should introduce my 1 and ½ years son (Tishan) to the Himalayas and for sure the Lazy Turtle will accompany us like always.

So for the plan, the first thing which came to mind was how will I keep my son quiet while driving. As I used to travel to my native place nearly every 15 days, I discovered some of his activities made our journey slow. Almost every hour he wants to sit in the driving seat and ask me to go to the co-driver seat. He wants to drive, and he turns the steering voo-voo and pulls the wiper switch until the water tank becomes empty. So nowadays I never fill the wiper water tank more than 25%, cause the more I fill the water, he will take more time to take off the driver's seat. And he never likes to sit in the middle row. So for both situations, I planned to take someone unfamiliar to him and by the time he will make that person a friend, I will finish the trip. Because if he sees family members all around him, he will get enough reason to make excuses to come to the front seat and drive. Thus our dearest Amit Sir (retired professor) agreed to join me on the trip to keep the co-driver seat occupied during the trip.

Day 1 and Day 2 ( Kolkata - Raiganj - Chiang):

The journey began on a Saturday around 7:00 PM and we were five onboarded - Me, My Dad, My wife, My Son, and Amit Sir. Kolkata to Chisang is around an 18 hours journey, so it was obvious that I should not plan directly to Chisang on my Son’s first long trip. He has spent 5-6 hours in the car for some short trips but there is still some unidentified factor in how he will act after 5-6 hours. So for the first day, we planned for Raiganj which was only 430 KM. We could do a little more for the day, but as we got the circuit house in Raiganj at a throwaway price, we preferred to spend the day there only. For the day, my son was not troubled much and I thought that the plan worked well and we reached Raiganj even before the calculated time.

In the afternoon and evening, we spent a satisfactory time in the circuit house as it was only us to enjoy the entire property and Tishan got a green playground inside it.

Couple of snaps in Raiganj Circuit House Complex

To be continued ...

[PointZero]

Day 2 continued ...

The next day we started early to reach Chisang before lunch and as we didn't have any bookings it is always better to reach early. But after spending the afternoon with Amit Sir, my son got a little pleased in the car and started interrupting driving peacefully.

On the way, we took a halt at Gajaldoba Circuit House to have a cup of tea and meet our old friends there. He insisted to stay for a day there but we parked it for next time.

Gajoldoba Random Snaps














Random Snaps on beautiful Dooars road

Before reaching Chisang he lost his patience and we were pushed to take a long break and fulfill his driving desires. We stopped near a waterfall and thought of utilizing the time to cook and complete his lunch. It took around 1 and ½ hours and still he was not willing to come inside the car. He found a new game by putting some tree leaves on the stream and watching how they float. Finally, after a lot of effort, we managed to reach Chisang before lunchtime and found a wonderful stay called ‘The Wildwood Retreat' and soon he started enjoying the freedom of the hill.

Tishan's Lunch Break beside a Stream




Chisang Dead End

To be continued ...

[PointZero]

Day 2 continued ...

Chishang is the last village on Today road and there is very little population. You will hardly find people, motorcycles, or cars on the road, and walking through the lonely street is reviving. Most of the people earn from farming Black Cardamom and you will discover a completely different magnificence of Kalimpong district here. Being here my son started shouting in joy and got accompanied by two kids of the owner. Altogether it was a very good day and everyone enjoyed it to the fullest.

Good Time With Family and New Friends in Chisang

I was a little worried about Tishan's next activity, thinking that we have a lot to drive and more the days he will spend with Amit Sir, he will make his friend and overthrow him from the front seat.

To be continued ...

[PointZero]

Day 3 (Chisang - Munsong)

We could have stayed another day in Chisang as it was much better than we expected. However, as we already had a booking for Munsong Jalsa Bungalow, we decided to go with the plan. And again as we booked it through cinchona plantation officers, we got the bungalow at a very low cost. The bungalow was built by the British in the early 1920s who wanted to miss the chance to enjoy such a property that too at a hilltop. The main magnets of the bungalow are the age-old pine trees and the mesmeric view of the Teesta River. I do not know how old the pine trees are, but I am convinced that they are the spectator of many generations and surprisingly they have unique structures and all look the same from a little distance.



In 1901, the Munsong Cinchona Plantation was established for commercial cultivation of the plant. Few years later, in 1930 a lavish bungalow was built within the plantation campus for the Director’s stay. It is said that Sir Ronald Ross had also been here. When the British abandoned the bungalow after India’s independence, it was taken over by the West Bengal Government, and they renamed it to ‘Jalsa Bungalow.’ Even after the handover, it continued to be the Cinchona Plantation Manager’s family quarters, but ever since a series of creepy incidents that took place around the bungalow, it started being professed as a haunted shelter by locals.
Source - https://www.getbengal.com/details/so...ow-of-ramdhura

Random Snaps on the Way from Chisang to Munsong

There is a myth that a few villagers had experienced weird incidents inside the bungalow and said there is a spirit inside the bungalow that often takes the shape of an old caretaker to visitors. For us, the caretaker was known to Amit Sir as he has visited the same place 4-5 times in the last 20 years. The method here is that you carry all required raw materials for food with you and the caretaker will cook and serve food to you. However, we choose to leave it to the caretaker and that makes him happy as he will arrange all things and he will charge whatever he feels is okay to us and we don't want to waste time going to the market to buy eggs, chicken, rice .. etc. We also ask him to invite his family for a couple of days here so that we can have a good chat with them and spend the evening well.

As this is a vintage property, no one can enter the property after 5:00 PM, and then the entire area offers serenity and quietness to the guests. Sometimes you may feel that you are in a haunted place especially when there is no electricity and yes - power cuts are very often in this bungalow.

We and Jalsa Banglow

We spent the whole day roaming around and witnessing the serenity of the bungalow. And the good thing is that my son discovered a new way of spending his time. He captured my go-pro as he wanted to do some photography and the entire day he was mostly busy with it. I felt relieved for the day seeing him playing with a camera and attention moved from Lazy Turtle.

To be continued ...

[PointZero]

Day 4 (Munsong - Delo - Kalimpong Museum - Munsong):

In general, we try to sidestep well-known places during trips to avoid chaos and crowds. But this time as we had a very slothful plan, we aimed at a visit to Delo and Museum in Kalimpong thinking that little Tishan may enjoy it. After having breakfast in the Jalsa Bungalow we went to Delo first and then to the Kalimpong museum. We Had some fun there with Tishan and then before Lunch, we went back to Munsong again.

Ready to Explore




























Some Random Snaps in Delo and Museum

Another day was spent lazily in Munsong doing nothing but spending some good time with family. And the funny thing is that this time too my Dad told me the same thing - “I don’t know why you travel to the same places again and again. Same mountains, same rivers, and similar woods”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIJBqvFT3To

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZDwhpbspqU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Som3Om-T_tk

The later part of the day was mostly spent sitting and watching the flow of the river and game of clouds

To be continued ...

[PointZero]

Day 5 (Munsong - Tukvar Tea Garden):

The idea of staying here was made 2-3 years back. Once I was driving to Darjeeling from Jorethang, and I found a couple of homestay boards on the way. And as the place is only 7-8 KM away from Darjeeling, it is always easy to get access to Darjeeling to enjoy some good food there. So instead of staying two nights in Darjeeling, everyone consented to spend a day in Tukvar. We had a homestay in our minds which was really in a good location. However, this time we were not lucky to get rooms there, and finally we got accommodation in ‘Mitma Homestay’. Everything is very impressive there but the only thing I never liked is that it was beside the Palbazar-Jorethang road and so in the daytime, we have to live with vehicle noise surrounding us. However, on the other side, the homestay was really good in terms of hospitality and cleanliness and it has a very wide view of many tea gardens on the other side.

On the way from Kalimpong to Darjeeling

As I said that it was beside a road, we planned to go for a walk in the afternoon so that we can have a better time than sitting in the homestay and we did so. The entire afternoon we walked through the tea gardens and discovered some of the leftover British constructions, ropeways which they made mainly for tea transportation. We met some local people and workers to learn about their older generations and work.

A Hospital inside tea garden






Some Random snaps while walking

Late afternoon it suddenly started raining and we had no other choice but to sit in the homestay and look into the tea gardens from the balcony.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBM1ZzQytFA

Evening View from our stay

To be continued ...

[PointZero]

Day 6 (Tukvar - Darjeeling):

So this is the shortest drive for the entire trip. The hotel in Darjeeling was already booked so we reached there around midnight. The weather was getting worse and sometimes it was raining heavily. As it was Tishan's first trip, I took him to the Nightingale Park of Darjeeling after lunch and spent the whole day roaming here and there with little shopping. Initially, we planned for a joy ride on the toy train with my son, but because of the weather, we preferred to cancel it for this time.

Random snaps in Darjeeling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXtKlCsoP0c

Day 6 (Darjeeling - Sargachi Ramakrishna Mission - Kolkata):

We had no intent to go back early but then in the morning, it was raining. Also, the weather forecast was saying that the heavy rainfall will continue for a couple of more days in the Darjeeling area. So after some time in the morning, we planned to move towards Kolkata. It was continuous rain till afternoon and when we reached Bahrampur it was already evening. Amit Sir arranged for a stay in Ramkrishna Mission and for a long time my dad was also willing to visit the RKM as he likes the place very much. During the trip, Amit Sir told us multiple times that we may need to put Tishan in jail after a couple of years by seeing his activities as all mission or hostel schools will refuse to keep him after only a few days and if he stays at home he will rule the family. When Maharaj came to know about all his activities, he agreed to Amit Sir’s comment.

The next day we had no hurry, and my son had already made Amit Sir a friend “Aam Dadu”. He has no hesitance about coming in the front seat, jumping on Amit Sir’s lap, or sitting on his solder whenever possible. In the last few days, I also planned several tricks to keep him busy, among them one of the tricks works efficiently and effectively and he still believes that Lazy Turtle only moves faster if he pushes the grab handle of the Bolero sitting on the co-driver seat. It is also proven to him that even if his Mom, Grandfather, or Aam Dadu pushed the car it would not work, it's only he who has the power to push the car. Only he has the power to push and move the car faster. Some day he will discover how I tricked him and I am not sure what is waiting for me.

Thanks for reading -
PointZero

[Samba]

There is nothing new to write about your travelogues, as-usual it was a nice read with beautiful pics.

BUT the main attraction of this travelogue is, how our little master is getting addicted to the Himalaya! It's just the starting, wish to see him writing a travelogue in Team-Bhp some day!

[PointZero]

Originally Posted by Samba

There is nothing new to write about your travelogues, as-usual it was a nice read with beautiful pics.

BUT the main attraction of this travelogue is, how our little master is getting addicted to the Himalaya! It's just the starting, wish to see him writing a travelogue in Team-Bhp some day!

Thank you Samba Da, Lets see how quickly he got hooked by Himalaya