A Visit To The "Queen of The Hills (Darjeeling)"

[rahul4640]

Re: A Visit To the "Queen of The Hills (Darjeeling)"

@ Rahul da, I love your passion for road travel, been silently going thru your posts, and the in-depth pics.
All the best.

Thanks for your kind words of inspiration.
The next day in the morning we went to see Singshore bridge. On the way there was this waterfall on our way.


Coming out of the car the waterfall was even more majestic looking.


This board stated in yellow local language and in English that washing cars there were not allowed and a fine was to be imposed.



Singshore Bridge.


Last time I went there all vehicles were barred from using it but this time I saw that the bridge is open to all vehicles after a toll of ten rupees. So moved my car was over it.


Next we went to see Khecheopalri Lake.. See the parking area.



The short road to the lake, which one has to walk.


My daughter near the lake.


Next we went to see the Kanchanjangha waterfalls. No idea why it is so named, as Mt. Kanchanjangha is quite far off. Two picture of it from my side.





Thanks for watching my post. I shall continue soon.
Rahul

 

[Chandranath]

Re: A Visit To the "Queen of The Hills (Darjeeling)"

Actually Rahul Kunchenjungha is not that far off also from the falls. In crow's flight distance it should be 30/35 km

 

[Octy_Vin]

Re: A Visit To the "Queen of The Hills (Darjeeling)"

Rahul bhai, Great Travalogue. If someone ask me if i will take a Tata Indigo with 1.3 L in the Odo for a long distance trip, i would not have even replied, but after going through your travalogues (not some, i have read all of your travalogues), TATA as a brand is getting high on me because of you and one more person APPU(He is not only enjoying, but exploiting his Vista). Hats off to your courage and confidence over your car.

 

[rahul4640]

Re: A Visit To the "Queen of The Hills (Darjeeling)"

Rahul bhai, Great Travalogue. If someone ask me if i will take a Tata Indigo with 1.3 L in the Odo for a long distance trip, i would not have even replied, but after going through your travalogues (not some, i have read all of your travalogues), TATA as a brand is getting high on me because of you and one more person APPU(He is not only enjoying, but exploiting his Vista). Hats off to your courage and confidence over your car.

Thanks for your kind words Sir. It is nothing special about my car, I feel that any well maintained car (specially the petrol ones) are good enough for at least 2-3 lakh KMs, if maintained properly. And I change my engine oil (Mobile1, OW-40) very liberally, even before the company recommended intervals.

Actually Rahul Kunchenjungha is not that far off also from the falls. In crow's flight distance it should be 30/35 km

Thanks. Did not know that, though once read somewhere that Pelling is one of the closest motoreable place near to Mt. Kanchanjangha.
But now coming to this road about which you told me once. As the total stretch of the road from Jorethang to Melli (Sikkim) was bad, I decided to take the shorter route from Jorethang to Darjeeling. Why not take the shorter route, when both are in shambles, I thought. There were actually two roads from Jorethang (Sikkim) to Darjeeling. One goes via Singla and was more difficult to climb, hence I tried the easier Goke-Zamune route. It was also a very bad decision. The moment I crossed this bridge over river Rangeet on the border of Sikkim and Bengal, the road surface worsened. Steep climb with bad roads made ascent very difficult. Fortunately traffic was almost nil. Some pictures.









At this T-junction the straight road went to Bijonbari area, famous for the tea gardens. I had to take the left road.

At this place there was a bike repairing shop (not visible in the picture), where strong smell of Petrol forced me to stop and open the hood. Due to very bad road surface and consequent jerking the main fuel line below the throttle had gone loose and petrol was seeping from it in drops, over the larger radiator fans. Fortunately it could be identified and the fault easily rectified after necessary tightening the screw of the clamps, with help from the motorcycle mechanic.


The roads improved near Darjeeling.








Here I stopped for tea. I bet nowhere in India you will get so much beautiful tea for ten rupees a cup. The aroma of black Darjeeling tea was really memorable.



Reached Darjeeling town. Boarded at Hotel Golden Heights Enclave. I must recommend this hotel to all budget conscious travelers. Their attic rooms were very beautiful. Good views of the mountains and the town below from the rooms. Good housekeeping, decent staffs, totally secured and fully covered car parking, located just five minutes away from the town center (the mall). The owner is a Tibetan who is very friendly.

See the view of Darjeeling town from my room. The red tiled building at the center is the Darjeeling GPO.




My daughter inside our room.



Thanks for reading this. Please feel free to comment.
Warm regards,
Rahul

 

[Hash Ibm]

Re: A Visit To the "Queen of The Hills (Darjeeling)"

Rahul Da, Thanks for the wonderful travelogue. Hats off to your lonely drive with family and your trusted buddy Indigo on these remote places. Its a wonderful experience that sitting down south and exploring less traveled roads of North east through your wonderful journeys. Keep driving and keep inspiring us.

 

[Octy_Vin]

Re: A Visit To the "Queen of The Hills (Darjeeling)"

Rahul Bhai, Sir math bolna mujhe (am just 36). The pictures are great that too the view of Darjeeling in night is awesome.

 

[Daring Deb]

Re: A Visit To the "Queen of The Hills (Darjeeling)"

Dada, your thirst of travel & road knowledge is really praiseworthy, allow me to suggest something, my schooling is from a century old school in kurseong, next time in this route try & visit the places in & around kurseong, you can take the dowhill road (old military road) & go upto bagora, (I have studied in dowhill & Victoria boys school up there), wonderful scenery & you feel encompassed by nature, I dare say those places are better than some like ravangla etc. you can visit gidda pahar, st mary hill, eagles craig, stai wbtdc lodge with good parking facility. in short kurseong is very untapped yet wonderfully serene& blissful.

 

[Chandranath]

Re: A Visit To the "Queen of The Hills (Darjeeling)"

Dada, your thirst of travel & road knowledge is really praiseworthy, allow me to suggest something, my schooling is from a century old school in kurseong, next time in this route try & visit the places in & around kurseong, you can take the dowhill road (old military road) & go upto bagora, (I have studied in dowhill & Victoria boys school up there), wonderful scenery & you feel encompassed by nature, I dare say those places are better than some like ravangla etc. you can visit gidda pahar, st mary hill, eagles craig, stai wbtdc lodge with good parking facility. in short kurseong is very untapped yet wonderfully serene& blissful.

Agreed.. Have been to Dowhill as my first cousin was studying in Gothels. My own uncle was then the DFO of that area. Remember the last stretch being extremely steep incline

 

[rahul4640]

Friends,
I went to Darjeeling again this summer. Please do not ask me why I keep on visiting Darjeeling once a year, as I have visited it five times in last four years. The answer is that I actually love this place. Years of coming here has made myself familiar with the entire place. Many locals recognise me and I am familiar with many of them. I simply feel that I am at home here. Last week the weather was too good with clear weather, complete with unexpected mist and fog, coupled with occasional sudden rains, all for which Darjeeling is famous for. As from my phone, the temperature only once reached 26 degrees Celsius during five days of my stay. Though I have never visited England, it is said that Darjeeling possesses typical English weather.

As I have seen almost all of the local places, I decided that this time I should try to visit the neighbouring country of Nepal. A friend of mine staying in Siliguri assured me that there was no problem. He is a building engineer and had visited Kathmandu with his car many times. Even my camera was few years old, hence decided to go for a ride, entering through Pashupatinagar border and exiting through Kankravita border.

https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/D...7e7d23196ae8!2m2!1d88.1559741!2d26.646384!3e0

This was the route I took. Entered the Nepalese border where I had to put our names at a register. The guards directed me towards a nearby building, as I was told that I needed to collect my “Bhansar” papers. Only my driving license and the car’s RC book was needed and it took less than five minutes. I was given a temporary number plate, which I needed to deposit at the border while leaving Nepal. The price was three hundred rupees (in Indian currency).
I drove slowly, being afraid of breaking traffic rules at a foreign country. The roads were good, if not better than our own country. Here are some pictures for you.

Darjeeling road, full of fog.





Bhansar documents.








My temporary number plate.


The roads inside Nepal.















My ride.


Auto rickshaws were present in Nepal. How they could manage the climb was yet to be seen.


Afternoon times are possibly for some other horsepower.


A petrol pump in Nepalese side. But I had once read in the papers that fuel was scarce in Nepal and quality might be compromised. I topped up my tank from Darjeeling, where the Bharat Petroleum bunk located at Dali supplied decent fuel.


I stopped for lunch here.


A view of the same place from the upper floor, where the restaurant was located.


Thanks for reading.
Rahul Biswas,
Calcutta.

 

[Wanderlust_Traveller]

What an excellent travelogue and fantastic photographs. It reminded me of our Darjeeling trip which we did in February 2013. The road condition looks superb contrary to what we had observed during our trip.

 

[rahul4640]

Friends,
Took few days leave from my office and thought that should visit some place. My wife and daughter suggested that we visit Darjeeling. Beside me, both my daughter and my wife love this place and are completely familiar with this place. I was initially reluctant to go there (mainly due to my personal reasons, as I was disgusted with the ongoing agitation) but the hotel where I usually stay offered me rooms this time at good discount. They also informed me that the weather was good and the tourists are low, at this time of the year. Hence packed up and left on 07th of this month, early at the morning, few minutes before four O'clock. Shall like to share with you few pictures from my current trip.

Approaching Bardhaman town, when it was still dark.



A railway level crossing. I missed the entry to the SH-7. Had to turn back when I realised my mistake and Google navigation lead me to this way.



West Bengal state Highway no 7. It is in very bad shape for some twenty five KM or so and I had to struggle, scrapping the bottom of the car once.






The main highway leading to north Bengal (it was numbered NH-34 earlier but now is numbered NH-12).



To avoid Dalkhola traffic jam took the Botolbari-Dhantola route. Google maps also show this route. It was getting dark when I crossed it.



NH-27, approaching Siliguri.



The road once up in the hill was almost deserted, possibly only ten vehicles coming from the opposite direction. Reached Darjeeling town at nine at the evening.

I got this room for only 1800 rupees. Sorry to show you my crumpled bed. But I had stayed at this room previously and knew that it had amazing views of the mountain. My hotel also had a very secured underground basement car parking, a rarity in Darjeeling town.




This is the view of the mountain right from my room, the next day in the morning.




Shall like to show you some more pictures from this trip. Thanks.
Rahul Biswas,
Calcutta.

 

[rahul4640]

Dear friends,
Shall like to show you few more pictures of my recent Darjeeling trip. The next day in the morning I visited I went to Mirik. Almost halfway comes a beautiful place called Simana (the word literally meaning border), a 60 feet by 40 feet plateau with a viewing area. This is without any doubt the area ruled by our fellow member "Black Pearl", who is in my opinion, a very esteemed off-roading lover and a many time visitor of Sandhakphu, almost always taking this route.

My daughter trying to take a photo with her mobile. This is the actual border.


These stalls there sell foods, cheap handicraft items, Nepalese chocolates, fake cosmetics of reputed brands, etc.


The view of the mountains.


Preparing to go. These are the cars making a stop mostly for some quick refreshment with a views.


Mirik Lake, at an elevation of 5000 feet.


On the way back.


We also visited Kalimpong, though it was on the next day. Here are few pictures from a place known as Delo. This is the place where para-gliding is carried out.


Delo bungalow. Accommodation is available there, although it is often very crowded and you have to book in advance.


Me my daughter, and the mountains.


This is at a place called Durpin Dara, in Kalimpong. There is a beautiful monastery and you are allowed to climb to the top for some beautiful views.




At the bottom right is Kalimpong town.



Wish to show few more pictures from this trip. Thanks for watching these pictures.
Regards,
Rahul Biswas,
Calcutta,

 

[rahul4640]

Friends,
Now please let me show you few more pictures from my recent trip. Many of you may know that a large garden has been set up few years ago at a place called Lamahatta. It has tall trees with flowering plants, having adequate seating areas for watching marvelous views of the mountains. Anyone taking Peshok Road route is requested to spend a few minutes there.




This picture of the same place was taken earlier this year. But my wife did not visit it, hence went there again.



Unfortunately I did not enjoy my mandatory visit to Tiger Hill this time.The large multi storied viewing arena has been taken down and one large building is being constructed there, with the aim of providing accommodation to tourists. Building materials, construction machinery and labour huts have almost filled up the place at the top. This picture is taken while coming down.



This is a picture of Batasia Loop.



This is a picture of M. G. Road at Darjeeling town, almost deserted at just half past eight. During tourist seasons it is usually so crowded that I decided to show you this picture, when it is almost devoid of tourists.



A view of Hill Cart Road, with the train line slightly visible at the bottom right.


Thanks for watching these pictures. Please feel free to leave any comment or question.
Regards,
Rahul

 

[ABandy]

Thank you sir for your detailed, informative and inspiring TL. I am a newbie in TAI and wish to start driving to many places with my new Maruti Ertiga vxi. Seeking some experienced opinion for beginners from you.

 

[VR Shenoy]

Surprisingly this Travelogue appeared in Today's Posts. Thank you ABandy.

Dear Rahul, Very Good Information about Drajeeling with nice photos.
Felt like I have seen Darjeeling by sitting at home at old age, though I could not go over there at younger age.