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This is my first post in this Forum and I am not good in writing articles like this, so please excuse me for any inadvertent errors and bear with me through this travelogue.
It was a long cherished dream of mine to drive my car (Swift Zxi) in the hills and for a Kolkatan it cannot be more suitable than in the hills of Darjeelings’. The endeavor was huge, from planning for the trip, to convince the better half for undertaking the huge distance travel with an one year old kid, to manage days off from the office during March month etc. Ultimately everything was managed and I had decided to start my dream journey on 9th March 2015 for Kalimpong and decided to stay there for two nights and from there to visit Darjeeling from 12th March 2015 to 14th March 2015, all the way in my car. The bookings were made at the Hill Top Lodge @ Kalimgpong and Darjeeling Tourist lodge @ Darjeeling (Main Building rooms).
I had decided to start early in the morning as we will be using the detoured route via Bhagalpur, Purnea to reach Siliguri (distance around 700 Kms), provisional travel time was around 14 hours (excluding stoppage times). I had started from my Behala residence at around 4.30 a.m., reached Burdwan at 06.00 a.m., had breakfast there and take a right turn from Burdwan to pass through Bolpur, Suri, Illambazaar to reach Dumka, crossed Massanjore, thereafter the road towards Bhagalpur which turned to be in worst condition and nightmare for a car lover, took detoured route via Dhakamore & Bankamore to reach Bhagalpur via Amarpur route ( around 15 kms extra), reached Purnea around 09.00 p.m. and continued on NH31 to reach Siliguri, but again got stuck at Kishangung due to some road accident for around 2 hours, and finally when we reached Siliguri (after crossing Islampur, Dalkhola) at the dead of the night and it was 02.00 a.m. at clock. We had rested for the night at Siliguri at my relatives place for continuing my journey towards Kalimpong in the next morning.
The next morning was very exciting for me as I was driving in the hills for the first time, road to Kalimpong was through Teesta bazaar from where the road was uphill till Kalimpong (around 4,200 ft), distance from Siliguri was around 72 Kms and it was covered in around 3 hours. The road was fantastic, with the Teesta River flowing alongside the road, there were some beautiful loops on the way with steep gradients (three/ four as I remember).
The Hill top lodge of WBTDCL was 1.5 Kms uphill from main market place of Kalimpong & the place was located at highest point in Kalimpong but the approach road was very steep. The lodge was beautiful with large three bedded rooms (wooden flooring), clean toilets, beautiful views, hygienic food and courteous staff with a very disciplined manager. We were very impressed with the lodge/ facilities and will give five stars rating for the accommodation and four stars for the fooding arrangements (Breakfast was complimentary). Local sightseeing including Deolo, Lava and Rishap was arranged from the lodge itself for a very economic package. Overall I and my family were very impressed with the Kalimpong WB tourist lodge. Our next stoppage was Darjeeling, so we started early from Kalimpong on 12th March 2015 at around 8.30 a.m. The road to Darjeeling from Kalimpong was through Peshok road, locals were very skeptical about this road as it is one of the toughest roads to conquer, due to its steepness and narrowness at places and a strict no-go for a first timer. I had no choice other than to go through this route and try my guts. It was really one of the steepest incline I had ever experienced with prolonged first gear drive and occasional wheel spins with serpentine loops and hairpin bends on the way. But it offers exceptional scenic beauty of hills, tea gardens and valleys. The Peshok view point (Lovers point as mentioned in the hoarding) is a place from where the confluence of two beautiful rivers Rangeet and Teesta can be seen. It was beautiful. It was worth travelling the distance and undertaking such risks. Somehow managed to stay alive on this road and crossed Six mile bazaar to reach Jorebunglow from where the normal route via Hill cart road (NH-55) continues towards Darjeeling. A little stoppage at Batasia loop and Ghoom monastery was inevitable for us. I was really tired after driving through these winding mountain roads. I was really impressed and contented with the performance of my vehicle and my driving skills!
We reached the Darjeeling Tourist lodge around 12.30 p.m., the location was good, just behind the famous Darjeeling Gymkhana Club, immediate vicinity of Mall road (Chowrasta). The immediate comparison with Kalimpong Lodge was inevitable and I was disappointed with the typical Government type appearance of the lodge, it was large but not well maintained, fooding was good, but you can have better accommodation at this price band elsewhere with more cleanliness and better maintenance. The overall rating for the rooms at the main building with lovely view of the valley beyond and Kanchenjunga will be a four star from me and for the annex building where there was no view at all, will be a two star from me. The rooms at annex building were dark, unclean and shabby, should not qualify for good accommodation, it should be immediately renovated. Local sightseeing was done in my car covering all spots including Tiger hill, Zoological garden and HMI. The Zoo was well maintained and very entertaining one The new addition in the tourist map of Darjeeling is the Rangeet Valley Passenger Cable car (RVPCC); it was a thrilling 40 minutes ride covering 2.5 kms of the Ranjeet valley tea gardens (one way), tickets will Rs.150/- for to and fro journey. It was slow but the scenic beauty was breathtaking, but people with altitude sickness should avoid this ride, if offered free also. Overall Darjeeling had improved a lot from the last time I had seen it, it is less crowded, polluted and congested now. It really deserves the “Queen of the Hills” title.
It was time for us to return back home with lovely memories of the mountains and the valleys. It will be a long journey back home, so we started from Darjeeling early around 8.00 a.m. and continued on Hill cart road upto Kurseong, from where we took the new Rohini bypass to reach Siliguri. The new road was superb with freshly laid tarmac, but occasionally narrow at places and sharp hairpin bends, overall it is a very good option bypassing the notorious Pankhabari road. We had reached Siliguri around 11.00 a.m. and had a very good lunch there, had some marketing done at famous the Hong-Kong market aka, the Bidhan market and started for Malda at around 2.30 p.m. through NH-31/ NH-34. NH-34 is in mayhem it should be stripped of its NH status, it is in rubbles. We have reached Malda around 8.00 p.m. after a torturous driving both for me and my car. We checked in a hotel at “420 more” of old Malda and started around 7.00 a.m. next day to reach Kolkata, followed the NH-34 till Morgram and took the right turn on the Panagarh state highway-13/ NH-60 towards beautiful road through Bolpur, Suri and reached Burdwan thereafter followed the normal NH-2 route to reach Kolkata around 6.00 p.m. (total stoppage time was around one hour).
This was one epic journey for me and my car, it was risky, sometimes dangerous, strenuous, but was enjoyable and make me full of experience of driving through all odds to reach my destination.
P.S. Few pics are attached which were taken from a low digital zoom cam, sorry for the poor quality.
It was a long cherished dream of mine to drive my car (Swift Zxi) in the hills and for a Kolkatan it cannot be more suitable than in the hills of Darjeelings’. The endeavor was huge, from planning for the trip, to convince the better half for undertaking the huge distance travel with an one year old kid, to manage days off from the office during March month etc. Ultimately everything was managed and I had decided to start my dream journey on 9th March 2015 for Kalimpong and decided to stay there for two nights and from there to visit Darjeeling from 12th March 2015 to 14th March 2015, all the way in my car. The bookings were made at the Hill Top Lodge @ Kalimgpong and Darjeeling Tourist lodge @ Darjeeling (Main Building rooms).
I had decided to start early in the morning as we will be using the detoured route via Bhagalpur, Purnea to reach Siliguri (distance around 700 Kms), provisional travel time was around 14 hours (excluding stoppage times). I had started from my Behala residence at around 4.30 a.m., reached Burdwan at 06.00 a.m., had breakfast there and take a right turn from Burdwan to pass through Bolpur, Suri, Illambazaar to reach Dumka, crossed Massanjore, thereafter the road towards Bhagalpur which turned to be in worst condition and nightmare for a car lover, took detoured route via Dhakamore & Bankamore to reach Bhagalpur via Amarpur route ( around 15 kms extra), reached Purnea around 09.00 p.m. and continued on NH31 to reach Siliguri, but again got stuck at Kishangung due to some road accident for around 2 hours, and finally when we reached Siliguri (after crossing Islampur, Dalkhola) at the dead of the night and it was 02.00 a.m. at clock. We had rested for the night at Siliguri at my relatives place for continuing my journey towards Kalimpong in the next morning.
The next morning was very exciting for me as I was driving in the hills for the first time, road to Kalimpong was through Teesta bazaar from where the road was uphill till Kalimpong (around 4,200 ft), distance from Siliguri was around 72 Kms and it was covered in around 3 hours. The road was fantastic, with the Teesta River flowing alongside the road, there were some beautiful loops on the way with steep gradients (three/ four as I remember).
The Hill top lodge of WBTDCL was 1.5 Kms uphill from main market place of Kalimpong & the place was located at highest point in Kalimpong but the approach road was very steep. The lodge was beautiful with large three bedded rooms (wooden flooring), clean toilets, beautiful views, hygienic food and courteous staff with a very disciplined manager. We were very impressed with the lodge/ facilities and will give five stars rating for the accommodation and four stars for the fooding arrangements (Breakfast was complimentary). Local sightseeing including Deolo, Lava and Rishap was arranged from the lodge itself for a very economic package. Overall I and my family were very impressed with the Kalimpong WB tourist lodge. Our next stoppage was Darjeeling, so we started early from Kalimpong on 12th March 2015 at around 8.30 a.m. The road to Darjeeling from Kalimpong was through Peshok road, locals were very skeptical about this road as it is one of the toughest roads to conquer, due to its steepness and narrowness at places and a strict no-go for a first timer. I had no choice other than to go through this route and try my guts. It was really one of the steepest incline I had ever experienced with prolonged first gear drive and occasional wheel spins with serpentine loops and hairpin bends on the way. But it offers exceptional scenic beauty of hills, tea gardens and valleys. The Peshok view point (Lovers point as mentioned in the hoarding) is a place from where the confluence of two beautiful rivers Rangeet and Teesta can be seen. It was beautiful. It was worth travelling the distance and undertaking such risks. Somehow managed to stay alive on this road and crossed Six mile bazaar to reach Jorebunglow from where the normal route via Hill cart road (NH-55) continues towards Darjeeling. A little stoppage at Batasia loop and Ghoom monastery was inevitable for us. I was really tired after driving through these winding mountain roads. I was really impressed and contented with the performance of my vehicle and my driving skills!
We reached the Darjeeling Tourist lodge around 12.30 p.m., the location was good, just behind the famous Darjeeling Gymkhana Club, immediate vicinity of Mall road (Chowrasta). The immediate comparison with Kalimpong Lodge was inevitable and I was disappointed with the typical Government type appearance of the lodge, it was large but not well maintained, fooding was good, but you can have better accommodation at this price band elsewhere with more cleanliness and better maintenance. The overall rating for the rooms at the main building with lovely view of the valley beyond and Kanchenjunga will be a four star from me and for the annex building where there was no view at all, will be a two star from me. The rooms at annex building were dark, unclean and shabby, should not qualify for good accommodation, it should be immediately renovated. Local sightseeing was done in my car covering all spots including Tiger hill, Zoological garden and HMI. The Zoo was well maintained and very entertaining one The new addition in the tourist map of Darjeeling is the Rangeet Valley Passenger Cable car (RVPCC); it was a thrilling 40 minutes ride covering 2.5 kms of the Ranjeet valley tea gardens (one way), tickets will Rs.150/- for to and fro journey. It was slow but the scenic beauty was breathtaking, but people with altitude sickness should avoid this ride, if offered free also. Overall Darjeeling had improved a lot from the last time I had seen it, it is less crowded, polluted and congested now. It really deserves the “Queen of the Hills” title.
It was time for us to return back home with lovely memories of the mountains and the valleys. It will be a long journey back home, so we started from Darjeeling early around 8.00 a.m. and continued on Hill cart road upto Kurseong, from where we took the new Rohini bypass to reach Siliguri. The new road was superb with freshly laid tarmac, but occasionally narrow at places and sharp hairpin bends, overall it is a very good option bypassing the notorious Pankhabari road. We had reached Siliguri around 11.00 a.m. and had a very good lunch there, had some marketing done at famous the Hong-Kong market aka, the Bidhan market and started for Malda at around 2.30 p.m. through NH-31/ NH-34. NH-34 is in mayhem it should be stripped of its NH status, it is in rubbles. We have reached Malda around 8.00 p.m. after a torturous driving both for me and my car. We checked in a hotel at “420 more” of old Malda and started around 7.00 a.m. next day to reach Kolkata, followed the NH-34 till Morgram and took the right turn on the Panagarh state highway-13/ NH-60 towards beautiful road through Bolpur, Suri and reached Burdwan thereafter followed the normal NH-2 route to reach Kolkata around 6.00 p.m. (total stoppage time was around one hour).
This was one epic journey for me and my car, it was risky, sometimes dangerous, strenuous, but was enjoyable and make me full of experience of driving through all odds to reach my destination.
P.S. Few pics are attached which were taken from a low digital zoom cam, sorry for the poor quality.
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![[clap]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Clap.gif "Clap [clap]")
. But I was not able to travel through the Mirik route as advised by you due to time constraint.
![[frustration]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Frustration.gif "Frustration [frustration]")
Did you drive continuously or did you add a break in between? Which road did you take while returning back?
