the itinarary:

Apply for a 2 weeks leave (Oct) & visit ur workplace every day like a school boy...

SIKKIM:
Gurudongmarg lake -17000 ft.
Yumthang valley
Kanchenjunga wild life reserve
Nathula pass (china border)
BHUTAN: (trying to cover these places)
Phuntsholing
Thimpu
Paro
Bumthang Valley
Wangduephodrang
Punakha

THE PLAN:
Day 1: Arrive to Kolkata by train (Bikes too by train), get your bikes from the terminal & halt at a cheap lodge + get your bikes checked (air, oil, petrol, lights, breaks n stuff) again, just in case!

Day 2: Kolkata - Siliguri/Darjeeling

Day 3: Siliguri/Darjeeling - Gangtok(sight seeing + Halt)

Day 4: Gangtok sight seeing + getting permissions to enter Bhutan.

Day 5: ENTER Bhutan... via Jaigoan-Phuntsholing border +Halt @ Phuntsholing

Day 6: Phuntsholing - Get some more permissions to roam Bhutan + Halt

Day 7: Phuntsholing - Thimpu (170 kms) +Halt (This should a Fri/Sat night, so we can enter discotheque at Hotel Druk-Yul / Club X)

Day 8: Thimpu

Day 9: Thimpu - Paro (70 kms) + halt

Day 10: Punakha - Wangduephodrang (confluence of Punak Chu and Dang Chu, Gangtey)

Day 11: Trongsa - Bumthang Valley (68 kms) (urjey Lhakhang, Jambey Lhakhang, Karsumpey Plateau, Swiss farm & Jakar Dzong)

Day 12: Mongar (East Bhutan) - Thrumsingla (Highest pass @ 12,400ft) - Trashigang (Easternmost part)

Day 13: Samdrup + halt

Day 14: Samdrup(Bhutan) - Guwahati (110 kms)

LAST Day 15: Guwahati - Kolkata (Catch a train & back)


@Razor & Anup: This is my plan, plz rectify it with proper info & places where we can halt in furthur Bhutan.

spidy ...Why not LEH yaar
I mean thts one ulimate destination and wanted to do it this year...
chalo will discuss tis sat.
waise sikkim hai toh no issues...one of my My best friend stays there.Been there twice actually thats why more emphasis on Leh...

Not only Sikkin + BHUTAN too...
Its rare n exotic, visited by very few, thats why!
n believe me, You'll like it better then Leh & we'll do Leh nxt year, in around March-April (A big ride every 5-6 months)
n Leh we can visit anytym too, BHUTAN I wanted to see in winters ONLY...
Lez meet up on sat, will discuss there!

I was going through our itinerary thread in BCMT and got this.. hope it is useful.

distance chart
Distance Chart of Bhutan

places to visit
Trip to Bhutan.com ::: Tour Guides

Map
Bhutan

Sikkim



Itinerary: Discussed by darth_lucifer, Anup and razor..

12Sep[Fri] - Depart from Mumbai in Train
14Sep[Sun] - Reach Kolkata (Early Morning 5:30am)
14Sep[Sun] - Ride from NJP to Siliguri (Approx kms 550kms)
15Sep[Mon] - Afternoon - Reach Siliguri
15Sep[Mon] - Evening - Gangtok - Tashi View Point
16Sep[Tue] - Morning - Permits & Sight seeing [Buffer Day]
17Sep[Wed] - Nathula - Tsomgo Lake (hardly 60kms) Ride till Chungthan on Lanchen (another 50kms)
18Sep[Thu] - Gurudonmarg Lake & back to Lachung
19Sep[Fri] - Ride till Phunsholing (Approx 250-300 kms)
20Sep[Sat] - Ride to Thimpu
21Sep[Sun] - Ride to Paro
22Sep[Mon] - | [To be finalized]
23Sep[Tue] - - Travel forward Sandrup Zonglcror
24Sep[Wed] - | Buffer Day
25Sep[Thu] - | Buffer Day
26Sep[Fri] - | Buffer Day
27Sep[Sat] - Ride to Gawhati & hand over the bikes to GATI
28Sep[Sun] - Fly back home

Spursh's Itinerary

sun 14 gather at NJP
mon 15 NJP-Gangtok 114kms
tue 16 Gangtok get permits, local sight seeing
wed 17 Gangtok-Tsomgo-Nathu La 56kms visitors allowed on
Wednesday, Thursday,
Saturday & Sunday only
thurs 18 Gangtok-Tashi viewpoint-Yumthang 145kms visit Shingba
Rhododendron
Sanctuary, hot
water springs, zero point
fri 19 Gurudogmara Lake photography
sat 20 Gangtok-Phuentsholing 200kms get permits
sun 21 Phuentsholing – Thimphu 180km
mon 22 Thimphu – Punakha 75km can be left out
tue 23 Punakha – Paro 125kms
wed 24 Paro
thur 25 Paro-Haa Valley-paro 70kms should be good
fri 26 paro-phuentsholing around 250 kms
sat 27 Phuentsholing – guwahati ??
sun 28 leave for home


from anup's post,
[Inside Bhutan]
From To Distance kms Driving time
Timphu Paro 56 1.30 hrs
Timphu Phuentsholing 171 6 hrs
Phuentsholing Bagdogra (India) 170 4 hrs
Timphu Wangdue Phodrang 70 3 hrs
Timphu Punakha 71 3 hrs
Punakha Wangdue Phodrang 24 45 min
Wangdue Phodrang Trongsa 129 4.30 hrs
Trongsa Bumthang 68 2.30 hrs
Bumthang Mongra 193 7 hrs
Mongra Lhuentse 75 3 hrs
Mongra Trashigang 91 3.30 hrs
Trashigang Chorten Kora 51 2 hrs
Trashigang Samdrup Jongkhar 180 6.30 hrs
Samdrup Jongkhar Guwahati (India) 101 3 hrs
Samdrup Jongkhar Phuentsholing 356 9 hrs


some tips from darth
Some riding disiplines we follow for group rides and everyone should be aware of it.I guess me,anup ,razor and sparsh have done plenty of group rides if not together.


Basic principle of riding as a team is 'leave no man behind'

1]There is a ride lead in the front of the formation.The lead keeps a close watch on the progress of the group at regualar intervals in his RVMs.

2]There is a sweeper who tails the entire formation.Generally sweeper is the most experienced rider and who has a fast bike.

3]No-one no one falls behind the sweeper at any time.

4]No-one overtakes the lead.Incase anyone wants to ride ahead he should signal the lead and go ahead.He would be on his own and rest of the team wont speed up to catch up with that person.Its his responsibility to fall back into the formation till then he is on his own.

5]We would be riding at average crusing speed of 60 -70 kph.

6]Its responsibility of every team member to propagate distress signals till the ride lead by honking and flashing headlights.

7]we would be compiling the blood groups and emergency contact numbers of all ride members very soon.I hope no one is of -ve blood group.Also note down all the allergies to medicines incase of emergency.

8]Overtaking trucks on two laners is what we might be doing a lot.Since we all are riding differnt capacity bikes everyone should judge his comfort level before overtaking and not blindly follow the guy ahead of you.

9]Plenty of local bikers feel challenged when they see bikers with full riding gear and on good bikes.They might indulge in provoking us to drag or show our riding skills.No dragging with locals in group rides.This would happen a lot as we pass small cities and towns.We would be sticking to our formation and discipline which is utmost for survival for 15 straight riding days without any untoward incidents

10]No stunting.No wheelies etc on tours.We would be miles from nearest local hospitals.

11]No breaking any traffic rules anywhere.Overtaking would done only from the right barring exceptional cases of slow moving trucks on right who wouldnt yeild.


#************************************#

But the thing is, our itinerary never worked except for the first and the last day where we start and end our trip
lots of land slides, here and there delays, few places we had to miss because of very less time..
We were in siliguri itself for about 2 and a half days because railways forgot to unload sparsh's bike. It went all the way to delhi and came back!

Besides, instead of spending around 9 days in Bhutan, spend more time in Sikkim.. its a very beautiful place too.. during this time of the year, the roads will be a little hard to drive in.. so riding 400+ kms in a single day that too in mountains is a little hard! so plan accordingly.

so who all are going for the ride? Its gonna be a beautiful experience.. those 16 days were the most memorable days in my life so far! the valleys, the snow, the rivers, roads, no roads, riding in the desert at 17000 feet, riding in the river, wet gravel, stones, rains, army people, wild horses, yak, drinking tea with bhajia @ the indo china border [16000 ft], eating dosa & idli in bhutan begging for more oxygen to breathe and for the bike to go faster.. each and every moment was enjoyable..

Its going to be one hell of a trip. Be prepared for a lot of landslides as the region is prone to this. All in all Ride Safe Everyone.

Thats why going in october, unlike the scheduled plan in September.
Less Slides...

i'm from sikkim

hey guys i'm from sikkim so if u guys need any help i'm there...

sure, you can help with a lots of stuff! tell us the places to visit...
& hopefully you can tag along too

So more people showing interest...
DK
meisrossi
Calvin
Ajinkya


So this is how it looks...
the RIDER'S:
Confirmed List:
Spiderweb aka Rohit (ZMA R)
Motorbreath aka Swapnil (P200)
Blitzkerg aka Harsh (New bike on the cards)
Calvin aka Kalyan (R15)
meisrossi aka Vikram (P180+K&N)

Tentative List:
Darknight aka Nitin (R15)
Atul_Aherwar aka Atul (RTR)
Ajinkya aka Ajinkya (P220)

Updating first post...

thx

thx for the invite..i wish i could join you. but i'll be in raipur the (i'm doing my engg here) so i cant make it...btw i think yr schedule is too hectic esp the calcutta-siliguri route its around 580 km and the roads will not be too good then busses take around 14 hours i think a better option would be to take yr bike all the way upto siliguri..coz not much to see on this strech i think..what do u think..

No, Apart from the NH34 (the route which the buses take) Kolkata - siliguri can be done via a different route also. Pravven has taken the conventional NH34 which is full of traffic. I will suggest a different route which is butter smooth, it will take less time to reach Siliguri but you have to ride for 150km (approx) extra.

What exact alternate do you suggest, considering that we will be coming from mumbai, n I dont think ke traing so upto Siliguri... Not sure if there are!

Which road you are talking about? Details plz...

NEW JALPAIGURI is what you should be looking for

This is one ride to go for....i wish i did't had few responsiblities else i was in...

money is not an issue , only time 15 days off meaning i have to put down my papers which i can't afford

nahi tho it's paradise

which route are you talking about??

Is it taking NH2 till panagarh? And then take the right turn towards NH34, and meet NH34 at morgram(approx 20km from baharampur)?
I would not suggest this as this will be already around 300 odd kms and still you have to ride another 370 kms through NH34... at least our experience was much tiring while we returned in this route...

Is there any other route for going siliguri?