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**phanikar** · 11-05-2015, 07:35 PM

re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

Brilliant Itenary. #Following.

**bhargavkundem** · 11-06-2015, 03:24 PM

re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

Enigmatic pictures... Each of them is a gem...

I am jealous and more proud of what Indian riders can do...

Helmets Off Sir!!!!

**sajalsheth** · 11-07-2015, 03:40 AM

S 3 = 1. Inspiration, Preparation & acknowledgement.

Inspiration, Preparation & acknowledgement.

Click HERE = & Press to listen to soothing music in background

Above picture and lines inspire me for Ladakh & Zanskar ride in 2014, and it continues to inspire me now also.
After that solo ride, an article cum interview was published in The Times of India. (web link )

Abstract of my interview on Ladakh & Zanskar , published in The Times of India , Mangalore and Bangalore edition on 27August , 2014. I had wished to ride to Gurudongmor Lake, Sikkim and Nohkalikai waterfall, Sohra(Cherrapunjee).

So that was the dream, and surprisingly somehow or otherwise the pictures and articles on Nohkalikai waterfall and Gurudongmor Lake used to come in front of me. Be it browsing on internet or in some discussion.

I went to Mumbai in March 2015 to attend a marriage of my cousin. Sudden I saw a very big hoarding at Mumbai Airport, near luggage collection area. It was a very big picture of Gurudongmor Lake of Sikkim.
I just stopped there and was fascinated to see its beauty.

I promised myself that this year, I will visit Gurudongmor Lake and I will click a picture of mine with my motorbike in front of this lake. I told this to my wife and my younger daughter. Clicked a picture of mine with that hoarding in background dreaming to make it real background someday.

And for that I started my research on the roads and other important places around. Posted itinerary help thread at travel portals. Seeked expert’s help there. I learned that Gurudongmor Lake is the second highest lake of India. And Tso Lhamo is Highest Lake of India. And it is only 8 km away from Gurudongmor Lake. I read many travelogue on different travel sites for gaining knowledge on Sikkim and Meghalaya.

Then one day, saw this picture of Zuluk.

(This is not my picture, credit to the google search or to the creator)

As a rider, I thought if I am going to North Sikkim , then I can also go to East Sikkim and ride to zig zag road of Zuluk. It will be fun riding on 16 km hairpin bend road.

I had rode to Khardung La & Marsimik La pass of Ladakh. While browsing on internet, I also saw two pictures on list of highest pass of World.

(Above two charts are not my pictures and credit goes to respective creator)

I found there is one Dongkha La or Donkia La or Donkha La pass at North Sikkim, which is near Gurudongmor Lake and it is supposed to in top 5 or 6 of world. I also found that it is controlled by Army along with Tso Lhamo Lake. No permission is given for both. I was disappointed to know that.

In a FB group, there was a discussion about most difficult road to ride in India. There I found about Sandakphu. I further searched about it and read many travelogue about Sandakphu.
I thought of taking the challenge of riding there.
And for that I had to be fit with lots of stamina. So I purchased one cycle in May 2015 and started riding around Cuttack. I could ride for 40 -45 km once in every week.

I rode to different scenic places and roads near Cuttack. Ride continues till mid September, 2015.

I also rode with group to gain speed.

I purchased a new motorcycle riding jacket at online offer.

I ride Bajaj Pulsar 200 NS and I have rode around 21000 km in it. Went to Ladakh in it, and my bike never gave me any trouble.
But in July, 2015 there was news, specially in social networks regarding breaking of pulsar’s alloy wheel and handle bar. Doubts were raised on quality of material and parts of Pulsar. Some pictures like this were published in many web automobile portals.

(Not my picture)

I was frightened. I started avoiding riding on my Pulsar 200 NS. While riding if any type of sound comes from bike, I used to stop and check alloys wheels and handle bar. My riding speed reduced due to fear.
I was thinking of postponing the dream ride of mine.

Could Pulsar be like this? The bike which took me to highest roads of the world without any trouble, became suddenly my less favorite.
My mind was reading and believing all this, But my heart was with my favorite Pulsar 200NS only.

I was in total confusion. So I visited Sai Baba Temple to Seek Blessings and further Guidance.

And then my heart won. I decided to take my Bajaj Pulsar 200 NS to Sandakphu and give answer to all those bad rumour. I decided to ride on a trekking route. This will be the best answer to all those doubting my Pulsar‘s quality and capability.

Time was short I need to prepare fully for the ride. I went to My Expert Bajaj Pulsar mechanic SABBAS BHAI and get my bike fully checked up.

I re fitted my petrol carrier on one side also. This was needed for North Sikkim as after Mangan there will not be any petrol pump.

There might be snow at higher mountain places like Khatao , Zero Point and Gurudongmor road. So for that I fitted and tested coconut rope on both wheels. I knew there will be less chance of snow on road. But then I wanted to prepare for all eventualities also.

I read and knew about the bad road from Howrah to Siliguri route, specially Farraka road. I consulted Human GPRS Mr.H.V.Kumar Sir regarding route guidance from Cuttack to Sohra. He guided me with detailed route plan.

Harsh Singh Singhla of Cuttack rode with his RE ThunderBird with me to all these places, except Sandakphu. So he was my co rider for Sohra and Sikkim from Cuttack.
We decided to take our bike via train upto Guwahati then continue our ride to save energy and time. We booked train ticket also. We also visited Puri station parcel office few days before to finalize booking and other thing as our train’s starting point was Puri.
But a day before , Puri parcel office contractor said that he cannot take our bike as there is booking of huge perishable goods at parcel office. So we cancelled our booking & decided to start our ride from Cuttack only.

I rode to Sandakphu with Neel Day of Siliguri, whom I met on a travel portal.

Regarding guidance on all these three places, I would like to thank and acknowledge to Sri. H.V.Kumar Sir , Anjan Sarma ji , Bhooter Raja ( santanu Da ) , Soumen Bhowmick Da , Ramanito45 ji & Sanjoy Banerjee (nelson_sanjoy).

I also thank GOOGLE EARTH & GOOGLE MAPS, they are always helpful.

I collected all my luggage two days before ride. I packed all in a Viaterra Claw and a backpack. I carried all needed things. This is how it looked before and after packing.

Now I am ready for my dream ride to S 3 = Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim.

Click HERE for next update.

**krishna77** · 11-07-2015, 09:03 AM

re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

Superb! Liked the way you have narrated your planning from the start and your inspiration. All the pictures are brilliant!

Sent from my Xperia L.

**sambit** · 11-07-2015, 09:22 AM

re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

Wow. Thats one hell of knowledgeable thread for the young bikers. What detailing and explaination without the use of any ornamental english. Plain, Simple and highly informative.
Glued to it.
The only thing, we can offer you is, Respect.

**xplod566** · 11-07-2015, 11:41 AM

re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

Lovely Pics sir!

**sajalsheth** · 11-07-2015, 11:49 PM

re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

Originally posted by phanikar View Post

Brilliant Itenary. #Following.

Thanks [MENTION=20165]phanikar[/MENTION] ji

Originally posted by bhargavkundem View Post

Enigmatic pictures... Each of them is a gem...

I am jealous and more proud of what Indian riders can do...

Helmets Off Sir!!!!

Thanks [MENTION=78122]bhargavkundem[/MENTION] ji ...for this appreciation

Originally posted by krishna77 View Post

Superb! Liked the way you have narrated your planning from the start and your inspiration. All the pictures are brilliant!

Sent from my Xperia L.

Thanks [MENTION=57323]krishna77[/MENTION] ji ...

Originally posted by sambit View Post

Wow. Thats one hell of knowledgeable thread for the young bikers. What detailing and explaination without the use of any ornamental english. Plain, Simple and highly informative.
Glued to it.
The only thing, we can offer you is, Respect.

Thanks [MENTION=32054]sambit[/MENTION] ...we biker may not know ornamental English, but we know how to rider responsibly

Long live biking brotherhood.

Originally posted by xplod566 View Post

Lovely Pics sir!

Thanks [MENTION=72200]xplod566[/MENTION] ji

**sajalsheth** · 11-08-2015, 02:10 PM

Re: S 3 = 2. My Past Rides.

2. My Past Rides.

I am riding since age of 16 .
So I have 33 years of riding experience. Done many small and big rides.
These are worth mentioning :-

1) Solo ride from Cuttack to Ranchi & back :- 3 days ride for 1095 km.

2) Distance Is Not A Measurement For True Love Of A Father :- 8 days solo ride from Cuttack to Manipal & back for 3865 km, just to meet my daughter = Travelogue Link

3) Solo maiden ride to Ladakh and Zanskar for 19 days for 3987 km = Dream > Explore > Discover =Zanskar & Ladakh Bike Ride, June 2014 = Travelogue Link

4) Solo ride to Demali -Highest peak of Odisha & Duduma - Three big waterfalls at one place - Three days ride for 1263 km =Travelogue Link

Also done many other rides around Odisha for 200 km to 700 km.

Now I am doing many rides with young and enthusiastic riders of xBhp:Bhubaneswar chapter.

Click HERE for next update.

**krishna77** · 11-08-2015, 02:58 PM

re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

With so many years of experience behind you, younger riders will always have someone to look forward to!
Keep riding!

Sent from my Xperia L.

**Aurobindo** · 11-09-2015, 05:04 PM

re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

Sajal Sir, once again i am mesmerized by your thread. Zanskar Thread was one hell of a journey and now this. You are raising the bar higher with every travelogue.

**sajalsheth** · 11-09-2015, 06:22 PM

Re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

Originally posted by krishna77 View Post

With so many years of experience behind you, younger riders will always have someone to look forward to!
Keep riding!

Sent from my Xperia L.

Thanks [MENTION=57323]krishna77[/MENTION] ji...I will not disappoint you all.

Originally posted by Aurobindo View Post

Sajal Sir, once again i am mesmerized by your thread. Zanskar Thread was one hell of a journey and now this. You are raising the bar higher with every travelogue.

Thanks [MENTION=69962]Aurobindo[/MENTION] ji
Zanskar was a tough ride , that to solo.
But Sandakphu was most difficult ride of mine till today.

**Monu Sharma** · 11-09-2015, 09:22 PM

Re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

You are the true inspiration sir . Hats of to you for the such a ride

. I have already seen some of your ride (cuttack to Manipal )
Really great and awesome pics .

**sajalsheth** · 11-10-2015, 02:04 AM

Re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu &amp; Sikkim

3. Day 1 =26th Sept., 2015

Cuttack to Burdwan.

Click HERE = & Press to listen to soothing music in background

Total km traveled 460. Ride time 6.20 AM to 6.00 PM.

We rode from Cuttack to Burdwan, crossing Bhadrak, Balasore, Jaleswar, Kharagpur, Medinipur, Chandrakona, Kamarpukur, Arambagh.

Excitement of riding to my dream places did not allow me to sleep fully. I woke up at 4 AM & was ready with the entire luggage tied up with my motorbike at 6.15 AM.

That’s me posing with my Bajaj Pulsar 200 Ns bike.

Although I had received detailed instruction from Human GPRS Sri H.V.Kumar Sir, regarding route to be taken, then also I did search Google Maps for route from Cuttack to Siliguri. For the first day we had target to ride up to Raghunathganj, West Bengal covering 591 km.

But the route of H.V.Kumar Sir and google map was different. The short route of google looked achievable as we were on bike. But this was our mistake. Google suggests us state road which was impossible to ride with high speed. After Medinipur, we took State Road which was single road with lots of potholes and took our time and energy. We could reach up to Burdwan only at 6 PM. Since we decided not to ride after sunset, we searched for a hotel for our night stay at Burdwan and could ride for 460 km for that day. I had noted down an offline map with two options from Burdwan to Farakka.

Bikers Brotherhood:-

Since last one year I was riding with xbhp: Bhubaneswar group riders for small and medium rides, in and around Odisha. They knew about our ride plan. Just to see us off and to wish us good luck, four riders woke up early in the morning and they rode with us for around 50 km. We rode together up to Deuli, a Buddhist site near Chandikhol.

They reached before us at the Jagatpur circle, our pre decided meeting point. Anupam Behera(@coolmaverickguy), group leader started 1 hour earlier, as he stays at Bhubaneswar. At 6.45 AM we all meet at Jagatpur circle, just outside Cuttack.

The riders in above picture are Vineet Agarwal, Harsh Singh Singla, Taufique Raja(@taufique) & Anupam Behera.

One can mark in above picture that Harsh, carried very less luggage on his Royal Enfield Thunder Bird 350.

Then we asked a local person to click a picture of all of us.

I salute this biking brotherhood. This gesture of our group riders encouraged me and Harsh a lot.

We started riding together. We decided to have breakfast together at Chandikhol.

After crossing Mahanadi River Bridge, we stopped to fill up petrol.

We reached Chandikhol quickly and another rider Kushal Kolli was waiting to meet us all. After breakfast we rode another 10-11 km and reached Deuli at around 8.20 AM. This is a Buddhist site just half km from Highway on a small mountain top. Brahmani River was visible from top.

We are rode till top and clicked some pictures.

Harsh, Anupam , Vineet & Kushal in above picture.

Another picture with Harsh and Vineet.

From this point one can have a great view of River Brahmani. All bikes posing there.

At around 8.35 am we all parted, with me and Harsh moving towards Bhadrak. They all wished us good luck for the ride.

Before Jaleswar we topped up our petrol tank, as in West Bengal petrol is 7-8 % costly than Odisha. The road from Chandikhol to Medinipur was a four lane beautiful road. We took some short breaks also.

At 12.45 pm we reached near Kharagpur.

Harsh taking a selfie near one info board.

We took a short break here. Harsh click a picture of mine also at same place with some info board showing diversion to Mumbai and Kolkata.

At around 1.30 pm we were having yummy lunch at Medinipur.

Till now everything was as per schedule as there were good National Highway roads. After having lunch at Medinipur, we took right turn towards Keshpur. This was a state road up to Burdwan for around 130 km. And this road was not suggested by H.V.Kumar Sir. But as it was short by 50-60 km and google maps were suggesting it, we took this route.

This was our first mistake and we were punished for that. It was single road with ongoing repairs and new roads in many patches.

At around 3.15 pm we reach Khirpai. As the road was a dusty road RE ThunderBird’s chain became dry. Harsh stopped at a local mechanic shop to get his chain lubricated. While lubricating it that local mechanic pointed out that the sprocket is having only three nut bolts. But Harsh told that do not add any nut bolts as he got his bike fully checked before riding started. This was a big mistake of Harsh. And we got punished after Siliguri for overlooking this mechanics advice.

Village crowd gathered to see us there and they all posed with Harsh.

Anyway at around 6pm we reached Burdwan and since we had decided not to ride after sunset, we searched for a hotel for our night stay at Burdwan and could ride for 460 km for that day. We checked in at Hotel Barddhaman inn of G.T.Road and bargained a double bed non a/c room for Rs.550/=

After freshening up, we roamed in city. I saw battery operated rickshaw all over places there. It is a very nice local transport option with no sound and air pollution.

Me and Harsh sat on it and clicked picture for memory.

But in West Bengal, we found this battery operated rickshaw everywhere.

We decided to sleep early so that we can start early to reach Siliguri by evening.

This was our ride map for that day.

Click HERE for next update.

Coming up …..next …Day 2= Burdwan to Raiganj.

**taufique** · 11-10-2015, 08:56 AM

Re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

Good narration and excellent planning feels like fairy tale just enjoying this thread. Plz carry on.

**coolmaverickguy** · 11-10-2015, 11:50 AM

Re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

We are available anytime for group

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S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

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