Re: Call of the Hills: Darjeeling 2016

Travelogue Approved

Waiting for the one-legged travels to start

Re: Call of the Hills: Darjeeling 2016

Thanks for the approval.

My basic plan was to simply ride up to Darjeeling. No specific places to visit as such. Just soak in the natural beauty.

The route that I had planned was Durgapur-Asansol-Dumka-Bhagalpur-Siliguri (night stay)-Darjeeling.


Day 1: So after all packing done & bike prepped up the previous night, took a sound sleep. I woke up at 5:30 AM, got ready and left by 6:00.The weather was

already looking great. I hadn’t packed up too much but just the bare minimum, not even much spares. I usually try memorizing the important places on the map and thereafter ask local people for directions if needed.





The road up to Dumka is a dual carriageway with some broken patches and sudden potholes along with speed breakers hidden under tree shades.One needs to be careful and alert here. Now as this region belongs to the Rajmahal Hills plateau region one can expect to see small hills here and there.



Having said that, the road condition 100 kms before Bhagalpur is beyond imagination. I mean the surface of moon is in a better shape than this road. And then there is an endless queue of trucks on one side of the road which together with the local buses, vans, rickshaws et all made one hell of a ride. Also, it had rained the previous day (damn, should have taken a photo). It was complete mayhem. Nobody had any idea of anything at all. Thankfully my bike endured all that, but I was a bit exhausted as it was noon and I was feeling quite hungry. Also, I could feel the clutch lever getting a bit tight and giving my left arm & the middle finger a slight pain.



I decided not to waste time in searching for a hotel. Instead I saw a Dominoes Pizza marked on the Google Map. So I took a 30 minute break (the longest break of the day) and gorged on some delicious pizza and tanked up on my water supply. It was already 2:00 PM by the time I left Bhagalpur and with another 250 kms left I gunned my bike. The road after Zero Point Bhagalpur is a proper 4 lane highway with only patches of eroded top layer tar. At times I would simply stand on the pegs and maintain good speed. However, by the time I crossed Bagdogra the sun had set and traffic was rising. Although the road condition itself was good the pace was very slow. That coupled with my painful left finger made me further impatient. I just left the main road assuming some hotel would come my way so I could at least freshen up. I finally found one near the Tenzing Norgay bus stand and rested there for some time. After a refreshing tea and shower I decided to roam about the place and enjoy the weather. Finally, I had dinner and had a chat with the reception guy.

And that is when my plan took a jolt. I had decided to visit Darjeeling the next day & stay there the next two days. But as it turned out there would be strike in those areas(Darjeeling, Kurseong & Kalimpong) the next day. I felt a bit sad, but then sometimes these uncertainties turn out to be a boon as I later discovered. So that night I thought if I can make it this far, I sure can enjoy my trip all the way.

Re: Call of the Hills: Darjeeling 2016



Road 25 km before and after Bhagalpur is nightmare.

@Sabyasachi Dey ji

Re: Call of the Hills: Darjeeling 2016

Nice read so far. Waiting for the rest of the journey!

Re: Call of the Hills: Darjeeling 2016

[MENTION=19990]Sajal[/MENTION]seth ..Thanks Sir !

Yeah those roads definitely test our riding skills.

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[MENTION=57323]krishna77[/MENTION] .... thanks brother !

Sorry for late reply.