Ikon 1.6 with weak clutch takes us to Darjeeling and a few forests of North Bengal.

[Sudipto-S-Team]

I think Mirik is highly doable in August. The hills look gorgeous in monsoon. It's a different beauty altogether.
I would also perhaps look at either Mongpong (WBFDC bungalow) or Chalsa/Lataguri in Dooars. The sanctuaries and national parks would be officially closed though.
There are several routes to Mirik from the plains. Therefore there is no need to fear the landslides. You need not necessarily go via Ghoom (Hill Cart Road) for Mirik. But yes, that's a beautiful road via Sukhia Pokhari.
Go for it Zappo.

[karizma_devil]

@ 1100 D i envy you .. pics are awesome man !!!1

[thebagchi]

Originally Posted by Zappo

What if I do not go up to Darjeeling? If from Mirik I go to the forests of Dooars? Does that sound more feasible for the season? I mean, are the climbs to the Mirik just as treachorous and narrow as Darjeeling? And how about the jungles of Dooars?

The thing is if I do not go to Mirik then maybe I will go to some seaside location. Frasergunj and the area around sound interesting but then the problems are,
1. One may need to wrap up within a day. I do not think there is much around Frasergunj to stay anyways beyond a max of 2 days.
2. How does one time his arrival at Namkhana to coincide with the High Tide? Otherwise ferrying the car to the otherside may not be possible.

If nothing seems possible I may just end up doing a drive to mondarmoni.

Siliguri to Mirik is much wider and less steeper road than Darjeeling.
And very scenic in terms natural beauty.

Regarding Fazergunj, you can checkout Henry Islands too
A night stay at Henry Island will be wonderful.
At Namkhana you have to ferry across during high Tide.
But the Ferry is operational from 8am to 8pm, charges 300/- for small cars.

Talsari is much better option than Mondarmoni.

[1100D]

Originally Posted by thebagchi

Siliguri to Mirik is much wider and less steeper road than Darjeeling.
And very scenic in terms natural beauty.

Talsari is much better option than Mondarmoni.

Road to Darjeeling as I saw last time was one way till Kurseong. (descending thru the Pankhabari route) . However the road to Mirik, from Sukna (the fork where the right one is the Pankhabari route and the left goes to Mirik) actually felt more steep and had Traffic descending from the other side. (But as Sudipto says, was beautiful)

At Talsari, the stink of rotten fish is a definite turn-off.

Originally Posted by Torque-ative

Great travelogue !!! But seriously the title seemed like Dutch courage to me why,...would you off all (being an enthusiast) knowing well enough that your car needed crucial spares put it thru this ordeal running at less than desired efficiency and performance levels!! I could'nt and would'nt dream of it. In fact given an option on delaying the rent than delay servicing my car I'd choose the former !!

Somethings are difficult to explain! If you read thru the opening section, you would know that there was no negligence per se, there was adequate planning involved to make this trip. Now the unavailability of the clutch plate would have thrown that plan out of the window.

Even as I write this, the car is in the workshop for the last two days where the Mechie's are trying to sort out a "squeak" from the front right suspension. So the car condition is actually of utmost importance.

However as I mentioned, this was a family thing, we wanted to go out together after a long time, so just went ahead with it. Even in the past we have had much more adventurous trips, the days we did not have mobile phones, only the willpower to get out of situations.

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Hello Anirban - I was in Kolkata and we could not catch up with you. Maybe better luck next time. The pictures are awesome and your Ikon looks great but I still like the timeless beauty of the Fiat anyday. I think a Mumbai to Kolkata trip in one of my fiats would not be out of place.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

[pramod]

Fantastic Travelogue.... soooper snaps, super nature.
And, Ur Black Ford looks cool.
Congrats on a nice trip.

[rajeevn]

Originally Posted by pramod

Fantastic Travelogue.... soooper snaps, super nature.
And, Ur Black Ford looks cool.
Congrats on a nice trip.

I couldnt agree more. Great stuff from 1100D.

[BurningHeart]

Amazing travelogue. Excellent script and stunning pictures. Always wanted to see Bengal. The desire has just become so much bigger with this story.

BH.

[archat68]

Excellent writeup and pictures Anirban!! Even if somebody have not been there - your travelogue will surely create a virtual tour for him. It revived my memory of my Darjeeling trip taken 10 years ago.

Arup

[rageshgr]

Wow dude!!! Amazing travelouge. Best photographs I ve seen. You must have had a whale of a time. And your car is impecabbly maintained I must say.