[Dry Ice]

Wow! Ekdom fata-fati!

(Yea, stayed in WB for 11 years. :P)

Amazing feat. Glad you guys came back safe and sound. Was the climb too sudden? You mentioned some people in the group not feeling well, hence asking.

Let me finish the log first, will come back with some more questions soon.

[mr.sinha]

Great travelogue, Samba. Gives me the impetus to start downloading my trip photos too. Your photographs are excellent. The roads look challenging enough. Maybe my next trip :-)

[Turbokick]

Very well complied travelogue. 5 star material. The pictures were just awesome. Samba is slowly turning out to be official in charge of travelogue section of tbhp

[hothatchaway]

All possible superlatives have been used by readers before me (and deservedly so) nothing short of inspirational and allows me to muster courage for an upcoming roadtrip in my K10, which now, appears pedestrian compared to what you have accomplished.

Am guessing no major underbody hits were taken, did you take any additional precautions apart from driving carefully on the rocky stretches?

Also, what kind of supplies did you carry along (nylon ropes/jerry cans/spare fuses/a supply of engine oil, coolant etc?)

thanks

[AJ-got-BHP]

Hello Samba,

Must say an amazing travelogue !! Well Done and well written !! The snaps are just too mesmerizing and does not allow me to work @ office !! Hahahaha.....feel like hitting the tarmac now...

Was myself planning to do this trip during the Puja Holidays but had to drop the idea due to scarcity in making a convoy. Have been eager to do North Sikkim for a long time now. May be sometime soon.

The road conditions at a lot of stretches seem to be in a bad shape in Sikkim. Your Etios seems to conquer the bad roads with ease. How did the Swift & the Dzire shape up on the bad roads with their lower GC ? Hope all cars were back in Kolkata safe without any issues.

I am confused on one front in your travelogue, that is why did you take the Bhagalpur Road from Kolkata ?? Why such a big detour using up your fuel, time & energy ?

I do darjeeling once a year for sure. Did it in June 2014 only. NH-34 upto Moregram is horrible but had to travel due to work. However, on my way back from Siliguri this time I took Siliguri-Kishanganj-Malda-Moregram-Nalhati-Rampurhat-Bolpur-Guskhara-Burdwan-Dankuni-Kolkata and the road was Too Good all throughout the 600km stretch. It took me 11 Hours driving time with just a 30 mins stop in totality.

Suggest you to try that road the next time you are heading for North Bengal till the time NH-34 is in tatters.

Once again very amazing travelogue !! Thanks for sharing !!

[sayakc]

Logged intoT-BHP after a long time yesterday and saw your post (read photos actually). Knew what to expect. Great photographs and it is incredible that you have made it to Norh Sikkim! Congrats dada.

[dip27in]

Awesome is an understatement. I am thoroughly convinced with the capability of the driver and the car. Hope to see more photographs from you especially for this trip.

Cheers!

[Samba]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Wow! Ekdom fata-fati!

(Yea, stayed in WB for 11 years. :P)

Amazing feat. Glad you guys came back safe and sound. Was the climb too sudden? You mentioned some people in the group not feeling well, hence asking.

Let me finish the log first, will come back with some more questions soon.

Thanks a lot! I just bumped to your Ladakh travelogue. The pictures you shared are just mind-blowing. It gave us some more solid reasons for a drive to Ladakh!

Actually we stayed for the night at Lachung. That's at a height of 9,000 feet. Next day morning we started at 5am and we climbed up another 4,000 feet in 25 kms. So that can be a reason for some person's not feeling so well. So most of them skipped the climb up ahead. I went ahead but was not so happy going alone as our other team members were left back. But still i was so keen to touch the snow i couldn't resit myself from going ahead.

Originally Posted by mr.sinha

Great travelogue, Samba. Gives me the impetus to start downloading my trip photos too. Your photographs are excellent. The roads look challenging enough. Maybe my next trip :-)

Thanks a ton dada. Eagerly waiting for the pictures and a travelogue from your latest Ladakh road trip.

Yes i must say your 4X4 Scorpio will definitely love North Sikkim.

Originally Posted by Turbokick

Very well complied travelogue. 5 star material. The pictures were just awesome. Samba is slowly turning out to be official in charge of travelogue section of tbhp

Thanks a ton brother.

And no way am turning the 'official in charge of travelogue section of tbhp '. Am just a novice.

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

All possible superlatives have been used by readers before me (and deservedly so) nothing short of inspirational and allows me to muster courage for an upcoming roadtrip in my K10, which now, appears pedestrian compared to what you have accomplished.

Am guessing no major underbody hits were taken, did you take any additional precautions apart from driving carefully on the rocky stretches?

Also, what kind of supplies did you carry along (nylon ropes/jerry cans/spare fuses/a supply of engine oil, coolant etc?)

thanks

Thanks a lot.

In the beginning i decided to take my K10 for the trip, not the Etios. But later somehow i ended up taking the Etios. After reaching there i can confirm that K10 could have taken the terrain better due to its smaller dimension and shorter wheel base. I could have easily avoided few underbelly scrapings in the K10. Plus as you yourself own a K10 you know very well power is never an issue with this pocket rocket!

I just put the car up on the ramp for servicing yesterday & checked the underbelly too. Got the car water washed opening all the four wheels. I was glad apparently i couldn't find any damage and while driving also it was fine. No rattling sound or any other issue's cropped up.

For safety as a team we carried-
Jump start cable.
Electronic foot pump.
Puncture repair kit.
A 10 liter jerrycan in every car.
A towing rope.
Some extra fuses.
Black tape.
Em-seal.
Few pliers and ranges.

Got the fluid levels checked before the trip. So didn't carry them. Still carrying them is a better idea in case a leakage crops up.

Originally Posted by AJ-got-BHP

Hello Samba,

Must say an amazing travelogue !! Well Done and well written !! The snaps are just too mesmerizing and does not allow me to work @ office !! Hahahaha.....feel like hitting the tarmac now...

Thanks a ton. Yes i know very well how frustrating its to read a travelogue from the work place!

Originally Posted by AJ-got-BHP

The road conditions at a lot of stretches seem to be in a bad shape in Sikkim. Your Etios seems to conquer the bad roads with ease. How did the Swift & the Dzire shape up on the bad roads with their lower GC ? Hope all cars were back in Kolkata safe without any issues.

Etios performed very well. Absolutely no issue's. Regarding the other cars the Swift, Dzire, Punto, Vista every one performed equally well. The Swift had a old battery which became dead at Gangtok. On replacing the battery the car was again as good as new. In one or two cars due to some underbelly hit the engine guard , running panel, front bumper got some damages. The roads were so bad that the cars which came out unscratched were simply lucky! Only issue for the hatch backs/sedans was the ground clearance. But no mechanical issue's cropped up in any of the cars. The other car was a Scoripo. It had no issue's too. He hired a local driver for the North Sikkim part and that driver hit a stone underneath and dented the foot board a bit. But overall the Scorpio was doing much better due to its ground clearance and rear wheel drive.

Originally Posted by AJ-got-BHP

I am confused on one front in your travelogue, that is why did you take the Bhagalpur Road from Kolkata ?? Why such a big detour using up your fuel, time & energy ? Suggest you to try that road the next time you are heading for North Bengal till the time NH-34 is in tatters.

Once again very amazing travelogue !! Thanks for sharing !!

We avoided Nh34 for two reasons. One is the dreaded Farakkha - Malda Via Kaliachowck traffic jam. Second is the Dalkhola level crossing mess. By Bhagalpur its hardly 40 kms extra than Nh34. Plus Bhagalpur roads has sparse traffic except the messy Bhagalpur town. If you prefer to take Nh34 take Sh7 from Burdwan which connects at Moregram. Its shorter and better than Panagarh - moregram highway.

Originally Posted by sayakc

Logged intoT-BHP after a long time yesterday and saw your post (read photos actually). Knew what to expect. Great photographs and it is incredible that you have made it to Norh Sikkim! Congrats dada.

Thanks a lot.

Originally Posted by dip27in

Awesome is an understatement. I am thoroughly convinced with the capability of the driver and the car. Hope to see more photographs from you especially for this trip.

Cheers!

Thanks a lot dada. Unfortunately i have not taken much pics in this trip. I have shared almost 90% of what i took. Actually being around 10-12 hours behind the wheel almost every day there was not much energy left in me to click more pics!

But our other team members has also clicked some beautiful pics. I have requested them to share there pics over here.

[gmhossain]

Originally Posted by AJ-got-BHP

I do darjeeling once a year for sure. Did it in June 2014 only. NH-34 upto Moregram is horrible but had to travel due to work.

Originally Posted by Samba

We avoided Nh34 for two reasons. One is the dreaded Farakkha - Malda Via Kaliachowck traffic jam. Second is the Dalkhola level crossing mess.

Off topic: May I request both of you to update the thread by giving the relevant information from your experiences? I guess, it's quite helpful to have the current status of this route collated at the same thread.

Thanks,
Golam

[subratasenn]

What a travelogue. Spellbound! And I don't know what to appreciate more -- your writing skill or your photography.

I am not talking about your driving skill because that we know anyway!

[motomaverick]

Lovely adventure certain videos reminded me of my adventures with the Manza over the northern Himalayas. So another trip remains to touch the Zero point

[joybhowmik]

Originally Posted by Samba

And one teaser video to get a hint of what roads we had to encounter.

Really nice teaser and travelog. You are lucky to have gotten out without sidewall damage!

[lovecars21]

Crisp narration and excellent Travelogue.
Photos of your Etios on snow are very inspiring for crazy people like us.
Missed the trip by a whisker. In your next trip I would love to go with you.
Now-a-days whenever I see an Etios it reminds me of you and your crazy drive to North Sikkim.
Well done champ!!

[Samba]

Originally Posted by gmhossain

Off topic: May I request both of you to update the thread by giving the relevant information from your experiences? I guess, it's quite helpful to have the current status of this route collated at the same thread.

Thanks,
Golam

Thanks for pointing, i have updated over there.

Originally Posted by subratasenn

What a travelogue. Spellbound! And I don't know what to appreciate more -- your writing skill or your photography.

I am not talking about your driving skill because that we know anyway!

Thanks a ton.

Originally Posted by motomaverick

Lovely adventure certain videos reminded me of my adventures with the Manza over the northern Himalayas. So another trip remains to touch the Zero point

Thanks. Your Ladakh travelogue is the inspiration for many, that even sedans or hatch backs can tackle bad roads. Yes your i10 grand will love a trip to Zero point. Your Manza left its paw marks at Ladakh so your Grand i10 at least deserves North Sikkim!

Originally Posted by joybhowmik

Really nice teaser and travelog. You are lucky to have gotten out without sidewall damage!

Thanks a lot. Yes i was lucky and luckily the side of the stones were rounded. A sharp stone among them could have easily damaged my tyres. More over my car is still running on stock tyres. Before the trip i thought of changing the tyres but later decided, lets abuse the old tyres! A side wall cut in the old tyres will hurt less!

Originally Posted by lovecars21

Crisp narration and excellent Travelogue.
Photos of your Etios on snow are very inspiring for crazy people like us.
Missed the trip by a whisker. In your next trip I would love to go with you.
Now-a-days whenever I see an Etios it reminds me of you and your crazy drive to North Sikkim.
Well done champ!!

Thanks a lot.

Yes a trip together is surely pending! What about a Ladakh together in 2015 Aug/sept ?

[imove]

A truly inspiring travelogue for the hatchbackers and sedan lovers. It shows what can be done. The crisp narration and superb photography just rounds it all up.

Superb job Samba.