Team-BHP - From Snarl to Old Silk Route : Rishi Khola, Gnathang, Kupup (East Sikkim) & Icchey Gaon

The contact numbers for booking the various homestays are given below:

Rishikhola

Sebastian Pradhan : +91 9932744407
Pranita Pradhan : +91 9002774220

Nimachen

Pasang Sherpa : +91 9002107782

Gnathang

Pema Sherpa : +91 9474145958

Iccheygaon

D K Khawas : +91 8906926652

The trip has been our longest road trip so far with lots of good memories etched in our minds forever. I can still see the smiling faces of those people who inspite of all the adversities have managed to maintain a warm smile on their faces and have always welcomed their guests with whatever little they have. Although I tried to pen down our experience as much as possible and have tried capturing moments and sceneries as much as possible, but what I believe is no lens can capture those sceneries better than our own God gifted ones! And yes, I am addicted to mountains for my entire life, which no rehabilitation center can ever cure!

As every journey ends to let a new one begin, I am signing off for now, hoping to share some new experiences soon.

ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! clap:
I thoroughly enjoyed your trip, each pic has a story to say. Orange fields, view of Kanchenjunga is breath taking.
On top of all, to cover over 1600 kms with majority being a hilly region, in an EON car is testament of its engineering capacity.
By the end of the story, it seemed as if I have covered the trip with you.

Thanks for sharing!

Awesome weather you had there, and did justice to it by capturing great clicks. Traversing these roads by an eon sure takes some guts, and it's a inspiration to all hatch owners like me. It was a really nice read.
Will rate this with the rating it deserves as soon as I log in from a pc. Thank you for this wonderful write up.

Beautiful travelogue, and some lovely narration. Its so refreshing to see you take your Eon to places where not many would dare. Regarding the permit, why did you not request RN (Rongli Road) to Gangtok permit, the entire Silk route could have been covered.

A little more clarification on the permit, friends can surely go but make sure its not more than four people in a car. All my four visits along the silk route were with friends only.

A LETTER of Undertaking stating that no one will be responsible in the event of a mishap would solve most of the problems.

If the car is not in one's name, please take a Letter of Authorisation from the owner or the company in whose name the car is registered.

Just a word of caution, the route from Rongli to Zuluk is full of Uturns and its on these roads the Army trains their young drivers.

Woho! What a magnificent travelogue! Diwali gift cant be any better! :) Awesome pictures, superb narration backed up by all the required details regarding permit, road condition's , staying options and route. Rated 5*, if i had the option of rating it more than once, i would have definitely done that! stupid:

Quote:

Originally Posted by gearhead_mait (Post 3842490)

I was really scared whether I should start the engine or not. Seeing the condition of the SUVs my confidence was lowered. I went inside the car, prayed to God and cranked the engine. There it was! The engine started at the first crank and I was ecstatic! My confidence in the car quadrupled. I turned on the heater and directed the flow to the windscreen using Climate Control knob. The ice melted in a few minutes. The only thing that froze in my car was the windscreen washer fluid (water + shampoo).

Well that's the beauty of a petrol car! Petrol do not freeze in sub zero temperature. I have heard diesel car owners to put a very negligible amount of petrol in the diesel tank which acts as an anti-freeze in sub zero temperature.

Another advantage of petrol cars in the higher altitude is petrol cars do not suffer any power loss which most of the diesel cars suffer. At these extreme conditions one gets the reward of using the costlier fuel!

Wonderful. What a fantastic travelogue. The pictures are very good & your narration takes us with you on the trip. Your EON is the luckiest one to be part of all your trips. I know how it feels in a hatchback on the winding steep roads of Sikkim.

The picture of your frozen car was scary. Don't know how my new car would fare out as I have shifted from Petrol to Diesel now.

Kudos !! Keep traveling & providing us with such detailed reports. This would come very handy for anyone visiting this part of Sikkim.

Regards,

Pawan

Absolutely breathtaking! Take a bow!

Planning a similar trip in the month of April, and this travelogue was very reassuring! Thank you, for the amazing travelogue, beautiful pictures, and most importantly, the contact numbers and the little tit-bits that are usually missed out.
I wanted to take my SUV(Diesel) to tackle the bad roads, but then might take my sedan (petrol) just to save my a**!! Dont want to face a starting issue early in the morning.

Excellent travelogue there Gearhead ! And its coupled with some great photographs.
The Old Silk route is a beautiful terrain and the autumn colours make it a double delight.Since you went as far as Kupup, it would have been worthwhile to complete the traverse to Gangtok - thats even more rarer!
Had been along these roads on my motorcycle back in '13, thanks to you, could relive those memories.

Rated it 5*

Cheers,
Sayak

Wonderful. Simply wonderful!

A brilliant trip, a stellar narration and beautiful photography. :thumbs up

A treat for us T-Bhp'ian's. "Thanks" will be an understatement of the century for this travelogue.

Keen to meet up with you folks the next time i visit Kolkata. Now i know where my next time beckons :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by gearhead_mait (Post 3844149)

As every journey ends to let a new one begin, I am signing off for now, hoping to share some new experiences soon.

To say the least it was mesmerizing. Your fine narration along with the beautiful pics were a real treat. Wish you many more happy miles and not to forget Travelogues.

Thank you !