[arindam_xeta]

Samba! loved every bit of travelling with you as much as your write ups. The snaps also needs a special mention. The diligence Samba has put in creating this thread, makes my life a lot easier, that's another benefit of travelling with him apart from having a great partner to share the road with .

A bit of my love for Darjeeling and the hills and bit of other plans somehow not working out, I ended up doing Namchi->Kalingpong->Darjeeling and Darjeeling->Temi->Deolo in a span of two weeks in OCT-NOV.

The first trip was with Avrendu, it was our puja vacation plan which failed over to the Namchi->Kalingpong->Darjeeling trip and second is this one with Samba again a fail-over from another trip which did not work out. The fact that mom and dad did not do Deolo, Temi at all and Darjeeling not in the recent past was another factor which kept me going.

Let me share some of the snap of the above trips here in this thread itself.

Namchi->Kalingpong->Darjeeling

Siliguri - We stayed in Hotel Monarch Aachal highly recommended, location, rooms and parking, thumbs up.

@Monarch Aachal, Siliguri


Parking @Monarch Aachal, Siliguri


My ride @Monarch Aachal, Siliguri


Entrance @Monarch Aachal, Siliguri


Namchi- We stayed in Hotel Hangkhim, Parking, Food and Rooms were good
We took a local hired Scorpio and visited Chardham, Sumdruptse, Buddha park.

Teesta Bridge, @Teesta Bazaar


Hospitality @Hotel Hangkhim, Namchi


@Hotel Hangkhim, Namchi


View from the Hotel, @Hotel Hangkhim, Namchi


@Chardham, Namchi


@Chardham, Namchi



Sai Temple @Asanthang Namchi


Another View, Sai Temple @Asanthang Namchi


My Little one, momentarily inspired by the meditating Buddha @Buddha Park, Rabong


Few other adorable ones @Buddha Park, Rabong


The Lord @Budhha Park, Rabong


@Sumdruptse, Namchi


@Sumdruptse, Namchi

[arindam_xeta]

Kalingpong - Our stay was at Tashiding Tourist lodge. Facilities are decent but service is not up to the mark. Peaceful scenic location near Div Chowk Golf Course.

@Tashiding Tourist Lodge, Kalingpong


@Golf Course, Near Div Chowk, Kalingpong


The valley view @Deolo Park, Kalingpong


Church @Dr. Graham's School


Our Rides @Tashiding Tourist Lodge, Kalingpong


River Rangit, Teesta Merger @ Teesta Bazar, en-route Darjeeling via Peshok Road


Up-hill on Peshok Road


En-route Darjeeling@Lamahatta, Peshok Road


En-route Darjeeling@Lamahatta, Peshok Road


En-route Darjeeling@Lamahatta, Peshok Road


Darjeeling - We stayed at the Bellevue Hotel, good rooms and excellent location right on the Mall.

@Darjeeling


My First try at Bird Photography


View from Kevs @Darjeeling


@ The St. Pauls School, Darjeeling


View from Japanese Temple


The View from Batasia Loop Park


@Batasia Loop Park


With Deisel Engine


With Steam Engine


That's all folks

[arindam_xeta]

That was a pictorial of the first of the two back to back trips, Now the second one that I did with Samba

Darjeeling->Temi->Deolo

Darjeeling We stayed in Bellevue Hotel, no parking as this is right on the mall. We had to pay around Rs. 350 per day per car to park our vehicles in the church premises opposite gymkhana club. Hotel Bellevue has no restaurant of it's own.

Golden Park Hotel, @Malda


The Mall, as viewed from the Hotel Room


A view from back-side of Hotel Bellevue


Some Night shots we took together at Darjeeling











Samba, sipping morning tea with dear mom @Temi



A night shot of the Temi Tea Garden


My Ride with majestic backdrop @Temi


The Deolo park in morning sunshine


From Temi Myself and Samba parted ways, Samba went onto Doaars and I went to Deolo.

A view from Deolo


The return journey was relatively smoother for me, during the onward journey on the 14th of Nov, as Samba mentioned, I got stuck nearly an hour after crossing Bally due to a truck overload on NH2. A complete hold up for about 40 mins after which I could take a detour just before Dankuni towards Baidyabati and rejoined NH2 through Thakurhat, which is a bit ahead of Singur. This completely spoiled the mood and delayed our journey by more than 2 hours. I reached Saktigarh around 7:30 AM, 3 hours into the drive. The rest of the journey was ok.

[gmhossain]

Originally Posted by Samba

... On further inquiry i got to know i can drive on the river bed in my own car too. But locals were discouraging us as high ground clearance vehicles are more advisable. I took the risk and hired a guide for rs 200 and went ahead in my own car. The surface to drive on is bad but with careful driving one can manage it. After driving in Ladakh and north Sikkim this drive was fairly an easy one to me!

Samba! You continue to set higher benchmarks for writing travelogue in Team-BHP together with amazing collection of photographs. Please keep it up

I guess your Etios could make many 4wd owners envious given the kind of off-roading skill it has demonstrated in multiple occasions.

Cheers,

[AJ-got-BHP]

Originally Posted by gmhossain

Samba! You continue to set higher benchmarks for writing travelogue in Team-BHP together with amazing collection of photographs. Please keep it up

I guess your Etios could make many 4wd owners envious given the kind of off-roading skill it has demonstrated in multiple occasions.

Cheers,

I guess his ETIOS has been modified to be a Rear Wheel Drive

[FuelInjector]

. loved the travelogue dada. Very nice places to visit. Have never been to the north east. Hope i can do one, that side soon.

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by StallionAmit

Hi Samba, amazing travelogue, just wanted to know how is the road condition from Kolkata to Darjeeling? can it be done in low GC cars like Honda Civic?
Did you chose any specific route etc?
I drive a Honda Civic.

Lovely travelogue, O Samba! Makes me nostalgic, I used to visit these places once every year before I moved out of Calcutta.

@AmitStallion: if you drive carefully, you can go to 95% of the places in India even in a Civic. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

[breezydrive]

Very nice T'log!

I'm contemplating a road trip to Darjeeling & North Sikkim in early January with family in Honda city.

Have visited North sikkim areas like Mangan & Chungthang in addition to Gangtok, temi, Rabangla, Jorethang on several occasions during official trips but in high GC vehicles like Scorpio / Safari etc. I'm sure Honda City can do all these areas except Dikchu & beyond towards North Sikkim. GC of ANHC has been increased slightly by upsizing. Not sure about Darjeeling - Sikkim connecting route as I've never been to Darjeeling.

Further advise about route are most welcome, our day wise plan is:

1. Noida - Agra - lucknow - Gorakhpur
2. Gorakhpur - Darbhanga - Simrahi - Siliguri
3. Siliguri - Kalimpong - Gangtok
4. Gangtok & around
5. Gangtok - Singtam - Temi
6. Temi- Darjeeling - Unknown route
7. Darjeeling & around
8. Darjeeling - Siliguri - Forbesgaunj
9. Forbesgunj - Lucknow
10. Lucknow - Delhi

[Samba]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

Lovely travelogue, O Samba! Makes me nostalgic, I used to visit these places once every year before I moved out of Calcutta.

Thanks a lot.

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

@AmitStallion: if you drive carefully, you can go to 95% of the places in India even in a Civic. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

+1

Originally Posted by breezydrive

Very nice T'log!

I'm contemplating a road trip to Darjeeling & North Sikkim in early January with family in Honda city.

Have visited North sikkim areas like Mangan & Chungthang in addition to Gangtok, temi, Rabangla, Jorethang on several occasions during official trips but in high GC vehicles like Scorpio / Safari etc. I'm sure Honda City can do all these areas except Dikchu & beyond towards North Sikkim. GC of ANHC has been increased slightly by upsizing. Not sure about Darjeeling - Sikkim connecting route as I've never been to Darjeeling.

Further advise about route are most welcome, our day wise plan is:

1. Noida - Agra - lucknow - Gorakhpur
2. Gorakhpur - Darbhanga - Simrahi - Siliguri
3. Siliguri - Kalimpong - Gangtok
4. Gangtok & around
5. Gangtok - Singtam - Temi
6. Temi- Darjeeling - Unknown route
7. Darjeeling & around
8. Darjeeling - Siliguri - Forbesgaunj
9. Forbesgunj - Lucknow
10. Lucknow - Delhi

Thanks!

Well, you can do Dikchu- Mangan- Chungthang -Lachung-Yumthang - Zeropoint in your Honda City too, provided you drive very carefully. I have done that route in Etios. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...backs-suv.html

Regarding the route from Temi to Darjeeling you can have 3 options.

1) Temi - Singtam- MelliBazar- Peshok Road - Darjeeling. (The best road condition, though a bit longer. I did the reverse route in 4 hours. Its 100 kms)

2) Temi - Namchi- MelliBazar- Peshok road - Darjeeling. ( Namchi to
Mellibazar road condition was not very good when i visited but road work was in progress.)

3)Temi -Namchi - Jorethang- Lebong kart road - Darjeeling. (If your are looking out for some adventure drive then take this route! The Lebong Kart road is very steep and narrow.)

[breezydrive]

Originally Posted by Samba

Thanks!

Well you can do Dikchu- Mangan- Chungthang -Lachung-Yumthang - Zeropoint in your Honda City too, provided you drive very carefully. I have done that route in Etios. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...backs-suv.html

Regarding the route from Temi to Darjeeling you can have 3 options.

1) Temi - Singtam- MelliBazar- Peshok Road - Darjeeling. (The best road condition, though a bit longer. I did the reverse route in 4 hours. Its 100 kms)

Thanks a lot! I hope you are talking about this :
https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/Da...4!2d27.0662177

If this route is good, I can plan Darjeeling visit in onwards journey! This helps in touching NH 31A quicker & Kalimpong during onwards journey.

[Samba]

Originally Posted by breezydrive

Thanks a lot! I hope you are talking about this :
https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/Da...4!2d27.0662177

If this route is good, I can plan Darjeeling visit in onwards journey! This helps in touching NH 31A quicker & Kalimpong during onwards journey.

Yes, am talking about this route. Peshok road is steep but road condition is very good. Honda city will glide through this road. So you can very well go to Darjeeling through this route.

[pduttaghy]

Excellent write up Samba. Enjoyed reading through it. A great way to spend quality time with one's family. You have given me a great idea for my next vacation.

[SVK Rider]

Originally Posted by Samba

Few reviews of the hotels we stayed in-

Hotel Monarch Anchal (Bagdogra/Siliguri) - Its a nice hotel with proper parking space.
On the flip side the room maintenance was on the poor side. Its good for a one night stay as the location is on the main highway.

Recommended for stay.

The Retreat (Darjeeling) - Excellent hotel with excellent rooms & location. The food is good too.
On the flip side this hotel do not have its own parking space.

Highly recommended for stay.

Cherry resort (Temi tea garden)- Excellent property in a mind-blowing location. Rooms are big and comfortable. Food is okay. Has got huge parking space.
On the flip side the service is a bit slow.

Highly recommended for stay.

Hotel Summit Sobralia (Namchi) - Excellent hotel in a very nice location with tasty food and proper parking space.
On the flip side this hotel has some maintenance issue's like a broken tap in the washroom or availability of 24 hours hot water is not very regular. These are not acceptable from a hotel with this kind of price tag.

Recommended for stay.

Bonante resort (Jayanti)- Jayanti is an offbeat place, so luxury accommodation's cant be expected. The rooms are clean and big. Food is excellent and has nice parking space. The location is excellent. Nothing against this resort.

Highly recommended for stay.

Hotel Golden park (Malda) - This hotel is located right beside NH34. The rooms are nice , clean and big. The food is good too. Plus has a big parking space. On the flip side this place is good for those who have cars. As this place is a bit away from the main city.

Highly recommended for stay.

Lovely write up as usual.
Probably the exact thing i was looking for as a reference.