Day 1 : Kolkata -Siliguri(669Kms)
Note:-The car was driven for the entire stretch by my driver. It is he who owns the full credit of driving us to Darjeeling. I was just his navigator. I have still not got my license!
We planned to reach Siliguri by evening and halt there for the night and continue our journey next morning. Therefore we started at 3:30AM in the morning from our home in Garia, Kolkata. The early morning drive out of Kolkata was a breeze and in no time we crossed the now dreaded Santragachi Flyover which was under repair. We have often faced huge snarls at the flyover but luckily this time we found it empty.
Cruising through NH2 some where near Gurap
Darjeeling More.(We take right from here onto Panagarh-Moregram State Highway)
It is often said the journey from Kolkata to Siliguri is always a gamble and even after hearing the dreaded road condition of NH34 we were expecting a driving time of around 14 hours. But there is a common say, “Man proposes and God disposes”. You will later find out what lay as a surprise.
Look what we spotted,a rare seen!
We stopped for breakfast at Rampurhat at 10:00AM. We did not find any decent dhaba, the only savior to our hunger pangs was a hotel which served only bread and omelet as breakfast. We started from Rampurhat at 10:30AM. We took a left onto NH-34 after Morgram. The road is a mixed bag with some stretches with 4 lanes and excellent surface.
It was around 4.7 km from the Farakka Barrage near Kashinagar that we first dealt with the true reality of NH34.
A few kilometers long traffic jam!
We were stuck behind a few kilometers long snarl all lined up with trucks. The saddest part being that they were all stagnant and none of them moved. The opposite lane was also stagnant and one could not overtake either way.Our’s was the only passenger vehicle in the middle of trucks. We could bypass spurts of the jam by driving on the wrong side but it seemed that the line of trucks never ended. The road was so narrow that sometimes going on the wrong side could stop the oncoming traffic thus creating a deadlock. Our main concern on the trip was our much beloved Fluidic Verna which has a very low ground clearance and the clearance was further reduced by the weight of the luggage. Driver of pickup vans who frequented the sector said the jam could last till late at night!!!!!
We were shocked. Verna has a relatively small fuel tank and we were running out of fuel by idling with the ac on. We were lucky to stop a few activities on the Farakka Bridge as we were stuck over it for around 40 mins. Firstly, we saw several trains pass by and a barrage gate being opened. Right after Farraka we took left for barrage colony detour which landed us on a bridge. The detour was not of much use as we were stuck on top of bridge with miles of truck behind and ahead while the opposite lane few feet below was empty. The jam continued till Kaliachak and costed us precious time as we were setback by 6 hours.
Train passing by
Barrage Colony Detour
Approaching Kaliachak
Approaching Kaliachak
We reached Golden Park Hotel, Malda for a late lunch at 5 pm. I must say that the hotel houses a multi cuisine restaurant which serves a great variety of food.
Golden Park Hotel
Then after Malda towards Dalkhola was again a mix of single and dual carriageways. By that time God had realized that these poor petrol head has already suffered a lot so luckily Dalkhola was open.
This toll plaza was not opened at that time.Recently I heard that it has become operational.
We halted at a dhaba just before Kishanganj for a late evening tea and much needed stretch. We reached Siliguri around 11pm and checked into our room at Summit Milestone Siliguri at 11:30pm.So our exciting journey came to an end after 20 hours .Even after such an exhausting journey everybody was filled with great enthusiasm and zeal thinking about our first road trip to the Hills in our Fluidic. One thing that cannot be ignored is the politeness and courtesy of the truckers. Whenever they saw a private vehicle coming on the opposite direction they gave way and whenever we tried to enter their lane by overtaking several of them, they obliged.
Hotel Review:-Summit Milestone is a wonderful property and even late at night around 12 am they served us tasty butter naan and chicken rezala. The breakfast spread was huge. At Rs 2000 per day I would say it to be a very good deal.
After a 20hours journey this is what we were looking for
Summit Milestone Hotel,Siliguri
Toll Paid:- Vidyasagar Setu Toll Plaza-Rs10
Dankuni Toll Plaza-Rs 60
Palsit Toll Plaza-Rs 65
Ajoy Bridge,at Illambazar-Rs20
Chandermore Toll Plaza-Rs 40
Surjapur Toll Plaza-Rs65
Paschim Madati Toll Plaza-Rs45
Total Distance travelled from Home to Summit Milestone Hotel,Siliguri-669km