[Mountain_Deep]

Teaser:


Reality:
As a family, we had been wanting to plan a trip for long. My parents being doctors were having a tough time with increased work pressure since March. My father was nagging every weekend that the Hills are calling him but unfortunately no one could make it. As I started my MBA course this year, and it being online, it was either me who could not make time or my parents could not take a break. With this time issue for long, all plans for trips kept getting postponed or cancelled.

Durga Puja 2020

With the Pujas coming, the urge for a vacation increased but the schedule back home was not favouring a trip. We even tried planning for a trip close from home at either Shantiniketan or Mandarmani.

Now, my Uncle who hails from Siliguri, decides that he will be driving back home this year after a whole dilemma phase of not travelling this year or going by road.
So, on 21st October evening, my Uncle makes his decision and plans to leave on 22nd night. After getting to know this, my urge for a vacation increased and I ended up calling my father whether we could travel together. A negative response from him and I try to subdue my whole excitement of a road trip.
22nd October around 12pm, my father calls me and asks whether I am interested for the trip but he informed it will be difficult for him to get leaves. He returns home at 5pm and confirms he can take the leave as his colleague has accepted to take his patients under joint admission and will take care of them.
My mother is informed and she is ready for the trip as well and she could manage her work.
Packing is done in a jiffy and I take a short nap and leave home for North Bengal at 11 pm that night. Dad gets the bookings done for the next two nights at Sterling Resort, Ghoom and we decide to take the Ecosport this time.

22nd October, 2020
At 11:30pm, we crank the engine and start our journey. We meet our Uncle and both the cars start together. Bhpian Samba and our common friend Mr Chandan Roy helped me in planning the route.

Route Taken : Konnagar(Outskirts of Kolkata) - Old Delhi Road - Kalyani - Ranaghat - Badkulla - Krishnanagar - Berhampore Town - Morgram - Farakka - Malda Bypass - Raiganj - Dalkhola - Islampur - Siliguri.
Note: We stuck to the same route in the return journey as well.

23rd October, 2020
The Issue and The Solve:
The AC in our Ecosport wasn't feeling much effective and in 30kms from starting, we felt the AC wasn't working at all. Cold air was blowing in while idling and braking otherwise the car started feeling stuffy. We had to open the windows and continue the whole journey without AC. Felt like those olden times when we used to travel in our Omni or the 800.
Bhpian Samba and Mr Chandan were in constant touch with me and suggested fixes and kept updating the route.
Ford Service centre in Siliguri wasn't picking up the call and neither my Service Advisor in Kolkata. His number was switched off. We guessed that they have closed down and we wont be getting a fix in the trip.
On reaching Siliguri, the Ford Service centre is on the way to Matigara, from where we turn left for Darjeeling. We tried our luck and they were open. They were closing but upon our request decided to check the car once. Upon inspection it was found a wire had been torn and they repaired it with a black tape. Set back of Rs 800. We requested them to check the AC filter at least, to which the manager agreed. It was not in a good condition and we decided to replace it.
Total Cost - Rs 960


Coming back to the Journey, we kept good pace but had to be careful as this route is full of surprise potholes and craters which show up all of a sudden. We refuelled the cars after crossing Farakka around 6:30am and everyone used the washroom. Crossing Malda bypass, we gave a tea break and drove straight to Dalkhola. We faced traffic near the railway crossing but we crossed Dalkhola in 20-25 mins and we were happy considering the standards of this place.
After crossing Dalkhola, we stopped at BPCL Ghar for breakfast. We liked the tadka at this place.
After breakfast, we saw Google Maps showing a 1 hour 20 mins traffic snarl at Islampur. I started looking for alternate routes and contacted Mr Chandan Roy again. He suggested to stick to Islampur route and use the shoulders to cross the traffic as the other routes are narrow town roads.
We found the traffic around 7 kms before Islampur and luckily I found an Ambulance and I followed it through constantly shifting from the left shoulder to the right shoulder and back. I was happy that I was driving a car with good GC and compact as I could cross the traffic with ease. Crossing Islampur, the roads were good till Siliguri. Reached Siliguri around 2:45pm.

White Dragon and TDCi posing together
After Crossing Farakka:


In between Raigunj-Dalkhola:

Just Before Reaching Bagdogra:


We left the Ford Service Centre at 4:15pm and my Uncle with his family continued his journey to his home and we started our journey to Ghoom. Crossed Matigara and decided to take the Rohini Road till Kurseong and follow the Hill Cart Road then till Ghoom. As we started the climb, it started raining torrentially and there was heavy fog till Kurseong. I was on the wheels with my father being my navigator. I had to be careful in this stretch. It got dark by the time we crossed Kurseong but the roads after that were wide enough and we continued our climb. After crossing Sonada, we stopped for a short break with Tea and Momos. From here, we went straight to Ghoom and to our hotel. From the main road, we need to turn left to take the road to our hotel and that stretch is very narrow with bazaar on both sides and broken roads. In the next 2 days, I had a tough time in this road with cars coming from the opposite side and I had to reverse and still the cars would pass with mm clearance.
A steep climb from the main gate to the porch and I parked the car and we checked in at 7pm.

Rohini Road(Siliguri-Kurseong Stretch):


We were very tired and after a warm bath, we quickly had dinner and called it a day.

The Parking Space at Sterling, Ghoom


24th October, 2020
Waking up to see the Kanchenjunga is bliss.


We had breakfast and enjoyed the view for sometime and decided to visit Lamahatta. Crossed Ghoom town and continued the journey, to be greeted with dense fog. Travelled slowly in this stretch and a convoy had formed behind me and no one was overtaking me. Had to drive as a lead car and reached Lamahatta only to find huge number of tourists and no parking space. Managed a parking spot but we did not want to go as there were loads of people and no social distancing. Parked the car and we took a stroll in the mountain roads and had tea in a local shop. Enjoyed the feel of the cold hills walking down the road and we stayed for some time. Decided to drive back to the hotel and take rest. My parents were enjoying just walking around, staying in the rooms and travelling in the passenger seats. They enjoyed the trip that way as they could finally take rest after months of huge workload due to Covid and the fact they were expecting a worse time returning as there were chances of a spike after the Pujas.

At Lamahatta:






We planned to stay for one more night in the hills before returning home but Sterling could not manage a room. We decided to check for options elsewhere and in the meantime drive down to Darjeeling for some good dinner. Unfortunately, most of the hotels were booked and we could not find any lodging. My father finally called up his patient, who is the President of the Darjeeling Hotel Owners Association. He arranged rooms for us and a hotel with a parking spot. We went there directly to meet the manager and confirm our booking and parked our car there as we walked to Shangri-La for Dinner. My uncle called in the meantime and they wanted to join us for the next day. We made the booking for two rooms and in the meantime gorged a delicious meal. The food is great over here and the ambience is perfect to come and chill. Had a delicious dinner of Hakka Noodles and Chilli Pork and Kung Pao Chicken. We were so excited about the food, that we forgot to click pictures and ravished them soon. After dinner walked back to the hotel and drove back to Ghoom for the night.
At Shangri-La:


25th October, 2020

Woke up to a cloudy day but could see a glimpse of the Kanchenjunga.

Sterling Ghoom, before we checked out:


After breakfast we checked out and proceeded to Darjeeling. The route had traffic and we reached in an hour. After checking in, we went straight to the Mall. My Uncle reached soon and joined us there. We had a good lazy afternoon walking around, enjoying the chill and taking in the vibe of our favourite hill station. It started raining soon, and we went to Gleanry's to have room good food.
We had a mini shopping spree and we returned back to the hotel to spend time together. Later, we went out for dinner but were disheartened to find no Pork. Retired after dinner as we had a long day coming up.

The Mall at Darjeeling:


Durga Puja at Darjeeling


Parking at Sanderling Resort, Darjeeling:


26th October, 2020
Woke up feeling fresh but was sad as we had to leave the hills that day. Wished to stay more but unfortunately work schedule did not permit so. Had breakfast at hotel and checked out at 10am.

Crossing Ghoom:

After Crossing Ghoom:



I took the wheels and we started our descent. As it was Dussehra, the roads were comparatively empty with few people and very less traffic. Took the same route as the onward journey. Reached Matigara at 12:15pm and we refuelled the car. My father took the wheels and we started munching miles at a fast pace. We crossed Dalkhola in 5 mins this time. All these years, we have never seen this place with such less traffic. The roads were clear all the way and we traveled non-stop till Gazole where we stopped for late lunch around 4:15pm. We have this fixed stop on this route, Banaful Dhaba. We love the food quality over here and the place is clean with proper parking space. The mutton over here is too good and we had a good meal. Started from here at 5pm and continued our journey. It got dark while crossing Malda and we drove straight till Berhampore non-stop. We had to take the bypass this time at Berhampore as the town was closed due to Dashami immersion process. The roads are bad in the bypass but we had sparse traffic and we could continue our journey fast. From here we drove non stop crossing Krishnanagar, Badkulla, Kalyani to Bandel where we stopped to meet another uncle of mine and use the washroom at their place. After a quick stop, we drove back home and it took 40 mins from there.
Parked the White Dragon in our garage at 12:20am and with that we had the curtain call to our trip.
Resting Back Home:



Road Conditions:
The Old Delhi Road is in very good condition and we made pace here. Kalyani-Ranaghat section had potholes and one needs to be a bit careful. Somehow this is the case if this stretch whenever we travel on this road. The Ranaghat-Badkulla-Krishnanagar sector has 5 railway crossings and passes through towns. As we travelled late both time, we had no issues with local traffic or the railway crossings. The road condition is also good. Krishnanagar-Berhampore sector has good roads but there are lots of diversions as the roads continuously shift from dual-lane to single lane roads ad back. One needs to be careful as I could not find proper signs as well. Berhampore Town has good roads and one can avail this at late hours. Other time, one will get traffic a lot. The bypass has broken roads but manageable. Berhampore-Malda roads are good with surprise potholes and craters and one needs to be careful. There are no roads at Kaliachowk and one needs to crawl in this sector. Malda-Raigunj sector is full of potholes and craters in the onward journey but at better roads in the returning lane. Dalkhola was availed instead of Botolbari as the time was similar according to Google Maps. Dalkhola-Siliguri roads in both the lanes is similar to Malda-Raigunj sector in the onward lane.
Honestly, I am not complaining about Kolkata-Siliguri roads as I have never found considerably better conditions in this route ever.

Facts and Figures:
Time Taken Kolkata-Siliguri: 15 hours
Driving Time: 13.5 hours

Time Taken Siliguri-Kolkata: 12 hours
Driving Time: 11 hours

Total Distance Travelled: 1349.4 kms
Average Fuel Consumption: 12.5km/l
Total Toll Paid:Rs 710

Note: All photos were clicked using mobile phone, please excuse the quality.

[BlackPearl]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to Travelogues. Thanks for sharing!


Nice travelogue Mountain_Deep. It always makes me happy to see travelogues on Darjeeling. You got a lovely view of Kanchenjungha.

We were in Darjeeling last year around this time. Missed it this year.

[Rangy62]

Nice write up. You did mention advice of driving on the shoulder and following an ambulance. Usually shoulders are meant for emergency vehicles and one should not not be driving or parking on them, but again the masses need to educated on this. Tailgating an ambulance is just not done. Sorry this is not to demean you but just information for the future.

[arindambasu13]

Nice travelogue and pics as well! Always fantastic to see some crisp views of the legendary Kanchenjunga.

On another note, I noticed that both cars in your group were Ecosports. How was the performance between the TDCI and Dragon motors? Could you spot any differences in their behaviour on the highway and also when climbing the hilly gradients?

[avi_swift]

Nice account of your trip Mountain_Deep...

One thing I must ask you: why did you travel via Krishnagar/Berhampore instead of Bardhaman? I have travelled on this road couple of months back and the condition of the NH till Bardhaman is good. Also Google is saying now that this road will be almost 1 hour faster than than the Krishnagar route. Is the condition of Bardhaman-Morgram stretch so bad which made you take the other one?

[Lowflyer23]

Originally Posted by Mountain_Deep

[b]
We found the traffic around 7 kms before Islampur and luckily I found an Ambulance and I followed it through constantly shifting from the left shoulder to the right shoulder and back.

Sorry to say but that is very wrong behaviour and you are calling yourself lucky just because someone was fighting for his/her life and you were able to save your time because of their condition. This is a very irresponsible driving, and this causes difficulty to other road users too, people see drivers like these and start following these techniques. I request the mods to take necessary action as such inappropriate behaviour should not be taken lightly.

[Mountain_Deep]

Originally Posted by avi_swift

One thing I must ask you: why did you travel via Krishnagar/Berhampore instead of Bardhaman?

Earlier we used to take the Bardhaman-SH7 route while travelling to Siliguri and our initial plans was to take the same but after consulting with some friends and other Bhpians who travelled recently, I was recommended this route. And I found this stretch in good condition(Better than my expectations). Generally traffic is more via Krishnanagar but we were lucky both the times as on our onward journey it was late night and in our return leg we got clear roads as it was Dashami.

Originally Posted by arindambasu13

Nice travelogue and pics as well!

How was the performance between the TDCI and Dragon motors? Could you spot any differences in their behaviour on the highway and also when climbing the hilly gradients?

Thank You so much arindambasu13.
I did not drive the TDCI in the hills but I drove it for around a 100 kms on the highway.
The Dragon is beautiful motor which is fun and always eager if kept at a slightly higher rpm. I felt the Dragon was more peppy and eager while the TDCI was relaxed. One thing I felt a lot was that the petrol felt lighter than the diesel. The diesel was front heavy and felt more at ease on bad roads.
This was my first time driving a petrol motor in the hills, having driven the Old Innova extensively earlier. So this was a different experience for me.

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

Nice travelogue Mountain_Deep. It always makes me happy to see travelogues on Darjeeling. You got a lovely view of Kanchenjungha.

Thank You Blackpearl. Yes we were indeed lucky to get such good views of the Kanchenjunga.
Darjeeling is my favourite destination and I feel a connect with this place. This is my 9th visit to this hill station. It's a perfect place to go and spend time relaxing.

Originally Posted by Lowflyer23

This is a very irresponsible driving, and this causes difficulty to other road users too, people see drivers like these and start following these techniques.

Originally Posted by Rangy62

You did mention advice of driving on the shoulder and following an ambulance. Usually shoulders are meant for emergency vehicles and one should not not be driving or parking on them, but again the masses need to educated on this. Tailgating an ambulance is just not done. Sorry this is not to demean you but just information for the future.

I am extremely sorry for this incident Lowflyer23 and Rangy62. I do not endorse this kind of driving and generally I avoid the same.
In this situation I did start by following the ambulance for around 300m but then when I was trying to get back to the lane, the cops asked us to keep following using the shoulders. All the small cars were asked to use the shoulders and I was lucky as I had a compact vehicle with good GC.
In the Kolkata-Siliguri sector, there are multiple roadblocks that are present and the trucks are stopped on the highway covering up the lanes completely and the local cops ask the private vehicles to follow the wrong lane. Bhpians who frequent this sector will know the scenario better.

[Burn_out]

Great travelogue buddy !!

It's a fantastic time of the year to be up in the hills. Loved the foggy roads and the ES on the road. Would have loved it even better, had it been the Duster.

Coming to the issue of following the ambulance on the shoulder, I understand your situation. That's just how the traffic and road conditions are towards Siliguri. It's easy for us to comment on the right way to drive, but even the cops ask you to drive on the wrong way and over the shoulder to manage the traffic snarls. I would invite people to get a taste of this section of highway before they comment on the legitimacy of your decision.

Here's wishing you many more safe travels (maybe some with the Duster).

[DriveTrain]

Great snaps and write up Mountain_Deep - the Ecosport feels right at home in those surroundings ! You have beautifully captured the ambience of the hills . Lesser tourists seems to be a blessing in disguise for the ecosystem , though I am sure that it has taken a great toll on the local economy.

[pensive_07]

That was a really beautifully written piece, crisp and capturing all the details!
Felt like going to the hills right away

[Mile_Breaker]

Thanks Mountain_Deep for sharing. Loved the Lamahatta pics. As you mentioned you had a hard time finding accomodation for that extra day means tourists have started flocking to Darjeeling.
Whoever has done Kolkata - NJP is aware of the never ending truck queues and either using the shoulders or using the opposite lane is quite normal in that stretch.

[PapaBravo]

Beautiful travelogue Mountain Deep. A trip to the hills is always rejuvenating. Good to see that your parents got a well deserved break. Picturess although from phone are amazing.

Cheers,
Pawan

[basuk]

Great travelogue overall...Mountain Deep!

Good old NH34 and similar parallel roads are lifelines for connecting the north Bengal with Kolkata. Dooars, Darjeeling, Kalimpong are the key tourist destinations of ours.. but sadly still the roads are poorly built, congested and single-laned.
Hope, we would see much better roads in the next couple of years and our travel to the Himalayas would be a breeze!

~/kb

[pu5han]

Quite a well detailed travelogue. Thanks you for the details of the road/route. The pictures are fabulous, and I hope next time we can do a trip together!