[gmhossain]

"Do not worry that your life is turning upside down. How do you know that the side you are used to, is better than the one to come?" -- Jalaluddin Rumi

We were climbing up the hill for an hour or so. The fog was very dense. At one point of time, I couldn’t even see the end of the bonnet of our Nexon, let alone the road ahead. I didn’t see a place to stop as the twisting road was climbing up endlessly. The incessant rain was showing no sign of let up.

During this difficult climb and with a bit of desperation, I directed the warm air towards the windshield. I thought it may improve the visibility. To my horror, it made the bad situation much worse. The windshield then got fogged up from the inside as well. There was too much humidity in the air due to the continuous rain. I asked myself, if this is the situation in the first hour of our drive then what is going to happen in the remaining four hours of drive today? My better half and our daughter sitting in the back seats, by then had stopped talking altogether. I don’t recall when I felt so scared during a drive!

Nexon on its maiden Himalayan drive


A view from the window -- cleanses hours of toiling in a moment


Lovely roads


Three of us


A dad & daughter moment

[gmhossain]

Actually, it had been raining even before we started our journey for the day from the plains of Siliguri. A loud thunderstorm had woken me up in the middle of night. I looked at my phone, it was 2:40 am. My better half and our daughter were fast asleep next to me in a beautiful homestay where we had put up ourselves for the night.

Amidst this near zero visibility drive, rather unexpectedly, we reached a ridge where the valleys went down on both sides. This ridge was wide enough. I stopped our Nexon there. I desperately needed a break to sooth my frail nerves.

View from the cabin


Fog -- gimme a break!


Nexon at the ridge


Our destination for the day was another homestay, named "Little forest homestay" in a hilly village called Mim Busty, located at a distance of 7 km downhill from the hamlet of Sukhia Pokhri in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. Our homestay owner, Norbu Sherpa, had warned me beforehand that the last couple of kilometers of the village roads were not in a good shape. Besides, the last 1 km climb from the village road to his homestay is like, "thoda charhai hain" (it’s "a little steep"). If a hill man tells you that a road is a "little" steep then don’t ever make the mistake of taking that word "little" literally. However, I guess, I knew what he meant.

Little forest homestay


Window sitting!


Local cuisine -- Momos with Darjeeling tea

[gmhossain]

Day 1 (Oct 2, 2021): Kalyani to Sukna (Siliguri) -- 590 km

It was around 4:30 am when we started our journey from home. This was a special drive for us. We were heading to the Himalayas after quite some time. Since the onset of the pandemic, we had travelled a few times only to our family home at Malda. Recently, we had our final doses of vaccination and the itch for a Himalayan drive was getting stronger. Besides, it was going to be the first hill drive with our new Nexon.

The weather was good in the early morning. In fact, the day before we saw the emerald blue sky with bright white clouds, a typical signature of the Autumn in Bengal. It was quite striking given the kind of bad weather that was prevailing in the last several days in southern Bengal. The deep depression that arose from the Bay of Bengal had flooded the streets of Kolkata for days. The newspapers carried headlines that the residents were enjoying their fish catching skills on the famed streets of New Town, Kolkata!

Two days before the journey, I read that the deep depression had started moving towards Jharkhand and Bihar. I felt a bit relieved. However, there was a twist in the story. On the evening before our drive, the weathermen forecasted that the deep depression has now changed its direction and it would hit northern Bengal on the weekend. Basically, it meant that the day we would climb up, we would encounter heavy rain on the hill.

A day before the trip -- signature blue sky during Autumn in Bengal


Bio break at Bamandanga toll plaza near Bethuadahari


Food & fuel break at BP Morgram


The drive of 590 km from Kalyani to Siliguri was rather smooth. I guess, it was the smoothest ever drive for me along the Kolkata - Siliguri route. However, this time, it was around 40 km longer than our usual route as we drove via SH-6 to avoid the horrible stretch of NH-12 between Barasat and Krishnanagar. Also, this time we availed the Bengal-2-Bengal road via Domohona - Bhulki - Bajiaur - Goagaon - Dhantola, as suggested by BHPian arjab. The road surface was overall good barring a few short stretches. We covered this distance in about 14 hours and 30 minutes with several food, bio and photo breaks along the way.

Along Malda Bypass


A beautiful stretch of NH-12 before Raiganj


The Sun was about to set along the Islampur Bypass


View from the cabin -- Islampur Bypass

[gmhossain]

Day 2: Sukna - Mirik - Sukhia - Mim Busty -- 80 km

Amidst the non-stop rain, we began our journey for the second day at around 9 am. Our first stop was to refuel our Nexon from a BP petrol bunk along the Hill Cart road at Sukna. Last night, we stayed in a homestay at Sukna, called “Abigail Niwas”. The owners of the homestay, Abner and Uma, were wonderful hosts. Their property was maintained in an immaculate manner. We enjoyed the delicious food that they had served us for dinner. The breakfast too was really good and it was complementary.

Sukna - Mirik

After topping up our car at the BP bunk, I set the next destination to be Mirik in my phone’s GPS navigation. We planned to spend some time near the Sumendu lake on our way to Sukhia. In the meanwhile, there was no let up as far as the rain is concerned. We crossed Sukna forest road that runs through the army camp. Subsequently, we merged with the Rishi road, numbered as SH-12. The Rishi road would take us all the way up to Sukhia Pokhri. There we would leave SH-12 to take the village road to Mim Busty.

At the homestay -- Abigail Niwas




Along Hill Cart road -- drive to refuel


After crossing the one-way bridge over Balason river at Dudhia, we started our real climb by beginning to deal with the hair-pin bends. Until then the road was moving mostly along the hilly terrain with gentle slopes. As we gained some height, a thick fog joined the party along with the rain. I have driven earlier through the Peshok road in a dense fog and rain -- those who have driven along Peshok road would appreciate it -- but this drive appeared to be in a league of its own. Besides, I was also struggling with Nexon’s warm air settings. As residents of the plains, we use warm-air settings only during the winter and our new Nexon has yet to see its first winter!

During this struggle, I noticed a water stream which was flowing over the road from the left to the right. The road there appeared a bit wider. I parked our car to the extreme left by putting down the Nexon's two wheels on the deep shoulder. Otherwise, there was a high risk of getting rear-ended. The fog was extremely dense with near zero visibility.

My better half then told me that a few vehicles that passed us had their windows half-open and maybe we should do the same. We did the same. I wiped out the mist from the inside of the windshield and changed the direction of warm-air flow towards the passengers. These measures certainly improve the situation inside the cabin. In this dense fog, the only guidance that I had was from Google Maps. However, I was fully conscious about the fact that blindly relying on Google Maps on a hilly road is akin to committing hara-kiri. So I was checking Google Maps only to get a general idea about the road alignment and the position of the next hair-pin bend.

After a while, like a breath of fresh air, we reached near a wide ridge where the valley went down on both sides of the road. Here the road left from one hill to reach another. We parked our Nexon there to take a break. We then munched some snacks that we were carrying with us.

We resumed from there after fifteen minutes or so but this short break was quite rejuvenating for me to loosen up my tensed nerves. As we climbed up higher, the density of fog became a bit more manageable. At around 11:15 am we reached the parking lot near Sumendu lake at Mirik.

A small break at the ridge


Fog drive


At Mirik


Along the Rishi road

[gmhossain]

Mirik - Sukhia Pokhri - Mim Busty:

After a half an hour photo break at Mirik, we resumed our journey through the Mirik bazar road. Being a Sunday, it was relatively less crowded. In the meantime, I had a telephonic conversation with our homestay owner, Norbu Sherpa. We had booked his homestay to spend our next two nights.

Norbu asked me to call him again after reaching Sukhia Pokhri. If any help is needed, he would come there. I told him that I should be able to reach the last junction along the Mim busty road from where the climb to his homestay would begin. There, I would need his help. He assured me that he would take control of the steering wheel of our Nexon for the last 1 km. He also told me that our lunch would be served hot as soon as we got there.

The weather conditions had become a bit better. We could occasionally enjoy the beautiful but veiled vistas of the hilly tea gardens along the road. The mesmerizing views along the Rishi road on a clear day would be delightful, I reasoned with myself. We crossed the road around the Pashupatinagar, the Nepal border crossing point, which was crowded with the tourist vehicles. Then we crossed the Simana basti from where the famed road to Sandakphu begins.

After crossing the hamlet of Sukhia Pokhri, at around 1:30 pm we bade goodbye to Rishi road that was going towards Ghoom. In the meantime, my better half spoke with Norbu over the phone to update him about our position.

Tea gardens along the Rishi road


Veiled but mesmerizing view from the cabin


A photo break


At home, I had studied the route map from Sukhia to this homestay using Google Maps and satellite views. Nevertheless, we got our first shock from the Google Maps there itself. Along the village road to Mim Busty, we were supposed to come to a fork where one arm would continue along the western direction whereas we were supposed to take the arm that was going towards the north. However, when we reached that point, there was no road along the north, not even a trail. Instead, there the valley was going down hundreds of feet straight down below. I thought the fork must be wrongly located in the Maps and it should be ahead of us. We have been driving rather slowly. So there was no way we could have missed any north-bound road in the last one kilometer or so. We continued along the road.

After driving for another kilometer or so, I felt certain that we had lost our way. Google Maps navigation was simply stuck, as the section of the road on which we were driving simply didn’t exist according to Google Maps. After Mim Phatak at Sukhia, we hadn't crossed a single soul. As we were contemplating for making a u-turn, luckily, a Marshal passenger jeep emerged from the foggy road as a saviour. The driver as well as the passengers were very keen to help us out. After getting a sufficient dose of manual navigation advice, we realized that we were moving along the only road in this part and it was also the correct road that would lead us to our homestay.

After driving over six kilometers of broken hilly road, finally we reached the junction near a small temple. A water stream was flowing down. After parking our Nexon there, I called up Norbu. He told me that he would reach there shortly. In the meanwhile, I walked up a bit to see the gradient and switch-backs in the last mile of the trail. Some of the stretches looked really steep to me, I wasn’t sure whether our Nexon would be able to make it to the top!

I already had a tough day of driving and I didn’t want to make it any worse. So I handed over the key of our Nexon to Norbu who, along with one of his staff, came down in their Mahindra pickup. The Nexon was fired-up, slotted in the Sports mode (Nexon goes back to City mode, if you stop the car!). With a sigh of relief, Nexon along with the four passengers and luggage made it through the steep trail to reach the homestay without any fuss! At the parking lot, Nexon also earned a few words of praise from Norbu! There he told me that he takes his Wagon-R routinely there. However, for someone who doesn’t know this terrain, it would be a daunting climb for the first time.

The approach road to the homestay -- on the right -- Norbu's white pickup van coming down


The same approach road a day later


Sigh of relief!


Nexon at the top


Missus and daughter

[gmhossain]

Day 3: A leisurely day around Mim busty

I woke up at around 5 am without any alarm. Last night, I had checked that the next Sunrise would be at around half past five in the morning. I had hoped that by morning the sky would clear up. Actually, the rain had stopped by the time we had reached the homestay a day before. It was a bit cloudy but in much better conditions than what we had seen in the morning.

Although my logical mind had lost all hopes of seeing Kanchenjunga after experiencing yesterday's drive, my other feeling was hoping against hope! Who knows? After all, in the Himalayas the weather changes at the drop of a feather, I argued to myself.

In any case, it was one of my most memorable mornings. As the diffused sunlight was slowly breaking into the dawn, I could see the first ridge ahead of me. Incidentally, this was the hill of Bijanbari. After a little while, another ridge beyond the Bijanbari got unveiled from the fog. Later one I learned, the second ridge onward is a part of the state of Sikkim. I could see another five or six ridges beyond the first two. Eventually, the direct sunlight started breaking through the cloud cover, creating a mesmerizing view of light and shadow in the mountains. Unfortunately, the situation didn’t improve any further. A white cloud cover was blocking the apparent majestic view of Mt. Kanchenjunga from us.

The ridges after ridges -- A Himalayan grandeur


The light and the shadow




Mim Tea Estate:

After the morning tea, three of us went out for a walk towards the village. I also wanted to have a better look at the gradient of last 1 km approach trail. After an hour-long walk through the Mim village, we returned to our homestay for breakfast.

After completing our breakfast, we decided to walk back again towards the village and reach the famous Mim Tea Garden by Andrew Yule & Co. The Mim village road, paved with boulders, is strictly a 4x4 territory. However, humans with 2x2 legs could do it just fine, maybe with a puff of fresh air every five minutes or so! The views were stunning to say the least. Apparently, the river Rangit was flowing through the valley down below. However, we didn’t plan to reach there as it would have taken several hours of trekking.

We enjoyed a hot lunch after returning to the homestay. Later we requested them to make some Momos for afternoon snacks and cook some local menu items for dinner. The cook was visibly happy to hear that we wanted to taste their local cuisine.

On a walk toward Mim Tea Estate




The Mosses


Wild flower


Way to Andrew Yule & Co. Mim Tea Estate






Houses nestled amidst the tea gardens


In the afternoon, we explored the surroundings around the homestay. It's a sprawling property with a stunning view. I must say, this homestay has an exotic location and it offers a grand view of the wide horizon. Additionally, they have an observation deck at the top most location of their property where one would need to climb through a series of stairs. The amenity wise, the homestay was basic. It had no TV. However, importantly, it had running hot water.

On a clear day from the homestay, we were told, one could enjoy the majestic view of Mt. Kanchenjunga from almost everywhere, be it the bedroom, the lawn or even the dining area! Of course, it’s a different story that I have a very special relationship with Mount K. She always avoids me for one reason or another!

At the observation tower


The view of the homestay from the top


At the dining area

[gmhossain]

Day 4 & 5: Mim Busty - Mirik - Malda - Kalyani -- 672 km

Like the previous day, I woke up again at 5 am and without any alarm. Although, I felt instinctively that Mt. Kanchenjunga would not be visible even today. The day was sunny but there were too many white clouds on the horizon.

We loaded our Nexon with our baggage and by 7 am we were ready to leave. Given I had already walked twice through the terrain on the previous day, I was confident of navigating our Nexon in the first 1 km. In the meanwhile, the lady at the kitchen had also woken up. She served us our morning tea and also gave us a pack of made-with-care bread-butter, omelette and even some boiled eggs, for us to eat on the way. Actually, we didn’t even ask for it, as their breakfast time was at 9 am. However, it was their courtesy to give us a packed breakfast. We have always enjoyed gracious and warm hospitality in the hills.

We re-traced the road through Mirik along which we had our onward journey. However, this time journey was much more enjoyable. At Mirik, we were redirected to take an outer road to bypass Mirik bazar area. Along the way we bought some carrots from a road-side seller near Simana busty. We also bought three big pine apples from a seller near a pine-apple field along NH-27 near Ghoshpukur. During the return journey, we had planned for an overnight stay with my parents at our Malda home. After a fuel and lunch break at BP Ghoshpukur, we made it to our Malda home by 7 pm in the evening. The next day we started a bit late. After having an early lunch at home, we reached Kalyani by the evening, again through the same route.

Nexon at a majestic parking lot!


Shingli -- An Asian Shepherd, owned by Norbu Sherpa


Drive amidst the tea gardens along the Rishi road










Nexon is back at the same ridge where we got the breather during onward journey


A simple lunch at BP Ghoshpukur


The day and our trip came to an end -- sunset along NH-12 on the way to Malda


Epilogue:

By any standard, this was a rather fast hill trip for us. We were driving for long hours on four out of five days. Our daughter had made friends with Shingli, an Asian Shepherd dog owned by Norbu Sherpa. She actually didn’t want to leave the homestay so soon. I too thought of extending our stay by another day. However, both me and my better half had committed deadlines to meet at our workplaces. So with a bit of heavy heart we bade goodbye to the Himalayas once more with a promise of returning there soon. Nevertheless, without this short trip I could have missed the deadline even sitting at home, I was so exhausted.

Lately, it seems that we are preferring to spend our holidays at homestays. Somehow, the homestays give us more engagements while being at far away places. This time too we enjoyed both the homestays, “Abigail Niwas” at Sukna, as well as “Little forest homestay” at Mim Busty. Thank you guys, for giving us those leisurely breaks at your property.

Besides, this was our first Himalayan trip with our new Nexon and as a driver, I did have a few apprehensions. However, after this trip, I could put them to rest. Undoubtedly, Nexon is a solid machine and can tackle varied terrain with ease. I drove our Nexon in Sports mode throughout the trip. Nevertheless, using tankfull-to-tankfull method, our petrol Nexon returned a commendable mileage of 16.4 kmpl for the trip involving 1342 km of drive, including about 160 km of hill road. This tightly-packed trip also testifies the overall comfort level that the Nexon offers on vastly different road surfaces. The odometer reading of our Nexon now stands at 4562 km. In case you are interested, Initial Ownership Review of our Nexon is posted here: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...xm-petrol.html.

The MID however was a bit more optimistic at 18.2 kmpl


My tryst with Mt. Kanchenjunga:

Finally, I should end this travelogue by mentioning my special relationship with Mount Kanchenjunga. Last year, I had commented on BHPian ABHI_1512's travelogue ( https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post4940908 (A mouthful of sky and the Kangchenjunga - Drive to the hills from Calcutta)) that Mount K. has eluded me every time in the last two decades. This time too, there was no exception.

However, the kind of vistas that we were gifted in this trip, I could only quote the greatest mystic Rumi once more:

"Who could be so lucky? Who comes to a lake for water and sees the reflection of the moon."

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Samba]

Yet another beautiful travelogue from the hills of NorthBengal.
The first drive to the Himalaya in a new car is always special.
The short wheelbase, with very little overhangs, a small turning radius with a peppy engine and more than adequate ground-clearance makes the Nexon an excellent car for hill drives.

[arjab]

GMH & Nexon Travels & Tours Pvt Ltd is at it again! Serving up brilliant travelogues, lovely photographs and route planning to some really delectable destinations!

Reading this was the ideal way to start the week & beating the Monday blues!
The Nexon is a good performer in the hills. The biggest advantages are it's short overhang, ground clearance and long travel suspension which helps it to tackle varied road conditions often encountered in the hills.

Looking forward to more such nuggets from GMH & Nexon Travels & Tours Pvt Ltd in the not too distant future.

[PapaBravo]

First of all, Congratulations on the Nexon Golam Da. It looks amazing in the hills.

Beautiful travelogue from you. The place looks very nice. Lovely pictures of the family too. Here you were fighting the fog whereas we wanted some fog/mist since it was very sunny in the hills last week.

As discussed with you, we took the SH-6 route and loved it. Also, Islampur byepass is amazing.

Cheers,
Pawan

[SulemanP]

Excellent travelogue! on the one side it lets you know the beautiful landscape in Northern India and on the other side it tells you how capable TATA Nexon is. It really builds confidence about the machine for other owners who may have not tried their hands on hilly terrain...

Better luck next time for a view of Mt. Kanchanchunga

[buntee90]

A very nice travelogue complete with beautiful locations and photos!
I must say your Nexon Petrol returned an astonishing Mileage of 16.2 KMPL that too on hilly terrain.

Maybe we'll get to see some more beautiful locations in your quest to see the might Kanchenjunga!

[BlackPearl]

Finally the Nexon breaks the shackles and goes on its maiden trip to the Himalayas! Excellent travelogue Golam Da as usual and the Nexon is looking beautiful in the hills.

Originally Posted by gmhossain

If a hill man tells you that a road is a "little" steep then don’t ever make the mistake of taking that word "little" literally. However, I guess, I knew what he meant.

Ha ha, add "thoda duur" (little bit far) to this as well. We all know about country miles, mountain miles are something we come to know when we ask for distances in the Himalayas

[SVK Rider]

Wow.
Lovely Travelogue. Awesome Pictures and beautiful descriptions.