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Friends,

The images which I am going to share with you are from my 2005 Noth-Bengal trip. It's almost 4 years since I went for this particular drive, but I consider it as one of my best travel experience. Rural bengal, Himalayan foot hills always fascinate me. Hope you all will like the images.

Places visited: Kolkata - Lava - Lolaygao - Kalingpong - Gangtok - Nathula

Distance covered : 1800KM approx

Vehicle used : Maruti Omni

1800 kms in OMNI :). One of my favorite car for local use. Eager to check out how comfortable you were in such a long journey.

Hmm, eagerly waiting for the pics. Bring em on!

These images are from Kolkata to Lava, Lolaygaon & Lava to Kalimpong sector.

Wow! Nice initial lot. You have a thing for photography ? Seems so from the camel, river cloud, hill shots. Keep em coming. What camera were you using?

dooars and darjeeling (dist) are my all time favouraite. Also forest dept. owns some best located bungalows there. Great pics.

Where you able to drive till nathula?

Some more images of Lava & Naora Valley.

All the images are taken by Nikon Coolpix 5200.

Driving Omni in the hills was very comfortable experience. I preferred to take Omni because of space. NH34 was in very bad shape when we travelled, so Kolkata to Siliguri patch was a nightmare. But then also, I think due to it's ground clearance and maximum front visibility from the driver's seat (I don't know the exact term .. :)), Omni performed well then most of the sedan.

The only problem I faced in the whole journey was a right-front wheel puncture near Bagdograh. And that's all.

Moreover, on my way back, I drove from Gantok to Kolkata - 750KM approx - nonstop (except fooding) - starting at 8:00am and reaching Kolkata at 3o'clock midnight. This was an unique experience which I will write later.

This image set is from Kalimpong and on our way to Gangtok

Wow! Stunning shots and you seem have a great eye. Amazing thread. Please keep the pics coming and it is a visual treat. Thanks for sharing the stuff from archives. It definitely needs to come out. Keep it going.

Fantastic pictures. Brings back many memories. I've been to Darjeeling and Sikkim so many times in over 7 different vehicles including an Omni! :) Your pictures have captured the aura of the hills very well.

Thanks buddy.... :). I will be posting more images of Gangtok & Nathula shortly.

Beautiful pics, Milinda. I really like the POV of some of them.

As I see from the date-print on one of yor pics, the time was end-Nov. The weather must have been very comfortable, but I'm surprised you found fog at that time of year. The Omni certainly is a great car to drive around in the hills, with its low gearing and good pulling power - though not the most stable.

Thanks dada. I am really amazed by your way of judging things.... :). Yes, the trip was done in the last week of Nov 2005. Fog was there, but mostly in North Bengal and during early hours.

I think dada, to some extent, stability of a vehicle depends upon the person behind the wheels. And particularly for hill driving, patience, dedication and concentration makes the ultimate difference.