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-   -   Mhawk goes from Vihar, tulsi lake (Mumbai) to Gurdongmar lake (Sikkim) (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/89193-mhawk-goes-vihar-tulsi-lake-mumbai-gurdongmar-lake-sikkim-4.html)

[quote=ac 427;2084583]Hey all,
Yesterday we spent the whole day in Gantok trying to arrange for permits. A quick update on that.
As expected a MH registered number is not possible to get a permit, this is the answer that we got from the tourism office, from the window on the permit counter too.
a. Nathula is now next to impossible for atleast a month. The main road that connects to nathu la is washed away in rains, there is an alternate road through zuluk. But the problem is there is a manned police check post which does not allow vehicles to pass to and fro after 1.30 p.m, and the drive on this new road via zuluk will take approx 6 hours for an experienced driver in Sikkim, also the lack of staying in and around nathu la makes it almost impossible.

Hi, ac427,
Good luck & hope you get the permit to North sikkim tour.

What a bad news about Nathulla pass. Hope it gets better in another 10-12 days.
As per my plans I am leaving bangalore on 29th & reach Gangtok on 3 or 4th Oct after visiting Tirupathi temple & 1 day Kolkata Local Sight seeing.
I am driving my I20 to Gangtok.
I am eager to meet you guys in Gangtok / sikkim. I will PM my mobile numbers so we can be in touch in Gangtok.
Hoping to make Mumbai Bhpians meet Bangy Bhpians in Sikkim.
regards
sree

Uh-oh. But road closure at Nathu La wasn't unexpected.

Again, road condition reports indicate Gurudongmar may not be open.
Pretty much most hotels in the N-E of India have this rule, from the Darjeeling belt to Sikkim to Bhutan to Meghalaya. Don't know about Arunachal etc. Not worth going into hand-to-hand combat for that! :)
Folks in this belt don't open up / warm up easily to non-locals as much as HP and UK folks do. Nor are they as impeccably honest as HP/UK folks (though about 10 times better than the average man on the streets of Delhi or Mumbai). I've never felt they're downright rude as such, just somewhat uncommunicative.

Wishing you luck on that.

Thanks for the news update on the closure of the Nathu la road.
The alternative route via Zuluk is supposed to be fantastic, we have all read adc's lovely TL in that sector.
The late-stay rule for hotels in SK is funny, I did not face any such problem last year.
SST, hotels in Arunachal? What is that?rl:

ac427, why did you take so much of time to drive from Farakka to Gangtok - you have taken a whole day, I took just 8.5 hours!

Yes, but adc had the advantage of being Bong, in a WB-reg car. Plus he got away by being mistaken for an Army vehicle.

The 10:30 pm return rule was always there - even 20 years ago. And indeed, rl: about Arunachal and its hotels as far as I've heard.

Hai,

Watching your thread closely, lots of adventure and hard drives. Great to hear about the M-hwak behavior too:)

As suspected, chance of getting permit for outside car is remote, the local gangs are too strong for that, you need to be army-type to get past that rule a friend of mine based there informed me.

Wish you luck for Gurdongmar; from reports of rain havoc, you'd need lots of luck to get that permit and reach there.

Tred easy with the locals, it's not worth getting into a fight so far away from home, better to stick to local laws, written or unwritten.

Godspeed.........

--Ramky
=======

Yea the sikkimese people have a very glass like exterior, but once u get past that they will sacrifice their arm and a leg to help you out. So they do appear cold initially. Hope you have a very good stay in sikkim and please do not pin all your hopes in getting those permits otherwise u might be very disappointed when u dont get it. I personally seriously doubt that u will get them without any army backing. So do have a plan B all ready (as in hiring a mahindra taxi to take u there).

we've got the permits!! that also, our permit states (a written remark) that we are guests of the Police Inspector at the Gangtok police checkpost!

more details in about an hour, right now we are in mangan, about 2 hours drive before lachen.

We've had the most topsy turvy day and i cannot wait to share the story, give me an hour as i sort out some car problems...

Wonderful news. Waiting to hear more details about how you managed it.

Day 6
Gangtok – Mangan.
Day 6 of the trip was the most topsy turvy day I have encountered for a while. it begun on a horrible note, I had parked my scorpio in a no parking zone for which my license and the car papers were seized by the traffic police. The traffic police in Gangtok is extremely rude and extremely strict. To reclaim my papers I was to go to the district court and pay the fine and then come back again to the police inspector who would then give me my papers back.
This put my whole plan in jeopardy. We had planned to be at the Permit office by 8.00 a.m, and beg for permissions, but for that we would require original documents, which were with the police…. A horrible start to the day.
So from here began the day, I ran to the district court only to find that it opens by 10.00 a.m, and the permit office closes by 10.00 a.m . So we eventually split up, my friends went to the permit office, I went to collect my license. At the permit office, it was the same story as yesterday, NO PERMITS for private vehicles…we tried to convince them about us, told that we have driven down from Mumbai, but still no permits, while all this was happening I was at the district court paying my fine and getting my license collected. The Gangtok police has a very unique way collecting fine, we have to directly go and deposit the money in the bank account provided to us by the traffic police, once we show then the money has been paid, they will give us a ‘parchi’ the same has to be handed over to the traffic inspector who has seized the license. I deposited the money in the bank, while I am doing that I get a distress call from my friend, he calls me saying that he is having car trouble. On reaching where my friend asked me to come, I found that he had tried getting the mhawk on a 40 degree incline on the second gear, because according to him the 1st gear was not getting engaged. So he tried to do the steep incline in 2nd gear. And by doing so almost burn’t the whole clutch plate and pressure plate.
It was going bad to worse for me, first the car papers and my license being sized, now the clutch plate / pressure plate almost burn’t…I was like ‘GOD THIS IS A HOLIDAY, it is supposed to be stress free and not the one that gives stress’. None the less I and my friend then drove the mhawk back to the district court (the smell of the clutch plate and pressure was pretty heavy) from where I collected my ‘parchi’, and again then went to the traffic police who had my license, showed him the ‘parchi’ and collected my papers.
Now we had only one option of getting permits, which was to visit the Police check post in Development area. By now it was already 12.00 p.m. We reached the Police point in Development area and eventually managed to get the permits by 3.30 p.m, almost whole day was gone, and we were still stuck in Gangtok. But on the bright side we had the permits.
Even with the burnt clutch, we decided to continue as per our plan, which was to reach lachen. The road from Gangtok to Mangan is BAD. We drove slowly but the smell of the clutch was giving us more and more tension. Eventually we reached mangan and decided that we need to show our car to the mechanic. We found this interesting mechanic, his name actually is ‘bullet’. He gave us the bad news that our clutch plate & pressure plate is completely burnt’ and we will need a new one. By the time we reached mangan it was 7.00 p.m, he said he will check up for spares in a shop at mangan. But to our dismay the shop did not have the spares.
Now the current situation is that we have the permits to go but our car needs repairs. Tommorows plan is to wait for the spares, get the car repaired and the head to lachen. Stay at lachen tomorrow and attempt gurdongmar lake day after, but if we do that, we will have to skip other places.

That is it from us now, very depressed, sad and angry right now.

Some pics of day 6 attached

Dark clouds, please leave us
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Construction underway
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Cheers,
Ac

Cheer up, ac, you got the permits at least! How did you manage to convince the cops? And what was the procedure?
Bad news about the clutch plate - would it not be a better idea to return to Gangtok (not too far away anyway) and get it repaired there, after all you will be done in half a day or 1 day at the most, you will lose 1 day at the most.
I found the Gangtok police very correct and clean, they followed the rules strictly and do not tolerate our "Indian" way of "chalega".
Parking in Gangtok is a very serious issue, one of the reasons I keep telling everyone that whether they get a hotel room or not, they must first get car parking space!

ac, Allz well, cheer up!

We had no option our original plan was day 1: mumbai - nagpur, day 2: nagpur - Kharakpur day 3 : kharakpur to gangtok, but since many things changed, had to pick up my friend from bagdogara and all, hence the change in plans. Drive time wise we did not drive for more than 9 or 10 hours from farakka to gangtok.


hey ramky, i got the permit :) but my car is not doing well :( the clutch plate and the pressure plates gone...can't risk going to gurudongmar with a sick clutch plate and pressure plate, have given it for repairs, will wait and see:)

Hmmm...well i have to see the 'arm and leg' part of it yet, but hoping for the best.

cheers
ac

Hey guys,

Attaching my day 4 pics, some really cool ones.

The Mighty One








Fevicol ka jod





























Have fun.

Cheers,
ac

Hey HVK,
I managed the permits, one needs to go to he Police Check post in Development area. Over there just ask for the senior most 'Permit officer'. You will be guided to the right person. There you have to fill a form, which is available at every xerox guy, photocopies of your license, photocopies of car papers, 2 photos. Place everything perfectly and viola...magic. You will have your permit with you.

On Gantok police, i agree, but there is a line that to be drawn as being strict and then rude, statements like 'tere baap ka raasta hai' are not a sign of a clean police, atleast in my books, i have a pretty bad taste about the people from gangtok, and it will take a while to get it off.

Further updates as they happen.

Cheers,
ac

Hey all,

I just had a word with the store manager of Mahindra and mahindra, Gangtok, he is sending the clutch plate and pressure plate with a mechanice to mangan. HE will be here by 10.00 a.m. Lets see if Gurdongmar lake wishes to see us.

Wish us luck,

ac

hi, ac 427
Wish you tonnes of Good Luck & cheer up Guys :) already the good things have begin. U have ur Permit & the spares are coming @ 10-00am.
To Gurdongmar Lake if not today u guys will make it definitely tomorrow.
As per my Knowledge the Military will ask the Tourists @ Gurdongmar Lake to move out by 12-00 noon to 1-00pm after that the weather is going to be freak. Please donot Keep High Hopes. In sikkim our appointments are with Mother Nature & she has to Bless us.
regards
sree