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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.html)

Hey all,

Let me begin with a quote:

" Faith, simply speaking , means to make up one's mind. Ans as long as you're going to make up your mind, make up your mind to succeed!" - Sensei

Faith was the only thing that kept me going, faith that I want to continue doing my annual trip, regardless of friends being with me, regardless of situations being in my favor or not, regardless of what happens I will make this trip happen.

After 3 weeks of intense planning, after many friends dropping out of the trip, after the trip almost being cancelled, after scares of many kinds, after emotional blackmail of family to cancel the trip, after almost my leave getting cancelled, guys finally I will be leaving for Sikkim on Wednesday 22nd Sept

The planning for the same is in full form. I am attaching my trip, via google maps.

Mumbai - Nasik - Indore - Shivpuri - Kanpur - Varanasi - Gaya - Thakurganj - Sikkim.

And then in Sikkim, we are planning to do a north, east and west Sikkim trip.

A mammoth 5500 km plus trip, panning the width of the country.

This is going to be a 15 - 16 day trip, and am taking my trusted mhawk.


A oxygen container, and a water heater.


Axe. Not to attract women, but for safety :D


A super heavy, super duty flash light, as powerful as the scorpios headlights.


A checklist, my idea of getting planned ;)


MAPS: No gps here, 'old school is the only school'


Safety: Chilli Spray: Supremely effective on humans and animals as well, highly recommended for travellers, small, handy and packs a super punch. Yesterday just to check it, I sprayed it in the air, and I was coughing for the next 30 mins.

Knife: To cut vegtables :D

Iron rod: IN case the car gets stuck.

Sticks: The sticks that the mumbai police uses incase of riots.


My trusted sleeping bag


Tent: incase I feel like camping up :)

Am carrying my SLR : D 550 too so hoping to capture some wonderful moments of the trip and share with you guys.

This is it for now, will update later, hoping to do daily updates of my trip.

cheers,
ac.

Attached is the route mapped out on Google maps.

Feedback please.

Cheers,
ac

No maps of WB & BR? Route map does not seem to be displaying.

Good luck, and have a safe trip.

Good luck buddy. Enjoy your trip. wish you a safe & happy motoring.

@ac427: Just had a look at your route map. The Gaya-Bhagalpur route through BR is not nice or safe in the best of times, and is highly avoidable now during the monsoons. Suggest you take the NH6 instead, and then onwards via Siuri & Moregram, as suggested by hvkumar...

All the best buddy. A great trip planned and am sure u'll have a memorable time.

Ahhh, getting ready to fill up another memory card eh:D?

Enjoy yourself & safe travels:thumbs up. I would echo HVK & SS-T on the route though......

hi ss,

thanks for your feedback, the reason for the above route was a. wanted to avoid heavy naxal affected regions, and b. a large part of the route is a part of the golden quadrilateral. (kanpur - gaya bit). That was the reason I put that down, but if you think its too risky let me know, i will change my route.

cheers,
ac

Suggestions:
I use Nokia E61i cellphone with Google Maps installed, over a GPRS connection from Vodafone. During travel, switch on Google Maps mobile application and this shows approx location based on the tower GPS (more or less accurate ~to 100m). Works to be a cheap GPS for your car.

Advantages:
You can search routes from one point to another - like from Kanpur to Varanasi, you chose not to take that route for a particular reason (some news known to you at kanpur) you can make an alternative route with little effort.

Search for nearby locations - like hotels/restaurants/temple or other places of interests
You can mark favorites before you start your travel.

I would suggest you explore some of these features if you have a GPRS enabled phone.

All the very best for your travel. SLR Traveling with you, hope to see some good captures

NFS

Special thanks to SS.

Attached is the update route.


Cheers,
ac

Hi,
Your other thread was, I think, merged. Check out
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...st-sikkim.html

Regards
Sutripta

Agree with SS and Suman. Yes, the latest map is the route to take, via Nagpur, Raipur, Sambalpur, Kharagpur, Calcutta, Durgapur, Siuri, Malda & Siliguri.

Why not your original route?
- Badlands of UP
- Terrible parts of Bihar
- Some bad roads

Why this new route is the best?
- Some bad roads in Orissa & CG, but great otherwise
- Some Naxal-affected areas between Jashpur & Kharagpur, but manageable

You can check out the detailed log book of a similar trip I did last year in my Scorpio from Bombay here:
http://groups.google.com/group/hvkumar/web/s2s.xls

You will note that I did an aggressive drive, reaching Gangtok in the morning of Day 3, but after 2 full nights and 2 full days of driving.

I would be sceptical of obtaining permits to visit Nathu la and Gurudongmar, since Sikkhim is a land of taximen, and all private vehicles are discouraged from venturing too far from Gangtok.

You can trace my journey through West Sikkhim - Tashiding, Yakshum, Kechopari & Pemayangtse.

Let me caution you that this month has been terrible in Sikkhim, with heavy rains causing blockades in several places, many places being cut off for days together. And next month onwards, the returning North East monsoons will also cause more trouble.

You can read my travelogue of the trip in the following link, especially the sections on Sikkhim.
kumar'snortheastdrivingholiday - hvkumar

In case you are booking a hotel room in advance, make sure you bargain for car parking space too, since parking is a premium in Gangtok.

BTW, I had a MMI Navigator on test last trip and I found glaring inaccuracies. Please avoid dependence on Navigators and online maps, you can safely rely on my own log book (I have driven on some roads in Sikkhim that do not figure in any map) or use physical maps.

I was given to understand that the permit for Nathu La would be given to a private vehicle if (A) it is owned and driven by the applicant; (B) it is 4WD. Otherwise they pefer you to take a taxi.

What is happening in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh now is also happening in sub-Himalayan WB and SK. Heavy to very heavy rainfall has been predicted over this week - check the IMD website. And unlike in Ladakh, the BRO is not that quick and active about restoring vehicular movement in SK (or UK) by clearing landslides. Getting stuck for a few days together is a big possibility, till the end of this month.

SS, in Sikkhim, a powerful taximen cartel ensures that they protect their turf and try to throttle private cars from going to the bets parts of Sikkhim, such as Nathu la and North Sikkhim. There is no such criteria (4WD, self-driven), and the plain straightforward answer is NO. I am told that you have to run around a lot, including meeting the :Police Commissioner, with a good story on why you want to take your own vehicle, before the permits are reluctantly give. That means 2 days wasted. I prefer to save my time and take a taxi instead of driving my own car to such places. Someone in this forum had even mentioned how vindictive the taxi lobby can be, tearing private car tyres if they did get the permit.

@ac 427: Regarding sikkim, our adc has gone to both North Sikkim and Nathula. Here is an account of his trip:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ni-tajpur.html

Please consult him for more details as he can help you out regarding the permission bit.

Wish you a wonder full journey. Please do post your travelogue here.