East Sikkim road trip June 2023

Toorsa river

June 5: Jaigaon to Rongli

The sun was like a fireball in the sky and it was hard to sit out in the verandah in front of our room at the Amidst Serene resort at Jaigaon. After our usual coffee, we went on a walk towards the Toorsa river. We sat on the high bank and watched the water flow for a while. 

After a late start - it was past 9 am by the time we had settled the bills - we faced our first google caused goof up: a bridge under construction preventing us from joining the highway towards Siliguri. After retracing our route, we were eventually guided by a tempo driver through a tea estate to the highway.

The narrow road along the Teesta, serving as the common access to Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Gangtok was choked with traffic and was a difficult drive. We stopped at Rongpo for Pizza at a Dominoes. The road from Rongpo to Rongli along the Rongpo Chu was broken and dusty. We reached our guest house in Rongli around 4 pm and Bibek Chetri was there to welcome us. Boyish and easygoing, he quietly took charge, parked our car properly, got our luggage shifted to our rooms and organised tea for us.

Zuluk

Over dinner we found out that Chetri studied Engineering in Bangalore and worked for a few years with the forest department of Sikkim before moving out into the travel business.

June 6: Permits for East Sikkim - Rongli to Zuluk

Yesterday morning, Chhetri took me to a travel agent who inspected my car related documents ( registration, insurance and driving license) and the photo ids of the three passengers - Chinna, Chupu and Lata. There was some running around for printing the photos of the three passengers from WhatsApp images. Then a form was filled up seeking the permit and an application written by me for the same. I went with all the above to the Police station where a policewomen cross checked the information and stamped a seal of approval on the permit. We went back to the travel agent and obtained multiple copies of the permit to be handed over at the various check points on our route. The whole affair took close to an hour and cost Rs 550.

Hairpin bends above Zuluk

I thanked Chettri for his hospitality and help with the permit and we took leave after taking a group photo with him. We visited a lake being developed as a tourist attraction by the government before heading for Zuluk.

The couple running the Tibetan Villa homestay at Zuluk - Bhutia and his wife - were very welcoming. As we reached the place around 2pm, thunder gave way to rain which quickly picked up in tempo. We were wet and cold by the time we covered the distance between our parked car and the homestay located at a height above the road.

Mrs Bhutia gave us a nice lunch in the dining room located in a an adjacent hut along with the kitchen. Our room had a large window with a nice view of the village. We rested after lunch, walked around the village a bit in the evening and then after another nice meal settled for the night.

Kanchenjunga above the clouds

June 7: Around Zuluk

This morning, we left about 8 am and drove up to Elephant lake near Kuku village absorbing all the sights. We got magnificent views of Kanchenjunga, Zuluk, and the road rising up from Zuluk in numerous hairpin bends. At a tea shop located at the crossroads to Nathang valley, I bought 20 litres of diesel for Rs 1400 leaving the tank with enough gas to drive up to Gangtok. At Nathang village we heard from a local resident some context to the memorial to British soldiers. These soldiers had been killed in fighting with a Tibetan army at the battle of Tuku La in 1898. Tuku La overlooks the Nathang valley. The British soldiers had come there at the request of the King of Sikkim.

Nathang Valley 

June 8:  Zuluk to Gangtok

We reached Gangtok around 1.30 pm. The views of Kanchenjunga were obscured by clouds. The new baba Harbhajan mandir held no attraction for us. We stopped at the war memorial and looked through a scope that pointed at Nathu La.

The highway into Gangtok was carrying heavy traffic and we could not find a restaurant with parking. So I ended up dropping Chupu and Lata at their hotel after agreeing to meet them at dinner in the pedestrian mall,  and then driving to our hotel. Chinna and  I walked over to the mall and had a relaxed lunch with beer in a little restaurant called The Hungry Kitchen.

Later that evening we all met at the pedestrian mall and after some shopping, found a nice window seat at a restaurant called The Lazy Chef. The mall was overrun with people and it was nice sitting on the open air second floor, looking out over the crowd from a safe distance and enjoying our food and drink.

June 9: Gangtok

This morning we visited the Rumtek monastery located on a hill across the river from Gangtok. The monastery is the seat of the Karmappa, the head of a Buddhist sect that has a large following in Sikkim. The monastery wasn’t particularly impressive. The old 17th century monastery in Rumtek which we also visited was set in much more beautiful surroundings.

Gangtok

Chupu and Lata treated us to a farewell dinner at another restaurant on the mall after which we said our goodbyes. They would be leaving for Chennai tomorrow morning while we are here for at least one more day.

June 10: A day of planning

Chupu and Lata left this morning for Chennai. We got the news that they had reached after 8 pm, 12 hours after getting into a cab for Bagdogra.

After extending our stay in the hotel by another day, we spent the whole morning trying to find a place near Kurseong for the next few days. I dropped the plan for North Sikkim after becoming aware of several issues. The permit would have to be obtained in Mangan using an authorised travel agent and we had to make bookings for a homestay in Lachung. The weather also appeared dicey with  predictions of increasing chance of rain over the next week which would make the roads dangerous and keep us indoors in our homestay a lot of the time. Chinna was falling prey to stomach issues often and I was also becoming weary from travel. These were reasons enough to consider an early exit from Sikkim.

A wall mural at the old monastery, Rumtek

I had a bad experience with GoIbibo ( now taken over by makemytrip). After booking a homestay, I found out after calling them that they did not have a room available and that they had not advertised their rooms with the site.Then followed many calls to try and get a refund and find another place. 

We booked for 11th and 12th at the K-Den Homestay near Kurseong and tickets to fly to Bangalore from Bagdogra on the 14th. The plan is to ship the scorpio to Bangalore. I have identified a couple of transporters who will do it for around Rs 24000. 

June 11: Gangtok to Kurseong

Murals on a rock face in Naya Basti

We packed and left Gangtok around 7 am for Kurseong. At Teesta Bazar, we crossed the Teesta and took the narrow but well surfaced Peshok (later Rishi) road towards Darjeeling. At a small village called Lamahatta, we passed a beautiful forest park but did not stop because of the crush of parked vehicles on the road. Villagers were selling fresh carrots, turnips and beet roots by the roadside and we picked up some. We turned towards Kurseong on Hill cart road and then drove down along the toy train tracks. At Kurseong, I had a hair raising time trying to take the Scorpio up on narrow and extreme steep roads towards our homestay on Dow hill. I had to use 4L mode and take the car up on first gear. Google map brought us close to the homestay but not quite there. With the help of a passerby, we located K-DEN Homestay and Pema was by then on the road to receive us.

Pema, turned out to be an interesting and helpful person and soon put us at ease. After a nice lunch and rest she took us to the nearby monastery, a pleasant walk. We came back by a longer route walking on the road with fog enveloping the valley and the pine trees in the hill above.

June 12: A walk the a Spruce forest

This morning, I booked a hotel in Siliguri for Tuesday the 13th. Our flight tickets to Bangalore are booked for the 14th. The plan is to start early tomorrow, check in to the hotel at 10 and after that visit the packers and movers and leave the car in their custody for shipment to Bangalore. Pemma helped us with a few cartons and we used them to pack the left over food stocks and some odds and ends that cannot be carried by air. 

Last night it rained cats and dogs and there was much thunder and lightning that kept us awake part of the night. We woke up to a wet and fog bound morning. So we lazed around until breakfast and then went for a walk through the forest and past the forest department campus in Dow hill till we had covered 2 kms. There was a slight drizzle during our return journey and the fog started descending again. The forest itself was beautiful with mainly spruce trees ( or so we gathered). The air was so fresh to breathe. We were back in an hour and a half, thoroughly refreshed.

Our stay in the Upper Naya Basti was relaxing. The home cooked food was really good. The birds, trees and the nearby forest created a lovely atmosphere. The rains, clouds and fog, though obscuring views, brought the temperature down to a pleasant level. Overall we enjoyed our two days here.

June 13: Kurseong to Siliguri

We left Kurseong early this morning as I was nervous about negotiating the steep road down from Naya Basti to the Hill Cart road. As it happened, Pemma’s brother offered to drive us down till the junction with the main road. The whole family was so friendly and that was a major part of the charm of the K-Den homestay. Among other things, he told me that he was not in favour of their ex landing their homestay beyond the two cottages they had now. Pemma would get married and leave the place. He planned to remain in Siliguri till his son finished school. Perhaps they would come back to Kurseong after that and manage the homestay. Pemma was a practising lawyer at the Darjeeling district courts and had a decent income but still wanted to do something on her own and started the homestay. His eldest brother was teaching in a village near the Nepal border and visited home only on weekends.

We drove down the scenic Hill cart road and checked in to the Loft which turned out to be a welcoming place. Next we located Raju of Anokhi Packers and Movers in a slummy area next to the Mahanadi. The handing over of the car was done in double quick time. Raju promised that our car would be in Bangalore within 9 days. Let us see how things turn out.

June 14: Homeward Bound 

Nice breakfast at the hotel. An air conditioned car was waiting for us by 9.15 am. Smooth drive and we were at the airport by 10 am. The Airport was really crowded. After standing in line for a while, we reached the check in counter only to be told that we had to run our baggage through a scanner. The waiting area near the boarding gate was packed and it was difficult to get a seat. Our flight was full. A breezy captain kept talking to us from the cockpit. When we flew over Vishakhapatnam (Waltair) he gave us a lowdown on the history of naming of the town. Unfortunately, we were on the wrong side and could not see the city or the harbour with civil and navy ships. We arrived well before time in Bangalore, a fact gleefully stressed by the captain as we landed. We were home by 4.30 pm.

PS : The Scorpio was loaded in a container truck on the 15th June ( Raju sent us a picture ) and delivered home early 24th morning in good condition. It had reached Nelamangala the previous day.