SIKKIM CAR TRIP-PELING- RINCHINGPONG-RABONGLA

SIKKIM CAR TRIP: DESTINATION PEARL OF MOUNTAINS :

                                         

2^nd June 2015 (DAY 1): Today we started at 4:30 am from Naihati with our Hyundai Eon car.

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 We took the Kalyani Barrackpore Expressway at first and then got onto the NH-34 from Kapa More then baro jaguli and continued till Dalkhola. In between, we reached Malda at 3:00 pm. We took breakfast at Behrampur and lunched at Malda.

The road condition was a bit bad at some places. It was full of diversions and pits. But also in some places it was 4 – lane road.  From Dalkhola, we got onto NH-31 which goes straight to Siliguri (140 kms.). 

The NH-31 was very nice. It was 4 – lane all through the way.We reached Siliguri at about 10:40 pm. It took 18 hrs. for us to reach Siliguri from Naihati. There we dinned at Royz’ Foodies near Durga Hotel. We stayed at Hotel Vishal for that night.

3^rd June 2015 (DAY 2): Today our destination was Pelling, about 140 kms. Today our route was:-

Siliguri – Sevok – Tistapool – Melli – Jorethang – Namchi – Demthang – Legship – Gyalshing – Pelling. We had breakfast at Royz’ Foodies and started at 10:30 am. We passed through Sevok and Melli.

From Melli two roads get divided. One goes to Jorethang and the other goes to Rangpo. Our route was through Jorethang. From Melli to Jorethanng it was a very bad conditioned road. It is a total landslide zone.

 

The road road was very dusty no metal road was visible. Our car could hardly accelerate over 30 kmph. Also our car’s chassis got touched a many times. But we also enjoyed a bit good road in Kitam Bird sanctuary. It indeed is a very healthy forest.Just before Jorethang we saw a board written “Namchi – 5 km”. So we took that road and committed another mistake. It was actually the old road and no one travelled by it. A new road had been made which gets divided at Jorethang. The road we took was very bad conditioned and some of our time was wasted waiting for some landslide debris to be removed from the road.

Then we reached Namchi and lunched there. From Namchi we took the road to Demthang (9 kms.). Soon we reached Demthang and continued on the road towards Rabongla (12 kms.). The road was very nice and had a lot of scenic beauty.

 

It ran through the clouds. From Rabongla we reached Legship (26 kms.).

From Legship we reached Pelling via Gyalshing at 8:30 pm. At Pelling we stayed at Tashi Delek Hotel, Lower Pelling.there are many hotels here.

4^th June 2015 (DAY 3): There are many beautiful places to see near Pelling. So, we spent the day in sight – seeing. We, in the morning, took breakfast and revved the car up the road to Rimbi Falls.

 It is on the way to Yoksam. It was a very beautiful sight to see. Then we went to Khecheodpuri Lake which has a historical as well as religious importance in Buddhism.

 It is said to be a wish – fulfilling lake. Tourists go there, buy visiting tickets and got to see the beautiful lake and some of them even wish. From there we went to Kanchenzonga Falls.

It is also a very beautiful water fall. Then we reached Yoksam at noon. At Yoksam there are many monasteries. At Yoksam, we visited the Kathog Eco Park. It has a lake which is also religiously important in Buddhism. It is also called the Soul Lake and every year an worship is done in order to maintain the lake’s spirituality.

 

Then we came back to Pelling at about 2:00pm.

 

We didn’t go anywhere else and took rest in the hotel. In the evening we had a stroll at the mall.

5^th June 2015 (DAY 4): Today our destination was Rinchinpong. But first we were to go to the Singshore Bridge.

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It is the tallest bridge in Asia. We first got to Dentam. It was a good road. From Dentam two roads get divided. One goes to Uttray via Singshore Bridge and the other goes to Rinchinpong. The bridge was very magnificent.

 

Then we returned to Dentam and continued on the road to Rinchinpong. Rinchinpong is also a very beautiful place. We reached Rinchinpong in the afternoon, about 1:30 pm. There we stayed at the Denzong Hotel.There is a Poison Lake, a few kms. from there. On the same route is a monastery. It is also very nice. When we visited the monastery, in the evening, an worship was going on. It was an awesome experience to watch the worship. In the evening we enjoyed veg. pakora at Mount View Hotel. It has a very reasonable rate for every item.

6^th June 2015 (DAY 5): Today we were to go to Kalimpong, stay there for the night and got to Zuluk the next day. We took the road to Nayabazar via Reshi, then went to Jorethang, Melli and from Melli went a bit towards Tistapool and took the road to Kalimpong.

But when we reached Kalimpong, we didn’t find any good hotel at a reasonable rate. We lunched at West Bengal Govt.’s Guest House. Then we decided to go to Delo and stay at the Cliff Eco Resort. But when reached there, we found that the road condition was bad and it had a high gradient. Anyhow we reached the resort but didn’t like the resort. It was a very lonely place. No shops, nothing. So we decided to go to Lava. There are also other hotels there at Delo. On the way we found a board written “Home Stay”.

 I went to enquire about the rates. The owner told that he was not giving rooms on rent at the moment. So, he called his brother and arranged for staying there. The brother, Yakeen, was a very nice person. I would advice you to stay there at least for one night. The hotel’s name is Green Hill, Upper Icchey Dara Gaon, Delo. Then in the evening Yakeen told us that there is a very beautiful view point there which gives total 360˚ view of the Kanchenzonga range. We enjoyed a very delicious dinner there. The place has a very beautiful scenic beauty.

7^th June 2015 (DAY 6): Today we were to go to Zuluk (2134 m.) via Algarah, Rishi, Rhenack, Rongli, Lingtam and Phadamchin. So we started, after having breakfast, at 9:30 am. The road up to Algarah was very steep. But anyhow we reached there and continued on the ‘Old Silk Route’. The road was magnificent. The road also had many steep ups and downs. The road condition was not so good.

  It is not a problem for SUVs but for city cars these roads are a bit tough. Also it was a Sunday. So the SDO office, Rongli was closed, from where permission is issued for Zuluk. So we had to stay for a day in order to get permission. But we didn’t want to waste a day and the constable at the Pedong Checkpost also told that the road condition isn’t so good up there same is the case with the weather, it is unpredictable. So from Rhenack, at about 11:00 am, we turned towards Siliguri via Rorethang, Rangpo, Melli, Tistapool and Sevok. By evening we reached Siliguri.

The road was also nice. At Siliguri, we stayed at the same hotel.

8^th June 2015 (DAY 7): Today we started early in the morning from Siliguri, at 4:30 am. We took NH – 31 to Dalkhola and from there too continued on the same way. We came back via Gulabbagh, Kursela, Bhagalpur via Bikramgarh Setu, Barahat, Dumka, Siuri, Panagarh, Bardhaman via NH – 2, Mogra and Kalyani Barrackpore Expressway. We reached home at 10:30 pm.

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