The Drive to Gangtok

You know you are staring at yet another long day on the roads when  you happen to be driving in West Bengal roads.But again there is no use in complaining when you know that you have to take it.The car had taken a lot of beating during the trip from Calcutta to CoochBehar but now was going to have its tryst with a newer city, newer roads and newer towns.The the festivities were over, the hangover still lingered on. It felt sad to leave the town for some newer place. Tiresome, it definitely felt. But whats a journey where you dont feel a little tired. So, thus it started at 8 in the morning with a tank up at the Indian Oil in CoochBehar and we set off yet again. This time to the quaint little place called Gangtok, up in the hills, near from our place but still further apart.

 

We were retracing the steps that we had taken some days back. It was an upbeat start and it was supposed to include a first time hill drive for me. Cooch Behar to Siliguri was done in 4.5 hours as we were precautious about the car getting hit in the under belly, with a tea break in between at Falakata. There are certain sections where no paved road exists at all, such bad is the condition. But you will be staring at newly laid tarmac appearing out on the blue in certain sections.We reached and lunched at Siliguri at the KFC, City Center.

 

It was 1.30 PM when we started from Siliguri, the NH 31 and the Teesta river was company for the entire journey. At one point, the NH 31 breaks into NH31A, which is actually the road that leads to Gangtok. There is a significant military presence and movement for most of the stretch. Excellently maintained for most part of it, it was a breezy drive to Gangtok. At Rangpo check post it is customary to display any valid India Govt. issued identity card. Whereas professional drivers do the 125 kms stretch in 3/3.5 hours we required 4.5 hours to reach.

 

The Road,NH 31A:

There are sections where due to "back"cutting , the road has disintegrated. But overall the road is excellently maintained. There were a few bottle necks due to ongoing construction work. The road is relatively easier and not steep, and driving in the 2/3 gear should be okay. But there was one flat stretch for a couple of kilometres where one can touch the 90/100s. The last bit of 1 hour of the journey was done with the headlights on, but given the wide roads(NH31A is double laned all the way) driving was quite an ease.

 

Where we Stayed!:

Whereas we managed to reach Gangtok by 6, finding our way to the Hotel proved to be a lot more trickier. So, when we finally ended up parking the car(we had mentioned the owners that we will be arriving in our car) a hot cup of tea was waiting for us and we preferentially selected the same room that we were in earlier. Dinner was plain, pure Indian vegetable preparation. What lay beyond was a trip to North Sikkim, which however did not materialize.