Riding Route: Siliguri - Gangtok (114 km)
Road Condition: Good
Max. Altitude: 4715 ft(Gangtok)
Got up early morning at 5 and it was so bright outside. The day breaks out very early in eastern part of India. As New Jalpaiguri came near, we could see tea plantations on the plains. It was the first time I saw tea plantations on the plains.
Utter Banga Express
We reached new jalpaiguri at around 8. After getting down we called up the Gati office and asked them the location of their godown. We took a rickshaw to that place, waited there for some time for their person to come. He arrived after some wait. He was amused to see us come from so far for a bike trip!
After the paper work, we got hold of our bikes. There were few damages in the transit. Parag's and Manas's bikes had dents and I had a broken right rear view glass. We then loaded our luggage onto the bikes and started for Gangtok at noon. On the way, we had lunch near Siliguri. First taste of momos. As we passed Mahananda national park at the foot hills, the ride became more pleasant and We could now see the mighty mountains and it was some sight! Just after the ghat section started, we could see this big beautiful arch bridge at Sevoke which goes to Hasimara and other places in the doaars.
Sevoke Bridge
The winding roads were nice with stunning views of Teesta river all along the way. At the sikkim border, we had to make entry of our vehicles. We passed some towns like Mali, Rangpo, Simtang on our way to Gangtok. We reached Gangtok at around 4 pm.
Gangtok felt like any other bustling hill station. We parked out vehicles near MG Road and started scouting for hotels. After searching, we found a very nice hotel with room having a good view of MG Road as well as nearby hills at just 500! After refreshing, we decided to explore Gangtok.
Gangtok View from our Hotel
MG road is the main street and has a walking plaza. The climate was very pleasant. We wanted to try out the local Tibetan food so went into a restaurant called Tibet kitchen. Gangtok sleeps very early so one should have dinner earlier or else the restaurants would close by 9 - 930. After a first dose of Tibetan food, we went off to sleep. Tomorrow we had to fight for the permits!
Road Condition: Good
Max. Altitude: 4715 ft(Gangtok)
Got up early morning at 5 and it was so bright outside. The day breaks out very early in eastern part of India. As New Jalpaiguri came near, we could see tea plantations on the plains. It was the first time I saw tea plantations on the plains.
Utter Banga Express
We reached new jalpaiguri at around 8. After getting down we called up the Gati office and asked them the location of their godown. We took a rickshaw to that place, waited there for some time for their person to come. He arrived after some wait. He was amused to see us come from so far for a bike trip!
After the paper work, we got hold of our bikes. There were few damages in the transit. Parag's and Manas's bikes had dents and I had a broken right rear view glass. We then loaded our luggage onto the bikes and started for Gangtok at noon. On the way, we had lunch near Siliguri. First taste of momos. As we passed Mahananda national park at the foot hills, the ride became more pleasant and We could now see the mighty mountains and it was some sight! Just after the ghat section started, we could see this big beautiful arch bridge at Sevoke which goes to Hasimara and other places in the doaars.
Sevoke Bridge
The winding roads were nice with stunning views of Teesta river all along the way. At the sikkim border, we had to make entry of our vehicles. We passed some towns like Mali, Rangpo, Simtang on our way to Gangtok. We reached Gangtok at around 4 pm.
Gangtok felt like any other bustling hill station. We parked out vehicles near MG Road and started scouting for hotels. After searching, we found a very nice hotel with room having a good view of MG Road as well as nearby hills at just 500! After refreshing, we decided to explore Gangtok.
Gangtok View from our Hotel
MG road is the main street and has a walking plaza. The climate was very pleasant. We wanted to try out the local Tibetan food so went into a restaurant called Tibet kitchen. Gangtok sleeps very early so one should have dinner earlier or else the restaurants would close by 9 - 930. After a first dose of Tibetan food, we went off to sleep. Tomorrow we had to fight for the permits!
Hi. I realize this trip you guys made was some time ago, but I was wondering if you could help me with a couple of things...
ReplyDeleteyou mentioned in this post that you stayed at a nice hotel in gangtok for 500 bucks...could you pls mention the name of th hotel. Also maybe any details of places you stayed at in Lachung, Lachen, thanngu, pelling/ yuksom?
@spaceamol
ReplyDeleteI am not able to recollect the name of the hotel. :( Lachung, it was alpine valley hotel and thanggu, there is this only lodge there. We didn't go to Pelling\Yuksom
Hi Hrishikesh,
ReplyDeleteAny update of the permits process in Sikkim. I am planning this trip in Oct first week this year. The process explained by you still holds good? Please let me know.
Thx,
Vicky
Hello Vicky,
DeleteI'm really sorry but I'm not aware if there are any changes to the process. You may search the forumns in
www.bcmtouring.com and www.xbhp.com i'm sure you will get latest information
Hi Hrishikesh,
ReplyDeleteWe are planning to go to sikkim this October 25th till november 3rd.
Do we get bullets on rent there?
It was lovely reading your blog post. Siliguri serves as a pit-stop of immense variety when heading to hill stations like Gangtok, Kalimpong and Darjeeling. Click here to explore more about Siliguri tourism.
ReplyDelete