Ashutosh Kumar
Live Young, Live Free
This is a small travelogue about my recent trip to East Sikkim. I was thinking of this trip for quite some time and was raring to go at the earliest available opportunity. I ws almost trip less after the last trip to North Sikkim 6 months ago. I had planned for Winter Spiti with one of our groups in Jan 18, utilizing the 26th Jan weekend. The plan was to fly to New Delhi and drive Zoom Car to Spiti from Chandigarh. The plan failed miserably after the members decided to quit one after another due to reports of heavy snow fall in Spiti Valley. It was decided to postpone the trip till March. But the “Keeda” in me was still live and itching me every now and then. Moreover I did not wanted to miss the 3 days republic day weekend. There the plan for East Sikkim came to my mind, which can easily be covered in the weekend with 1 or 2 days leave. I started looking for companions within my circle. Few of them agreed but retorted at the last minute. In between I was also out of steam primarily because of absence of somebody to accompany me. There was one person who finally agreed to accompany me and remained with me till the last moment. It was 25th evening around 8 pm, when we two decide move ahead with our plans. I did the packing in a jiffy only in the morning we were supposed to leave. Left Jamshedpur on 26th Jan 18 morning at 9 am. The plan was simple – to cover the Old Silk Route as much as possible. The uncertainty of the permits always remains in Sikkim. I left it to the almighty and moved On.
Following is the itinerary we followed:
26th Jan 18 – Jamshedpur - Siliguri
27th Jan 18 – Siliguri – Rongli - Zuluk
28th Jan 18 – Zuluk – Thambi View Point – Gnathang Valley – Siliguri
29th Jan 18 – Siliguri – Jamshedpur
Day 1: (Jamshedpur to Siliguri)
The plan for the day was to start easy and reach Siliguri for night stay. We left Jamshedpur 9 am. I was aware about the bad stretches between Dumka and Bhagalpur, since I have travelled through this route quite often in last few years. This was my 3rd drive through this road in last 10 months. We followed the following route Jamshedpur- Chandil- Purulia- Jamtara- Jama More- Basukinath- Nonihat- Hansdiha-Bhagalpur.
I was aware about the humongous craters on the Dumka Bhagalpur stretch. The roads were in awful condition during my trip to Arunachal, but during my last ride I had seen the road has been mended in Bihar side. However the Jharkhand side is still is awful state. We reached Bhagalpur at around 5 pm where we had heavy snacks to fill our tummy as we did not wanted to stop thereafter to save some time. Rest of the day was uneventful and we reached Siliguri by 9 pm. The roads were comparatively less congested in Bhagalpur city and towards Siliguri, probably because of public holiday, and hence we could cover the entire distance within 12 hrs. As I had pre-booked hotel, we checked in, had our dinner and retired for the day.
Day 2: (Siliguri to Rongli to Zuluk)
This day was going to be easy and our last leg in the plains. Our plan was to reach Rongli and try for the ILP. I had a chit chat with Tutai Dalal last day and enquired about permit and homestays at Zuluk. Once again he provided some valuable information. He told that the permit can be sought from the SDPO Rongli or Rongli Police station. I was carrying all the documents, a copy of permit for my North Sikkim trip in May this year as an evidence to convince the officers for permit if required.
We wanted to start early from Siliguri, but we got late and were only able to start from Siliguri by 9:30 am. We reached Sikkim Gate at 12 noon, where we took the right turn towards Rongli. The left turn takes you towards Gangtok. Rongli is a small town which is 26 kms from Rangpo and it takes around 1 hr 30 mins to reach there. The roads ahead of Ronglo were not in good shape. All broken and unpaved roads. The bad roads continued till Rorathang bridge. Once you cross the bridge, roads are mostly well tarred towards Zuluk.
We reached Rongli at 1:30 pm and we straight to SDPO Office for the permit. We arrange the form for the permit from the nearby Xerox shop. However the owner informed us has that the SDPO is not in office since last few days, permit can only be obtained from Rongli PS. We went back to Rongli PS. We were asked to fill a form which is available at Sapna Travels located in the Rongli market along with Car document and personal identify proof. We submitted the document and was asked to come back after 30 mins. We waited patiently there and got the permit stamped by the officials. While waiting we interacted with one of the policeman and he gave us some reference of guest house/home stays. Happily we moved ahead and got Xerox copies of the Permit. We collected some snacks and other edibles so that we have something with us in case if required and moved ahead. It was 3 pm then and the plan was to reach Zuluk and locate the homestay (Snowline/Dzong homestay). It was told that it would take around 90 mins to reach Zuluk which was about 30 kms from Rongli. After Rongli the roads are mostly in good condition with occasional bad patches. The winding and curvy roads started right after Rongli with scenes getting better and better as we approached Nimachen and Padmachen. We took multiple stops for soaking in the beauty and photo-ops. As we were approaching Zuluk, the weather started deteriorating with roads and vistas getting covered under the fog and mist. We drove slowly and carefully enjoying the weather. Due to foggy conditions any milestone and sign board were not visible. However the start of the serpentine home stays and tourist MAX and bolero’s meant that we have reached Zuluk. It was 4:30 pm. We asked one of the fellow about the Snowline homestay. It was approx. a km away near the Army Camp. Since we did not had prior booking , we were really worried about the accommodation. We only had the reference of the policemen we met at Rongli. It was really cold when we came out of the cozy condition inside the car. We are shivering as we put on our jackets, woolen caps. It was still very foggy and nothing was visible We met the owner of the homestay and he said yes; he can accommodate us, as they have few room vacant. Quickly we got inside the room as it was freezing outside. I put on extra thermals and socks to keep my feet warm. The owner offered us some snacks and hot tea which was much needs to warm ourselves. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing inside the room. We had dinner with the owner chit chatting with him about the weather, the life there at Zuluk. Since we had plans to visit Zuluk loop , the owner suggested to leave a little late after 9 , since the weather now a days was with heavy fogg, with visibility less than 50 mts.
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Following is the itinerary we followed:
26th Jan 18 – Jamshedpur - Siliguri
27th Jan 18 – Siliguri – Rongli - Zuluk
28th Jan 18 – Zuluk – Thambi View Point – Gnathang Valley – Siliguri
29th Jan 18 – Siliguri – Jamshedpur
Day 1: (Jamshedpur to Siliguri)
The plan for the day was to start easy and reach Siliguri for night stay. We left Jamshedpur 9 am. I was aware about the bad stretches between Dumka and Bhagalpur, since I have travelled through this route quite often in last few years. This was my 3rd drive through this road in last 10 months. We followed the following route Jamshedpur- Chandil- Purulia- Jamtara- Jama More- Basukinath- Nonihat- Hansdiha-Bhagalpur.
I was aware about the humongous craters on the Dumka Bhagalpur stretch. The roads were in awful condition during my trip to Arunachal, but during my last ride I had seen the road has been mended in Bihar side. However the Jharkhand side is still is awful state. We reached Bhagalpur at around 5 pm where we had heavy snacks to fill our tummy as we did not wanted to stop thereafter to save some time. Rest of the day was uneventful and we reached Siliguri by 9 pm. The roads were comparatively less congested in Bhagalpur city and towards Siliguri, probably because of public holiday, and hence we could cover the entire distance within 12 hrs. As I had pre-booked hotel, we checked in, had our dinner and retired for the day.
Day 2: (Siliguri to Rongli to Zuluk)
This day was going to be easy and our last leg in the plains. Our plan was to reach Rongli and try for the ILP. I had a chit chat with Tutai Dalal last day and enquired about permit and homestays at Zuluk. Once again he provided some valuable information. He told that the permit can be sought from the SDPO Rongli or Rongli Police station. I was carrying all the documents, a copy of permit for my North Sikkim trip in May this year as an evidence to convince the officers for permit if required.
We wanted to start early from Siliguri, but we got late and were only able to start from Siliguri by 9:30 am. We reached Sikkim Gate at 12 noon, where we took the right turn towards Rongli. The left turn takes you towards Gangtok. Rongli is a small town which is 26 kms from Rangpo and it takes around 1 hr 30 mins to reach there. The roads ahead of Ronglo were not in good shape. All broken and unpaved roads. The bad roads continued till Rorathang bridge. Once you cross the bridge, roads are mostly well tarred towards Zuluk.
We reached Rongli at 1:30 pm and we straight to SDPO Office for the permit. We arrange the form for the permit from the nearby Xerox shop. However the owner informed us has that the SDPO is not in office since last few days, permit can only be obtained from Rongli PS. We went back to Rongli PS. We were asked to fill a form which is available at Sapna Travels located in the Rongli market along with Car document and personal identify proof. We submitted the document and was asked to come back after 30 mins. We waited patiently there and got the permit stamped by the officials. While waiting we interacted with one of the policeman and he gave us some reference of guest house/home stays. Happily we moved ahead and got Xerox copies of the Permit. We collected some snacks and other edibles so that we have something with us in case if required and moved ahead. It was 3 pm then and the plan was to reach Zuluk and locate the homestay (Snowline/Dzong homestay). It was told that it would take around 90 mins to reach Zuluk which was about 30 kms from Rongli. After Rongli the roads are mostly in good condition with occasional bad patches. The winding and curvy roads started right after Rongli with scenes getting better and better as we approached Nimachen and Padmachen. We took multiple stops for soaking in the beauty and photo-ops. As we were approaching Zuluk, the weather started deteriorating with roads and vistas getting covered under the fog and mist. We drove slowly and carefully enjoying the weather. Due to foggy conditions any milestone and sign board were not visible. However the start of the serpentine home stays and tourist MAX and bolero’s meant that we have reached Zuluk. It was 4:30 pm. We asked one of the fellow about the Snowline homestay. It was approx. a km away near the Army Camp. Since we did not had prior booking , we were really worried about the accommodation. We only had the reference of the policemen we met at Rongli. It was really cold when we came out of the cozy condition inside the car. We are shivering as we put on our jackets, woolen caps. It was still very foggy and nothing was visible We met the owner of the homestay and he said yes; he can accommodate us, as they have few room vacant. Quickly we got inside the room as it was freezing outside. I put on extra thermals and socks to keep my feet warm. The owner offered us some snacks and hot tea which was much needs to warm ourselves. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing inside the room. We had dinner with the owner chit chatting with him about the weather, the life there at Zuluk. Since we had plans to visit Zuluk loop , the owner suggested to leave a little late after 9 , since the weather now a days was with heavy fogg, with visibility less than 50 mts.
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