Driving on these mountain roads was going to be very interesting and I was eagerly looking forward to it.
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Honda has been conducting the “Drive to Discover” series for more than a decade. I have been on a couple of these multi-day drives.
But this year, there was a shocker, when the invite said:
Quote:
This year, the drive will explore the beautiful landscapes of Sikkim while letting you enjoy the unparalleled performance, comfort, and drivability of Honda cars.
I read this line multiple times to let it sink in.
Honda has the Amaze, City, and Elevate in its product portfolio. While the Elevate at least looks like it can climb mountains, the City, especially the older version, was notorious for its issues with speed breakers.
Just a few weeks back, Sikkim had experienced a terrible catastrophe. Heavy rains had overwhelmed a dam and it failed. The resultant floods had washed away many roads and bridges.
The cars would have to ply on broken roads. The already difficult terrain was going to be a challenge for both, the cars and the drivers.
In January 2023, I had ridden my motorcycle to Nathu La. Driving on these mountain roads was going to be very interesting and I was eagerly looking forward to it.
It was a relaxed flight from Hyderabad to Bagdogra. We were quickly rushed to a hotel in Siliguri and allotted the cars.
The Honda City HEV was launched in 2022:
This was my first time driving a hybrid. It was a different experience. I liked the relaxed nature of the car and was never able to figure out if the car was using the petrol engine or the battery pack.
The transitions between the two were barely perceptible.
A large part of the route was adjacent to the Teesta River. The floods in October had destroyed a lot of the road infrastructure. Most of the roads have been repaired, but there are a lot of bottlenecks that restrict the amount of traffic that can pass over them. The roads in West Bengal were significantly worse than those in Sikkim.
We spent a lot of time simply staring at the vehicles in front of us. Sometimes, more than fifteen minutes would elapse before we would start moving again:
The Teesta river looks extremely calm. But it hides an extremely strong undercurrent beneath its relaxed facade. There are a lot of river rafting facilities set up around its shoreline:
The Adiyogi blesses all the travellers coming to his adobe in the clouds.
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