The subsiding rains brewed ideas to make a trip to the mountains during the last leg of the monsoon season. Our search perimeter was confined to Bengal and Sikkim
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Introduction
The time of year when the entire city of Kolkata becomes even more vibrant with the colors of Durga Pujo, it is not generally regarded as the best time to leave the city. But destiny had it that we would be spending this year’s Pujo elsewhere and this time my sister also accompanied us.
The subsiding rains brewed ideas to make a trip to the mountains during the last leg of the monsoon season. Our search perimeter was confined to Bengal and Sikkim looking at balancing the time offs against work priorities. After a lot of weighing on various options we dropped Sikkim (Pelling, Yuksom circuit) and signed up for Kalimpong and Lebong hoping these places would live up to the promises of a misty vacation.
Here is a sneak peak into our journey
Route
Optimal route to North Bengal keeps altering seasonally. At the time of our travel, after following the route updates in this thread along with general consensus of other sources we decided to take the route of Kolkata -> Kalyani Expressway -> Kanchrapara -> Ranaghat -> Krishnanagar -> Berhampore Bypass -> Malda Bypass -> Raiganj Bypass -> Dalkhola Bypass -> Kishanganj -> Islampur Bypass -> Phulbari -> Oodlabari ->Gorubathan -> Lava -> Kalimpong
During the early part of October 2024 loads of rainfall in North Bengal lead to floods and landslides and ultimately road blockage which hampered tourist movements along with infusing severe unpredictability. NH-10 / Melli and the Matigara/Kurseong route to Kalimpong were reported having severe to moderate impacts. Although there were news of situations improving, we decided to take the longer route via Gorubathan as it was distanced from all the troubles.
Preparations
Connected with my designated Service Advisor at Topsel Toyota prior to the travel for any required checkups prior to this 1500 KM travel. My 5th year warranty had got over middle of the year, next major service being due only in Jan 2025. He looked at the service records and asked about the ODO (just crossed 50K) and then if there are any perceptible problem? I said NO, to which his only guidance was to Ensure tyre pressure is adequate at the start of the journey and to move on, without even bringing the car physically!! I did carry along the regular survival things like Tyre Inflator, Puncture Repair Kit, 20 ft 2 AWG Jumper Cable, Nylon Rope, Window Glass Breaker and Seat Belt Cutter, Fuses, etc
Day 0-1 / Wed-Thu / 9-10 Oct / Kolkata to Kalimpong
We started from Kolkata around 1130 pm on Wednesday 9th October after settling all work commitments. The vibes of Maha Shashthi were all around as we saw loads of visitors flooding the pandals and streets along with the loudspeakers switching between music and announcements, and of course the colorful lighting setup all around. We got lucky for not getting stuck in lot of congestions and cleared past the city limits in no time.
We took the Sodepur turn from Jessore Road to meet with the Kalyani Expressway, it was empty to say the least with several Puja Pandals in hibernation mode. Kalyani expressway was smooth and a pleasure drive. We almost avoided an accident where an elderly lady, probably on a pandal hopping spree, was attempting to cross the road along with her granddaughter. She ignored our honking and dippers completely and still crossed the road in a hurry, I steered out the Innova quickly while braking hard, thanks to the ABS and avoided a mishap. The other peculiar thing I noticed was biker groups (2-3 on a bike) trying to pick up race with random cars and overtaking from the wrong side trying to bring the other car to a halt. I tried not to intimidate them and avoided stopping a couple of times, hopefully it was just racing.
We broke off from Kalyani Expressway near Kanchrapara where there were some bad roads and merged with NH-12 (previously NH-34). Thereafter the road condition improved. Berhampore bypass was not in good shape. Around 20-30 KM on either direction from Farakka the roads were in pathetic condition, I had to simply remind myself about Toyota Reliability and hit the accelerator to move forward taking a deep breath. There was light congestion on the Farakka Bridge.
Our first halt was Pardesi Dhaba (it seemed closed at the hour) around 530 am for some on board refreshments and an hour of rest. Thereafter we drove over some excellent tarmac through the newer bypasses of Malda and Raiganj, these seem to have inherited format of the NHAI Expressways like Agra Lucknow Expressway.
A refuel stop at Raiganj Bypass
We crossed Dalkhola and merged into NH-27 by 8 am and by 830 am around Purnia we halted at a roadside tea stall to add warmth to our morning. 
Excellent tarmacs continued thereafter till our next stop, the Boroli restaurant at Phulbari by 1130 am. This scenic route via the Phulbari and the food stop was suggested once by Bhpian ABHI_1512 and I keep taking it, invariably every time. Boroli never disappoints us and even this time we had a fulfilling lunch, the Boroli fries being the star attraction.
We resumed by 1 pm, crossed Oodlabari with scenic tea gardens on both sides of the road and then finally started the ascent to along Gorubathan. There were shower forecasts and we observed drizzle along our way
We crossed the Ambeok Tea Garden by 230 pm
Misty roads at every turn
The elongated pine leaves signal the advent of higher altitudes
By 530 pm, after a leisurely scenic drive, we arrived at Deolo Bunglow, Kalimpong driving 715 KM from Kolkata. This would be our second visit to this place.
It was dark and foggy outside while we unloaded and checked in
Our Crysta parked securely behind the reception
We had some snacks and coffee . . 
. . and headed out for the park which closes down by 6 pm for outsiders and remains pretty much private for the in-house guests thereafter.
It was cold outside, but the wind bite was not there allowing us to survive easily with just warmers.
A Grasshopper trying to make it way into the hall. 
We had our dinner at the restaurant and called it a day
Continue reading BHPia’s haisaikat’s post for more insights and information.
