After a certain time-lag, I and Tanushree (my wife)
once again are going to be off from the hustle-bustle of Kolkata and this time
our journey is full of adventures due to some reasons such as
1. We have moved to our flat at Bally and the
journey starts from here;
2. We have not booked anything for our journey this
time except the to-and-fro between Kolkata-Siliguri (NJP);
Our journey starts on 28th April, 2018
through Aitiana Airwings which I have already booked to make our reach a secure
and that was a wise decision since during cross-verifying the details of bus
itinerary when I checked the availability of the same bus on the same date of
our journey, I found no seats were available in any of the buses on the same
route. However, I myself felt a bit secured and privileged thinking of those
who couldn’t manage to get a position in any of the means in North-Bengal bound
vehicles.
Bus journey on this route is not new to us since in
May, 2016, we have returned from Siliguri to Kolkata through Shyamoli Paribahan
and it was a nice experience. With this hope in mind we have gathered in front
of the Gurudwara near Gate No. 1, Airport from where Aitiana Airwings will take
us to the gateway of Himalaya, Siliguri. We boarded on the bus at 6.45PM (since
the bus was 15 mins late) and a packet of biscuit, a 500ml water bottle and a
blanket were ready for us. The bus took the route of Dankuni-Bardhaman instead
of Krishnanagar-Malda and had its first halt at Bardhaman at a roadside dhaba
beside highway at around 9.30PM for dinner. And then it stopped only when the
destination came i.e. Siliguri at 6.30AM. The city is yet to rise from its
night long sleep and we reached there. After dodging several touts there, we
walked towards Sikkim Nationalized Transport (SNT) bus depot from where we were
to catch the bus for Gangtok (since we had made already our mind to go to
Tsomgo Lake, Babamandir by then). The bus was scheduled to departure at around
7.45AM. So we bought a ticket that costs Rs. 300 (Rs.150 each). Now the journey
begins. Our mind now is relaxed and had already started to plan the next step
i.e. to search hotels at Gangtok while enjoying the beauty of Sevok and the
Coronation Bridge. The bus was in good condition. It stopped at a place named
Mumkhola for breakfast at a roadside restaurant. And after a halt of almost 30
mins the bus again rolled on the road to enter Sikkim through Rangpo. Whenever
I visit this place, a kind of cool breeze starts to blow inside me thinking of
the exotic beauty lies ahead in the hills of Himalaya. However, we reached
Gangtok at around 12.30PM at SNT bus stand and entered in the lodge at the very
end of M G Marg, the room No. 9 at Sukhim Guest House at 1PM for Rs.1600 per
day including GST. We have been
continuously travelling for almost 26 hours and so we were in desperate need of
long and tight sleep now.
For the next day i.e. 30.04.2018, we had already
booked two seats to visit Tsomgo (Chhangu) lake and Babamandir against a
payment of Rs. 500 each and we were told to be ready by 7.30AM and asked to
reach at Bajra Chhangu Stand by 8AM. But we had a torrential rain from the
previous night and so we were a bit late and reached there at 8.30AM. The whole
journey was shrouded with thick clouds that made me think that we might have
not got any views of Himalaya due to this.
However, the cloud got cleared at
the time we reached the altitude of 9000ft and got that thing that pulls us to
visit such a remote place from Kolkata i.e. ice made its first appearance at an
altitude of 10000ft.
So far our eyes could have vision, we could only see the
peaks clad with ice that creates only two colours viz. White and Black. It
seems the mountains are wearing long gown of white threads which is nothing but
the melted ice on the mountains in reality. At a place near Tsomgo lake, the
driver stopped and asked us to borrow plastic shoes from roadside shops in
order to walk on the ice clapped roads as well as areas. He took us directly to
the Babamandir since it is the farthest than Tsomgo and throughout the road, we
got so much ice that quench the thirst of our soaring eyes. Everywhere we could
see there was only ice and ice.
From Tsomgo, it took around 40 mins more to reach to
Babamandir (altitude almost 14000ft.) The scenic beauty of the mandir was
awesome. Baba Harbhajan Singh was a sepoy at the then army base posted at the
Silk Route. In a disaster, he lost his life and since then the other comrades
feel his existence still and it believed that Baba Harbhajan saves their life
as a sentinel in this remotest part of world against any threats. So, he is now
worshipped as God to them and the army personnel made a ‘mandir’ in his loving
memory but the one we are talking from Gangtok is not that one which has been
built years ago. It is called ‘New Babamandir’ and it is built in this route
since most of the tourists visit Gantok-Tsomgo-Nathula Pass.
The ‘mandir’ is
situated at a very beautiful location inside Himalayan range surrounded by ice
clad maountains. The whole Himalayan is buzzing with the patriotic songs that
are played to entertain the visitors by the army personnel. They have a
cafeteria there and one cup of coffee only costs Rs.10. The have a exhibition
centre and the tourists are welcome with ‘Kaju-kismis-almonds’ by the military
personnel. The whole day was cloudy and when we were to leave the ‘Babamandir’
it started raining again. At the North-East side of the Mandir, there is one
falls and a huge statue of Lord Shiva. The whole mandir was clapped under ice
and ice was everywhere one can see.
However, we started from ‘Babamandir’ at around
12.30PM and reached Tsomgo at 1.15PM. The beauty of the lake is awesome and the
Sikkim Govt. has arranged some adventurous activities such as Rope way etc.
However, we returned at Gangtok at around 3PM and with full of images of ice in
cameras, handycam, and in our mind and a wet hose and shoe that used to remind
us every minute that we have just returned from a heavenly place i.e. Tsomgo
and Babamandir.
After having a delicious lunch at Woodland restaurant just
beside M G Marg (opposite Rumtek Taxi Stand) of Rice, Katla fish, Chicken, Dal,
Sabji, Papad, etc. at just Rs. 150 per thali, we decided to spend the rest of
the day at M G Marg roaming and shopping.
The very next
day i.e.01.05.2018 we have left the Hotel Sukhim Guest House at around 6.30AM
since we have already been informed that the shared vehicle for Ravangla from
Gangtok leaves at around 7.45AM and in order to get a seat booked we need to
reach as early as possible to the Rumtek Taxi stand from where it is schedueled
to depart. However, we reached there at around 7.05AM but to our utter surprise
we have been told that all the seats for Ravangla bound vehicle have been
booked and next car would be leaving for Ravangla at around 12PM. The driver of
the vehicle had suggested to take a booking for Namchi bound vehicle and from
there Ravangla is only 1 hour distance. We did so. The shared Bolero left
Gangtok Rumtek Taxi Stand at 9.15PM and it took 2.30hrs to reach Namchi amidst
a very well maintained and beautiful landscape. The car stopped at a place
named Tarku for freshening up and taking rest a while. This place is very calm,
quite and serene. At around 12O’Clock we reached Namchi and from there Ravangla
at around 1.30PM since the vehicle at Namchi Taxi Stand started at around
12.30PM. Namchi is the district headquarter of South Sikkim and therefore is a
bit congested like other hill towns. But, Ravangla is serene, calm with
soothing coldness during May. After spending some nights at Gangtok, we found
that we have come to the most serene place of the world. Ravangla at the very
first sight has created a spell on us.
We didn’t book any
hotel yet then. So, we need to secure first an accommodation. However, looking
an accommodation is not possible without taking lunch because we were terrible
hungry. The place the car dropped us is Ravangla bazaar and we had our lunch of
Non-veg thali (Rice, Chicken, Sabzi, Papad, Dal ) at a restaurant beside the
SNT Bus Stand. The food was really good. One reason for this could be the
organic Sikkim tag of Sikkim Government who secures that the whole Sikkim is
100% Organic and the tasty of organic vegetables is delicious.Now, this is time for looking for our accommodation. From Local source, we have come to know that if we walk along the Legship road, we would definitely get some good hotels for our stay. But, in reality this emerged to be false. Actually, we were at our wit’s end to get a hotel at Ravangla on the Legship Road. However, a Bengali guy, Mr. Soumen Poddar whom I met for the first time at Gangtok taxi stand, came to my rescue and helped me in getting an accommodation. We took a cab and went 3.5KM downward of Ravangla Bazar and the name of our destination is 14th Mile. It is a very beautiful place with full view of Mt. Kanchenzunga and Annapurna on a clear sunny day from the room of almost every hotel and homestay. We met Mr. Barun, a Bengali person, who had been at Ravangla for the last 30 years. He is nice guy and the resort that we got is Candy Park Resort just beside the Legship Road at 14th Mile with a few local inhabitants and a church at the very of the resort. This place is really awesome. They have 4 cottages and one building with four bedded rooms.
