We and the Roads

Rhododendron is a seasonal flower that blooms from late winter to early summer. It is the national flower of Nepal. But you don't have to visit Nepal to see Rhododendrons. There are plenty of rhododendrons trees in North Bengal and different parts of Sikkim. When rhododendrons bloom together it is a treat to the eyes. The Sikkimese part of Sigalila national park is mostly covered with rhododendrons. The Rhododendron sanctuary in Barsey is the place to go during this time of the year. The sanctuary is spread across 104 sqkm. There are three points of entry into the sanctuary from Hiley, Dentam and Soresh. Tourists generally prefer Hilley because it is approachable by road. From Hilley it is a 4km hike inside the sanctuary which offers an extraordinary view of different rhododendrons. If you are lucky enough you will see a red carpet and even the forest covered with red Himalayan roses. The plan for west Sikkim was going on for a very long time. And when you are making a plan i...

Why would someone go to the same place again and again ? Is it too much love for the place or is it the less options available ? Whatever it is the reason must be good. For me its the place itself. I dont love or hate any place too much, what I do is admire. I admire Sikkim not because this is the closest mountain from my home, and I have been there too many time, but because it is really beautiful. Those winding roads, those green trees and tea garden along the way are too beautiful to put down in words. Sikkim is not only a weekend gateway for me, this place gives me an opportunity to be close to nature. This time I went there with friends who didnt visit Zuluk before. The plan was to start on Thursday night, take a leave on Friday, stay in the hills for 2 days and come back home on Sunday. We took the same route like other trips. The road condition to Siliguri has improved over past few years. I remember the first time I took my EcoSport to Sikkim in 2015 it took us 17 hours t...

Shantiniketan is known to everybody for its contribution on culture, arts and education. The first name that comes to our mind is Rabindranath Tagore whenever we speak about Shantiniketan. Shantiniketan is a bengali word which means "Adobe of Peace". Rabindranath's father built a house there and called it Shantiniketan, later Rabindranath stayed at that place and built several other buildings. Shantiniketan can be reached both by road and train. It is 180 kms from Kolkata and the drive time is around 3 hours. We all know about this. We have been to Shantiniketan several times. But there is a weekly market in Shantiniketan that is becoming overly popular these days and people are visiting Shantiniketan just to visit the market. There is a patch of forest known as Sonajhuri beside Shantiniketan. The river Khowai flows beside the forest. If you visit this forest in winter you will find tiny golden sonajhuri flowers. The word sona means gold in bengali. The weekly market ta...

Serenity is important in life.Work hard and party harder is usually the motto but sometimes you need time for yourself. And its very difficult to find that in this busy lifestyle. To escape from the city we need weekend gateways. A little holiday to a faraway place can give you enough energy to work for another few months. From Kolkata there are several places you can visit but I can assure you that you will be accompanied by several other thousands tourists. So finding the right place is very important. In doing so we found a hamlet called "Tinchuley". Its close to Darjeeling and only few hours from Siliguri. This place is not crowded with tourists yet. Tinchuley derives its name from 3 chullas or ovens.This is because Tinchuley is surrounded by 3 hills which resemble the 3 edges of a clay oven and hence the name.This is where the river Teesta meets the Rangeet and the scenery is breathtakingly beautiful!!  There are very few homestays in Tinchuley and we stayed in the ...

Driving a car in Europe is something which everyone wants to do. The public transportation in Europe is very good, you will get flights, trains, buses from any corner in Europe. Public transport are sometimes cheap as well. A high speed bullet train might be costly but an overnight bus journey or an intercity flight is always cheaper if you plan in advance. Still the experience of driving is different altogether.

There are 2 kinds of people, one who loves the sea and the other who loves the mountain. I can definitely say I am the second kind. I have been to the Himalayas numerous times, but everytime I visit the hills it feels like the first time. The mountains have always brought a smile on my face. Its is also very difficult to stay away from the mountains for too long. Once you have felt the essence of the hills its hard to love any other place. That is why Sikkim comes to mind first when I am planning for a roadtrip. You can never get bored of Sikkim. Our last trip to north bengal/dooars was a nightmare. Due to heavy rain and flood we were stuck there for 4 days. While returning to Kolkata my car was damaged severely. Thats another story and I will write about that in an another article, but for now lets talk about West Sikkim. I did plan for West Sikkim during monsoon but we went to Dooars and was badly stuck. West Sikkim is most the dangerous place to visit during monsoon, but at the...