Autoportal India

This is a North Sikkim travelogue without any of the usual spots of Yumthang, zero point, Kalapathar or Gurudongmar. Now that is unusual, but since we were travelling in and after the Christmas period, we expected both those routes to be closed on and off due to heavy snow. So, rather than aiming for those spots, we thought to enjoy the post-Christmas chill around Lachen and Lachung instead and hopefully enjoy some snowfall.

It was the year-end of 2021 and pandemic-related travel restrictions were getting on our nerves for some time now and apart from a short 5-day Arunachal drive in October, the old steed, my 2013 Thar CRDe did not see any action he deserved to see. So, the North Sikkim winter drive was planned. One concern was that the temperature would definitely go subzero at night, and the Thar might have some starting issues. So, I got the Mahindra service to send the starter motor for de-carbonisation and cleaning first.

Then another Thar CRDe came into the picture. My old friend and bhpian, Shyam decided to join in his 2017 CRDe with his wife and kid and so, it was going to be a two Thar journey to the hills.

A teaser pic

Day 1
A 6AM start from Guwahati, with packed sandwiches and boiled eggs have become a norm now. For one thing, on the first day, the drives from home, we always want to cover as much distance as possible before the first pit stop. So 6AM start it was and by the time we stopped for our mini breakfast, we were nearing Shreerampur gate into West Bengal. The roads in Assam side were good as usual and after the 4 lane roads came to an end, the smooth dual carriageway along the reserve forests of Bengal was as good a drive as any.

Apart from a small traffic jam caused by an overturned lorry, which cost us half an hour, there were no holdups and we got to Chalsa at around 2.45pm for refuelling and a pit stop for food. The rest of the drive through dooars was pleasant with the rolling tea gardens on either side of the road. Coronation bridge traffic was bad as expected and by the time we reached Sikkim (rangpo) it was nearly 5.30 pm.

At Singtam, we left the Gangtok highway and took the road via Dikchu to Mangan. The road here was pretty rough and the Milton water container which we carried (mineral water bottles are banned in North Sikkim), didn’t spill a drop on the entire journey to Singtam but it looked like a really bad decision thereafter with a lot of spillages. So I said to myself (top gear style) ” It could be worse..” and carried on. Actually, that was an even worse decision which we found out afterwards (a lot of things got soaked).

Finding the location of the homestay took some time and finally, we got there at 9.15 pm, having covered 610km in the day. The homestay was warm and comfortable with clean rooms and linen and parking was available too. The owner is very helpful and the family cooked a great dinner for us at night with chicken, rice and fresh vegetables.