May 3 | We experienced the fastest decent from an altitude

Darjeeling had been a great experience, the food at Kaventers, the music at Gllenary’s, our first view of the Kanchenzonga and a lot more but now was the time to head out. Our next stop would be Pelling, which means we will be crossing state border today, from West Bengal to Sikkim. Our guide suggested a route that went back to Ghoom and take a detour from there to reach Teesta Bridge, then Jorethang, Legship and Pelling. We intended to take the route but generally asked at the Tourist Lodge receptions if there’s a quicker route and there were the many drivers who have spent years driving through these routes and they had an alternative, but the caveat was that while the route is much shorter, the ride will b tougher because the inclines are tough, but we were up for the challenge.

We lave from Darjeeling at about 8:30AM and decide to take the shorter route. This route basically cuts short the trip to Teesta and instead reaches Jorthang from a back route takeing a detour before Lebong. It started just as we were exiting Darjeeling, just near the North Point school, which is a beautiful school, we had to take the left that brought us down at lightening speed, even with breaks and the engine in the first gear, it was not easy and this continued for over an hour. The incline were mind blowing, each hair-pin bend brought us down about 20mtrs in altitude and this does not include the stretches of roads which were equally steep. But with the steering handle in the able hands of Sushant, we cleared this stretch safely.

On the way we passed many locals carrying the days pluck of tea leaves to the small ‘Mandis’ where they would offload and get their day’s wages. We are sure the work must’ve been extremely strenous because one could make that out from the build of the women, they almost looked like men. Further down the road, we came across the Rangeet River passing us and a little ride closer to the river was difficult to resist. Nothing great about the river, just a large stretch of deserted land with the river flowing and some activity happening at a distance. From here on, the cruise got more an more pleasant; we passed a small village where a lad was trying to practice playing the guitar, kids generally fooling around and the surrounding got more and more picturesque. Further down the road, we crossed the Rangeet to reach the Sikkim Border. While we did not get asked for it, but foreigners definitely have to register their pasport and visas here. Even Indians are asked where they are from and if the replies seem suspecious, papers could be demanded, but nothing like messing with the tourists aimlessly, these are the rules set by the Sikkimese govt because Sikkim shares it outer border with Nepal, Bhutan and China.

We just touched Jorethang and headed towards Legship, a beautiful ride i must admit, the lush greens in Sikkim were a different hue from most that we have seen on the ride in the past twenty days. Also, as soon as you cross over from WB to Sikkim, you will start noticing that the roads are better marked with milestones and directions, it helps and goest to show how a better managed BRO (Border Roads Organization) functions. There were few stretches where getting the bike across was tough, but those were negligible and were made up by the extremely friendly locals who never fell short of waving to us. It was sweet!

We had a grub at a restaurant called ‘Trishna’ at Legship and from there moved towards Pelling. Again a land of umpteen schools and beautiful campuses, you must keep looking out from the school buildings, it’ll make you wish you studied there. The stretch is covered with vegetation with people growing maize, potatoes and a few other crops. Being mountains, it’s beautiful to see the step farming in action, it makes the mountains look so organized. Sikkim is a land of monastries and on every stretch after regular intervals, we found these long flags hoisted on bamboo, not one but many in a row, these are to protect the people and the land from eveil forces from across worlds and borders.
Pelling is a small town that has recently started inviting tourists, so there are no big names there but smaller lodges. We looked at Kabur, Green Valley and Phamrong, while it was the steepest, it had the best view and clean rooms so we settled at Phamrong. Later in the night for dinner, we went for a walk around the town and found that 80% of the shops or buildings there are restaurants or hotels, which is the clear sign of a tourist city. The roads, except the main junction did not have lights and we had to use the phone flash to direct us, it would’ve been nice to have carried our torch. On the way there are a few other hotels we found like the ‘Residency’ and ‘Chumbit’ which looked decent but now it was too late. Eventually for dinner we came to ‘Kabur’ a quaint little place with a lot of local art displayed all over the restaurant. We tried some local food and ordered for ‘Thukpa’ and ‘Geythuk’ which are pretty much the same gravy but different type of hand made noodles. The portions were extremely large, ideally one between the two of us along with some momos would’ve done just fine.

Tomorrow the plan is to vist a few local places and then head for Yuksom.

Morals: Check the bike, brakes and tyres before taking the route to Jorethang from Darjeeling. There’s not much on the way, so carry grub and a bottle of tang, it helps in those times. Be cordial and willing to talk to the cops at the Sikkim border, they are not there to harrass but just doing their duty diligently. When moving around in Pelling and other small towns, always carry a torch along. Portions at Kabur are huge, order with caution.