WHO WE ARE: Ramneek and Rajinder
RIDING: The Bajaj Pulsar 135 LS
WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER I READ The Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara, which inspired me to take up touring on motorcycles. My dad gifted me a Bajaj Pulsar 135 LS, thus stoking my urge to go for a bike trip. I shared the idea with my best friend, Rajinder, and we zeroed in on Darjeeling as the destination for this trip. We left in the early hours of a cool spring morning. We had a reality check as soon as we entered the NH 34 as the condition of the road was dreadful! It was an exhausting journey of 14 hours to cover the distance of about 650 km and by nightfall we reached Siliguri, the entry point for the entire north-east.
The next morning we left Siliguri and within a few minutes we found ourselves riding on the for both of us and we enjoyed every bit of driving in those hilly surroundings. We had the local momos for lunch at Kerseong and did a bit of sightseeing and then left for Darjeeling. Another hour’s drive and we were in the beautiful town of Darjeeling. We checked in at a hotel and then went to explore the city on foot. We walked around the famous Mall Road area and had traditional Tibetan food for dinner.
We got up leisurely the next morning and left for local sightseeing after a late breakfast. We drove to the Tiger Hills view point with the expectation of seeing the majestic peak of Mount Kanchenjunga, but were disappointed when the fog prevented us from any kind of a view. Nevertheless, we saw the temple on top of the hill and then proceeded towards the Ghum monastery. After seeing the worship places of the two most famous religions of the area we came back to Darjeeling and enjoyed an evening walk around the town. The dinner again comprised unpronounceable Tibetan delicacies.
Sadly it was our last day on the hills and we left for the plains after brunch. We again took a break at Kerseong and, after many photo breaks some shopping in the local market and had an early and light dinner, keeping in mind the tough journey the following day.
Once again we got up in the wee hours and left for Kolkata on the tormenting NH 34. It was 13 hours and 600 km later that Kolkata welcomed us with an hour-long heavy downpour. Wet, exhausted but thoroughly
meter showing 1,476 km.