As I stand on the balcony of our cottage, I can hear the sound of trickling water – overnight dew which had accumulated on the tin sheds and were rolling down now, onto the leaves of the plants and blades of grasses. The solitude of the morning was only disturbed by a chirping bird – possibly a flycatcher. A serene, cold breeze was blowing from the east, sometimes ruffling my jacket. And in a cloudless, indulgent sky…the first rays of the sun fall on the Kanchenjunga that is staring right in front of us – separated by miles of lesser hills – the monolith turns into pink then gleams like gold and in the next half an hour burns bright white. The Sleeping Buddha has awoken!
It was after a long time that we were in the Sikkim hills – but this primitive occurrence never ceases to amaze us. And then reality hits – my exposed fingers are numbed by now , so much so that pressing the shutter becomes an arduous task.
A couple of days ago..
We had left our Calcutta home, to the jingle of Christmas carols as we barreled down the Kalyani Expressway – the newest alignment to reach Siliguri. At our newly discovered favourite spot – BP Ghar at Birohi – we had a filling breakfast of Aloo parathas.
Amongst other things like nolen gur and koraishutir kochuri, the winters bring along with it the advent of yellow mustard fields. And at Raiganj, with the orange glow of the setting sun in the background, the sight of the mustard fields stretching far and wide into the horizon through a thin layer of the accumulating mist, is a sight that I will remember for long! The rest of the journey to Marina’s Motel, Bagdogra was a routine affair , as we checked in to the hotel at 9 PM after a straight 12 hours journey.
“In a cloudless, indulgent sky…the first rays of the sun fall on the Kanchenjunga that is staring right in front of us – separated by miles of lesser hills – the monolith turns into pink then gleams like gold and in the next half an hour burns bright white. The Sleeping Buddha has awoken!“
Marinas’ Motel used to be our favourite haunt during our stopovers to the Darjeeling and Sikkim hills and hold much nostalgia for us. But times change and so do everything around us – and some changes are for the worse – the erstwhile warmth of Marina’s was replaced by a cold transactions this time around and I have serious doubts if I will ever stay at this place in the near future.
The next day, we had a relaxed start from Bagdogra – but a relaxed start resulted in massive traffic till Sevoke. We broke for some tea and noodles near Teesta Bazaar. With the arrival of winter, the Teesta has turned meek and calm and ambled slowly in the distance. Road construction and moving convoy of vehicles kicked off dust that rose in the air.
Verdant green mountains, flowing streams, smoke rising from the chimneys of the huts in the valley – the feel of mountains well and truly kicked in after crossing over to Sikkim. I remember in one of my earlier journeys, on a motorcycle in 2013, the feeling of having ‘left the city behind’ would be felt as we crossed the Sevoke Military station. But days have changed!
We arrived at Biksthang Heritage Farmhouse, our abode for the next 3 days, after a 4 hour drive. Almost suddenly we felt that the noise of the whining engines were far away and we were transported to a zone of pervading silence only to be broken by the cry of an insect or the chirping of birds returning home. The evening was spent on the open air deck as we sipped into some Darjeeling tea and munched onto some sandwiches. Calm and serene, we watched as the lights were lit up, and the cold winds picked up. Dinner was served in the restaurant located in the heritage building – built with 3 feet wide walls – which served as an erstwhile detention center.
On the third day, we woke up to the blissful morning that I had described in the opening. The entire day remained cloudless as Kanchenjunga towered over the Biksthang valley for the entire day. In the afternoon, after a hearty lunch, washed down with Lassi made with milk from the farmhouse’s cow, we went on a drive to Rinchenpong – merely 15 kms away.
Darjeeling’s oranges are quite famous in this region – but was not aware that the Sikkim hills too were famous for their own variety. We saw orchards blooming with oranges on either side of the road to Rinchenpong. The roads on which we had driven till the previous day were mostly wide with gradual slopes. But on the way to Rinchenpong, the road turned narrow and with some steep inclines. Within the confines of my driving skill and having driven my Swift on multiple hill roads, I can safely say that I could have driven up the car only in the first gear – but here I was doing the same in the Scorpio-N in the third comfortably. At Rinchenpong, the Kanchenjunga range appeared to be magnified in size and the cold was intense too.
Dinner was again another elaborate affair. A word here about the food at Biksthang Heritage Farmhouse is due. Most of the food was local, organic produce – and the rice, masoor dal, milk and a variety of vegetables coming right from the farm. We were served some of the tastiest and at times over the top menu – which needed to be edited out for being too filling. Momos, Fried rice, chilli chicken, chicken curry, dal of different types, cutlets, pastas, stuffed parathas – you name it!
And then came the last day at Biksthang. And to reflect the mood, streams of cloud filled up the sky. The sun was mostly behind the clouds – but the majestic Kanchenjunga range was visible. This day, I had planned for a bit of fun – as we took an offroad track to the Lhuentse Gompa. This was 29th December and with the Sikkimese New year, which follows the lunar calendar, slated for the new year on the 31st December – rituals were planned at the Gompa.
The track appeared to be steep and rocky and engaged the 4X4 Low for the first time. At the end of a kilometer ride we were the Gompa – and I was about to boast about my tough 4×4 vehicle – but then I see an Alto and WagonR s standing in the parking lot – which goes on to say, how much more of driving there is to learn! Here is a video of the drive:
We packed our bags in the evening and the next morning we left Biksthang. The drive was a long one – we stopped at Khanna Hotel, Bagdogra for lunch; Mother’s Hut at Krishnagar for dinner and finally reached home at 1 in the night. 6 months ago we had a forgettable lunch at Mother’s hut – but today’s dinner – of the Dum chicken curry, Dal fry, Chicken Tikka Masala and rice was a stunner!
