I belong to a peripatetic family. It’s as if, we can’t stay at home for all the year round. So this fantastic instinct in our genes makes us travel and explore parts of the country at least twice a year. Be it Bangalore (our hometown) or a vacation plan, but it becomes necessary to travel only if we wish our minds to stay stable for the next whole year.
Sunrise at Khangchendzonga
We've so far covered The North, The West and The South India. What remains is the beautiful, but sadly, ignored part of our country-The North East! I was a kid, when TOI had for the first time (as far as I remember) published pictures of the spectacular sunrise in the Eastern states of India as a part of Tourism Enhancement program. You won’t believe it, I still have those pictures with me! Each time, when I sit out recalling those memories of childhood, the paintings, pictures etc. this one, in particular, revives my dream of traveling there at least once. I even had an opportunity once, as a part of a competition, to visit Nagaland but suddenly there were Naxal attacks and my dream had step aback!Sad!This time, I would undoubtedly love to visit and discover the magnificent India’s magnificent North East and let the nation know how crushingly beautiful it is!Trip name (For FB album-name :P) :Himalayan OdysseyWhat I dream of is, first flying off from Ahmedabad to Darjeeling accompanied with a bunch of adventurous cousins sometime in mid Feb,taking a day’s break thereafter , arranging rented Porsches and then woo-ow!It begins!
Then would begin a voyage of lifetime, an early morning journey through the plunging valleys, lush forests, rice terraces, and flowering bushes along the route with plenty of spontaneous diversions as we set to watch the daybreak!Exciting! Shouting, singing, laughing, teasing, smiling, enjoying! It would be so much of fun!The first stop would be Kalimpong.Getting a Darjeeling tea as a bed tea is something you cannot enjoy daily! How could we have missed this opportunity of savoring the world’s finest tea? A photograph, holding the tea cups in hand and wearing a smile on face with all the crazy cousins of my own age-group, with the shop-waala, would stay there as a memory forever to cherish!After a 3 1/2 hour drive through the twisted roads, our next stop would be Gangtok, the capital city of Sikkim. Time for some Tibetan cuisine! Choice of the restaurant would depend upon its location and the amount of average patience and ability of resisting hunger that we possess!But,for sure, we would be tasting The Dalai Lama’s Momos, Thupka – Noodle Soup, String Beans with Potatoes,and the Passion fruit squash, Alpine Cheese.So many girls and no shopping? We would travel to the The Sikkim Handloom and Handicraft Emporium to purchase some local handicraft items like Masks, wall hangings, carpets, leather goods and Tibetan Bhutia and Lepcha dresses.Off then,we’ll set to visit the surrounding Buddhist monasteries only to return home with eyes eager to sleep and awaiting the ecstasy of traveling to Pelling,early morning, the next day!I very surely say that the stretched muscles and weary eyes would lure us not to leave the bed so damn early, only to travel to Pelling to witness the mind-blowing views of the Khanchendzonga at dawn.But,we’ll listen to our heart instead, imagining ourselves standing there and watching the sunrise only to get up all excited,to wear the Lepcha dresses, bought on the previous day! Staying there for a day, visiting some of the surrounding Buddhist Gompas, we’ll head back to Tashiding for a yet another spectacular drive back to Darjeeling.This post is written for the AmbiPur-The Perfect Road Trip Contest.
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