Day 1 - Solo Ride from Kolkata to Land of Thunder Dragon

Solo Ride - Raid The Land of Thunder Dragon


02/11/2011

The moment I opened my eyes and saw light filtering through my windows I knew I was late. I missed the alarm as always and over slept. It was 4.45am and I had a plan to leave home at 5.30am, huh!! Started hurrying up and within 5.20 I was ready to hit the road. My mom was already awake and she was helping me. A strange calmness was in her face. I knew what it was. You all can guess I think.

In the mean time Saikat da already called me up and told me he was waiting at the Jessore road junction. Right on time I set my tripmeter to zero and hit the road. Did not knew what was waiting for the coming 8 days…what I was going to experience.

Saikat Da who encouraged me all the way..

I met Saikat da at Jessore road and started rolling towards NH2 via Belgharia Expressway. In no time we reached Gurap(60kms from Kolkata) from where Saikat Da had to come back. We had a little photo shoot and had a tea/fags break. Then the time came when I had to start my solo journey all along and all alone. 
With a lot of expectation and energy I again hit the road after bidding a warm good bye to Saikat da.

Leaving Gurap..

I had a plan to hit NH34 via NH2B > Bolpur Bypass > Moregram. The mighty NH2B, the 2way-traffic state highway.

While trying a self timer on NH2B:

The NH2B towards Bolpur was in good shape when I last visited Shantiniketan in April. But now it tested my tolerance and endurance for around 40kms. I passed Bolpur and Sriniketan and reached to Moregram at around 12.30 pm. I was quite hungry that time as I was running late due to the bad condition of the road and I did not stopped for any break until Moregram. I was not bothered about the food quality and had a mouthful lunch at BP Dhaba, Moregram. An one hour lunch break and again around 1.45 pm I was on the road. The condition of NH34 till Raiganj was pretty bad, but it was manageable on a bike. I managed to reach Raiganj covering 174 kms around at 6pm. 

The Condition of NH34

It was already evening and I was eager to reach Dalkhola as soon as possible, as only around 50kms are left. But that 50kms of road appeared like landing on the moon. Literally no road existed at all, only big craters and lots and lots of dust. It is night already, the trucks are coming from opposite side with high beam on. Sometimes I felt like to stop and throw stones to the truck drivers. Grrrr..

When I reached Dalkhola NH34-NH31 junction it was already 8.50pm, just imagine 50kms in 3 hrs. In the meantime my cellphone went out of battery for using the GPS. I called up to my mother from a local booth after charging the batery a bit, she was very worried seeing my cellphone off. It was already late and I had to cover 140kms and I was sure I will not get any hotel to stay in Siliguri. So decided to halt at the Dalkhola BP Dhaba(suggested by Sumit Da) which offers a dormitory for the tourists overnight and it’s real cheap(that’s why during my way back home I again stayed at this dhaba). After reaching the Dhaba I put my luggage in the dormitory and freshened up. The dinner was roti, chicken curry and salad. The food was very good and I can bet no other dhaba on NH34 serves this quality of food. My better half was real anxious after not getting calls from me till 10 pm, so had a bit long conversation with her and as usual it refreshed me as always. I had a plan to reach Pheuntsholing the next day as early as possible to get the RSTA permit. So just went to bed and the lost in dreams. The first day was uneventful except running late till night.

A lot more to cover tomorrow!!