Sourav SinhaAMS on the road: A trip to Kalimpong

11July

AMS on the road: A trip to Kalimpong – Part 2

Hills always attract me. As a child I had been to Puri (Beach), Betla National Park (Forest) and Darjeeling (Hills). Somehow the hills always felt better. Probably the climate in the hills and the atmosphere makes me yearn for a hill station trip every year.

Every year from 2013, whenever we (Asif, Mukesh & myself: shortened AMS) planned a trip, I always suggested Hill Stations. We had been to Darjeeling and Gangtok previously so this time we opted for a different place, Kalimpong. Kalimpong though is a hill station, its mainly a place to relax because there is not much activity per se.

Anyways, the previous day’s hectic travel meant that we couldn’t wake up before 9 AM. Good thing was that our hotel was very near to Savok Road so we knew we didn’t need to navigate the traffic congestion inside Siliguri. We got ready by 10 AM and checked out of Saluja Residency (our overnight halting point at Siliguri). There was a nearby fuel station where we got our car refueled and we were now ready for our onward journey towards Kalimpong.

Our navigating friend, Google Maps predicted a 100 minute drive but me and Google Maps always have a love-hate relationship. I love it because it navigates its way even when mobile internet is not available but hate it because it always ends the journey at some odd location. As we reached Kalimpong, it kept navigating the roads and then it declared that our destination is at the right. The problem was that on our right what we found was a steep hill and nothing else. Where did the hotel vanish? I wondered. There were no major landmarks to help us as well. The road was deserted and finally we found a couple of young guys walking along the way whom we asked to guide us to Hotel Sinclairs Retreat. They were kind enough to inform us about the route, which we understood will come after a couple of more turns up the hill.

This time we were able to reach the place without any more hassle and as we entered the property it delighted us. Sinclairs Kalimpong was situated in such a nice location that one could forget all the worries in life and stay for a few days in absolute tranquility.

We checked in around 1 PM and after keeping our luggage decided to take a walk around the area. The Resort is on a 5 acre property filled with greenery and has all the amenities that you can think of. With the majestic himalayas surrounding the place, it’s an ideal place for anyone who wants to spend a few days away from pollution.

We were hungry by now so decided to go to the restaurant. Me being a pure non-vegetarian by choice, Sinclairs had a lot of options to choose from. After finishing our lunch we decided to take some rest before Mukesh and Asif decided to go for a swim. I meanwhile took a quick afternoon nap. Our room had a nice balcony which was a great place to chill out and that’s where we spent till the sunset, chatting over a few cups of tea.

In the evening, we decided to go to the lounge. The indoor play arena was already filled with other guests so we took a place away from the din and Mukesh ordered some chilled beer as me and Asif (the teetotalers) accompanied him over Pepsi. We had some tasty snacks as well. I must admit the food at Sinclairs was very good.

We spent the rest of the evening at the lounge just enjoying the atmosphere. We took dinner a bit early and went back to our rooms. Our nights do not end so quickly and we continued chit chatting till 1 AM before calling it a day. We of course planned a trip to Lava & Rishap the next day.

Next day we got up nice and early and were welcomed to a massive breakfast spread at the restaurant. We ate to our heart’s content and then asked the travel desk to arrange a driver for Lava & Rishap. We left around 10 AM and we first went to Lava. These are places which are relatively less inhabited. The roads were very bad and we patted ourselves for deciding not to drive ourselves.

The natural beauty of course was very good. The temperature was cool and it was cloudy with a steady breeze blowing across. After taking a small break at Lava we decided to go upto the Rishap crossing. The Rishop crossing had a very mystic feeling to it. We halted near a small tea shop and took a walk around for an hour or so just having a feel of the tranquility around us.

We had a plate of maggi along with tea and then started our journey downhill towards Kalimpong. During my childhood I had heard that the bakery items of Kalimpong were very different so wanted to taste it first hand now that we were here. The car took us near the main shopping area of Kalimpong and we walked around the place before stopping near a biggish bakery. The cakes and the cream rolls were very attractive indeed and tasted nice as well.

It was late afternoon by then and we decided to go back to our hotel. It was the IPL final day and the rest of the evening was dedicated to the same. As the match started, it started raining cats and dogs at Kalimpong. I thought such rains in the daytime would have looked great from the hotel. It was a great final by the way. RCB showed another way of losing a match from a winning position. The ever reliance on 3 top batters cost them the IPL.