From Sahyadris to HImalayas on Four Wheels!

MUMBAI TO GANGTOK ON FOUR WHEELS.
FROM SAHYADRIS TO HIMALAYAS.
5 Days ------------------- 7 States ----------------- 2803 kms one way
To begin with these are the brief facts of an expedition undertaken by seven determined friends on a journey from Mumbai (Maharashtra) to Gangtok (Sikkim) and back by road. The journey of 5519 kms was covered between 10th April 2010 and 21st April 2010 and was undertaken in Chevrolet Tavera SUV No. MH-04-CB-6713.
The names of the seven determined friends are :
Shri Anil M Ghosalkar - Union Bank of India
Shri Arun Gogte - Retired Film Editor, now farmer
Shri Anil C Kharwar - Union Bank of India
Shri Sunil S Malode - Retired from Roche (India) Ltd
Shri Praful S Malode - Tata Power Ltd
Shri Rajan Ghosalkar - Retired Excise Officer
Shri Kamal J Salian - Tata Steel Ltd
The total distance travelled in 12 days was 5519 kms, travelled through the states of Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Orissa, West Bengal, Sikkim, Bihar, Jharkhand.
On an informal talk, about 8 to 10 friends had gathered at the residence of Shri Vasant Gavade. Shri Gavade a Builder by profession is a senior citizen and a friend of the group. He informed us about the marriage of his son – Sameer who lives in USA to a girl from Gangtok. He invited all the friends present there and gave us the wedding invitation card. To our surprise, the marriage was to take place at Gangtok in Sikkim on 16th April 2010 as the girl and her family was from that region. Shri Anil Ghosalkar spontaneously asked all the friends present there "Come on ! Shall we go to Gangtok !". To this 7 friends immediately said "Yes ! Definitely!". He further asked "Shall we make it by Road ?". As all the friends in the long past had visualized and dreamt that one day they should go on a long trip by road, everybody replied in the Affirmative. To this Shri Gavade immediately offered his Tavera Vehicle for the trip, as it was the vehicle wherein all the friends alongwith Shri Gavade had gone on various tours in the past, like trips to Rajasthan, Kutch in Gujarat, Goa, Coastal Karnataka and various other trips in the state of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Accordingly, the above named seven friends (satte – pe – satta) were ready.
Immediately, the next day both Shri Anil M Ghosalkar and Shri Anil C Kharwar visited the India Tourism and Development Corporation (ITDC) – Tourism office at Churchgate. Shri Roman Pereira, the Manager of ITDC raised eye-brows in surprise about our expedition. However, he was prompt enough to tender all the possible help. He not only spared the copies of state wise routes, maps but also wished us ‘Good Luck’ in our expedition. Encouraged by this gesture and study of the available information received from ITDC and from the Google site, finally we started off on 10th April 2010 at 15.00 hours from Vile Parle, Mumbai.
It was decided that driving will take place between 7.00 hours to 19.00 hours. By this way making night halt at Dhule (Maharashtra), Bhandara (Maharashtra), Sambalpur (Orissa), Kolkata (West Bengal), Malda (West Bengal) we finally reached Gangtok (Sikkim) at 18.30 hours on 15th April 2010 after travelling 2803 kms through six states. All of us had gone prepared carrying all personal identification papers, vehicle papers, etc. but all through the travel crossing 7 states, we had no problems with the security staff at the borders neither of the states nor with the local police or regional transport authority. Only the Kolkata traffic police on entering the city borders asked for the driver’s license, PUC certificate and car documents. At the Sikkim border, on seeing the vehicle with Maharashtra Registration, they asked as to where we were coming from, and on our saying that we were from Mumbai, they were happy and immediately allowed us to go with a smile on their face. The Pan – India presence of our esteemed Union Bank of India was of great help to the group as we could make prior arrangements for our night halts with the help of local Unionites like Shri Sudhir Patil – Senior Manager of Dhule Branch, Shri Jannawar – Assistant General Manager of Dhantoli Branch, Nagpur, Shri Manji – Chief Manager of Sambalpur Branch and Shri Asabhai D Patel - Assistant General Manager of Regional Office, Kolkata. Hats off to all of them, our dear Unionites.
Dhule is a city and is in northwestern part of Maharashtra State. It is one of the very few well-planned cities of India before Indian Independence. Being situated at the intersection of two National Highways, Dhule is a popular stop for truckers. We stayed at Hotel Residency Park on the highway. The food served in Dhule is typical Maharastrian, the best being the Gaoran (Desi) Chicken with Bajra Roti, you won’t get this taste anywhere else in the world, simply superb.
Bhandara is a city and is in the state of Maharashtra. It is the second major city in Vidharba region and is 60 kms from Nagpur – the Capital of Oranges. We noticed that the local people speak regional languages Marathi and also Hindi due to its proximity towards Madhya Pradesh. The city is on National Highway No. 6 and is between two rivers one is Wainganga and other is Sur Nadhi. We have the famous Badrama Wild Life Sanctuary near Bhandara and the weather is very extreme in all seasons with temperatures in summers as high as 45 degrees Celsius. We stayed here at Hotel Sai Plaza.
Sambalpur is the gateway to the western zone of Orissa, abounding with lush green forests, and exquisite array of hills. We stayed at Chandan Guest House.
Kolkata was formerly called Calcutta and is the capital of West Bengal. It is located in eastern India and is on the banks of River Hooghly. The highways to Kolkata were quite wide, like the ones you see in Mumbai, everything the same, even the traffic jams, we were stuck in the traffic on the highway for almost an hour some 20 kms away from Kolkata. We reached Kolkata at 9.45 p.m. and to our utter surprise unlike Mumbai all the hotels were closed for the day. Ultimately, we had to eat at a road side small joint. The next morning we went for Kolkata sightseeing. We were surprised that early in the morning the roads were being cleaned and washed with water. Till today trams are running in Kolkata. We visited the old and prachin Mahakali Mandir, Dakshineswar Kali Mandir, the beautiful Victoria Memorial, Eden Gardens, Government Buildings, Howrah Bridge, Bellur Math where Swami Vivekanand took samadhi.
During our journey, we had some experiences which could be remembered for a long time. On our onward journey from Bhandara to Sambalpur during our afternoon lunch break at one of the Dhaba’s on Raipur highway we came across to see a Sand-Storm. This Sand-Storm had been travelling with us on the highway for almost 5 kms. Such was the intensity of the Sand-Storm that the owner of the Dhaba had to pull down the shutters. The temperature on the highways in interior Maharashtra and Chattisgarh was very hot and dry with temperatures as high as around 45 degrees centigrade. On our way from Sambalpur to Kolkata, we had to pass through Devgarh town. The entire stretch of about 100 kms was so bad that it took us about four hours to cross the stretch. Moreover, due to heavy jerks, the steel front guard of our vehicle gave way and broke. Since, we could not get any help on the highway, we had to tie the guard with nylon rope and drive slowly for further 30 kms to get a welder and mechanic to fix it. That night we reached Kolkata. The next day in the afternoon we left for Malda.
Malda is the district Head quarter town and is located 365 km north of Kolkata and 260 km south of Siliguri and was formerly known as English Bazaar. We stayed here at Hotel Ganga Rayadu.
On our last lap from Malda to Gangtok, we passed through the areas where the previous day a violent storm tore through the northern parts of West Bengal, eastern parts of Bihar had struck, leaving behind downed power lines, flattened trees, transmission towers and homes, rendering about a 100 people dead, trees fallen all over, roof tops of house blown over, transmission towers tilted. Such was the intensity of the tornado that we could see mass destructions all over the area with power supply not even restored after 2 days. On the last stretch from Siliguri to Gangtok, it was around 14.00 hours in the afternoon with bright sun shine at Siliguri. The distance upto Gangtok was 100 kms (ghat section). River Teesta is one of the main rivers of the state of Sikkim which follows you on the entire 100 kms ghat section to Gangtok. We had barely driven some 40 to 45 kms and all of a sudden the sky was covered with black clouds. Within next 10 to 15 minutes it started raining so heavily that it became difficult to see through. We covered our luggage on the hood of the vehicle with plastic sheet and waited for about 40 to 45 minutes till the vehicles coming from opposite directions asked us to move as there was possibility of landslide. Enroute we could see waterfalls and even landslide happening in front of our eyes. Ultimately, we reached Gangtok, where climate was pleasant and after rains it used to be quite chilly.
Union Bank of India has a beautiful Holiday Home in Gangtok. It is in Hotel Hill View, M G Road, which is in the heart of the city and is excellently located on the mountain top. We are thankful to the owner of the Hotel Hill View – Shri Dorjee who is the Development Commissioner of Gangtok, under whose tenure during the last 3 years the Capital city of Sikkim has undergone transformation for the better. One is reminded of Thailand. Gangtok is situated at an altitude of about 5500 feet. Union Bank of India – Gangtok branch and ATM are situated at M G Road / Tibet Road. In the city of Gangtok you are not allowed to travel by big vehicles. For sightseeing and travel you have to take the small cars or taxi, like, Maruti Alto / Omni / Tata Indica / Hyundai Santro. There are beautiful landscapes and forests all around with exquisite local cuisines serving momos. The people are hospitable, receptable and peace loving. There are beautiful monasteries and the famous Ban Jankhri water fall. The city of Gangtok is on a terrain full of mountains with steep roads throughout the city which requires experienced drivers to drive through. The state of Sikkim is recently added eight sister to the group of the existing seven sisters of the North – Eastern Region of India, namely Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Tripura.
On our way back from Gangtok to Mumbai, we decided to avoid the bad patch of 100 kms between Devgarh and Sambalpur, and to have some more fun and adventure by coming through a different route, we hence preferred to come via Dhanbad (Coal Capital of India) and Ranchi in the state of Jharkhand. The distance between Dhanbad and Ranchi was about 114 kms. On the way, the area upto Purulia town is with Jharkhand. From Purulia till a place from where Ranchi is about 63 kms is with West Bengal. The condition of the roads with West Bengal is worst and passes through small villages, lanes and by-lanes. Roads in Jharkhand was comparatively better but absolutely isolated and dangerous. Dangerous because the areas are inhibited by the Naxals and Maoists. Both sides of the road were covered with dense jungle with no sign of any inhabitation. During the entire stretch of 63 kms we could hardly see one truck going towards Ranchi and one jeep coming from Ranchi. On reaching Ranchi, we came to know about a better and safe road via Bokaro and Chhans. During the entire stretch, we hardly spoke to each other as all were tensed up and are sure everyone was praying for a safe journey to Ranchi.
Ranchi is the capital of the newly founded state of Jharkhand. It is the hub of commercial and trade activities in Jharkhand and of eastern India. Ranchi has rich mineral deposits and mining is an important activity here. The city of Dhanbad which is the Coal Capital of India is 177 kms from Ranchi. We stayed at Hotel Bliss Regency which is opposite Ranchi Railway Station.
Amravati is in the state of Maharashtra and is the headquarters of the "Amravati Division" which is one of the six regions of the state of Maharashtra - Vidarbha region. Amravati is the hometown of a number of politicians and the current President of India, Pratibha Patil is from Amravati. The city is well maintained and properly developed and is neat and clean. The temperature was 45 degrees centigrade and even in the mid of the night it was very hot and stuffy. We stayed at Hotel Roshni.
On our way from Jalgaon to Dhule, Mr Gogte was on steering with a speed of 95 / 100 kmph. A passenger bus all of a sudden coming from the opposite direction took a U-turn whilst our vehicle was passing by and from the front a tempo was coming towards us on the wrong side. We had one more similar incident on our way from Dhule to Nasik, a Fiat Uno motor car moved in all of a sudden on the highway from the opposite side. Mr Gogte had to apply sudden brakes to put the vehicle at halt instantly to avoid a major head-on collision with the bus, tempo and car.
Barring these, the entire journey was exciting and thrilling. It was a test of passion and right attitude of all. It was possible by the Grace of God.
Shri Anil M Ghosalkar, Shri Anil C Kharwar and Shri Arun Gogte were on steering-wheel. The journey was enjoyable and successful due to the team work of all the 7 members
Last, but not the least thanks to Mr Gavade for his vehicle – Tavera, who without any hesitation gave us the vehicle for the trip after getting the entire vehicle serviced and replacing the old worn out parts. This we specify since the vehicle has already done 1,77,000 kms before the journey started and expect for a puncture, the vehicle had no other complaint.