Lachen-Siliguri: What more could go wrong!!

Menu for today was hard riding. Aim was to reach Phuentsholling today. But somehow we dint show any urgency. We started at 8.30. Since most of the ride was downhill, the ride was faster. A board on the way. I totally agree with this..

But fate had something else in store for us. 4kms after Chumthang there was very very long line of cars. Stopping the cars was landslide.

The bull dozer was clearing it but we were told it'll take atleast 4hours to clear.



By now sun had come out and it was getting really hot. After many days we had this much warmth. Firstly we took off all the woolens. Then i remembered the wet clothes in my bag. I quickly took them out and put them on the bike to dry.

view around..



waiting in the sun..

macro..

fooling around to pass time..

mischief written all over the face..

Lot of bakar done, pics clicked, clothes dried, now what to do. Of course this..



I put the iner liners and riding jackets and made a small hut for myself to rest. Actually original intention was to make it big enough so that 3 people could sit and play cards but finally there was place for just one.
For 2hours we were stuck there. At 12.30 there way was cleared. We quickly got ready as we were standing in front of a long line of cars. If they overtook us, overtaking them again would be a painful job. But immediately after crossing the landslide, we had to stop. Amit had not put his gear on. God knows why he was sitting and watching when we were getting ready. Now we had a long line of taxis and buses to overtake. I stopped counting after 21. Soon it started raining. Another stop to put on the rain gear. Then onwards it rained for sometime, then stopped and then rained but no sign of sun. 4kms before Mangan, come another blow to our average speed. Anup had a flat tire. They were carrying spare tube, pump and tools to open the tire but dint have the tools to take out the tube. I took Amit's bike and got a mechanic from Mangan. Then we stopped at Mangan for lunch. Jithu and I got our bike's chain tightened and front break pads replaced. Now the bike was not making funny noises. After a leisurely lunch we set off again. It was raining. We filled petrol in the bikes. Talking to the locals we came to know that there was a way from Mangan to Singtam which by which we could bypass Gangtok. After Singtam we would rejoin the Mangan-Gangtok-Siliguri highway. This could save us a lot of time as going through Gangtok would mean wasting time in the long traffic jams. Also this route was shorter. We had come from the roue pointed by the following board. Now we went straight from this milestone..

But after a few kms this dint seem a good idea. Saying the roads were bad would be an understatement. The worst one of my life. Thankfully this was till a place called Dikchu. After that we got one of the smoothest roads iv ridden on. A wide 4 lane road. It was so smooth that you felt you were riding in a limo. It was starting to get dark but only 30km left to the main highway. Since we were going at more than 60-70, it wont take much time. We were crossing a bridge, when my nose starting itching. I left the handle, raised my visor and started scratching my nose. Wham!! And before i could take my hand out of the helmet, i realized i was on my hands and knees. I quickly got up and saw that the whole bridge was covered with wet mud and my bike was on top of a thick patch. No damage to me but i broke a clutch lever. Another delay. Now it was totally dark and in torch light i changed it. Good i carry a spare one. It took around 20-30mins. We started again but now we were riding cautiously. My headlight had become acentric. I could not see on the right side. Jithu saw this and guided me by riding on my right. God bless him. Now it was raining hard. We reached Sevoke at 9.30. There was a train track on the way. As our luck had been on the day, i couldnt expect anything else. The signal was red and the gate was closed. The train came after a long time and to our suprise stopped. After a long wait came another train. It passes, then the first one went. Finally we reached Siliguri at 11.

Distance traveled in the day: 206kms
Total distance in the trip: 1193kms

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