Going the Distance....What's the next Stop? Delhi to Siliguri (West Bengal) to Guwahiti (Assam) to Shillong (Meghalaya) by road


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Asia » India » West Bengal » Darjeeling
August 18th 2011
Published: August 19th 2011
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Being from a Service Family background, my love for travelling and seeing new places grew leaps and bounds at a very young age. It was when I was about nine ten years when my father planned a trip to Bhutan from Dehradun. We were to travel by road as my uncle, who too was in the Army and on deputation to the Border Roads, was the Director of projects in Bhutan. After entering Bhutan through Phuntschilling, i simply fell in love with the majestic beauty of the mountains, the flora fauna and especially all those wild strawbwerry plants growing in abundance besides the roads. the best thing that has always stayed with me was that in spite of the strawberries and cherries growing wildly, the people of Bhutan were completely uninterested to stop and gather them - a difference from us Indians who would at the very small instance, stop in the middle of the road without a care in the world thereby causing a chaos in the traffic just to plunder the natural wonders growing wild. The second and practically the only other thing besides the beauty and wonder I have retained is having had the auspicious honour of meeting the then esteemed King of Bhutan - King Jigme Sigme Wangchuk - for tea. It was a toast to remember. His behaviour, gentlemanliness, cordiality and warmth have always been one of the most cherished moments of my life. Many a times have I considered visiting Bhutan again and again but could never materialise it. So make the most of it while you are still there - another chance may not be possible.
Since then, I have practically traversed the whole of India, not venturing out for long periods due to work, family circumstances and responsibilities. This, despite the fact that my wife too being from the army and who shares a common interest to travel to new places.
My love for the North east began about 5 years back. Let me put it this way - My wife is a Nepali settled in Darjeeling. We got married about 18 years ago - seems ages but appears to be just a couple of days back - whenever she comes on leave. Though I had visited Darjeeling once or twice before marriage, I fell in love with the place and its people when I visited it for my Father-in-laws funeral prayers about ten years back. Apart from the beautiful natural beauty, fresh air, cool climate, the thing that really impressed me was the simplicity, the carefree, helpful and wild spirit of the people. Not only friendly, they were absolutely open hearted and high spirited. This was the time when I fell in love with the north-east.
However, it was anot

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