After months of planning the day
arrived for us for our first North East Trip to Gangtok/Darjeeling. Googled
lots of blogs, trip advisor forum, knowledgeable websites
(https://www.darjeeling-tourism.com/) etc. After making all necessary checklist
and finally packing everything we checked and double checked as we as family
were travelling with 2 kids ( 13 yrs Son & 5 yrs Son prone to frequent
motion sickness). Some last week updates like Air Vistara return flight changed
its time due to summer schedule from 3.15 Pm to 5 PM from Bagdogra led to
change in our plans but all worked out and in place.
At 4 AM in the Morning we left
our Home (Jaipur) and reached Jaipur International Airport to catch our Delhi
Flight 6E 6066 departing at 6 AM. Check-in was Smooth but less sleep last night
could be seen on kids’ faces. Also recent news about Indigo flights grounding
due to neo engines made my wife bit uncomfortable.
Me with Kids @ At Jaipur Airport
We reached T1C terminal at around
7 AM and quickly collected our bags to catch our Onward flight Air Vistara UK
725 (10.25 AM from T3 International Airport).
We exited from T1C terminal and quickly went to free Shuttle Service
point to T3 Airport. We showed our boarding pass (Indigo / Air Vistara both) to
Helpdesk counter behind bus boarding point and were issued free travel coupons.
Soon bus arrived, we made queue (minded by airport staff) and boarded the
shuttle. Those who did not collect the coupon beforehand had to pay Rs 30 per
person for the service. After 15 mins we reached the T3 Airport at around 8 AM but
shuttle dropped us below at T3 Arrivals point. We put our luggage on trolley
bag and escalated to T3 Domestic Departures above in some time.
Kids @ T1C Shuttle Point
T3 check-in, bag drop and security
was smooth by but we had long walk to GATE NO 52 for Air Vistara UK 725 Flight Departure
to BAGDOGRA and finally we boarded. After 2 hrs flight and sumptuous in-flight
service we landed at around 12:15 PM at BAGDOGRA Airport. It is a small airport
and in no time our luggage came out we went straight to pre-paid taxi booth as
we wanted to move to Gangtok ASAP to avoid night travel at hills.
The pre-paid taxi booth told us
that there were no drivers for Gangtok presently as Bagdogra (Siliguri) was in
West Bengal & we had to wait. I went out of the airport to look for Sikkim Cab
(SK Taxi) and left my wife kids and inside the terminal. Near Booth lots of
agents asked for 500-700 extra for taxi to Gangtok. Luckily after few haggling
moment I found WB Tavera @ Rs 3300 to Gangtok and soon we loaded and went
straight for FIRST NORTH EAST TRIP. After pathetic 1 hrs long traffic mess at
Siliguri we finally reached to bye-pass road for Gangtok.
Hiils began soon and we drove alongwith Teesta River for almost our entire journey to Gangtok. We passsed Coronation Bridge, then Teesta Bridge and reached Rangpo from were Sikkim started.
Rangpo, Sikkim
We reached Gangtok at around 4:30PM checked-in
our studio service Apt @ Tadong (Shumbuk Homes Hotel & Serviced Apartments @ Rs 2700/Per Day after discounts etc.). We
were greeted by rain and thunderstorms that lasted for quite sometime.
Meanwhile we freshened-up and went
to M G MARG , GANGTOK (from taxi point opposite apt for 20 Rs each). WOW it
was very clean and awesome M G Marg.
We strolled on MG Marg for sometime but due to cold
weather, drizzling and kid's tiredness we went back (from from taxi point opposite M G Marg for 20 Rs each ) to our apartment and booked sightseeing taxi (WagonR @ Rs2000 whole day 10 points view) with hotel for next day & retired
for the night.
Todays's Major Expense:
1. Bagdogra to Gangtok : Rs 3300 / Tavera
2. Service Apt : 22 March to 25 (@ 2700 / per day) , @Rs 8100
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