Darjeeling's phone lines cut off.. Please help

vineetsaini19

Hi,

We are going to Darjeeling n 21st Aug 09 for a trip.

Now the problem is we have our hotel bookings done but we are unable to contact the Hotel now due to bad phone lines.

Moreover, there was probability of strike on 17th Aug.

CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE GUIDE ME WITH THE STATUS OF THE STRIKE and HOW TO CONTACT THE HOTEL PEOPLE??????????????

I've mailed them but no reply.. []

kausiks

I am not sure of the strikes, but North Bengal has faced heavy rains in the last two days. More rains are expected. There has been landslides and the access road to Darjeeling from Siliguri is closed. Which hotel did you book? If the roads open up and you can reach Darjeeling, hotel should not be a problem. This is off-season in Darjeeling, so your rooms should be there.

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The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see.

vineetsaini19

Thanks for the response,

Will Darjeeling be accessible from bagdogra airport or the way is hit by rains???

We already have our hotel booking.

Thanks

theyyamdancer

I think you already have the answer in Kausiks' response to your original question. The access road between Bagdogra/Siliguri/New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling is currently closed.

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kausiks

There is one main road that goes from the plains to Darjeeling. So, whether you travel by bus, train or plane to Siliguri, you would have to go through the same stretch. But you still have a couple of days, so the roads might be cleared by that time, subject to no more landslides.
This is the news that has been published in newspapers.

vineetsaini19

Thats a bad news...

Well. Isnt there any alternate route to Darjeeling from Bagdogra may be a little longer but clear..?????????

Hope our trip is not affected... My very much worried as its a HM trip...

Please suggest some other route. Is there any other way throurh Mirik?

Thanks,
Vineet

kausiks

According to the report, the route through Mirik is not affected. So it might be possible to reach Mirik. Some member from Siliguri might be able to help on the exact status.
Even if you are able to reach Mirik, it should be fine. Its a nice place and you can stay there. Though your reservation at Darjeeling might go waste.
Rainy season in the hills is always unpredictable. I do not want to discourage you, but the weather forcasts rain throughout this week in North Bengal.

vineetsaini19

Thanks alot...

Somebody from Darjeeling or Siliguri can give me the exact status.

I really pray to God that our trip doesnt get affected.

mountaingirl

Hi! Just spoke to someone in Darj right now and the status is as follows.

1. The road via Kurseong to Darjeeling is closed since yesterday. The cars are going via Mirik. They are working on the road and hopefully it will be cleared. This takes a bit longer.

2. Usually, if a landslide occurs, the route is diverted - meaning in all likelyhood, you WILL reach Darjeeling. As it is there are 3 routes from Siliguri to Darjeeling via Kurseong- the main highway (4-5 hours), Pankhabari shortcut (3 hours) and Rohini (2 hours).

3. There is no strike and there is no likelyhood of the same due to the tripartie meeting. Nothing is planned or annouced so far. Most people feel that there won't be any more strikes now as people are pretty fed up with it.

In case of anything going wrong, people are very helpful so just relax and enjoy your trip!

bon voyage!

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vineetsaini19

Hey mountain girl,

You have taken off almost all my worries regarding this trip.

The information you have provided is really helpful. IM rocks!

Thanks a tonn
Vineet

kausiks

Hi vineetsaini19,

How was your trip? Hope you had a wonderful vacation.

vineetsaini19

Hey,

The trip was good but we missed the views due to cloudy weather for the whole week.

Even jouney was good. But I feel bad that we couldn't reach Changu lake due to closure of the road because of landslides.

Even while coming back to Bagdogra on the last day, the main highway was closed so we had to take an alternate route which was almost double time consuming.

But we enjoyed despite bad weather and change in plans.