My travels: Day 25 (May-6) : Toy train and on to Gangtok

Toy train at Batasia Loop at Ghoom

We left out hotel quite early hoping to take the joy ride to Ghoom and back. However after reaching the railway station we were told that tickets had all been sold out. The booking opens 90 days in advance!! We decided to drive to Ghoom and see the train at Batasia Loop there.

Since we reached Ghhom ahead of time, we decided to have lunch at a roadside dhaba. The momos there were excellent! Then we went up to the Batasia Loop. The train track turns 360 degree and passes under itself, all within less than a Km. It was fun watching the train.

By the time we started for Gangtok, it was 2:00 PM. So dad drove fast in an attempt to reach Gangtok before night. He descended a bit too fast down to Teesta river. Due to continuous hard braking on corners, the brakes became so hot that they started smoking. When we realized that we stopped for them to cool. It took more than 30 minutes but the spot had a good view of Teesta.

By the time we reached Gangtok, it was getting dark. We did not realize that The Club Mahindra hotel, Royal Deemazong was around 12 Km further. We kept asking for direction and very few people knew the place. Finally we found a taxi that was going in that direction and followed it. It was totally dark by that time and drizzling. After a turn, all the lights of Gangtok disappeared from our view and we were worried whether we were really on right track. We finally reached the hotel by around 8:30 PM after some really anxious moments.