Trip to Kalimpong – Part 1

Planning the Expedition

So, I don’t remember exactly how we planned this, but all I remember is talking to Mayukh on the call about going on a trip to Kalimpong. We thought about multiple locations to go to, and then he suggested Kalimpong. One of his relatives was in Kalimpong, so he said it would be easy for us to get accommodation, which places to travel and everything. I was on board with this. Now the other thing needed was to gather some more people for this trip.

Assembling the Crew

I asked a few of my friends about this trip and knew some of them would agree right away like Sandeep and Gourav. But Gourav was leaving for Bangalore for his new job with FAI Bank. So, the chances of him saying yes were negative. Anyway, I asked a few people Sandeep, Shobhit, Ekansh, my cousins Omkar, and Sushant.

Sandeep, Shobhit, and Omkar said yes right away. Ekansh said he needed some time to think and decide. Sushant said he is saving his leave to attend a family marriage in December. After this, Mayukh created a group on WhatsApp for this trip. Now, it was time to decide how many days long the trip was going to be.

Setting the Itinerary

So we decided that we were going to board our train to New Jalpaiguri on the 28th of September night and be back on the 3rd of October night. We had plenty of time in hand to explore and enjoy. Mayukh booked the Kolkata to NJP tickets and I booked the return ticket. We also created a group on Splitwise for this trip. It’s an awesome app, that makes it way easier to segregate costs on a trip. I would suggest everyone give this app a try and I was not paid to write about it 🤣. I wish they sponsored me.

Navigating Hurdles

And yes Ekansh had declined due to some personal reasons which none of us are aware of. Sandeep and I even tried to convince him, but he had made up his mind. Moving ahead, it was now time to book a hotel. This task was a challenging one, too many options and we were not so sure which one to book. Mayukh and I wanted to keep it budget-friendly. Everyone shared some hotels, some were too good but it was very far, and some were awesome but too expensive. Finally, Mayukh’s relative suggested we go with Hotel Orchid, and we decided to follow the recommendation. He booked 2 rooms and got us for a discount. 1 room was 2 sharing and the other was 3 sharing. But the rooms were quite big and had a mesmerizing view of Kalimpong. I will add the pics in the upcoming blogs.

Awaiting the Adventure

So now, the only thing needed for the trip to Kalimpong was to wait for the day to come for traveling.

The Unveiling Shock

Hey btw, a quick thing. I had already resigned from HV at this point 😉. This was later a shocker for all my friends and everyone who knew me. Except for my family, they were in the loop.