INTO THE LAND OF THE THUNDER DRAGON
DAY 1 SILIGURI
IT is 8am in Siliguri. Eleven gleaming Tata SUVs are lined up on the driveway of the Royal Sarovar Portico. We are about to take off on a 1,100-km journey that will take us into the heart of Bhutan, and the excitement in the air is clearly palpable. There are nine Hexas and two Harriers in the fleet, with a Xenon serving as the sweep. Soon, we’re off. The going is a bit slow for the first 17km, the road crowded with visitors making a beeline for Gangtok. But that soon changes when we take a turn-off at Coronation Bridge – a pre-independence engineering marvel over the River Teesta. Hemmed in by acres of greenery, the road now has few other travellers. Vast tea gardens stretch as far as the eye can see, broken occasionally by thick forests. We pass the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, Chapramari Forest, and the Jaldapara National Park in quick succession.
The convoy is led by a veteran of many SOUL drives, and I am riding shotgun in the sweep car, curious to see how such an exercise is managed. All the vehicles are quickly in the groove, maintaining a steady pace, while
