When the Hills Make You Reroute: Gangtok to Siliguri via Rhenock & Lava
Sometimes, the mountains decide your route for you. I started from Gangtok, planning an easy ride down NH-10 to Siliguri — the usual way, hugging the Teesta, watching the river run beside you all the way down. But somewhere before Kalijhora, the road gave up — blocked, broken, or jammed, like it does when the hills have other plans.
So, the SNT bus turned its nose towards Rhenock. The driver, unfazed, spun the wheel towards a quieter road — a detour through misty bends and sleepy bazaars. Rhenock came and went with small teashops and school kids waving by the roadside. The road climbed again, higher this time, towards Lava.
Past Algarah, the clouds thickened. Pine forests and mossy bends wrapped the road like an old hill song. In Lava, the bus stopped for tea — hot, sweet, smoky — perfect for the chill in the air.
Then came the real thrill — the descent. Narrow roads hugging sharp ridges, deep valleys falling away beyond the trees. The old bus strained on the uphill curls, groaned on the downward ones. A hush fell inside as we tackled the steeper parts — a collective faith in the driver, the road, and the mountain gods.
Hours later, the hills eased into the plains, the green folds smoothed out, and the bus rolled into Siliguri — delayed but richer with stories, the kind you only collect when NH-10 shrugs and says, “Not today.