My exploration of Darjeeling began right on the first month of stay. I have greedily noticed that one of my office colleagues, Mr Dorje Lama, owns a battered Yamaha bike. Nothing could be better than this and also beggars cannot be chosers. It reminded of my own trusted bike which I could not take to Darjeeling due to some problems. So I coaxed him one day to take me to a joyride. The weather was fantastic. I just took my trusted Sony camera with me.
We quickly crossed the North Point (near Saint Joseph School) and continued further forward. The surroundings gradually changed from urban to the rural and the conjested and overcrowded streets of Darjeeling gave way to open horizon. Soon we passed the enormous pillars of the now defunct Darjeeling Ropeway. I was thrilled at the change of the surroundings so soon! The undulating sea of tea plantation on our left stretched to the horizon. The slopes descended to enormous depths, on whose precipice there seemed to exist a river. Dorje Lama told me that the river marks the border between West Bengal & Sikkim. Then it mus be thr Rangit. All land beyond the river belongs to Sikkim. Instantly I decided to visit Sikkim through this way sometime in the future.
We went to the Lebong football ground and watched an ongoing football match. Football is a very popular sport in these hilly regions. I had often seen boys and girls walking several hours from faraway villages just to watch a football match. One can have a view of the Toong Soong approach of the Darjeeling Mall from this football ground. Then we carried on further through the desolate road towards Lebong.
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