After the successful Friendly Group Long Run (FGLR) in Pedong (Darjeeling) on 1^st May, 2011, this year again we are doing FGLR on 1^st May, 2012 (Tuesday).

Anybody interested to join us are most welcome. Sharing with you all, the plan / schedule of our FGLR   in Pedong;

1^st day plan (30^th April, 2012);

On 30^th April- we will check into a hotel in Siliguri (7km from Bagdogra Airport / 3-4 km from New Jalpaiguri (NJP) Railway station). The distance from Siliguri to Pedong is almost 100km.

2^nd day plan (1^st May, 2012).

On 1st May, 2012 (Tuesday), early in the morning, we will drive down till the point from where the distance to Pedong will be the distance, we want to run. We can choose our own distance.

Most probably, I will be running 65km. First 20-25km will be flat road and then uphill starts. We will arrange for cars to carry our luggage and some volunteers to give us water, juice, fruits, sandwiches etc. There will be medical arrangement for the contingency.

From Siliguri till River Teesta it will be flat road but traffic will be little heavy because it is a highway to Sikkim (but lesser than in Mumbai). From River Teesta, road to Sikkim and Kalimpong gets separated and traffic will be less. But most of the running will be uphill till Kalimpong town (14-15km). From Kalimpong, again we will be running uphill but not very steep and we will reach a place called Algarah (14km). From Algarah it will be downhill run of 6km till we reach Pedong.

We own a small guest house in Pedong by name Damsung Guest House. So we can accommodate the runners in our Guest House. One can find the details of Damsung Guest House in the link below; http://damsangguesthouse.in/

3^rd day plan (2^nd May, 2012).;

On Wednesday, Runners can go to see Pedong village, market and some viewpoints from where you can see beautiful Mt. Kanchanjunga. In the evening, we can go to River Rishi, which is 7km (down) away from Pedong. Some nature friendly resorts are there. River Rishi is the border of West Bengal and Sikkim and also the hot spot for fishing. In River Rishi, Runners can stay in Prakriti Resort owned by Mr. Chumbey, he will make arrangement for barbeque and camp fire at night in Rishi Khola (Khola is River in my language). 

4^th day plan (3^rd May, 2012).;

3^rd May, runners can plan to visit Kalimpong, Kurseong, Darjeeling (main city) and Sikkim for other 4-5days and after seeing all the places, one can again take a flight from Bagdogra and come back to Mumbai. My cousin Samir will help you to make your itinerary after 3^rd May, 2012. Any information, you want to know about Darjeeling / Sikkim to make your travel plan, please contact Samir at 09932208042.

Or if time does not permit one can directly go to airport on 3^rd May, 2012 to come back to Mumbai.

April-May is the best season to visit Darjeeling; you will get to see lots of flower in its bloom. You may plan to take your family also for this trip.  Since it is a tourist season, we need to get the exact number of the people coming with us, at the earliest. If we delay, the flight tickets also will be very expensive.

Important things;

1. Tentative costs;

• We can do the flight / train booking on our own. The cheapest flight will be Rs. 4000/- one way. There is no direct flight to Darjeeling from Mumbai, hence there will be minimum of 1hr layover in Kolkata.
• By train (3tier AC), it will cost around Rs. 1500- 1800/- (one way). It is advisable to go upto Kolkata from Mumbai by one train and change to another train from Kolkata to NJP because the direct train to NJP from Mumbai is always running late.
• We should do the return tickets and not the one way ticket.
• Hotel in Siliguri may cost, 1 Room Rs. 800 to 1200/- which can be shared by 2 people.
• Cost for arranging medical aids and cars for our luggage and other aids will be divided among runners. One car from Siliguri to Pedong will cost Rs. 2500/-
• Stay and food in Pedong -  Rs. 700/- per person per day (that is both lodging and food) but the condition is we need to know the number of runners at the earliest

1. Altitude of Siliguri is 400 ft (122 mtrs), Kalimpong is 4501 ft (1371mtrs) and Pedong- 4800ft (1240mtrs)