The Teesta Thumpers saw us off in Alipurduar and welcomed us at Siliguri. They’re a pretty large club in the North East and do a lot of social service, besides riding.

The ride forward was pretty good today. We lunched at a small dhaba on potatoes and chapattis with lemon pickle. To balance, I asked for some jaggery and everyone enjoyed this.

It was cool. A light rain had made the morning a pleasant start. Parth, a life coach and biker, who had ridden with us from Guwahati, bid us adieu, as he went about his own agenda. We left, on two bikes.

Enroute, we passed a religious procession on Motorcycles and I realized it was Hanuman Jayanti. They were shepherded by the police. A colorful procession. We met the River Teesta, an emerald reflection of the sky. There was light traffic. We were happy.

Crossing the Coronation Bridge, we came into the Siliguri area and met our escorts at a fuel pump. They were from the Teesta Thumpers from Siliguri. One took the Australians to the hotel and the other took me to a radio interview.

Everyone was curious about my ride. Radio Mishty was a Siliguri radio FM station. They went at my trip in detail, keen to inform their viewers. It was enjoyable. After a few press pictures, I left.

The Hotel Amravati was a bikers halt. Simple, cheap and focussed; most bikers stayed here. I met Anupam, the head of the Teesta Thumpers and his gracious wife, who had sponsored our stay.

Everyone went to freshen up and waited to be called for dinner. I took the opportunity to visit the local Hanuman temple nearby. It was a lovely moment.

Before dinner we had a session with the riders of the club. Everyone shot off questions and I tried to answer as professionally as possible.

Dinner was ready and we ate quite heartily.

Today would be the last day for the Africa Twin and the Bonneville to ride together.

After dinner, we continued with the chat about our tour, until everyone was nodding off.

They left and I hugged the Australians who would be riding into Sikkim tomorrow and me towards Kolkata.

The evening wound up on an emotional note for us.

Goodnight