The 9th edition of the Himalayan Drive, sponsored by Experience Bengal, the Government of Sikkim, and the Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA), was launched from Siliguri’s Mayfair Tea Resort by Honorable Tourism Minister, Government of India, G. Kishan Reddy.
The grand flag-off ceremony was attended by Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs, John Barla, Darjeeling Lok Sabha MP Raju Bista, ambassadors from ten G20 nations, and senior officers from the Government of India (GoI) and the West Bengal Government.
This Himalayan Drive will be a part of the prestigious G20 Tourism Working Group Global (TWG) Meet, which is currently taking place in North Bengal. Delegates from the TWG Meet’s 29 nations were also present at the start of the three-day rally, which will travel to the Dooars, Sikkim, and Darjeeling Hills over the next three days.
Following the flag-off, the 28 rally vehicles displaying flags from the G20 Meeting and G20 nations circled Siliguri before heading to Khaprail and taking the dirt road to Simulbari tea estate and onto a river bed.
The first leg of the rally covered 220 kilometres. After passing through Garidhura, Mirik Road, and Panighata Road, the competitors proceeded to the Gajoldoba barrage, passing through popular tourist destinations Gorubathan and Damdim before arriving at the end of the first leg of HD9.