Beauty of North Bengal (parts of Dooars and Old Silk Route)
New Jalpaiguri -> Sevoke -> Gorubathan -> Jhandi -> Lava -> Rishap -> Teesta Valley -> Ramdhura -> Sillery Gaon -> Hanuman tok -> Delo -> Kalimpong -> Silent valley -> Icchey Gaon -> Pedong -> Rishi Khola -> Malbazar
North Bengal is a term used for the northern parts of
West Bengal, which is immensely blessed with the wildest beauty of Mother Nature and offers a unique combination of varied landscape ranging from the low lying agricultural fields, lush green dense jungles, varied range of wildlife, serene beauty of undulating tea gardens to the high alpine mountains. Tourism in North Bengal is highly popular and also one of the most important source of income for the locals. The region forms a gateway to Bhutan from India and so the area is also known as
Dooars / Duars which means “doors” in several regional languages.
Darjeeling is one of the most famous hill stations in this region that attracts a huge number of tourists almost throughout the year. Under Darjeeling district there are several other small hill stations each of which is uniquely beautiful! Apart from that, some of the major Wildlife Sanctuaries and National Parks (
Jaldapara National Park,
Gorumara National Park,
Buxa Tiger Reserve and
Chilapata Forest) in Dooars offer immense exploration opportunities to the nature lovers. Old Silk Route that forms a part of the ancient trade routes also hosts several small villages and hill stations all along its route that promote eco-tourism and gives you the opportunity to explore each and every corner of North Bengal.
With so many things to offer, it is impossible to explore the whole of North Bengal in a few days! Usually you need to shortlist places you want to visit based on your theme of travel and just head out. This travelogue is based on my last visit to North Bengal that I planned with my family members. It was a six days trip planned during end of December, 2015 and this time our travel partner was the team of
Ebong Aranya Tours & Travels. As per our requirements, they tailor made our itineraries and made wonderful arrangements for our travel. Since there were mostly elderly members traveling this time, so we just planned to experience the best of eco-tourism and relax out in Nature. We chose to travel through the route as mentioned earlier in beginning and planned our night halts at certain places like Jhandi, Ramdhura and Pedong.
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The journey starts with an early morning drive through Sevoke Road |
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Dried up Mahananda River! |
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Three generations of a family |
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Moving Ahead |
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Sevoke Bridge over Teesta River |
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Gorubathan |
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Tributary of Teesta at Gorubathan |
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Towards Jhandi, a small village in the Himalayas |
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Our first night halt at Jhandi Eco Huts |
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Cottages of Jhandi Eco Huts |
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Road from Jhandi towards Lava |
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A glance of Lava |
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Entry to Lava Monastery |
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Lava Monastery |
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The street dogs are so adorable that you can't resist playing with them! |
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The dense Pine forest |
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On our way to Rishap |
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Road through the dense forest |
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The small village of Rishap |
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"Light & Shade" |
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Local workers warming up themselves at camp fire after the day's hard work |
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"Star Gazing" |
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Mother Care |
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The Travelers this time - (From Left) My uncle, father, me, mother, grand mother, sister and aunty |
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Journey along the Old Silk Route |
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Teesta Valley |
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God is One |
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Towards Ramdhura |
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The village of Ramdhura |
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Our next stay at Ramdhura |
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The happy granny! |
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Moving forward toward Sillery Gaon |
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Cluster of a few cottages and home stays. That's Sillery Gaon. |
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Jalsa Bunglow |
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View of Teesta from Ramdhura |
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Towards Kalimpong |
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Hanuman Tok |
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Delo Valley |
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Delo Valley Resort |
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Teesta as seen from Delo Valley |
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Conserve or get Consumed! |
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Amazing pattern of the leaves |
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Kalimpong Market Area |
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The region is also known as Gorkhaland, which is a proposed state in India demanded by the people of Darjeeling hills and the people of Indian Gorkha ethnic origin in Dooars in North Bengal |
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Kalimpong Golf Course |
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Zangdok Palri Monastery, Kalimpong |
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Bird eye view of the town of Kalimpong |
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Almost road-less journey towards Icchey Gaon |
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The decent village of Icchey Gaon |
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Decent homestay accommodations at Icchey Gaon |
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Exploring the place! |
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The Gorkha people |
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The village consists of 16 families and their home-stays! |
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A very bad stretch of around 8 kms road that takes you to and out of Icchey Gaon |
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Cross Hill View Pont at Pedong |
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Step cultivation |
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Pedong Monastery |
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Pedong Monastery |
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Decoration on occasion of Christmas and New Year celebration |
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Pedong Church |
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Nothing to complain when you wake up and see this in front of you! |
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Into the Woods! |
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Morning Dew! |
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Border of Sikkim and West Bengal on the Old Silk Route |
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Reshi River |
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Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter - Mark Twain |
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Happiness is when you accomplish a successful trip! |
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On our way back through the Tea gardens of Malbazar |
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Teesta Barrage |
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"It is almost impossible to watch a sunset and not dream" - Bern Williams |
Though people visit North Bengal almost throughout the year but, according to me, winter is one of the best time to visit North Bengal, when you get to see North Bengal at its best! During this time the weather remains soothing that makes your visit more exciting. Moreover, the varied beauty of Nature ranging from snowfall at places in higher altitudes and snow peaked mountain range visible from several places to flowers blossoming all around in the lower altitudes, activities like bird watching, trekking, camping, Jungle Safari and several other make your visit one of the most memorable one!
Different moods of Mt. Kanchenjunga :
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Kanchenjunga from Lava |
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Kanchenjunga from Rishap |
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Kanchenjunga from Rishap |
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First rays of Sun on Mt. Kanchenjunga from Jhandi |
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From Jhandi |
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Watching the first rays of Sun on Mt. Kanchenjunga |
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Mt. Kanchenjunga from Ramdhura |
Flowers of the season :
Though, I'm not a flower specialist but, it was a great pleasure watching them blooming all around!
Bird Watching!
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