Prologue:
It all started
during the New Year time, when we suddenly came across the holiday list for the
current year of our respective organisation. We should have done the planning
in advance so as to get the train ticket booking on time, but there is always a
different charm in doing last minute planning and hitting the road to explore
nature.
Day 0: 21st Jan 2016 (Thursday):
The extended
weekend in the last week of January was ideal for a trip. My parents were also
travelling to Jaipur to visit my cousin sister for the entire last week. So we
two also decided to venture out somewhere for sure as it was almost 3 months
that we had not been to the hills. After hopping and jumping on numerous
destinations, we narrowed down to the “Queen of Hills” and the proud owner of
the world famous heritage of “The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway”.
Being a native of
Kolkata, I had been to Darjeeling at least 5 times, last being in the year
2001, during our trip to Sandakphu with my parents after my school final exam.
So, seeing the same place after a gap of 15 years was also a tempting point for
me along with the most important reason being, it would be the first visit for
Debanjana. We then decided that we will be going along with my in-laws also, as
they have also not visited the place till date. With 4 days in hand, we decided
to club in Latpanchor also in our trip as it would be on the way.
The itinerary was
finalised as:
Kolkata – NJP –
Darjeeling – Latpanchor – NJP – Kolkata
I booked the
tickets, but since we were only having 3 weeks in hand, all the tickets were in
high WL and we waited for the tatkal tickets. The long weekend has pulled in
loads of tourists from Kolkata and around to some of the National Parks in the
Dooars region of North Bengal and that was the reason for the high demand for
the railway tickets. Phone calls to some of the hotels at Darjeeling confirmed
that rooms were available, that means there will be less crowd, fearing the
cold temperature, and we can enjoy a lot.
Finally, the tatkal reservation opened on the
specified day and we managed to book 4 tickets in SLEEPER coach of PADATIK
EXPRESS departing SEALDAH STN on 21-Jan-2016 @ 23:05 hrs.
With tickets booked the previous day, we had already packed our bags
before going to sleep the previous night. My in-laws were also informed
accordingly and were specifically asked to pack heavy woollens. We left for our
offices a bit early so that we can come back well in time. We also had to
attend a marriage function of a friend in the evening while returning back home
from office. Things, were going on as per plan and we both has already updated
our respective manager with a suitable reason for not coming to office in the
next two days. I left from office at 17:00 hrs and was on my way to the
marriage function, when I received a call from my brother regarding some
unfortunate incident in our factory. He has already reached there and since my
father was also out of town I had to go to take care of the situation, we
thought that it wouldn’t take much time but slowly the matter turned out to be
quite serious. There was no chance of me going back home to collect the
luggage, in fact it was such that at one point of time we were thinking of
cancelling the trip. I informed Debanjana about the same and initially she was
quite upset & angry but then as usual she came forward with managing the
other activities like, going home form the marriage ceremony to pick up
luggage, pick up her parents, dinner for me and reaching the station on time. On
the other hand I just manage to reach Sealdah Stn. just 15 mins. before
departure of the train. Eventually, the journey started on time as we settled
ourselves on the designated berths. 
Day 1: 22nd Jan 2016 (Friday):
The train
screeched to a dead stop at NJP station after a delay of more than 1.5 hrs and
that too just before 5 – 6 km from NJP where it was stopped for more than 1 hr
for reason unknown to us. We had our pre-booked cab waiting for us at the
station which took us to Darjeeling. In between we had our breakfast and
morning rituals break at Dagapur in my uncle’s college guest house and finally
started for Darjeeling at 13:00 hrs.
The road condition has
improved drastically as compared to my last visit more than a decade ago. Our
car was cruising through the tea estates and then through the Rohini Bypass
(this is a new toll road, which I was travelling) and took us to Darjeeling in
2 hrs straight. I was simply amazed. On our way, we came to know, that the next
3 days Darjeeling will be celebrating “Uttarbanga Utsav - 2016” and the main
guest is the CM herself. That was not a known news to me, so I was now fearing
the availability of rooms and more than that, the fear of seeing a huge crowd
and loud music was terrifying me. I was going to visit Darjeeling just to enjoy
the serene nature with minimum crowd.
Our taxi stopped right next to
Planter’s Club near the famous Keventer’s Bakery. As I was not having any
pre-booking, I had called up a few hotels and had informed them about my
arrival. A few of them, being Classic Guest House (Cont: +91 354 – 2257025 /
+91 9733 430 980), Revolver Guest House (Cont: +91 9800 005 455). I had the
satisfied review of the later from a friend, and his log about the
same did wonder.
Now, my job is to check out
the hotels and get the best deal. It was going to be a time taking activity,
hence, all the other members were waiting at Keventer’s with the luggage over a
cup of coffee and chicken wings and in the mean time I went out searching for a
suitable place for the next two nights.
After an hour of looking at
more than 10 – 12 hotels right from the Darjeeling Mall till the other end, I
finally settled in at Seven Seas Hotel. Since it was off season, we got 2 rooms
(1 double bed and one 3 bed, both having a clear view of the Kanchendzonga from
the bed itself) for Rs. 1000/- each along with room heaters.
We freshened up quickly, and
got ready to explore the place. The sun was just about to set and the
temperature was dropping every minute with cold wind blowing across. I could
spot patches of dark clouds in the sky. This is the real beauty of Darjeeling,
you never know when and how the weather will behave. The locals said, for the
last one week, the entire Kanchendzonga range was covered with fog and it
rained too. But we were not at all bothered by that, after Darjeeling itself is
a beautiful place.
The place near the Planter’s
Club / Keventer’s till the Mall is comparatively quite less congested as
compared to the places near the Darjeeling Railway Stn. and the surrounding
areas.
We decided to walk towards the
Mall. Stopped here and there to check out the local market, had lemon tea, had
road side chicken momo which tastes best. The mall was completely crowded with
stage performances going on as a part of the celebration with hardly any space
to walk. After spending an hour or more and wandering aimlessly we decided to
return back to our hotel. Dinner was planned to be completed at the hotel
itself and it was indeed quite good.
Day 2: 23rd Jan 2016 (Saturday):
The alarm in the
mobile woke me up right at 4:30 am, I slowly pulled myself out of the multiple layers
of blanket that was put upon to beat the cold (Google shows, min. temp. was 1
degree Celsius). I opened the window as the glass was completely covered with
frost and to my utmost satisfaction I could see till the horizon and the moon
shining brightly but the mighty Kanchendzonga was still hiding from us. I took
out my camera and clicked a few pics of the view which is hard to describe in
words.
I still had more
than 30 mins in my hand before sunrise and I had no plan to go to the crowded
Tiger Hill Observatory for the sunrise rather my target was to go to the place
near the Mahakal Temple from where one can see some splendid view of the
sunrise and the Kanchendzonga, quite similar to what one can see from Tiger
Hill as suggested by @BhooterRaja. The most important part is that the place is
free from any madding crowds and one can enjoy the view sitting in the benches
that have been put up there. 
It was 5:15 hrs
when I left the hotel. The main door was still closed, I had to literally drag
out the guard from his deep slumber. Within no time I was then almost sprinting
towards my destination, praying for the magical show. The Mall was completely occupied
with the stage and other related items, I walked past it through the right side
road that goes towards the Mahakal Temple. Since I was not completely sure of
the direction, I asked a few locals who were there, some setting up there
stalls for daily business while some were just passing by. I came near the
stairs of the Mahakal Temple and started climbing, leaving the tar road on my
right.
After some time it
came to my mind that, I was going deeper and deeper into that hill and there
was no probable place visible from where the sunrise would be visible. I asked
another person who was coming down from the temple. Yes, I had taken the wrong
path. I was not supposed to climb the stairs, rather following the tar road
would have taken me to destination. Shit…I had lost another 10 mins, I must
hurry. After that, I just had to run as fast as I can to make it on time. Once
I reached there, aaahh…the view was awesome, mind blowing, splendid, etc. The
sky was completely clear and turning red to golden slowly but steadily. The sun
had not yet come out. Ultimately the show began for what I was eagerly waiting
for, the sun peeped out from the distant horizon with full pallet of colours
and simultaneously Mt. Kanchendzonga also started to get painted on the
different shades of red, golden, and so many other varieties which is only
possible to do by Mother Nature. For the next few moments, my camera did the
job.
The best part was,
there were only 8 – 10 people at that time, some of doing exercise while a few
were clicking pictures. After satisfying my shutterbug, I did nothing but just
sat there and relaxed on the bench simply gazing at the scene that was going on
and enjoyed the beauty of Mother Nature.
After spending an
hour there, I decided to visit the Mahakal Temple, as I had noticed quite a
number of birds on a particular tree there. As the sun was beginning to shine
brightly, the feathered beauties were also in a pleasant mood, hopping and
flying from one branch to the other. From there I then went to the Mahakal
Temple and spent some time. Had a cup of steaming hot tea from the canteen
there. Then headed back to the hotel for breakfast and eventually for the day
long program of local sight-seeing.
As I reached the
Mall area on my way back to the hotel, I found my in-laws and my wife having a
good time in the bright sunlight and enjoying the beauty to Darjeeling at her
best. They were back from the Mahakal Temple and sipping on a cup of steaming
hot Darjeeling Tea looking at the Sleeping Buddha and admiring its beauty. They
were so much engrossed in the beauty of the view, that they were even unaware
about me standing beside them quietly for a few minutes.
When in
Darjeeling, all the foodies like me, must not miss the delicacies of Glenary’s
and Keventer’s. Since we had two mornings in our hand, so we wanted to have our
breakfast at Glenary’s. Keventer’s was decided for the next morning. We enjoyed
our breakfast from the beautifully maintained restaurant of Glenary’s. The
icing on the cake was the view of the Kanchendzonga through the glass window
while having a bite on the soft and tender cheese omelette and chicken sandwich
with sausage and not to mention the Darjeeling tea.
Our pre-booked car
arrived on time and we set off around 10:00 hrs for the sight-seeing. We went
to a few places like, the Cable Car ride to the tea estate, visit to the
Darjeeling Zoo, The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, the Padoga Temple
complex, Ghum Station & the Tigerhill Observatory. Lunch during the day was
done with the numerous plates of momo available at every nook and corner of the
tourist spots. We were back in the town by sunset.
The rest of the
evening was spent leisurely roaming around the Mall road with a number of
people around. We had our dinner at the restaurant of the Shangri-La hotel. The
next day we had our plan to leave Darjeeling around 10:00 hrs for Latpanchar
where we had already arranged for the Homestay.
Day 3: 24th Jan 2016 (Sunday):
I woke up early morning to capture the sunrise yet again, but the scenario was different this time. It was completely cloudy and even the sun was not shining brightly. Perhaps, the idea of us leaving Darjeeling was not accepted happily L But, we had no other option other than going for the next destination as our time in the mountain was limited. We went to Keventer’s for the mouth-watering non-vegetarian breakfast for which it is famous. It was quite cold and windy outside, so everybody preferred to occupy the table inside the room rather on the open balcony which is rather the hotspot for Keventer’s.
Our host at Latpanchar homestay (Mr. Padam Gurung +91 8926015 477) had already arranged for our pickup from Darjeeling in his taxi (Driver Deven +91 9475 695 793) as he has to drop one of his guests’ at Darjeeling on the same time. We started our journey right on time and we soon we crossed the busy market place and the Darjeeling Station and off we went through the Darjeeling - Takdah route. This part of the road is very less crowded and cuts through the mountain forest. As we were crossing Ghum, suddenly I spotted a Jackal right on the left side of the road in the wood. At first I thought it to be a street dog, but when the driver also confirmed it to be Jackal and stopped the car, I was already changing my lens to get a closer snap. For a moment I thought it would not give me enough time to click seeing the car and it must have already disappeared in the forest up in the hill. But Mother Nature had already kept her best plans for us in this trip and I indeed got a closer view of the wild animal in its habitat.
We then rolled ahead looking more cautiously and with high hope of seeing more beauties of the wild on every corner. The road to Latpanchar is very rarely populated and one will find quite less traffic as compared to other parts, and that makes the journey so very beautiful. We stopped once at a road side stall for a tea break and finally reached our destination at around 12:30 hr. Our host, is the head teacher of the primary school in the locality and also runs many homestays in and around Latpanchar.
We were allocated a big room with four beds in the 1st floor for his house, which has four rooms side by side and a common front facing balcony overlooking the plains. In a clear day, one can easily see the Teesta Valley and the Siliguri town sitting in the balcony. Our lunch was ready and we didn’t wait long for the same, as the host’s family will be having lunch only after every guest had finished their lunch. In the small backyard we were served lunch under a beautiful garden umbrella, comprising of rice, dal, sabji and egg curry. The wind was blowing continuously the sun also shining quite brightly making us feel really comfortable and the temperature was also quite high as compared to Darjeeling, because of the altitude loss.
Post lunch we had nothing to do rather than strolling around in the small but beautiful hamlet of Latpanchar where kids were playing on their own, the cattle were returning to their shades, the birds were chirping and playing on the branches and flying around in search of food. Our host then suggested us to visit the nearby orange orchard and the Ahaldara Hill Top which is the highest point of the area and all were in close vicinity of around 5 – 6 km. Deven, our driver was already waiting for us and in no time we started again to see the beauty of nature.
First we went to the orange orchard, and we were simply blown away by seeing so many oranges hanging from the trees on both sides of the road. We were not supposed to pluck any, though the other mind will desperately want you to do so. But again, there was more in stock for us. One middle aged man came to us and invited us to his garden. All the trees were totally orange in colour, hardly could we spot any green leaves. He took us in the backyard and we were surrounded with lots and lots of orange trees all around. Much to our surprise, he started plucking a few from the trees and asked us to collect as many as we can from the plenty that were lying on the ground as well. In no time, we were having more than dozens of oranges, and there was no place in our hands put together and he started filling our bags also. Finally, we had to force stop him when some ladies from the house started shouting at him from inside the house. He was also simultaneously shouting something back to her in their local language and took us back to our car and disappeared in the orchard again before we could say anything.
After all these incidences, we were confused as what to do next, when our driver asked us to be relaxed and board the car and we then moved ahead towards Ahaldara, the hill top. A boulder laden stretch of around 500 m from the main road, took us to the destination. It’s a hill top where there are 3 cottages for tourists to spend the night and there is a kitchen cum dining room also at a distance of 100 m from the cottage, where arrangements can be done for the guests with prior intimation to Mr. Padam Gurung. Also, the place is ideal for camping too, and that arrangements is also done by Mr. Gurung. When the sky is clear, the place offers magnificent view of the Kanchendzonga and the sunrise. When we reached there, the sun was playing hide and seek behind the patches of clouds floating around and we were in love with the place.
We came back to Latpanchar almost during sunset, and soon afterwards it was dark all around. There is solar powered electricity in every house which slowly gave the small hamlet a beautiful look. There were no one on the streets, only a few dogs were barking in the distant, and the moon was shining brightly. We were sitting in the veranda and enjoying the beauty when our host served us tea and veg pakoda as evening snacks adding to the charm of the moment. By 21:00 hr we were served dinner and this time it was rice, roti, dal, aloo bhaji and chicken. The night was comfortably cold enough and the brightly lit full moon and the clear sky did offer some great scope for some photographs.
Day 4: 25th Jan 2016 (Monday):
It was 4:30 hrs when I woke up, went out to the veranda with the hope of experiencing yet another marvellous sunrise and also, the morning was kept for roaming around in the forest in search of birds for which Latpanchar is famous. Specially, one can find lots of hornbills here during March – April along with a huge variety of birds. I left for the jungle trail along with a local boy who has just finished his school life and waiting for his college life to start, along with pursuing his education, he was also learning to be a guide for birding, as Latpanchar does attract a lot of bird photographers.
After a cup of tea, we left for the walk. We went through the village, passed by the local houses, somewhere on the corner a cat was looking at us with its eyes half open, some birds just flew away seeing us entering their habitat. It was indeed a nice morning. We walked for approx. 4 km on the road that goes towards Siliguri. There were only a few locals walking along, some were busy in the forest collecting fire woods, while some were going for their daily work. In the early morning, the Teesta valley was even visible from the balcony of our homestay.
As we walk down on the road, there is a place with a small village few houses which is known a Hornbill Nest. As per the locals every year, generally during the breeding season, lots of hornbills generally come there in search of food and nesting. We went to the place and then took the jungle trail to go deeper in the hills in search of hornbills but couldn’t see any. But, there were a lot of other varieties of birds playing and chirping around. It was truly a treat to both the ears and eyes. After almost more than 2 hrs of roaming around, we stopped at a tea stall and quenched our thirst and hunger with tea and biscuit.
The guide told that Deven, our driver will be coming to pick us up and so we should wait there. It was already 8:45 hrs and we were to start for Siliguri by 11:00 hrs to catch our return train from NJP at around 16:00 hrs. It generally takes approx. 2 hrs to reach NJP from Latpanchar, but I didn’t want to take a chance and hurry in the last minute, but Deven was nowhere to be seen. We started walking back again hoping to meet him on the way. The road was now uphill and it was more tiresome because of the increasing heat of the sun. There was no time for any sorts of break and finally we reached our hotel at 10:20 hrs.
Everybody was anxiously waiting for me as it was already getting late and moreover, since there was limited mobile network coverage at Latpanchar, I was neither traceable by phone too. Since everyone else was ready for departure, I hurriedly freshened up and had my breakfast with Puri Sabji and departed for NJP at 11:00 hrs bidding goodbye to the awesome host in a lovely place.
But, not been able to see a hornbill was what was making me quite unhappy amidst all the beautiful memories that I was taking along, while suddenly I noticed a big shadow falling on the tar road ahead of us and the same was also moving. I must be a bird, and has to be a big one, is what I thought and quickly peeped out of the window up in the sky. And to my utmost joy, I saw two full grown Rufous Necked Hornbill hovering above. Soon they perched on a tree by the side of the road and our driver also stopped the car nearby such that they also don’t get disturbed. I got down and took a few pictures to my satisfaction and thanked the Almighty for the opportunity.
We followed the same road and passed by the Hornbill Nest and the tea stall where I had tea in the morning, and after around 45 mins or so, reached Kalijhora where the road meets the main road and then goes towards Siliguri. Since we had time in hand and also, we were merely an hour away from NJP, we decided to have our lunch after reaching the station only. Within 10 – 15 mins or so, we son realised that we made a great decision by not wasting time in having lunch before reaching the destination. The reason was none other than the terrible traffic congestion of Siliguri. There was some bicycle rally going on in the city and for that, lots of traffic were being diverted and that created a huge traffic jam. From Don Bosco school near Sevoke Road it took us more than 2.5 hrs to reach NJP, just 30 mins before scheduled departure of the train. We didn’t take the bypass as we had to collect the ticket from the agent near Bidhan Market and also, we were not able to understand the severity of the congestion.
But finally, we reached with sufficient time in hand for some packed lunch and boarded the train for our return journey back home, while making plans for the next trip.
But ultimately the fake stories help me win the tug of war and I boarded the Garib Rath Express from Mumbai Central with all the dreams and imaginations of seeing a whole new place once again.
