Dooars - Northern West Bengal

We are trying to make it a tradition of arranging a New Year trips for our Ex-TechM group. It all started with a mega hit Raichak trip on New Year’s of 2011. Jan 2012 we went to Mandarmani. This time around we (only 7 of us could make it this time) decided to make a longer trip. After some researching, Dooars was selected as our destination. Start date: 4^th Jan & return date: 8^th Jan 2013.

Here are some points worthy of a note.

1) If the stay is around Jaldapara, book tickets in Kanchankanya (Travel Time: 13h 55m, 21 halts; Distance: 707 km; Departs @ 20:30 from Sealdah mains) & get down at Dalgaon (reaches at around 10:00). Hasimara might be a more prominent station, but the roads have not been fixed for last 3 to 4 years & it takes almost an hour of bumpy ride to reach the closest resort.

b    2) If you are availing this train & it is winter, try & get a 3rd AC reservation. It might cost 400 bucks more than the sleeper class, but it shall save you from carrying blankets. Blankets are mandatory if travelling in winters (Jan & Feb), it does get really cold in the middle of the night. Of course there shall be smokers to keep the doors open at night, so better have your socks on.

We reached almost on time. Our stay was in Hotel Resort Heaven Inn. It is close to the Jaldapara Wild Life Sanctuary. The hotel is good enough. It has around 8 cottages. Each cottage can accommodate around 3 guests. Rooms have attached baths, 24hrs water supply, geezers, ac, tv & room service. The cottages face a big ground of tall trees & a swimming pool. With rooms being cleaned twice daily, it can be rated 3 out of 5, if you are looking for an average priced hotel. Each cottage is Rs 1,500 per night.

Hotel Details:

Address: NH-31C, Beside Jaldapara Forest, Madarihat, Jaldapara, West Bengal,India.

Phone: +919733163466/+9197331149811/+919434142088

There is a West Bengal tourism forest bungalow in Hollong. Package for 2 people costs Rs 5,000 per night. It includes room rent, food & jungle safari.  Apart from this, there are other resorts along the high way connecting Bhutan.

Day 1: The care takers in Resort Heaven Inn are good guys & they helped us with a local cab driver. We were provided a Ballero, which was in a very good condition. The driver told us which all places we can cover over the next 2 & ½ days.

We freshened up & had our lunch in the hotel itself. This needs a mentioning. The food here is really good. It is fresh & spicy. Post lunch we set off for Phuentsholing. This is a border town of Bhutan. You don’t need permit to roam about the 1^st 6kms of Bhutan if you are from India. There is a lovely looking gate marking the entry point of Bhutan. It remains closed after 20:00 & opens early morning. Other time it remains closed is, if there is a strike on Indian side.

The town looks peaceful with a small market place & colorful dresses. A monastery with a lovely fountain is at the center of the market. About 10mins from here is one of the best sleepy collection of marsh mugger and gharial crocodiles in a Crocodile Breeding Center. Entry charges are Rs 20 per person. It is definitely creepy.

Another lovely place that we covered is a monastery on a hill top. It is another visual pleasure of beautiful colors. From the top of the hill, you can have a glimpse of the whole city of Phuentsholing.

We came back in the evening, greeted by hot tea & pakodas and fries. We had the evening to ourselves, singing dancing & having dinner and drinks by the pool side. We retired at around 00:30 after a lovely dinner.

Day 2: We had left Phuentsholing at around 18:30 last night, so that we can get the tickets for Jaldapara safari for next morning. You have to get the tickets half a day early for the safari. There are two types of safaris: jeep & elephant (starts from Hollong). Safari timings are 06:30/07:30/08:30 & 3 in the afternoon. The night safaris have been stopped. 6 people are allowed per jeep & it costs around Rs 1,300 per jeep. If you are an odd number either you are packed with another group or have to hire a full jeep.

We started with big lens pointing to the deep jungles in our open jeep. The guide would ask you to be quiet as it scares smaller animals & attracts big herds of elephants. We were not amongst the luckiest of people to catch a tiger. However we captured a big herd of elephants, some barking deer, beautiful peacocks & one price catch of a rhino. It was a single horn one almost a 100m from us.

We came back to have our breakfast of roti-sabzi. We freshened up & left for Samsing. Samsing is a town. The main attraction is a hilly area about 10kms from Samsing. It is a lovely hill top. A walk of 1.5 kms from the base is a waterfall flowing over huge boulders. To cross the waterfall is a hanging bridge which sways with the cool wind. On the base of the hill there are small restaurants selling delicious egg masala magi & a special mention for the chicken momo with a very hot sause. We had our lunch here only.

We came back at around 20:00. We had our snacks midway at a dhaba, which was not worth at all. We continued with playing UNO, dumb charades along with the spirit raising spirits. Friends sharing daily affairs & office chores continued till 02:30 in the morning. It becomes so chilly that I had to wear socks, gloves & ear plugs before getting tucked inside two blankets.

Day 3: Final day of our trip. We decided to keep it less tiring as we had to catch train in the evening. We had planned for South khairbari & Kunjanagar. The Kunjanagar mini zoo is a big disappointment. It is basically a picnic spot. The zoo had one leopard, herd of deer & a few parrots. It is not worth a penny & yet charges Rs 40 per person. However South Khairbari was interesting. It had 2 big sized Royal Bengal tigers & bunch of leopards. Entry fee is Rs 40 per person. We got our snaps & came back to the hotel for our lunch.

We packed aloo parathas for dinner & left at around 16:30 for Dalgaon. Train departs at around 17:50 from here. Suddenly temperature dropped to 5 degrees, it felt like 0. We enjoyed rest of the journey reminiscing the trip & planning for the next one. Train reached Sealdah at about 09:00, marking the beginning of another year of friendship & celebrating incredible India.