D
Dooars Monsoon Package Covers:
Gorumara National Park, Samsing, Sunthalekhola, Murti, Jhalong, Bindu, Fagu Tea
Estate, Lava, Dello along with Elephant safari.
Important notes : Gorumara National Park, Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary, Buxa Tiger Teserve as well as Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary remains closed from 15th June to 15th September every year and hence this package has been designed after considering the same.
Day 1: New Mal Junction to Lataguri. Excursion to Samsing
Sunthalekhola in the afternoon
Upon arrival at the New Mal junction railway
station/airport, you are received and driven to your hotel/resort at Lataguri.
Lataguri is close to the Garumara National Park. We prefer to put up our
guests in hotels/resorts whose location gives them the feeling of being close to nature.
After lunch, we take you for an
excursion to Samsing & Sunthalekhola.
Samsing is a tea estate in the Dooars and a small
locality of about 100 houses which has grown around the tea gardens. On the top
of the hill is a beautiful Guesthouse. The silence of the place is
disturbed only by the noise of the gurgling river Murti, which flows about half
a kilometer below. The drive to Samsing is through lush green tea gardens and
the descending mist on the tea gardens during the monsoons is a sight to
behold. It is a great spot to watch birds as well.
Suntalekhola or Suntaley Khola (also Suntaleykhola)
is a small village and a tourist spot in the Darjeeling District of West Bengal. The altitude
of the place ranges from 650 to 950 m. It gets its name from a small stream:
Suntaley Khola. In Nepali, Suntaley means orange and Khola means
stream. This place is nearly 5 km from Samsing. The green patch on the left side on the way to Suntalekhola is amazing
and holds many rarities of birds and butterflies. There is a small hanging
bridge just before the WBFDC accommodation which has become a tourist attraction and a landmark of Sunthalekhola.
Overnight at Lataguri Hotel/resort.
Breakfast (No) Lunch (Yes) Dinner (Yes)
Day 2: Excursion to Jhalong, Bindu and Murti.
This morning after breakfast, you would
go for an excursion to Jhalong, Bindu and Murti.
Jhalong is situated on the bank of the
river Jaldhaka on the Indo-Bhutan border. It lies at the foothills of the Himalayas, on the way to Bindu in
Kalimpong sub-division. Jaldhaka Hydro Electricity Project on Jaldhaka River is
a major attraction in this area. Bird lovers can enjoy a varied collection of
hill birds as well as migratory water fowls here.
Bindu is the last village of West Bengal
before one enters Bhutan. It is a beautiful valley on the bank of the river
Jaladhaka. This river serves as a natural physical boundary separating West
Bengal and Bhutan. Bindu is also famous for its cardamom plantations. Visit to
this place is an experience worth remembering.
Thereafter, we set off for the Murti
River trail. Murti is a small village by the side of the Murti River. It is an
ideal picnic spot where one can enjoy the scenic beauty. Lucky ones can even
catch a glimpse of elephants and other animals on the other side of the Murti River when
they come to drink water.
Return to Lataguri by evening.Overnight at Lataguri Hotel/resort.
Breakfast (Yes) Lunch (Yes) Dinner (Yes)
Day 3: Transfer to Kalipur or Rhino Camp/Dhupjhora Elephant
camp.
Checkout after breakfast and depending
upon prior booking, you would be driven to the Forest Department’s
accommodation either at Kalipur Eco-Cottage (WBFDC
Property) or Dhupjhora Elephant Camp (WBFDC Property).
Activities at Kalipur Eco-cottage :
Enjoy an Elephant joy ride in the morning and
Tribal/Folk dance in the evening. Bullock ride (Optional) to Medhla Watch
tower. If you are at Kalipur, in the evening,
you will enjoy the bullock ride and visit the Medhla Watch tower. Watch wild
animals from the watch tower and return at evening and enjoy an evening of tribal
dance.
Dhupjhora Elephant Camp:
Accommodation
is available in a few cottages but the tree house (named Teesta) popularly
known as Gachbari is the one that attracts one the most. The rooms are equipped
with attached bathrooms but without geysers. However hot water is provided to
your room on request.
Activities at Dhupjhora
Elephant Camp:
Elephant Captivity management where you can
see and enjoy giving elephants a bath, Elephant joy ride and Folk dance in the
evening.
Overnight at Kalipur Eco Cottage/Rhino Camp.
Breakfast (Yes) Lunch (Yes) Dinner (Yes)
Day 4: Elephant safari and transfer to Fagu Tea Estate.
Early in the morning, enjoy an
Elephant safari (If not availed the previous evening). Thereafter, check-out
from the forest accommodation and drive straight for a unique experience of
staying at a Tea Garden. Even before you reach the Bungalow, the drive through
the tea gardens of Gorubathan is soothing to the eyes.
Enjoying the monsoon shower sweeping across miles of tea
gardens from a hundred-year old Heritage British Tea garden Bungalow atop a hill with breath-taking views of the splendid Himalayas in the background and
a cup of simmering Darjeeling Tea is the ultimate 'monsoon mania' experience, enough to
revive the memories of the British raj.
Well that is the Fagu Tea Estate in a single sentence, your
sojourn, for a rendezvous in the monsoon with the memoirs of the British Raj.
The most important activity at Fagu is
the guided tours that is organized locally for visiting the tea estate. The
tour starts with a visit to the Fagu tea factory where one can watch and
participate in the process of tea making that involves tea plucking, tea
processing and tea tasting.
Other activities include riverside picnic and
various trekking and hiking exploration trips to nearby reserve forest areas,
mountain top villages and waterfalls, but it all depends upon the length of time you have in hand. Bird watching is also a popular activity
here with a variety of exotic bird species that thrive in this region.
Overnight at Fagu Tea Estate.
Breakfast (Yes) Lunch (Yes) Dinner (Yes)
Day 5: Drop to NJP via Lava and Dello.
After breakfast, we start for the last
leg of our journey to NJP. We are reluctant to leave the hills and continue to proceed further up towards Lava, Dello and Kalimpong before we return to NJP enroute visiting the Lava monastery as well as Dello Hills.
Situated at an altitude of 7,016 feet
(2,138 m), Lava is a
small hamlet 34 kilometres east of the town of Kalimpong via Algarah in Darjeeling
district. It is one of the few places in West
Bengal to receive snow in winter. The route to Lava is scenic with the change
in vegetation from tropical deciduous to the wet alpine trees of fir, pine and birch. Lava is
also famous for the Kagyu Thekchen Ling monastery,
more commonly called the Lava monastery.
Dello, also known as Deolo or Deolo
Hill, is a large plateau with landscaped
open lawns and pine and conifers around its edges and a beautiful well
maintained lawn and garden. At a height of 1914m and only 6km away from Kalimpong, Dello is a
perfect getaway amidst the majestic mountains for tourists who can enjoy the picturesque
landscape overlooking the Teesta valley from the edge of a ridge.
The sight of the beautiful meandering Teesta, the Teesta Valley on one side, the Sikkim hills on the other and the Kalimpong town itself with the Kanchendzonga above, all in a single picture frame. presents an awe inspiring spectacle.
Have lunch at a wayside inn (Own Cost)
and thereafter, drop to airport/railway station for onward journey. Your Dooars sojourn ends
with sweet memories of the Forests, the Hills and the Tea Gardens.
