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| South Khairbari Entry Route |
Green has been a political colour in the present political scenario of West Bengal, but wait, I am not referring to that. Nor am I a green activist referring to making every damn equipment being made eco friendly.
What I am, is a nature lover and love the green canopy of the forests, I love the white of snow and I also love the brown of the mountains.
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| Cranes hunting for insects |
Recently, on a trip to my hometown we decided to take a short trip to the Dooars.
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| A Stream Flows Idly in Jaldapara |
Check out the photos and look into the carpet dotted with forests, tea gardens, trees and the only colour you will see is green. The new leaves of the trees and freshly sprouted vegetation in the forests, a result of the rain and storms which lashed North Bengal leaves a vibrant green in the photos and thats the reason, I decided to name this blog post as the Green travelogue!
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| Chilapata Forests
Tourist Information on South Khairbari and Jaldapara which might be handy for travellers. We made this trip in May’12 and as such fares/rates mentioned here are subject to change. South Khairbari:
Activities:
Additional Info:
Jaldapara remains closed from 16-June to 15-Sep due to the monsoons each year.
 Jaldapara: The two men on the photograph are piling up salt near the Holong bungalow. The wild animals especially elephants and rhinos love to have salt after finishing their meal(This was one of the things which I learnt in this travel). There has been cases when elephants have run a rampage on nearby villages for salt. The salt piles are placed strategically so the occupants of the bungalow are able to see wildlife at night!  Kuenga Hotel: I had been to Phuentsholing a few times in my childhood. The last time being in mid 90s. And everytime we had gone to Kuenga. Back then it was the place to be, the food was tasty(i trust my memory) and it had a nice atmosphere.I still remember the rice and chicken curry which we had. But times have changed, people have changed and infact places have changed so much that this hotel has become a vegetarian one. We were nostalgic, so decided to try even the veg food. But our nostalgia resulted in a disaster.I am very particular about food, and alas Kuenga’s food is nowhere near standard now.  Phuentsholing: A birds eye view of Phuentsholing from the Gompa. One of the musts if you visit Phuentsholing is visiting the Gompa. Now even the roads have been made 2 lanes by the BRO and are in excellent condition. The town is dotted with LandCruisers, CRVs, Pajeros and other Jap SUVs. I heard that all the cars of Bhutan are imported ones – they are ferried to Khidderpore dockyard in Calcutta and from there the cars are transported to Bhutan  Phuentsholing Gompa: The Gompa remains open in the morning and closes in the afternoon to open again at 4 in the evening. Photo shows one of the several monks moving around the Gompa. When you enter the place you need to go around the Gompa clockwise, rotating the drums clockwise. The anticlockwise rotation movement is not considered auspicious by Buddhist.Atleast that was what I was made to understand by one of the monks there when we were going the opposite way.  Tea plucking: Not sure whether its visible in the picture. But those small white dots in the photo are those of tea labourers plucking tea leaves. Tea is a major business in North Bengal and several big India tea companies have bought large tracts of land for tea cultivation. June-July is the peak season for plucking tea leaves. |
- Leave at around 8 in the morning.
- Visit South Khairbari.
- Proceed to Jaldapara.
- Then visit Phuentshoing,Bhutan.
- And return back home via Chilapata forests.
