Chatakpur,a dream destination

Very frankly, I have not heard the name of Chatakpur until some of my friends visited this village in the Senchal Wlld Life Sanctuary in Darjeeling district.This is an Eco-village at an altitude of 8000 ft (approx) and 7 km away from Sonada.The village consiss of 18 families totaling 88 people We planed a trip there in the third week of this December.The Hill Curt road was closed and we had to avail the Rambi-Mangpu-Jorbangla Road from Siliguri.In fact,the village Chatakpur is 75 km from Siliguri.The last 12 km.is through the forest and on boulders.The weather was sunny and Mt.Kanchanjengha was fully visible when we reached Chatakpur in the noon.The eco-village run by the forest Department in collaboration with a village cooperative has four well furnished cottages with geyser and room heater.The temperature was hovering within 4 to 7 degree and at night below zero.At first sight,we loved the place.A pristine village within a forest and a panoramic view of Mt.Kanchenjunga.To see the colorful sunrise on Mt.Kanchenjung,you need not have to wake up in the chilly night at Darjeeling and rush for Tiger Hill.Here is a view tower just at ten minutes walk and may get as good a sunrise as of Tiger Hill.In fact Chatakpur is just the next hill of Tiger Hill.We witnessed a great sunset at Mt.Kanchenjunga and the next morning at 5-45 am went up to the view point to experience the sun-rise.The weather was fantastic.No cloud,no fog.And,then we witnessed an unforgettable Sunrise with the riots of colour on Kanchenjugha range.
On the 2nd morning,while,we were having tea under one umbrella in the campus,I suddenly saw a Panda.peeping out of a tree and quickly disappeared.Then came a flock of Blue Magpie.Unfortunately,I was not with my camera.But later,we sighted so many birds…Rufous Sibia,Black Redstart,Verditer Flycatcher,Himalayan Bulbul,Pipit,Long tail Shrike,Warbler ,Prinia and so on.We trekked through the forest and saw many other birds which we could not identify.All along Kanchejungha was with us.We stayed at Chatakpur for two days.The Kanchenjungha Range was visible all the time.On the third morning,we bade good bye to Chatakpur with the hope of coming back again.

The name of the Caretaker,Chatakpur Eco-village:Mr.Binod Rai,Tel No.9609740489

Some photos:

Hi Maumi,

It seems a very good place, I also come to know the name Chatakpur through your post.Very nice snaps, specially Mt K.Can you please provide some detail about lodging arrangement?Thanks for the nice information.

Thank you for your post and the photos. I have made a note of this place.

Great info and lovely photos.

Great post. Some more details would be very helpful I think, like how to book accommodation and cost of lodging as well as cost of transportation from NJP. Seems to be a very nice place for a weekend getaway

Awesome. And thanks for sharing info. Is the vehicle from NJP provided by them ? What were the cost of accommodation and cars ?

...... Well, as it was reported in the Telegraph :
"The charges are Rs 2,800 for Indians and Rs 3,800 for foreigners on twin-share (of a room) for 24 hours. It includes food, boarding, guide’s fees and charges for cultural events."

Thanks all for liking the post.The cost of accommodation of a cottage for two persons including food(bed tea,break fast,lunch,afternoon snacks,dinner),guide charge,jungle entry fee and a cultural programme arranged by local girls is Rs.3000/-per day.Mr.Binod Rai has separate arrangement of homestays which would cost Rs.1000/-per person per day for food and lodging.We booked the cottage through 'WIND OZ' A House of Community Based Eco-tourism'located at Siliguri.Contact person:Mr.Debashis Chakraborty and his Phn no.9434072552.WINDOZ arranged a vehicle for us (a Qualis)and charged Rs.3000/- for Chatakpur dropping.Binod Rai,the manager at Chatakpur will arrange vehicle to be required further.One thing,trek through the forest should be accompanied by a guide as there are plenty of wild life in the forest including Himalayan Black Bear.

Nice report. But seems quite expensive. But that's perhaps the only way to keep flocks of cheap tourists from the plains :-)

A good informative report.Chatakpur seems to be a nice place.Apart from the Rs.3000/-eco cottage ,are there any cheaper place to stay?

Glad to know you liked Chatakpur... and thanks for this wonderful trip report

we visited sillery last month but i think it is more beautiful, i came to know about this place from u,thank u.

Recently we stayed in Chatakpur Eco Village Hut. This resort is in awesome location. There are only 4 cottages in this Eco village hut. We were in two cottages. The rooms are well decorated but geyser and room heater were not functioning during our stay. We booked this cottages through WIND OZ. They charged Rs 3000/= per day per cottages on AP basis(Lodging + Food from bed tea to dinner). (Total Rs 6000 for 2 cottages) Quality and quantity of food was horrible. In Lunch we were provided Rice, Dal, one tea spoon full Alu Bhaja and one piece egg and in dinner it was rice, dal, one teaspoon full Alu Gobi (really one tea spoon full)and hardly 200 gms Chicken curry for 4 persons. Yes...it was totally maximum 200 gms for 4 persons. Next day in the breakfast we were served just one piece puri with sabji and one egg omelet per head. After serving these items no body was there so that we could not demand more.

After getting there is no way of getting a transport to go other destination. You have to ask for a car to the care taker/staffs and they take the opportunity….charged an excessive amount for a car to drop anywhere.

SO I MUST SUGGEST EVERYBODY NOT TO STAY HERE.

Are you serious, Anirban !! This is the first negative feedback I've ever seen about Chatakpur
Did you lodge your complain to DFO Office? You have your booking slip and all..... you should inform them 'officially'

Hi,

I recently had a trip to Chatakpur in the first week of June'12 and stayed for 1 night there. Although I agree to some extent to some of the points raised in the above post,but on an overall basis Chatakpur was a wonderful experience...When we had gone there,Mr.Rai was not present due to some mishap at his family,but people at service were very cordial and well behaved.I would always remember these places for the smiling faces and the general good behavior that I received there. However,its true that the service level & food quality have good scope for improvement,but frankly speaking the amazing beauty of the place compensated for all these areas of ''dissatisfaction''. Actually,Chatakpur is a very remotely located place,a beauty which is still untouched,may be that we can't expect the level of services that we get at any other professionally managed place like Darjeeling town...We didn't have any problem with geyser,infact we were amazed to find that although it was raining heavily,the power hardly went off and we got constant supply of hot water.The cottage rooms were properly maintained,so were the bedding materials.However,some small things were not upto mark like the room heater was not working,we had to call the people to enquire about evening tea,there could be some better items in lunch and dinner etc. However,as this is a new place and the things have just started falling in place, I hope it will be all well as time passes by. After experiencing TINCHULEY and the amazing hospitality at Gurung's cottage,my expectation level from a place like Chatakpur has definitely increased...On an overall basis,considering all the factors,I would recommend everyone to visit Chatakpur,which is a paradise for any nature lover!

It was terribly disheartning to have read your unfortunate experience with the food they have served.I only hope they make amends quickly and for this the matter ought to be reported to the higher authorities.I was planning to make a trip there shortly but I shudder to think what fate in terms of our stomach will be.Lets hope for the best.