Dooars - The Green Trip.

I am a nature lover (most,if not all of Mikers are) but not an eco-activist. So, why did I decide to name this trip as the "Green Travelogue"? 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 I loved it.

Dooars. We had been there several times but somehow the beauty of Dooars took quite a while to mature in the mind.So, on a recent trip to my hometown, I decided to go for it.A few photos from the trip as an Intro.

Photos
1. The forest plantation at South Khairabari
2. Cranes on a lunch, at a small rivulet
3. Chilapata. When I looked into the viewfinder while driving through the forest, the amazing play of sunlight, brown bark of the trees, the green leaves made it look like one of those windows wallpapers.

More to come, in coming days.Enjoy.

Can anybody help me on how to put a caption below a photo please?
Here are a few more photographs from my Dooars trip:

Our tour itinery was simple.
Leave CoochBehar at 8 in the morning.
Visit South Khairbari, Hollong Bungalow, Phuentsholing and return via Chilapata forest. The photos that I have posted till now are from South Khairbari and Jaldapara only.

If anybody is interested to know about the entry rates, parking charges, bungalow charges you can let me know.

We all in this Forum love Dooars. Though most of the info pertaining to Dooars are already available in different threads, there is no harm in updating these information/data from the inputs of recent visitors.

Quote:If anybody is interested to know about the entry rates, parking charges, bungalow charges you can let me know.Unquote

We are interested, post the latest details, please!

Hi Sayak,
Instead of uploading a bunch of pics together as "Attachments", upload using the paper clip icon, one by one. As you are about to insert the photograph, write the caption. Then go back to the paper clip icon and upload the next one, insert the caption. And so on and so forth. Wait until all are ready before you press the "Submit Reply". If you don't like the layout (which you have checked using "Preview Post"), you can adjust it.

If you have any more queries, don't hesitate.

During my recent trip to Dooars we covered the following 3 "Dooars" areas:
1. South Khairbari
2. Jaldapara
3. Chilapata.
as an add on to Dooars you can also visit Phuentsholing which can be covered in the same day.

South Khairbari:
Entry Charges: Rs 15 per head

• Car parking: Rs 20
• Cottage Stay: Rs 1000 for a double bedded room. Includes food.
• Apart from Cottage, Khairbari also offers dormitory accomodation at Rs.1000.

What to do in Khairbari?
Relax amidst the green,take a walk around. Winter is the best time for a visit, but rains too can be welcome.

Activities:
Chief attraction- See rescued tigers and cheetahs, Boating on the stream.

Jaldapara:

• Entry Charges: Rs 40/- per head
• Car "parking":Rs 25
• Car entry: Rs 100
• Still Camera: Rs 100
• Hired Guide(Mandatory, this is a means of local employment):100
• Video camera: Rs 500
• Staying/Accommodation:
• Holong Bungalow: Rs 2500 per night
• Fooding: Rs 350 per head per day. Includes everything.
• Elephant Night Safari: Rs 350
• Car safari: Rs 1050

What to do?
Bird watching, wild life watching.

Activities:
Jungle Safari.

Hello TD,
Can you please help me on which is the "paper clip" icon?
Regards
Sayak

It is this one:





Next to the smiley!

Thanks TD, Heres a photo
Tea Gardens near Jaigaon

The South Khairbari Entry

One of the several recuesed leopards

Photos and little stories on them:

1 - 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!

2 - 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.

3 - 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(.

4 - 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.


5 - 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.

Missed the photos in the earlier post. Here they are:

Hi,

I have planned to visit Gorumara-Jaldapara forests in the first week of this November. But due to lack of idea regarding the localities, I'm unable to frame a proper plan of where to stay for how many days, what is the main attractions in Jaldapara- Gorumara,
about the safaris inside these national parks etc. I would start at early hours on 8th November from Siliguri and like to come back Siliguri on evening of 11th November.

So please help me to chalk out a plan for my visit.