How safe Dooars is?

mahmud

I am planning to take 2 weeks trip in Dooars (Shiliguri, Murti, Samsing, Joldhaka..) in this winter with my wife & son of 4 yers.

My questions are :

- How safe is Dooars to tarvel with family? Any threat?
- How is Malaria condition over there?

chief61

Doars is Absolutely safe for Travel with Family,
I havn't heard any case of Malaria recently from
Doars. Orissa Jungles like Simplipal are more
famous for Malaria than Doars Jungles.

Cheers

stungan

Hello Mahmudbhai!
I was in Dooars last month. It's pretty safe to go there. However, it'd better if you keep a tab on the situation through newspapers like http://www.anandabazar.com. Look in their Uttar Banga [North Bengal] section. You can also look up at http://www.telegraphindia.com.
As of now, the agitation is contained within the Hill region, but the agitators want to spread it to Dooars as well. However, popular support in Dooars will likely be feeble, so their programme won't hold much steam.
But, I'd advise you to stick to the Jaldapara or Alipurduar belt, since the upper Jaldhaka [Jhalong/Bindu] area is known to be Gorkha Janamukti Morcha's stronghold.
Possible destinations can be:
Jayanti, Rajabhatkhawa, Raimatang, Hollong/Madarihat, Bhutanghat.

Also, I'd suggest that you hire a car to travel around Dooars, because transportation is a problem. The best thing to do is hire a "dry" car and pay for the fuel as required. Don't pay more than INR 600 for a "dry" Tata Sumo.
You'd have to provide accomodation and food to the driver though. Sometimes, depending on your itinerary, if the driver finds it easier/cheaper to return home, then you need to pay about INR 100-150 more, but get to save on nightstay and food.

About malaria: you don't need additional precautions. All the govt. tourist lodges [I think same applies to pvt ones as well] provide mosquito nets and liquid mosquito repellent dispensers (like All-Out), so you are covered there. However, you may take some mosquito coils and Odomos cream with you. Odomos is especially useful if you go on jungle safari. I didn't find too many mosquitos in May, but it might be different later in the year, especially after rains.

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Bhole Baba Paar Karega!!