Dooars in Winter

Some places never fades its color. Not because the place offers the best breathtaking views you can ask for or the best food you can long for but because it leaves a feel good mark in your soul every time you set your feet there. It’s the friendly unassuming people, soothing climate and serenity of the river and forest accompanied by mountains to create a perfect setting. It’s Dooars for me. This time holds a special charm, as we relished a touch of luxury at Mayfair Tea Resort Siliguri, spending hours on the balcony and gardens, sipping on some tasty flavored tea gazing at lush green tea plantations and Darjeeling Hill. Pure Bliss !

Day 1

Until this time, Kolkata to Siliguri meaning Train or flight travel to us. Bright sunlight, pleasant weather and some positive news about road conditions made us confident to drive 600KM in a single day. We set off after breakfast around 9 AM, through Delhi Road to Mogra and then right turn towards Kalyani -> Berhampore -> Malda -> Siliguri. In between we stopped for 5–6 times, 2 big stops were at Berhampur for lunch and Malda for evening snacks. Finally it was 11:10 PM when we entered the Mayfair Siliguri resort.

The Resort is Grand. Class is intensified in every nook and corner of the premise. The rooms are huge with two king beds in it. Bathroom is big enough to make love with your partner comfortably☺️ and yet not make any mess with bathroom equipment, and a separate dressing room. The best part was however the large wide balcony overlooking Tea Garden and Darjeeling Hill. Can’t expect more.

We ordered Mutton Biriyani around 11:30 PM and that turned out to be one of the best Biriyani we have ever had.

Day 2

We relaxed the whole day at Hotel, enjoyed every part of the luxury. In the late afternoon, strolled through the tea garden. The Resort arrange Tea, Snacks (Jhal Muri and Biscuits) everyday in the morning and evening in a nicely decorated stall in the the middle of the Tea Garden. We savored the heavenly tea and snacks sitting in the serene environment and watched the sun setting in the horizon. Literally a slice of heaven !

Want to share a funny incident on second day night, we requested one extra cot (bed) for my son. They were supposed to set that up before 10 PM however that did not happen even until 10:30 PM, I called reception twice, they assured immediate attention but it was still not done, I called third time with a frustrating tone, in between heard my son softly telling

“Dad…. Dad…”

putting the person on other end of the phone on hold I said, “What happened?”

“Pls Don’t scold them, it’s my bad”

“What??”

“I hanged do not disturb card outside the door”

Day 3

The Day 3 was reserved for travel through Mountain, River Tista all the way to Gorumara National Forest. We took the Coronation Bridge route to see some of the bird eye view of River Tista. Finally we reached our Resort at Gorumara around 3 PM, passing through some forests and rivers on the way. The resort is nicely placed next to a tea garden on one side and a forest on the other. In the afternoon, we took a leisurely walk through the tea garden. However, locals advised us to head back to the resort before it got dark because it’s quite common to spot leopards, wild elephants, and rhinos in the area in the evening.

Day 4

Day 4 turned out to be quite exciting. After breakfast, we made our way to our beloved spot, bank of River Murti at WBFDC Banani Resort. The resort sits right next to the River Murti, with the renowned Chapramari Forest on the other side and hills framing the entire place. The captivating scenery never fails to draw me in every time I visit Dooars.

We came back to resort after Murti excursion through a 40 mins scenic drive cutting across Gorumara forest. The Resort had places for a quick cricket match between me and my son. We spent some time before lunch playing football and cricket, utilised the balls and bats we carried in our car from Kolkata.

The afternoon plan was jungle safari to Gorumara Medla Watch tower. It was my first time visiting to this watch tower. One memorable experience was the mode of transportation — a bullock cart. While not the most comfortable, it certainly was a unique experience. :)

Forest has its own charm, so quiet, yet full of thrill, always open for your anticipation. We had similar experience in Medla tower, one side of the tower is dense Gorumara forest, on the other side grassland and River Murti is flowing beside the grassland. When the sun was spreading it’s last few rays, the sky turned all orange, and all we could hear was the soft rustle of leaves falling. Suddenly we heard a sharp keka sound… it was a family of peacock just 100 meters away from us, probably heading home.… Before it got too dark, we spotted a tusker, a herd of bison, and a rhino. Nature’s own little show!

At the night the resort turned out to be quite spooky. The mysterious shadow of adjacent forest loomed in the resort premise, doomed light throughout the resorts made the atmosphere eerie and the occasional howling of unknown animals breaking the thrilling silence. The experience I always longed!

Day 5

This time we wanted to explore one of our unvisited places in North Bengal, Coochbehar. The day was designed to visit Coochbehar Rajbari first and then drive through Chilapata, Chapramari, Sevok and all the way to Siliguri. We really liked Coochbehar Rajbari. Huge Area and very well maintained, the history was enriching specially the museum with different guns kept almost in it’s original state was a new experience for us. In fact we liked the entire Coochbehar town, relatively cleaner, pleasant weather than siliguri. Roadside food stalls are bliss.

The Road through Chilapata was great, through dense forest. We stopped in the middle of the forest however did not have courage to get out of the car, hence we opened the window and roof top to get fresh air and some extra dose of thrill. We finally reached Siliguri at 7 PM after a couple of Coffee and Snacks break.

6th day was reserved for driving back home, it took 13–14 hours to reach Kolkata from Siliguri, despite it was a Sunday. Road condition between Berhampur to Kalyani was not good which slowed us down.

As designed, this was a rejuvenating, relaxed tour. If you feel down and did not have plan for any vacation, go to dooars, it will not let you down.

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