Day 1 – 20 March 2012 – Starting point Kolkata (Sealdah railway station)Although we planned little late we got reservation on Darjeeling Mail AC 3 tier. We were 3 couples me with my wife & 2 other couple friends of mine. Wrapped up office early & left for the railway station. After long time went for a longer trip. Higher class waiting room was a mess. We decided to stay at platform.Whoever was left with dinner finished there & the train left on time @ 10.05 pm. (Best train is the “Kanchankanya Express”. Leaves Sealdah in the evening and reaches New Mal the next morning, around 9.30am. The Murti resort is about half an hour away from the New Mal railway station.)
All of us were very tired but can’t sleep before mid night. That’s excitement of Dooars.
The Dooars or Duars (Bengali: ডুয়ার্স; Nepali: डुवर्स) are the floodplains and foothills of the eastern Himalayas in North-East India around Bhutan. Duar means door in Assamese, Nepali, Maithili, Bhojpuri, Magahi and Bengali languages, and the region forms the gateway to Bhutan from India. There were 18 passages or gateways through which the Bhutanese people can communicate with the people living in the plains. This region is divided by the Sankosh river into the Eastern and the Western Dooars, consisting of an area of 8,800 km² (3,400 sq mi). The Western Dooars is known as the Bengal Dooars and the Eastern Dooars the Assam Dooars. Dooars is synonymous with the term Terai used in Nepal and northern India.
Day 2 – 21 March 2012 – Murti & Chapramari Forest
Our train arrived 25 minutes late at New Jalpaiguri (Popularly known as NJP). We had already made our detailed tour plan, hotels bookings & a friend who had visited Murti earlier arranged for a car that took us to the resort of West Bengal Forest Development Corporation. So, we can kick start our journey from NJP to Murti about 90 Km.Around 9.30 we took a break at shevok & done our breakfast. We had few clicks from there. After a breakfast of 45 minutes we resumed our journey & reached Murti around 12 noon.
Murti, a small village on the banks of the shallow Murti river in Jalpaiguri district. The Murti river flows by the side of the resort. On the other side of the river is Gorumara National Park.
Rooms at the West Bengal Forest Development Corporation can be booked at 6A Raja Subodh Mullick Square, 7th floor. Room availability can be checked at www.wbfdc.com. The bungalow has a brilliant location beside the bank of Murti River surrounded by high Sal forest. The refreshing green all over, clean air and the placid environ give a real feel of nature.The bungalow has 9 luxurious rooms including two separate cottage overlooking the forests and river. An ideal place to explore the wilderness of Gorumara, Chapramari and Jaldapara.
Immediately we ordered our lunch as we were very hungry & arranged for evening safari @ Chapramari forest. But we can’t resist the awesome Murti riverbed full of boulders. We spend around 1.30 hours with the boulders & crystal clear water. We had lots of clicks & went into the reserved forest. Now its time to comeback to hotel & take a quick bath before lunch. We finished lunch around 3.00 pm & We hardly have 1 hour to rest before we will start for evening safari.
The tickets in the evening cost around Rs. 100/- per head. We opted for the evening trip because it includes refreshments and a chance to watch a tribal dance arranged by the Forest Development Corporation. One can also hire a guide for Rs. 60/- from the forest check post. Entry fee for the car is Rs 60/-.The car rent cost around Rs.1000/-. A Gypsy can accommodate 6 visitors. So a group of 6 or multiple is most cost effective way for Jungle safari
The bungalow has a brilliant location beside the bank of Murti River surrounded by high Sal forest. The refreshing green all over, clean air and the placid environ give a real feel of nature.
The bungalow has 9 luxurious rooms including two separate cottage overlooking the forests and river. An ideal place to explore the wilderness of Gorumara, Chapramari and Jaldapara.
The possibility of catching a glimpse of wild animals like bison, barking deer, peacock and rhino is great from the Chapramari watchtower. We started around 4pm. On the way to the watchtower, we saw a number of peacocks. We spotted several bison near a salt pit and a one horn rhino (which is not common in Chapramari).We have seen lot of peacocks & heard barking deer from very close.We stopped in complete darkness in the jungle for 10-15 minutes if we can have a view of Leopard. But we were unlucky. But waiting inside a forest in complete darkness is completely awesome feeling. I can’t explain that. We took a break in between around dusk, had some tea & Tribal Dance.
Enjoy photos on http://www.flickr.com/photos/mithunkundu/
