Offbeat Places Of India

OFFBEAT PLACES OF INDIA

Dooars: An Unexplored beauty in West Bengal

Since photography and travelling is being slowly taken seriously in India too, there are many hidden beauties that have been left unexplored. India being a diverse county, shares its border with approx six countries and one of them is Bhutan. Off lately, a lot of tourists have been coming to Bhutan via road and air. The main halt being Bagdogra airport or Siliguri Railway station. After that they travel to Bhutan via road on cars or other respective travel modes. But people do not realise what they are losing on this 4 hours of journey from Siliguri to Bhutan. Yes, their lies Dooars that people usually don’t know much about.

About Dooars:

Dooars is the alluvial food plains in north-eastern India that lie south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas and north of the Brahmaputra River basin. The region is about 30km wide and stretches about 350km from Teesta River in West Bengal to the Dhanshiri River in Assam. The region forms the gateway to Bhutan.

Why visit Dooars:

Every beautiful place in this world has their own beauty and charisma to be talked about and so is Dooars. There are many kinds of people living here with different language, different religion, cultures, food habits, making each corner of the place rich for exploration and learning. The main economy of Dooars is “Tea, Tourism, Timber”. Tea gardens are wide spread in every corner making every inch green and easier to breathe. In some places, they even grow coffee for their own consumption. There are vegetation of different spices, chilli’s, and many other green vegetables . So yeah, tea gardens are spread in other parts of India too, but what’s more special about Dooars? This is because here you will find “Adivasi” people who have been passing on the legacy since many years and keeping the ethnicity of this place still alive. These people know a lot about plants and animals.

Their culture is very different from other religion and as beautiful as any other religions that we have in this world. Also, there is a large production of beetle nuts here, supplied to other parts of the country.

The beauty of the region lies not only in tea gardens but also in dense jungles that make up the country side. There are many wildlife sanctuaries and national parks like Jaldapara National Park, Buxa National Park, Chapramari Wildlife Reserve and the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary.

A number of rare endangered species of animals like tiger, one horn rhino and elephants make their habitat in the forests of Dooars. Other animals include different kinds of deer, bison, birds and reptiles.

Photography, Travelling and Exploration:

Not only animals or plants, this is also a place for travellers and photographers who wish to take some amazing landscapes, wildlife photographs, portraits or silhouette. If you wish to go on a trekking, there is an amazing place called “ Lepchakha” which comes after crossing Buxa Duar. And not to forget the Buxa Fort where Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was confined inside the fort. The remains are still there. Then there is a place called Lava, a little hilly and chilled. A river camp in Jhalong, early morning rides to Gorumara National Park and see some animals in the forest (if lucky). Samsing Sunthaley khola has a hanging bridge where you can go and experience it if you haven’t seen something like this in your life. Jayanti Rivere where you can try fishing and there is Torsha River in Jaigaon, flowing down from Bhutan, a perfect place for taking landscapes of mountain and see some beautiful frames of Bhutan from there.

The best part is, there is no particular season to visit Dooars. It’s good with all the season right from summer to rainy seasons, winter to spring. Yes it might get a little tough with the climate but travellers or photographers never give excuses right? Being a small place, people have been living here like a family, kind and helpful to everyone, especially guests. And yes, do not forget to grab some delicious street momos, thukpa, or chowmein. Next time, when you think about visiting Bhutan, don’t forget about what our country has been preserving since long time in small place.