[Captdey]

Prologue
Though this tour was only undertaken during last week but the plan goes to a visit to dooars during a tour to “ Murti” in the year 2005, when we hired a cycle van for touring local village and we ended up in a beautiful resort called “ Dhupjhora Elephant Camp “, which was still not officialy inaugurated but the unique location and settings created an instant urge to go there in future . I collected information about booking this resort but it took quite a while for us to make an effective planning , in the meantime there were four Eco tourism resorts set up by Forest Department in nearby areas of Gorumara Forest.So when we decided to go for “ Dhupjhora Elephant Camp “ , we also booked another Eco Resort “ Ramsai Rhino Camp “ nearby but set up in a totally different landscape.

Planning
It was a choice between whether I take the Older route NH34 via Krishnanagar, Baharampur or NH2,NH60 via Bardhaman , Rampurthat and then Merged at Mourgam , and then usual NH34+NH31 till Siliguri , take a overnight rest at Siliguri and then next to Lataguri via sevoke road . Finally I decided to Take NH34 while going and NH60 Moregram – Panagarh while coming .

Day 1 - 27th March 2010
It was early in the morning around 0440 Hours the wheels started rolling from my south Kolkata home, it was around 0505 when we reached the zero starting point at Kolkata Airport – NH 34 crossing , I was thinking whether I should take Madhyamgram – Kalyani expressway and turn to NH34 at Borojaguli or continue on usual NH34 via Barasat , finally took Barasat and kept this Kalyani expressway option open for future. Crossed Ranaghat Railway Level crossing at 0625 , bought a flower garland for my car deities which also acts as pot pourri during long drives , finally Breakfast break at Krishnanagar , then Berhampore at 0910 hrs , Farakka 1115 hrs , Malda 1200 hrs and Raigunj lunch break at 1345 hrs , Dalkhola 1530 hrs and Bagdogra at 1750 hrs and finally checked into “Mainak” hotel , run by West Bengal Tourism and strategically located at the crossing of Sevoke road and Hill cart road ( 2 minutes from Darjeeling More ) . I was amazed by the timing , though I am a pretty slow driver and enjoy the driving ,had made this stretch within about 12 hours , Road was fantastic all throughout , traffic was moderate and we enjoyed our ride .

to be continued ...

[Captdey]

Start of the Tour - Photos for the First day.

[Captdey]

Mainak

This hotel is Run by West Bengal Tourism dept, has a large secured parking area and very much conveniently located at the Crossing of road towards Darjelling , Siliguri Town and to the North East . Rooms are not kept very well though the service is good , it has a large restaurant with a bar at Ground floor . there is petrol bunk and service station at next door . negative point are loud female singers at Bar .

[Captdey]

Day 2 – 28th March 2010.
As we will be continuing are journey towards the Eco Tourism Resort in the “ Gorumara National Park”, here is a brief description about this beautiful national park.

Gorumara National Park :-
Situated in between rivers Jaldhaka and Murti , this national park contains terai grassland, reverine forests, dry mixed forests, wet mixed forests and sal forests. About 20 percent of this forest area is grassland and Savannah woodlands which makes an ideal habitat area for Rhino and Elephants , other than these major faunas of these forest are Gaur (Indian Bison ) , Leopard, Sambar Spotted deer, King cobra , Rock Python etc. there are about 48 species of Carnivores and herbivores, 193 species of birds , 22 species of reptiles , 27 species of fishes are seen here . This park is under Jalpaiguri Wildlife Division II , DFO - MR.Tapash Das ,
Ranger - Mr.Bimal Debnath.

[1100D]

Is this the elephant camp inside Gorumora you are talking about.

We had a gala time watching a Baby elephant irritating an elder one as well as trying to scare away crows, the crows were simply enjoying the enthusiasm of the little elephant.

You had a great run through the old route. Last december it almost took the same time through the Panagarh route, perhaps due to an hour spent almost static from the Dalkhola crossing to the NH-31.

Waiting for more

[Captdey]

Qt-

Is this the elephant camp inside Gorumora you are talking about.

We had a gala time watching a Baby elephant irritating an elder one as well as trying to scare away crows, the crows were simply enjoying the enthusiasm of the little elephant.

You had a great run through the old route. Last december it almost took the same time through the Panagarh route, perhaps due to an hour spent almost static from the Dalkhola crossing to the NH-31.

Waiting for more[/quote]

1100 D - Its called " Dhupjhora Elephant Camp " , yes we had a very pleasant stay here , Elephants were cute and adorable.

Cheers

[Captdey]

The Journey through Sevak

Left Mainak at around 0830 hrs , planned to had Breakfast at “ Goutam’s “ near sevok , which is my favorite joint along this beautiful road just after crossing Army barracks and then Mahananda wildlife sanctuary , took a right turn towards Sevok , crossed Mahananda bridge and then through the Mahananda wildlife sanctuary and finally reached “ Goutam’ , this time it was closed for renovation , so we continued and stopped near a Dhaba just before Teesta railway level crossing. Continued on Sevak , we stopped at Sevak Kalibari to offer puja , I never had chance to visit his beautiful kali temple before , you have to climb up stairs to reach the main temple , from where you have a fantastic view of coronation bridge .

[sen2009]

Awesome photos... great mood.
Especially the Level crossing and the Kali temple area photos are marvellous. The slight sepia tone in the photos totally add a new tune to the scene.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by Captdey

1100 D - Its called " Dhupjhora Elephant Camp " , yes we had a very pleasant stay here , Elephants were cute and adorable.

Cheers

To each his own, but I have a poor opinion of Dhupjhora. As of some of the other "centres" like, say, Kunjanagar.

Regards
Sutripta

[Captdey]

May be we were fortunate, we liked It as a whole may there were
some negative points individually.

Cheers

[1100D]

What happened, the story doesn't roll further?!

[srikanthpotluri]

great start, please continue.