Lava Lolegaon Rishop Pedong diaries

It was a joy getting drenched in the beauty of the snow-capped peaks of the Nathula range, as we stood in the private view point of our cottages. Dwarfed by the tall pine trees of the forest, the entire place was a treat to savour. Yes, we had just arrived in Lava, a small sleepy village in the Kalimpong district of West Bengal, and our home for the next 3 days. In this travel diary, I will take you through different parts of Kalimpong district like Lava, Lolegaon, Rishop, Pedong and Reshikhola (Rishikhola).

Our itinerary:

Let me first tell you our entire tour plan, so that it is easy as you move along:

• 1st Day: Reach New Mal Junction and transfer to Lava. Local sightseeing in Lava.
• 2nd Day: Visit Rishop (Rishyap) in the morning, Changey Falls in the afternoon.
• 3rd Day: Visit Reshikhola (Rishikhola) and Pedong.
• 4th Day: Transfer to Kalimpong via Lolegaon.
• 5th Day: Kalimpong Local sightseeing and Deolo.
• 6th Day: Visit Triveni Sangam, enroute to NJP station for return journey to Kolkata.

Reaching Lava via New Mal Junction (NMZ)

On the evening of Saptami of the Durga Puja in October 2019, we boarded the Kanchankanya Express from Sealdah for our journey to the New Mal Junction (NMZ). It was raining for the last few days, and we were sceptical about the weather during our trip.

Lava is commonly reached by travellers from New Jalpaiguri (NJP) station due to better availability of trains from Kolkata. But, we chose New Mal Junction (NMZ) due a couple of reasons:

• The route after you leave NJP/ Siliguri town is scenic. Here, the train travels through a dense forest and passes several tunnels and the iconic Teesta Rail Bridge. This train route also happens to be an elephant corridor, and if luck favours, you can sight a few jumbos too.
• From NMZ, the distance of Lava is around 55 KMs and it takes around 2 hours. That is almost half the distance compared to that from NJP. which means a lesser pinch in the pocket too.

Our train was late by 1.5 hours and we reached NMZ around 11 AM. We had booked a car in advance, and our driver for the journey, Babu, was waiting for us outside the station. I had read that the road to Lava via Gorubathan is scenic at every turn, and I had kept my photo gears ready. But as soon as we left the plain land and started moving uphill, it started raining too heavily. We were a bit scared but Babu manoeuvred the car well. By the time we reached Lava, the rain had stopped.

Day 1: Lava sightseeing

In Lava, we had our booking in the WBFDC (West Bengal Forest Department Corporation). Our cottage (Gorkha 4) and few surrounding ones are nestled inside a Pine forest, and are around 60 steps down from the Reception or the motorable road.

Let me now tell you a few words about the topography of Lava. At the centre of Lava are prominent landmarks like the Office of Lava Car Syndicate, the Bus stand, the Bishnu Temple and the Hotel Orchid. The road downhill from here takes you to the Lava Monastery. This road has an array of small homestays and lodges that would suit the pocket of every traveller. Uphill from the centre is the way to few more lodges and the WBFDC cottages.

After lunch, we took a small nap to shrug off the tiredness of the train journey. Then we started off for the Kagyu Thekchen Ling Monastery, popularly known as the Lava Monastery. It was a short walk of around 10 minutes. Inside the main gate, as you walk towards the main monastery, you would get amazing views of the surrounding villages, the forest and the Nathula Range.

The brick-coloured monastery itself is very scenic and will fill your mind with peace. There is a separate hostel for monks and they would be happy to help you with any information that you need.

On our way back, we visited the Nature Interpretation Center of Neora Valley National Park (closed every Thursday). It is a beautiful place for nature lovers.

By this time, it was getting dark and temperature started dropping. We had some hot momos and thupka to energize ourselves and then came back to our cottage.

Day 2 morning: Rishop

We had booked our car from the Syndicate office, and our driver reported at 9 AM.

The narrow road to Rishop was too much bumpy and full of boulders. It seemed to us like a roller-coaster ride, and took us 30 minutes to cover a distance of just 5 Kilometers. Later we came to know that there is a better road via 6^th Mile. That route is longer and will cost you a bit more. There is also a walking trail from Lava to Rishop, and trekking enthusiasts can enjoy the scenic beauty on the way.

Rishop (Rishyap) is a small settlement of the Lepchas and is known for its breath-taking view of the Kanchenjungha range. It is a laid back place. Here you can relax for a couple of days in the middle of nature in one of the numerous hotels and resorts. But, being at a relatively remote place, the cost of lodging and food is comparatively higher than that of Lava. Also, there is a scarcity of running water in all the resorts and you might not get hot water whenever you need.

We got down from our car at the motor stand and started walking along the tiny village roads bordered by pine, birch, fir, rhododendron trees. Unfortunately, it was cloudy for the last couple of days here, and we couldn’t get a clear view of the Kanchenjungha. If you are staying in Rishop, make it a point to trek to the Tiffindara View Point for watching the sunrise or the sunset.

We spent an hour in Rishop and then came back to our cottage in Lava for our lunch break.

Day 2 afternoon: Changey Falls

After lunch, we started for Changey Falls. On the way, we passed the village of Kolakham, a budding tourist destination. It took us around 1 hour from Lava to reach the entry point of the Changey Falls parking. From here, you need to walk down a trail for around 20 minutes.

As we started downwards, it started raining all of a sudden. We ran and took shelter under a shade. After the rain stopped, we continued our trek towards the falls. But the path, which has both slopes and stairs, became very slippery and was not very comfortable to walk.

Just before you reach the falls, there is a bifurcation. The path to the left takes you to the falls and the right one to a view point. The waterfall itself is very beautiful, with water gushing from high above and flowing down the forest below. But please mind your steps near the falls. There is no railing on the small bridge over the falls – if you slip, you would fall straight into the gushing stream.

Day 3 morning: Reshikhola

Today happened to be the Dashami of the Durga Puja festival. That marked the beginning of the Tika for the Nepali/ Lepcha community, which is their biggest festival. Particularly on this day, everyone from the community take part in festivities. This in turn results in unavailability of vehicles. Initially, I planned to travel to Lolegaon on this day and stay there for the night. But then I tweaked the plan and decided to stay for another day in Lava, in case we don’t get a vehicle to travel.

As an alternate plan, I had thought of making a day trip to Reshikhola and Pedong if we manage to get a car. Even the Car Syndicate couldn’t commit me a car when we contacted them the day before.

Luckily for us, the Syndicate confirmed the availability of the vehicle in the morning. We started around 9.30 and reached Reshikhola (Pedong is on the way) in around 2 hours.

Reshikhola or Rishikhola derives its name from the Reshi River (Khola means a small stream in Nepali). The river separates the states of West Bengal and Sikkim. Our car didn’t have the necessary documents to cross the Bengal border. So we alighted just before the border check-post and walked across the river bridge.

We strolled on the road along the river for around 10 minutes and reached a point where there is a small path to reach near the river.

The river bank, with a backdrop of lush green forest and marked with big boulders and long white kash flowers, is itself a place to cherish. You can cross the river by a small bamboo foot bridge. On the other side, there is a resort – Rishi River Cottage.

Day 3 afternoon: Pedong

After spending an hour in Reshikhola, we started our journey back. We stopped at Pedong for lunch. After getting down at the car parking area, we started walking towards the main market. We were dead hungry and searched for restaurants. To our astonishment, we found that all the eateries here are owned by the Nepali community and they are closed due to the Tika festival. The hotel-cum-restaurants were also serving their in-house guests only. At last we got a grocery shop and sweet shop and had some cakes and sweets for lunch.

There is not much to see in Pedong. The Sacred Heart Church and an adjoining school are just opposite to the parking area. There is also an old Bhutanese monastery – the Sangchen Dorjee Gompa. But our driver informed that the road leading to the monastery is in a very bad state. So we couldn’t visit the place.

Tuesday is the Haat (local village market) day in Lava, where people from adjoining villages come to buy and sell. Unfortunately again for us, due to the Tika festival, there was no Haat today.

Day 4: Lolegaon and transfer to Kalimpong

We started around 10 AM, and after travelling for around 40 minutes we halted at the Gumba Dara monastery. It was very peaceful inside the monastery, and you can spend some time to soothe your nerves. Inside the complex is an open-air golden Buddha statue.

The travel from Gumba Dara monastery to Lolegaon was another roller-coaster ride that lasted for around 1 hour and 15 minutes. Our driver navigated the car mostly in 1^st gear through non-existent village roads, which even the Google Maps couldn’t locate. It seems the Google-displayed route is a longer one, which all the drivers avoid.

On the way we stopped at a couple of view points, where got nice views of the mountains and valley below.

Surrounded by dhupi and cypress forests, Lolegaon is a must visit place if you are in this part of Bengal. Away from the maddening crowd, you can spend a day or two getting absorbed in the tranquillity and the whispering of the towering tall trees.

The central place of Lolegaon is the Market/ Motor stand area. It has a few small shops which serve fast food. We were very hungry and ordered Maggi and Thupka.

Opposite to the Motor stand is the green Eco Park, which has an open-air golden Buddha statue. The small road that goes down behind the Motor stand has quite a few small resorts and homestays. The road ahead bifurcates – the one on the left goes towards the famous Hanging Bridge or Canopy Walk and the other one towards the WBFDC Cottages/ VIP Bungalow view point.

If you are staying overnight in Lolegaon, you can trek to the Jhandi Dara Viewpoint at dawn and enjoy the golden glows of the morning Sun.

Lolegaon, like Lava, is famous for leeches. These are mostly found in the forest area that leads to Hanging Bridge. The Canopy Walk is a hanging wooden bridge that passes through the dense jungle. I had read before that, it is an amazing experience to walk by the tall trees. It is a one-way walk. After reaching the end, you need to walk back below the bridge. Unfortunately for us, the bridge had snapped during the last rainy season. The authorities seemed to be least bothered to repair it.

Next we went towards the VIP Bungalow view point. Although, only visitors with proper reservation are allowed within the cottage complex, the security guard was kind enough to let us in. The area is full of greenery and also has a nice view of the valley below from one of the viewpoints.

After this, we started our journey towards Kalimpong. On the way, we crossed the The Relli-Mukti Bridge across the meandering Relli River. We stopped our car just before the bridge and crossed it over foot.

The Kalimpong town was very much congested with a lot of traffic jam, and we finally reached the Morgan House around 4.30 PM.

You can find our travel experience of Kalimpong here.

Some useful information about Lava:

About WBFDC cottages in Lava:

First of all, coming to the topography, WBFDC Lava consists of 2 parts:

1. The motorable upper section around the Reception, consisting the cottages Hill Myna 1, 2, 3 and Neora 1, 2, 3, 4 (Neora cottages were not inaugurated as of Oct 2019) and the Rachela canteen. These cottages are ideal for the elderly and for persons having problem with their lower limbs.
2. Ten cottages (Gorkha 1, 2, 3, 4, Dupka 1, 2, 3 and Quercus 1, 2, 3), a conference hall and the Nathula canteen. You have to climb down around 60 steep steps from the Reception area to reach these cottages. These cottages nestled inside the Pine forest.

Few points and my review of the WBFDC Cottages:

• This is undoubtedly the best place to stay in Lava if you want to stay amidst the nature.
• The cottages are simple, but lack proper maintenance. So, do not have a high expectation.
• The Hill Myna 1-3 and Neora 1-4 are relatively new in terms of construction, and might be more comfortable for staying.
• Beware of leeches and big spiders in and around the cottages, mainly the ones inside the Pine forest.
• The canteens serve simple food, and there is not much variety. As the food is made-to-order, and you have to order much ahead of time.
• Gorkha 3, 4 and Dupka 3 are the best cottages in terms of proximity from the canteen and view from the room.
• Dupka 1, 2 are at a bit isolated place and should be avoided.
• Quercus 1-3 are relatively smaller in size.
• You can book the rooms online at: https://wbfdc.net/

How to travel to Lava:

• As I have already mentioned, we travelled to Lava from the New Mal Junction rail station by a car. I booked the car of Babu Biswas (Mobile: +91-76795-87743). He is soft-spoken and well behaved person, and drives a Wagon-R. He charged us Rs. 1900 for the journey.
• You can also get down from the train from New Jalpaiguri (NJP) station or the Bagdogra airport and travel by road.
• From NJP/ Siliguri, you can get a shared Jeep to Kalimpong, and from there you can hire a car for Lava.
• There are 2 public buses that ply between Lava and Siliguri. The one that travels via Gorubathan leaves Lava in the morning at 7 AM, and the one that travels via Kalimpong leaves at 8 AM.
• I would suggest that you do not make any travel plan to the Darjeeling/ Kalimpong districts on the day of the Tika Festival due to non-availability of cars.

About Car Rental in Lava:

• You need to contact the local Car Syndicate in Lava to reserve your vehicle by making a token advance.
• Due to the bad road condition, all the vehicles are 4 or All Wheel Drive (4WD/ AWD) ones.
• There are 2 types of cars that the Syndicate provides – 6 seater and 10 seater. Accordingly, the cost will vary.
• The cost of hiring a car is pretty high here, and the rate is fixed. There is no scope of any bargain, be it a peak tourist season or a lean one.
• The above facts about Lava Car Syndicate are applicable to other Syndicates in the region, like that of Lolegaon, Rishop, Kolakham etc. In fact, the availability of cars is the best at the Lava Syndicate.

For your reference, I am attaching the Rate chart of the Lava syndicate here (as of October 2019), which has their contact details also.

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