The tour seemed all too short for we were supposed leave on 4 and return on 9 April. But due to unavoidable circumstances we had to return one day earlier. Our class XII finals were over and some us close classmates with two school teachers, embarked on our journey in high spirits. We had planned to make the most of this short holiday.
The Darjeeling Mail reached NJP around 8-30 a.m. and our overenthusiastic group stepped out of the rail compartment with joy and excitement beaming from every face. A funny thing happened here. Just outside the station was this huge advertising hoarding of a renowned mobile company which went something like this, “Now, extended network”. But, know what? One of us with the same mobile connection couldn’t get the network right there itself!
We had a bus reserved to take us to Lolay Gaon. After travelling for a little more than an hour, we stopped at a roadside dhaba to pick up food to be eaten later. Around 1-00 p.m. we stopped in front of a bridge over Murti river. Actually, it is a small rivulet strewn with rocks and you can even cross it if you walk care- fully over the rocks.
Three among us got wet as they slipped while trying to cross the river. Just beside the bridge, there is a huge rock on which you can climb and get a a spectacular view of the surroundings. We had our lunch in the shade of this rock.
We then resumed our journey and soon the bus was travelling through a road surrounded by coniferous trees. The trees were so dense that the road was semi-dark. We crossed Lava around 2-30 p.m. and finally reached our destination Lolay Gaon at 3-45 p.m. It is a very small settlement with a group of hotels on one side of the road. We checked into a guest house and freshened up.
After some refreshing tea in the evening we went to ‘Sunset Point’ nearby, situated on top of a hill. You have to trek your way up. Some of us found this climb quite tiring but our efforts reaped rich results. We were presented with an excellent view of the sunset.
Sometime later, a friend and I went to a public phone booth to call our homes and found the man at the counter eating chowmein and sipping finely cut betel nuts immersed in water with a straw from a big glass. When asked what it was, he replied, “Chhang” and explained that it was made of millets immersed in alcohol. “It’s a very popular drink here”, he remarked.
At the night we went up to the roof of the hotel and the sight left us speechless. Far away on the mountains in front of us sparkled countless twinkling lights. They were lights of settlements but in the darkness of the night, they looked like millions of diamonds strewn all over the place. “That’s heaven, if there ever was one”, remarked one of our teachers. Unfortunately, none of us could get a photograph of that “heaven” because our cameras weren’t powerful enough. But I guess, things like these are best photographed by the mind. You can never forget such sights.
As is normal with such excursions, we slept very late although we had to be up very early the next morning. We were to watch the sunrise from “Heritage Park”. The next day some stayed back and they were obviously the lucky ones since it was very cloudy and the sun didn’t appear for quite sometime.
We returned to the guest house and got ready for our journey to Rishap. After breakfast we left in two jeeps. Having earlier heard about a wonderful trekking route from Lava to Rishap, a few of us were keen to try it out and it seemed to be the best part of the tour. The route was great – right through a dense forest. At places, there wasn’t even a path to follow. It was super- adventurous and we enjoyed every bit.
We took all the short cuts and soon found that we had diverted from the route a couple of times. It was good that we made mistakes because they took us to a really wonderful spot – a small clearing among the trees. We sat enchanted until we discovered a leech on one of us! This area is infamous for leeches and during the monsoons these areas turn dangerous because of them.
We reached Rishap and met the others who had arrived by jeep. We put up in a quaint lodge. Kanchenjunga was supposed to be visible from here but the clouds acted spoilsport and did not permit us that glorious view. The rooms were one and a half storey. On top of the toilet in each room was space for 3 persons to sleep and you had to climb up there by a ladder.
In these areas, there aren’t conventional tourist spots to go and see. You just inhale the wonderful air and feel the natural beauty all around you. So, we chatted away throughout the afternoon and prepared ourselves for the campfire in the evening. The fire was lit around 6-45 p.m. and we sang songs, danced and had a lot of fun. But after all that I suddenly felt very tired and sleepy. I had slept very little during the last two days and was soon lost in deep slumber.
The next morning we left Rishap in two jeeps and reached Lava. From there we boarded the same bus that had taken us to Lolay Gaon and started for NJP. After we descended from the mountains, we passed through the Garumara reserve forest and reached Lataguri where we stopped for lunch and then continued our journey to NJP.
We still had some time left and decided to visit a dam on the Mahananda river near the NJP railway station. It was very close to the Bangladesh border and we could see our neighbouring country from there. But time was running out and we couldn’t sit there for long. We reached NJP railway station and boarded our train. By 7-00 a.m. on the 8th, we were back at Sealdah Station.
When the tour started, we all had realised that our schooldays, often referred to as the best days of one’s life’, had come to an end and this may very well be our last outing together. So we tried to enjoy every moment to the fullest and we seemed to have been quite successful too! But, as we all know, emotions run high during these times and though no one expressed it, the feeling of sadness and nostalgia took precedence in all hearts.