Move on, Darjeeling and Digha. Here come Lepchajagat and Baguran and many other places — unknown to the outside world so far but word about their charm spreading word of mouth.
This holiday season saw a large number of people from West Bengal — a place crazy about travel — choosing little-known scenic places in their own backyard rather than well-known destinations, thus setting off a new trend.
For example, many people are now headed in the direction of Darjeeling but they do not join the crowds there; instead they stop about 14 km ahead in a village called Lepchajagat, where the view of the snow-capped Himalayas is as spectacular if not more.
“It is basically a village of some 15-20 Lepcha families. It used to be called Lepchabasti once upon a time. Back then if you visited this place, you had to stay at a local’s house because of the lack of accommodation. Of late, homestays have come up,” said journalist Sneha Samanta, who travels out of Kolkata every few weeks and recently visited Lepchajagat.
Scenes from Valmikinagar near Nepal border. Photo: Special Arrangement
When asked why she chose the place, she said, “I consider myself more of a traveller and less of a tourist, and I do believe that the true contentment of travelling lies in the journey, never the destination. Most people who go to north Bengal treat Lepchajagat as an in-between pit stop, to spend some 20 minutes on the way to Mirik. I wanted to explore the quaint village that people stop by but never stay at.”
She said she was heaped with rewards for choosing this place. “Lepchajagat has one of the most stunning views of the Kanchenjunga — in fact, the whole range of the Sleeping Buddha. I am used to watching the Kanchenjunga at least thrice a year and it still is magical to me, and in Lepchajagat they consider it something routine!” Ms. Samanta said.
College teacher Piyali Das spent her Christmas holiday at Valmikinagar, also near the Nepal border like Lepchajagat but further west. “It’s on tourist map but not known to many, though we found some vlogs by Bengalis. It’s near the core forest area at the Bihar-Nepal border. It’s a national park and tiger reserve. Mythological tales and folklores are associated with the place and a tribe called Tharu resides in the nearby villages,” said Ms. Das.
“The place is serene. A perfect blend of the forest hills and the river Gandak. A boon of nature - fresh air, clear sky and a variety of birds and animal life,” she added.
Techie Susam Ghosh, who currently lives in New Zealand and is visiting home in Kolkata at the moment, recently visited a place called Kankrajhor with his parents. He said, “The visit echoes this famous line of Tagore, ‘I have spent a fortune travelling to distant shores and looked at lofty mountains and boundless oceans, and yet I haven’t found time to take a few steps from my house to look at a single dewdrop on a single blade of grass.’ In the local tribal language, kankra means hills while jhor meaning forests — and the place is only 170 km from Kolkata. Surrounded by ancient sal, teak, and mahua forests, it’s a picturesque hamlet, surrounded by the Mayurjharna hills and home to peacocks, deer and bears.”
The list of such small but attractive places is growing. There’s Bangriposhi, according to Ms. Samanta, a quaint village in Odisha where you get to stay in mud houses. Then there’s Baguran and Junput, for those who like beaches, and Baranti and Muruguma, both near dam reservoirs. There are other places that are not popular destinations yet — Bichitrapur, Tabakoshi, Raimatang — but it could just be a matter of time that locations discerning tourists are visiting to avoid crowds begin to pull crowds.
