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West Bengal

West Bengal

When it comes to West Bengal, there are distinct two geographical parts: north and south; with unique landscapes, cultures, food and experiences.

When I went to West Bengal, I visited Singalila National Park, in the north, where you can see real RED PANDAS in the wild and Sundarbans National Park in the south, which is the LARGEST mangrove forest in the world, and houses rare animals like jungle cats, leopard cats and tigers!

You can enter West Bengal from Bagdogra Airport in the north and Kolkata airport in the South. 

Let’s start with the North first;

After landing at Bagdogra airport (from Mumbai), we headed to Darjeeling, the “Queen of the Hills”. After checking into the hotel, we straight-away visited the famous Toy Train!!! (Darjeeling Himalayan Railway) a UNESCO World Heritage Site – It was a picturesque old steam engine which takes you around the Darjeeling town with spectacular views of the great Himalayas!!!

We passed through the charming town, and finally stopped near a mickey mouse garden! 

Next up, we went on a cable car ride; and it was fantastic. We could see the meadows and hillocks zooming below us, and the whole ride was just mesmerising.

Later, we visited a tea estate, and we were shown around the tea gardens and then taken into a factory to learn about the tea-making process.

You can easily spend 3-4 days at Darjeeling enjoying the awesome weather, mesmerising views, riding the heritage train, visiting tea gardens and taking the cable car.

Next up Singalila National Park………

Singalila National Park is located at the northern tip of West Bengal, and borders Nepal at the west, and Sikkim at the north and east and about 2 hours from Darjeeling (with closest airport being Bagdogra).

I visited Singalila in a group with my older brother and his parents.

This evergreen cloud forest, at least 10,000 feet above sea level, will take your breath away with its pristine, natural, unperturbed beauty. And it is home to elusive and shy Red Pandas!!!

Read all about my unique experience of trekking Singalila mountains in search of ‘RED’ ……… I mean the elusive Red Panda!!!

On another trip, I went to the world’s largest mangrove forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site: Sundarban!!!!

Sunderban National Park is about 4-hour drive from Kolkatta. 

During our 5-day visit, we stayed in a houseboat, and woke up each morning to the gentle rocking of the boat as we cruised through the Ganges. We spotted the elusive leopard cat, salt water crocodile, water monitor lizard, smooth coated otters and uncountable species of birds!!!

For a detailed account of my experience living in a real houseboat in search of man-eater tigers, click here

There is lot more to visit and see in West Bengal and I hope to continue my trips to this wonderful land…

Enjoy West Bengal!!! 

Mom Says:

Okay, so we didn’t see the Bengal Tiger of Sunderban Delta in spite of living on the house boat for 4 days. We cruised in the salty backwaters searching for the elusive ‘man-eater’ whom the locals wish they would not ever meet! But the parent in me felt fulfilled more than ever, for my 10-year-old didn’t care for TV, mobile, games, toys or even a book for 4 straight days, eyes riveted on the watery landscape, focus unmatched, searching for the tiger but excited to spot many other creatures you would read in her blog!

dad Says:

“Red Panda! What animal is that?” asked my wife, kid and other family members, but I don’t get disappointed easily. Let’s face it, no textbook has taught us about Red Pandas after all! It’s my job as a father to research, to find out about rare creatures, to get my family excited about sighting it and to find out right source to help us in our quest. And so, we embarked on our unique quest to find red (rare red pandas); my kid would tell you more about it!

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