Kalimpong - Land of the Kings

Kalimpong, a famous weekend gateaway from kolkata & honeymoon destination over Tista River is also known for its educational institutions. This was long renowned from British colonial periods as summer vacation place. It still has finest schools which produces scholars nationwide. Beautiful backdrop of mighty Himalayas, enchanting Buddhist Monasteries, unknown Orchids & friendly  inhabitants make this place a famous Tourist Destination.

Blue Snowball Bush Near Rishyap

Everyone seems to stay near the Market which is full of renowned hotels & amenities which in turn leads to chaos. So I thought of staying away from the hullabaloo & preferred hotel mountain view which provided me with the calm & natural environment. The place was nice with awesome foods (though purely veg).

Kalimpong has beautiful honeymoon destination with places nearby which can be viewed in a day. You can book a cab & roam around. The road condition is quite good, but what would irritate you is the traffic. But still you'll manage to see the most of the places like Mangal Dham, Flower Nurseries, Hanuman Top, Durga Mandir, Science Centre, Dr. Graham's Home etc. Most of the places are quite good but one should visit the science centre which is small but very well maintained & ironically most of the machines work!! The place is also beautiful & you can literally touch the clouds on a cloudy day!!

View from Deolo

Buddha Statue near Kalimpong

Another most impressive place is pine view nurseries which hosts hundreds of various species Cactus. You can see varieties of Cacti from Northern, Southern part of US, which I bet you have not seen before. Cactus Flower is another interesting thing you should see. You can also get a panoramic view of the entire city & the mountains.

Cactus Flower at Pineview Nursery

East Kalimpong hosts most beautiful place Deolo which is famous for its scenic beauty. You can get a breath taking view of the mountain ranges, Teesta River, even the Sikkim Hills (if the sky is clear). You can feel the clouds passing by your head on a foggy day. This place will refresh you with its scenery & beauty. It's a well maintained place with beautiful gardens & eco- resort. You can experience Para-gliding if you dare (strict no - no for honeymoon goers :)).

Golf Course Kalimpong

View from Deolo

Apart from Deolo, Golf course, Jelep La View point gives you panoramic view of the mountains. If you are lucky enough you can see the Mighty Kanchenjungha as well. Durpin Dhara Gompha is another age old monastery of Kalimpong & situated at the top of Durpin Hill. This is one of the highest peaks of Kalimpong & one can see the Jelep La Pass from there, although you are not authorized to do it as it's an Army Base.

Durpin Dhara Kalimpong

If you don't taste the Famous Chowmein & the Momos there you'll be surely missing something. Dumplings, Thai Noodles are real stunner. The volume is good for two & the taste is also quite good. Not to forget the Veg foods from Hotel Mountain View, especially Spicy Chilli Paneer. Kalimpong should be your next summer vacation place.

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Pelling - Best Honeymoon Destination in Sikkim

Without the comfort of good hotels if you want to feel nature, want to see mighty Kanchendzonga or want to believe the rich Sikkim culture & heritage Pelling will be a must visit vacation place. You can get a magnificent view of the snow capped Kanchendzonga peaks from your room when the weather is clear along with surrounding mountain ranges including the Koktang, Frey, Rathong, Kabru North and Kabru South, Kabru Dom, Talung Kanchenjunga, Pandim, Jopuno,Tinchikhang, Narsing and others.

Sunrise Near Kanchenjungha

Pelling is one of the best honeymoon destinations in India and a must in your Sikkim tour ideas. I started for Pelling from Kolkata in prestigious Darjeeling mail & was at a loss when got down at NJP. There are a lot of cab & driver who offer to drive you to pelling but the price was unbelievably high. After loitering here & there for some time I came to know you can go to Siliguri from where you can get cabs at a reasonable price , even shared cabs as well. It should be taken care of as it makes tourist confused & cheated.

when you travel to Pelling through the winding roads (tough the road condition was pretty bad) you'll forget all the issues in your life. The road itself is so scenic that you'll be amazed in every turn. The deep gorges down, or the long trees on the side will surely make you feel relieved.

Pelling is at 7000 ft altitude and is quite cold place making it a good for summer vacation ideas. The hotels are normally small & welcomes tourists like their guests. I stayed in one of the most famous in Pelling Hotel Garuda. I strongly recommend this hotel for travellers as the service is awesome with breath taking views of Kanchenjunga from the room itself. I was lucky enough to have a stunning sunrise view sitting in my room. The snow capped mountain turns golden yellow with the valley filling up slowly with light is something I can't write. You have to see it yourself.

Kanchenjunga Sunrise

Pelling has a lot of waterfalls among which Rimbi, Kanchenjunga, Changey are quite big.
Kanchenjunga falls is said to be generating from the snows of Mt. Kanchenjunga which runs throughout of the year. Rimbi is on the road & you don't have to get down from your car to see it.

Kanchenjungha Falls

Rimbi Falls

Changey Falls

Rich cultural heritage & ancient Sikkimese history can be heard & felt in hundread year old
Pemayangtse Monastery which has large collection of arts & crafts elaborating Sikkim Tradition. You'll feel the calm & tranquillity of the place. The Gompha has gorgeous wall paintings of Guru Rimpoche, several angels, & Lord Budhha. Another very old monastery
Sangachoeling Monastery is also very rich with Sikkemese culture.

Pelling journey will not be complete if you don't visit the serene Khecheopalri Lake which hosts thousands of Fish & a very neat & clean lake. You'll be enchanted by the beautiful scenery of the place. The lake covered in dense forest with clear blue sky makes it a must visit.

Khecheopalri Lake

If you want to feel height - o -phobia, I'l recommend you to go the Asia's second highest Singshore Bridge. You can see the mighty bridge with beautiful scenic atmosphere surrounding the place. The bridge is the only connection between the two sides & whenever any car goes through the bridge it resonates in such that it might break down. Powerful winds would make chill run down your spine. This is a lovely pace where you can understand human force is also ready to take nature's challenges and a subject for your travel experience stories.

Singshore Bridge

Sikkim will always enchant you with its natural beauty but nonetheless the road, small flowers, ample greenery with hundreds of birds, hospitable people will attract your attention. The food is just awesome &Thukpa& Momo are must try. I am quite in love with Thukpa. Street side momo are way better than Kolkata momos. You'll be amazed by the behavior of the local people. They are happy to help always & with smiling face.

Bhakthuk/Thukpa

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Tajpur - Virgin Sea beacons

Sea side is the best weekend gateways and those who loves to sit idle beside a roaring sea with a drink in hand. This tranquil beach is a fast growing honeymoon destination from Kolkata.So, forget about Digha or Puri, it’s time for Tajpur. I don’t know how many will agree with me regarding the stunning beauty of a Virgin sea side of Tajpur with indomitable nature calling you to shake hands but those who disagree I would like to suggest them to go there for once and see it yourself.

Star Fish at Tajpur Beach

Tajpur is a small village in West Midnapore district of west Bengal & can be reached easily within 3-3.5 hours from Kolkata. It is well connected by railways, & roadways but I always prefer to go by Train. Train is an amazing media which attracts me always as the journey itself is beautiful.

But what I must say we need to seriously think about the cleanliness & hygiene about the when travelling in train. It’s our responsibility to keep it clean man!

When the first rays of sun glitters on the sand & water the whole beach turns golden & create a mesmerizing effect. You’ll feel that you are in El Dorado. Sun plays hide & seek with his Friend Sea & when sun hides behind the clouds strong winds kisses your soul & refreshes it. When I reached the shores it was cloudy along with heavy wind. I screamed loud & wind took my words may be on the other part of the ocean. I don’t know whether there was anyone on the other side to hear me but a lot of local vendors who sells fish heard me. I tried some fresh fish fries & trust me they were awesome.

Golden Beach

Twin Shells

You are in Tajpur and you don’t bathe in sea is out of question. I jumped at the sea early & took 4 hours to freshen up my senses with the natural salts (not to forget the sands also). Man I was dead hungry & ate like I had not for a couple of days. Tajpur is also famous for its casurina & Tamarisk trees. You can sit idle & watch the waves or feel the tranquillity of the lonely see. It’s refreshing & rejuvenates your mind.

Lonely Boat

Tajpur is also a good place for bird watchers. You can find a lot of birds which are very common but still hard to find in Kolkata these days. I saw Green bee eater, Black Drongo, Golden Oriole, Barbet, woodpecker, lapwig, Cormorant & kingfisher. Another thing you will find in plenty in Tajpur which is Red Crabs. The whole beach is filled up crabs & their holes. Sometimes you might see some symmetric geometry in the formation of their holes (Crap!!). You’ll have to run real fast if you want to take a snap of them.

Green Bee Eater

Now here comes our responsibility to save these places & take a good care of the surroundings. As more tourists are coming these days but none cares about the cleanliness of the nearby places. The casurina jungle in front of the sea beach used to be a good place to watch birds. But you’ll find it full of human waste & garbage. Why can’t we keep these clean? Are we going to make the whole world a dustbin?

How to get there

You can reach there by 3-3.5 hours by road or by Train. You can get buses from Esplanade, Kolkata. Get down at Ramnagar & board a vehicle to Tajpur. It would cost you Rs 300-350.

Where to Stay

Plenty of hotels are there in Tajpur. I stayed at Tajpur Retreat which is really good. The rooms are big & food is mouth watering accompanied by friendly staff. You can give it a try.

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Thrissur - Land of the Poorams

Thrissur the third largest city of Kerala is well known for its cultural heritage and most colorful & prestigious Pooram Festival. Situated around 300 KM north west to Thiruvananthapuram is also famous for its religious integrity as it hosts a number of famous temples like Guruvayur, Vadakkumnathan temple as well as charches like Our Lady of Dolours Syro-Malabar Catholic Basilica. I am always attracted to the natural beauty of the places along with its people which is abundant here in Thrissur.

Although Thrissur is a good weekend gateway from Kochi or Coimbatore, I started for Thrissur from Kolkata by Train & it took around 27 hours (!!) to reach there. Although Thrissur has a railway station I got down at Pallakad & reached Thrissur by car. The road is awesome with medium sized hillocks all around. I had Jerald with me as my companion who was a resident of Thrissur. We were travelling by his car & he left no stone unturned to feel me at home instead of the language barrier.

The city of Thrissur had nothing new to offer apart from the regular din & jostle of a large city. But what I like is the people who are very helpful to person who can't speak their language. Malayalam is the common language which is spoken but people are well educated & English is being spoken (although not that good) by most of the people. One thing will surely catch your attention which is their attraction to gold. Almost everyone is wearing gold ornaments. May be that's why large jewellery brands like Allukas, Kalyan have their largest stores in Kerala.

Thrissur is endowed with natural beauty which is best seen at Athirapally Waterfalls originating from Chalakudy River. The topsy turvy road through the mountain & not-so-dense forest. The road has stoppages midway for Elephant corridors. The forest surrounding Athirapally falls is famous for its flaura & fauna. Forest wildlife in the area includes the Asiatic elephant, tiger, leopard, bison, sambar, and lion-tailed macaque. The unique 180 metres (590 ft) elevation riparian forest in the Athirappilly-Vazhachal area is the only location where all four South Indian species of hornbills — the great hornbill (the state bird of Kerala), Malabar pied hornbill, Malabar grey hornbill, and the Indian grey hornbill are found living together. 

Challakudy River side Jungle

Near Athirapally Falls

The more yo go closer to the falls the more you can hear its gigantic roars. I did not see it from the top rather I choose a journey by foot to reach the bottom of it. The road through the forest will surely enchant you. You can see glimpses of the huge Falls & can feel the smell as well. The falls looks amazing from the front & the water jumping from around 400 ft makes a thick water vapour layer. It seems hard to hear each other amidst the gruesome roars. I hope one can remember the famous movies Guru or Dil se which used this falls to shoot some renowned songs.

Gigantic Athirapally Falls

Athirapally Falls Top View

Also you can visit the famous Guruvayur Temple of God Vishnu. This temple has its structural beauty and is crowded most of the time. I've to stand around 2 hours in a queue to enter. There is a pond just beside the temple which is legendary and has a lot of stories.

It would be a great mistake if I dont say about the foods of Kerala. I tried almost all traditional food to Mughlai dishes available and trust me they were very tasty. The biriyani is somewhat differently cooked & is called Malabar Biriyani. That tastes awesome & to all Kolkata people who have only tried Kolkata or Lucknow gharana of Biriyani should try this. Its juicy, having with Fried onion, lots of dry froots like Kaju & coconut and served with Curd (Yes!! I tried that with Biriyani).

Malabar Chicken Biriyani

Thrissur is a well maintained city which takes care about cleanliness & good sanitation. The roadways are good along with helpful people. There are a lot other places in Kerala which is a must visit but Thrissur is a good small summer vacation place.

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