A Day in the Land of White Orchid - Kurseong | Dow Hill | Travelogue
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| A View of Kurseong Town |
Kurseong, the land of white orchid, a hill station in the Darjeeling district in the Indian State of West Bengal. Kurseong is located at an altitude of 4864 ft and has a pleasant climate throughout the year. The city is 34 kilometres from Siliguri and is connected by roads and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR). The nearest major railway station is New Jalpaiguri (NJP), which is about 45 kilometres and the nearest airport is at Bagdogra, which is about 40 kilometres from the town. The economy is based primarily on tourism and education. Before telling anything more about Kurseong, I would like to talk about how and from where my journey started.
My journey started right from the R.K. Hostel, University of North Bengal. This time I'm gonna travel with two of my friends - Lohit and Ashraf. We three study at the University of North Bengal and stay in university hostel. Our university is located at Shiv Mandir, Siliguri, and Kurseong is standing in 20 km north (by air) from our hostel. So, it's not far away and whenever the weather is clear we can experience the spectacular view of Kurseong from our university campus and the perfect view comes right from the roof of our hostel. Whenever the weather is clear we used to go up to the roof and enjoyed the view and I decided that sooner or later one day I must travel there. And it was one weekend, we three suddenly planned that we would visit Kurseong the next day and that's how the journey starts.
The journey begins early in the morning, we woke up early that day, we got ready and left the hostel before 7 am. We took a cab from Shiv Mandir to reach Darjeeling More, from where the Hill Cart road leads to the hill. There are few more roads to reach Kurseong. But we took this one, since public transport is easily available on this road and most importantly, you can see the Toy Train if you are lucky enough. We took a shared car from Darjeeling More and the fare was 80 rupees per passenger. As our car started heading towards the hill, the Toy train track also keeps going parallelly with us and then after reaching Sukna, we took the left road which leads to Kurseong via Rohini and there is an another road from Sukna which goes via Rongtong and leads to Kurseong as well. The dense forest starts from Sukna and then the car runs fast amidst the tea gardens and at this moment I could see the hill appearing closer and bigger beyond the tea gardens and few minutes later the actual hill starts from the Rohini Gate Toll Plaza.
I can't explain my feeling of that moment when our car started climbing the hill, that feeling was awesome for me as we were going up from the plains gradually. I could not resist myself from taking my camera out and started capturing the beauty of nature in my frame. The road was very curvy and steep. As the height was increasing the temperature was decreasing simultaneously. We got to see a couple of small but beautiful waterfalls on our way.
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| On the way |
We reached the Rohini View Point, a famous halt where the iconic "I LOVE KURSEONG' symbol stands. This place gives a splendid panoramic view of Siliguri plains and beyond. I took a couple of snaps from our car as we didn't stop here.
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| Rohini View Point |
Then it was the moment when we were approaching Kurseong and I could see the communication tower and the Kurseong town very clearly. Finally, a few minutes later I stepped down in the land of white orchid.
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| The town covered with clouds |
Kurseong is adorned with rolling hill slopes, surrounded by tea plantations, and green hills, speckled closely with conifer forests, among other splendours. The weather was very pleasant that day and the first thing which I saw is the heritage Toy Train track and the Kurseong station. I was looking at the buildings and wondering how are they standing in slopes years after years!
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| The Town Welcomes! |
Famous places in Kurseong for sightseeing are - Dow Hill, Deer Park now Dow Hill Eco Park, Eagle's Craig, Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Museum, Victoria Boys' School, Dow Hill Girls' School, Forest Museum, Churches and of course the Tea Gardens.
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| Toy Train Track |
Then, we went ahead towards the Kurseong station, where the altitude of Kurseong, i.e. 4864 ft, mentioned. After roaming around for some time in the city, I looked upwards to the Dow Hill which is our ultimate destination.  |
| Kurseong Station |
Dow Hill, the tallest of the scenic hills of Kurseong. From the Kurseong main market, a steep road climbs uphill, off the Hill Cart Road that leads to the Dow Hill and beyond. Dow Hill is a place which gives the feeling of a pure tranquility. A vast portion of the Dow hill is so covered with dense forest and towering pine trees, and remain eternally covered with mist, that some locals used to frighten with incidences about paranormal mysteries.
You can go to the Dow Hill in two ways, either book a cab or trek, we chose the latter option. There is something special in trekking which you won't find in a car. But if you opt for a cab, then you'll reach the top Dow Hill Eco Park, which is the renovated original Deer Park after travelling about four and a half kilometres. There is a shortcut road available through the dense forest, but don't opt for this if you don't have any guide. In our case, my friend, Ashraf, lived in this city for several years, so he knew all the shortcuts.
We took the shortcut from near the Kurseong Sub-divisional Hospital and it is a narrow alley filled with stairs which goes upwards the Dow Hill from the Kurseong city. While trekking, I saw many homes beside the alley and wondering how the local people travel every single day these long series of stairs. The dominant language in hills is Nepali. I have few Nepali friends they are actually very nice people. Another thing, which I noticed is that there are many small pipes beside the stairs coming from the uphill. Then I got to know, this is the potable water coming from the top and being supplied in the city. People living in the hills have to suffer a lot for water. I also saw few hen huts beside the road on our way.
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| A Hen Hut |
After reaching a point, I looked downwards and it was that priceless view which I can't explain in words, I could see a part of the city and clouds beneath me and it was quite like I'm experiencing the view through a bird's eye.
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| A Breath-taking View |
Then, the deep forest starts filled with towering pine trees. We entered into the forest following a narrow path upwards. A couple of houses can be seen in the middle of the woods and different kinds of sound of bird and insect can be heard as well.
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| Towering Pine Trees |
After trekking through the forest for about 20 minutes we reached to a road and started walking in the direction of Dow Hill Girls' School.
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| Dow Hill Girls' School |
The Dow Hill Girls' School is a beautiful school in the hub of nature in Dow Hill, Kurseong. We saw the school from outside and it looks beautiful. One of my friends from university studied in this school and she rejects the haunted stories. Then we go to the Victoria Boys' School, on our way to the Victoria Boy's School we saw a troop of monkey were hanging on the branches of long trees. Walking on the roads of Dow Hill automatically gives a spooky feeling.
The Church, which is famous for haunted stories, located right in front of the gate of Victoria Boys' School. The Church is very old and not maintained nowadays and has many paranormal stories related with this. But my friend Ashraf, who studied in Victoria Boys' School, rejects the stories - "I have studied here for many years and never experienced such things," says Ashraf.
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| The 'Haunted' Church |
Victoria Boys' School, founded in 1879, is a heritage Government run English medium boarding school located amidst the green woods in Dow Hill. Entry is restricted, but as I said my friend studied in this school and the staff recognised him and welcomed us to the school campus. The school looks very beautiful and it has a big playground little down the school.
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| Victoria Boys' School |
We entered inside the school building to see, the classrooms were made of wooden structure. There is a famous tree in this school campus and the leaf of that tree we can see in the famous Hindi movie named 'Mohabbatein'. I looked downwards from the school and could see the beauty of nature. One has to lucky enough to get a chance to study in the lap of nature and who can experience the pleasing natural beauty daily. Then we came down from the school and went towards Deer Park or Dow Hill Eco Park. The road looks very beautiful and especially the towering pine trees beside the road made it look exquisite. Then, the West Bengal Forest School Museum comes before the Deer Park.
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| Road to the Deer Park |
The West Bengal Forest School Museum, located amidst the woods in Dow Hill features some rare collections of animal skins, bones and hides, selection of models, photographs of certain fauna of the forest regions, other forest produces and artifacts but in a state of concern. Some of the rare woody specimens have already started showing signs of deterioration and what I found the museum is not kept in a safe condition, it's kept in negligence, the authority should take care of the museum. After visiting the museum, we went towards the Eco Park and the Water Reservoir comes on the right side of the road to Eco Park.
Dow Hill Eco Park, earlier known as Deer Park since you could see a lot deers here. The park is located on top of Dow Hill and surrounded by dense forest. There is a gazebo in the middle of the park where you can sit and relax. There is also a small children's playground with swings and slides. The park is open from 10am to 4pm and closed on Thursdays. A nominal entry fee needs to be paid to enter the park. We got to see a few deer in the park. After relaxing for some time we left the park and went to a 'Momo' shop in front of the park and the Momo was so delicious that I ate two plates of it instantly!
Then we went to a few feet upwards where the reservoir is and I can't express the feelings of that moment in words, as soon as we entered into the deep forest, suddenly it started becoming foggy and in a minute or two it became completely misty and gloomy and it was like something majestic happening at that moment. This 10-15 minutes was the moment of pure tranquility and I was feeling that I'm in heaven. I just stood there, spread my arms and was feeling that tranquility and it was like nature is embracing me. That was one of the deeply felt moments of my life.
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| The Majestic View |
We didn't go too far in the forest as it would not be a good decision to enter in deep forests in this situation. After some time, went to the water reservoir from where the potable water gets supplied. A small 'Aborratum' i.e. botanical garden is there adjacent to the reservoir.
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| Water Reservoir |
Well, we have visited almost everything except Eagle's Craig, for which we have to come down to the Kurseong city and then have to walk about a kilometer. So, it's now time to back to the city. We came down from Dow Hill to Kurseong by trekking at around 2:30pm and went inside the market to have lunch. If you are looking for a cheap hotel then go inside the market you'll find many, and for big hotels and restaurants you'll find beside the Hill Cart road itself. After having lunch, went to the Eagle's Craig. The perfect view of Kurseong and Dow Hill comes from the road to Eagle's Craig and believe me it looks spectacular.
Eagle's Craig, the popular viewpoint is a short walking distance from the Kurseong railway station seemingly perched on a cliff. One can have a sweeping view of the surrounding mountain, hill, hamlets and slopes from here. It has a cafeteria, a watch tower and a flower garden. The panoramic view from this point is breath taking, you will get a magnificent view of the plains of Siliguri, the hills of Nepal, rivers, tea gardens. The communication tower, which is visible all the way from Siliguri, is located here and it's a landmark of Kurseong.
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| The Communication Tower |
Sitting on the stairs in Eagle's Craig, I was watching how the clouds from down coming towards us and in 5-6 minutes it became altogether foggy and we got wet as well and it was like drizzling, but actually all it was is nothing but vagabond clouds!
On our way back, I bought few 'Chhurpi' or durkha which is a traditional cheese consumed in the Himalayan regions of Nepal, Darjeeling, Kurseong, Kalimpong, Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet. The two varieties of 'chhurpi' are a soft variety which is consumed usually as a side dish with rice and a hard variety which is chewed like a betel nut. It is known to be native to Tibetan cultural areas, spreading to Nepal and India. Earlier, I had 'chhurpi' once in my hostel, one of my next room friend is from the hills and he brought it for me.
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| Chhurpi |
When the sun sets down, the bell of our return chimes! We left Kurseong in the evening with a bunch of unforgettable memories and a promise to come again to this beautiful land. I will end by quoting a famous line from Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's novel 'Kapalkundala' - "আহা! কি দেখিলাম! জন্ম জন্মান্তরেও ভুলিব না।" (Oh wow! What a sight! I will not forget in this life as well as in next life!).
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