Pujo Vacation 2025: Trip to Chilapata, Gorubathan

The rains, this year, were reluctant to go away. And with the Pujos being quite early we wondered if the deluge would smear those days wet. Thankfully the rains spared the Puja days on most days and with the blue skies, fluffy clouds, sound of the dhaak, elaborate feasts and dhunuchi nach, sindoor khela we welcomed and later tearfully bade farewell to the Goddess. Like the previous year we spent the Pujas at our Cooch Behar home. And the Dooars being at a stone's throw distance from our home, we spent a night at the Bamboo Village Resort on the edge of the Chilapata forest and later explored the Gorubathan hills through roads that did not exist on a map before departing for Calcutta. This is the account of those few days.

On Ashtami morning, with grey skies and scattered rain, we rolled out from our home and were headed towards The Dabri Tea Lounge - a chic boutique stop on the fringes of the Buxa forest on NH317. As soon as we crossed Alipurduar town, the forests took over and with a mild wind blowing, we gradually lowered the windows to let the untainted forest air fill our breathe.
The tea lounge is situated right beside the highway and faces a tea garden on the other side. The early lunch of Tea, Sandwiches and Pizzas was the perfect start for the next phase of the drive. We took the highway again during our onwards journey to the Bamboo Village Resort. There are some nice pitstops along this highway which connects Bengal with the North East, with the Nimti Dhaba being one such place.

The short drive was a delight: The abundant rains had caused the forested stretches to run amok. Creepers grew wild, trees were of the greenest of hues, the air was moist and the breeze often moisture laden. Chatim flowers were blooming and so were the Shiuli flowers that lay at the foot of the trees every morning. On the horizon one could see the fluffy clouds and at the cynosure of it all stood the Goddess Durga - being a Bengali, it tugs at our heart strings.
Turning off from the highway, we took a village road cutting through cultivation fields, which later gave way to forested stretches. We finally reached the Bamboo Village Resort around 1600 HRS. An added bonus was, this 20+ years old property was set in the fringes of tea gardens. Our room, priced at 3000 per night, had elements of bamboo artwork and equipped with necessary amenities. 

We went on a walk to the tea gardens and saw an orange horizon as twilight descended. At night, when we stepped out on the balcony, we saw silhouettes of huge sal trees and in the darkness heard shrill pitched cries of insects and glowing fire flies. When we went to the dining area, a cold wind was blowing, that indicated it might have rained somewhere. We had a homely dinner of rice, dal, aloo posto and chicken curry.

The next morning, we checked out after breakfast. The Chilapata safari was closed that day and we lost quite sometime in between, due to which our plan to explore the Gorubathan hills had to be postponed by a day. That night we stayed at our home and the started for Gorubathan hills the next day.

We took the Falakata - Birpara - Binnaguri - Chalsa road. Had breakfast at Lovely Sweets in Birpara - where the Puri-Subzi-Rosogolla was hot and tasty. And then resumed our journey. From Chalsa, we turned right, and took the road that runs besides Sinclairs Dooars. The road is alluring - with undulating tea gardens on either sides and hills rising in the distance. We had been on this road a number of times ( the recent ones being in 2025 and 2022 ), yet its beauty never ceased to amaze us.

From Matelli we took the left and then turned right. A few hundred meters the battered road climbed up indicating that the forested hills had started. It was a gentle rise initially after which it flattened into a flat land. This road, with tea gardens on either side, was paved and was just wide enough to keep the wheels on the road. At times the dense growth brushed against the car's frame as we barreled ahead. Till then Google maps showed that we were on a road and that the tea garden was the "Chalauni Tea Garden". But once we were past the Manager's bungalow, the road on the map vanished.

For the next 2 hours we climbed up hills, flirted with forests, passed through the most beautiful of Dooars tea gardens, crossed the Neora Bridge and barely met a vehicle. At one point we noticed a forest track that branched off from the road. The soil was wet and considering there wasn't a soul around, we engaged 4X4 and crawled ahead. Some distance ahead we noticed elephant dung on the road. I thought we had ventured a little too far for comfort and then better sense prevailed. But the forest was so that an about turn was out of the equation. So, we reversed till the point we could turn the car back and get back on the road. These forests were on the fringes of the Neora Valley national park and whereas elephant and leopard sightings were common, there has been stray appearances of the Royal Bengal tiger too.

Some distance further, the road descended and the forest thinned and eventually gave way to tea gardens, villages until were finally back to the population. We connected back to the Gorubathan-Lava road shortly thereafter and at a hilly dhaba had a lunch of Maggi and momos. We were out on the road for 8 hours by then. The next day was a long drive to Calcutta. So we checked into a Chalsa hotel for the night and the next day were back home.