Lava, Loleygaon And Rishyap

07/08/2017

Changey Falls, Kolakham Near Lava

07/08/2017

Lava Lolegaon - a place of tranquility and scenic beauty

07/08/2017

Loleygaon - a place of tranquility and scenic beauty

07/08/2017

“There comes . . . a longing never to travel again except on foot.”

06/08/2017

Buddhist temple at Lava

06/08/2017

Neora Valley National Park

06/08/2017

Changey Falls, Kolakham, Kolakham

06/08/2017

Loleygaon Monastery

15/04/2017

12/04/2017

11/04/2017

29/03/2017

changgy falls lava

29/03/2017

Canopy Walk, Neora Valley, Loley Gaon

29/03/2017

Neora Valley National Park is situated in the Kalimpong district, West Bengal, India and was established in 1986. It spreads over an area of 88 km² and is one of the richest biological zones in the entire Eastern India. It is the land of the elegant red panda in the pristine undisturbed natural habitat with rugged inaccessible hilly terrain and rich diverse flora and fauna making this park an important wilderness zone

29/03/2017

Jelep La Pass in Lava

27/03/2017

Kangchenjunga, also spelled Kanchenjunga, is the third highest mountain in the world, and lies partly in Nepal and partly in Sikkim, India.

21/03/2017

Lava is a small sleepy village located at an altitude of 7000ft. From Loleygaon the distance to Lava is 22kms and takes over 1 hour drive. From NJP station, Lava is about 105kms via Kalimpong and takes about 3 hours by car.
Lava is the base and the gateway for the famous Neora Valley National Park and surrounded by dense forest of coniferous trees. However, you should stay overnight at Lava or Neora Valley for a visit to the national park which is full of exotic flora and fauna. Entrance to the park is about 10kms from Lava.

Lava also attracts many trekkers. Trekking to Samthar Plateau starts from a place called Gompa Dara which is located close to Lava. The forested areas around Lava is also a paradise for bird watchers. You can see many different birds like Blue Robins, Fulvetta, Finch, Wren Babblers and lot more.

Close to the local market (bazaar) is Lava Monastery (the original name is Lava Jamgyong Kongtrul Monastery). This should be covered as part of your day visit. The ambience in the monastery with typical Tibetan architecture is serene and wonderful.
Go towards the backside of the monastery and you get lovely view of the surrounding and a playing field below along with that of Lava village itself with mountains in the backdrop. Outside and below the car park there are toilet facilities.
On your way back, visit the Nature Interpretation Center of Neora Valley National Park which is located in Lava itself. As you walk down the pathway and through the lovely plantations all around, the center is at the end. Here you will understand the nature and the flora and fauna that you can expect in the Neora Valley National Park.
The Nature Interpretation Center is open from 8am - 12noon, 1pm - 4pm. It remains closed on Thursdays.

Changey Waterfall is about 12kms from Lava. You should take a jeep type vehicle as the narrow winding road is full of boulders and can hardly be negotiated by a small car. It'll take about an hour to reach the Changey base and then walk down for about 20 minutes to see the wonderful waterfall gushing down from high above and disappearing into the lush foliage below. It's a quiet lovely place with nobody around.

21/03/2017

Loleygaon is a quiet and peaceful hamlet located at an altitude of 5,520ft and surrounded by towering dhupi and cypress forests. Several locations in the village offer sweeping views of Kanchenjunga range. You can also see a range of orchids and other flowering plantations here. It's also a great place for bird watchers.

From NJP railway station Loleygaon is about 125kms and can be reached in about 4 hours by car via Kalimpong. The route via Gorubathan takes a bit lesser time.

At the center of the village there is a flat land opposite to the Eco-Park, where there are few small tea stalls and shops. This is the only bazaar area where you can buy small stuffs or eat. On a day trip, you may carry your packed lunch.
At a short distance from here is the most popular attraction - The Canopy Walk. There is a 180-meters long hanging wooden tree-top bridge that goes through the dense jungle. The bridge slowly rises in height and you will find yourself walking through the tree tops amidst dense forest. At the start, there are few stairs to climb to the bridge and then you start the fairly long walk at a height and through the jungle.
The bridge swings at times and you need to catch the wired fence on both sides. Look around in the forest and you can see many different kinds of birds here. It's an amazing experience.

This is only a one way walk and lasts for few minutes. There is also restrictions to the maximum number of persons who can walk simultaneously on the bridge. You get down from the other side and walk back below the bridge.
There is a ticket counter at the entrance. Once you buy the entry ticket (Rs. 25 per person), you will need to walk through the forest for few minutes before you reach the hanging bridge to take the Canopy Walk. If you want, you can explore the forest even beyond the bridge after getting down at the other end.

After Canopy walk, you can visit the Jhandi Dara Viewpoint. It's actually a sunrise point where you get wonderful view of sunrise amongst the Himalayan range.
While cars can go up to a point (very bad road though), it's essentially a pathway that leads through the dense jungle, then to a stairway and then to the elevated view point. If you plan to stay at Loleygaon, trek up to this view point early in the morning to see sunrise.

Visit the VIP Bungalow View Point. It's a manicured lawn area below the VIP bungalow which has nice viewing galleries. Unfortunately they are not well maintained, but you still get excellent views of Kanchenjunga snow peaks from here.

21/03/2017

From Kalimpong Lava takes about 1.5 hours drive and Loleygaon about 2.5 hours. Since Loleygaon is further away, on a day trip from Kalimpong you can visit Loleygaon first, then visit Lava and return via Algarah along Rishi road.

In order to take a short cut, the driver will invariably take the Relli road from Kalimpong towards Loleygaon. And the moment he does that, you should be prepared for an ever increasing bumpy ride along roads that haven't been repaired for ages. And that route should not be traversed by a small car other than a Jeep. After a while Relli road leads to some unnamed village roads which are even worse.

So if you want to avoid a continuous backbreaking road journey, ask the driver to stick to Rishi road, although the route might be a bit longer but actually takes less time.

However there is one advantage of taking the Relli road though. It crosses the Relli river (on which the road is named) and you can see the beautiful meandering river from the bridge. The river side is a popular picnic spot for the locals.

Finally a narrow road branches off the main road towards Loleygaon, which is also not well maintained. You can not avoid this last stretch (of about 12kms or so) which is full of potholes and passes through dense Dhupi forest. While returning from Loleygaon and heading towards Lava, the driver will again try to take a short cut (which is probably the bumpiest ride I have ever experienced). Like before, ask him to take the main road instead and then the diversion to Lava.