Visit to Lava

LAVA-LOLEGAON-RISHOP: These three places are situated at Darjeeling district in West Bengal. They are basically three distinct villages surrounded by ultimate dense forests stretching hills and silence. The villages are small and having very little number of tourists and villagers. I passed 6 full days there with my family enjoying full among ourselves. I never felt rush because there were nothing to do as such; even if no worth seeing tourist spots that were normally expected. I walked long and followed by ups & down hill roads and took pleasure in nature, full of different kinds of flowers, orchids, birds, clouds and nice pine trees. 

LAVA is the main centre of business & communication. In Rishop having higher altitude than LAVA. I observed there good cultivations are going on there in Rishop. The people over there are very well behaved and soft spoken. A 300˚ view of Mount Kanchanjangha with Nathula and other ranges are seen from there. Lolegaon is more remote located than LAVA. There are a lot of  flowers in Lolegaon, rhododendrons were blooming. A full view of Mount Kanchanjangha range consists of 12 picks is visible from that place. 

How to reach:

These three places can be reached either from NJP station or Silliguri station hiring private car and I say, it is the only good option because there are no such dependable public transports to these places. So moving fair is high as it is demanded. Even normal sharing journey is not a well thought-out. Still I observed two small buses, one was for Silliguri at 8AM and other for Kalimpong at 9AM, left from LAVA. Another important is the itinerary that should always start by Lolegaon and complete by LAVA. As I told before LAVA is the only good communicating place among these three places.

Best time to visit:

According to me the best season to visit there is post monsoon i.e. October and November when north-wind breze begins to flow.During this season it is expected to have a clear sky, bright sun light, vast greeneries and clear view of hills; but it is not   a season of flowers. 

Accommodation:

Forest is an attraction of these three places, so best idea is to spend leisure time booking accommodation provided by WBFDC. I booked a Log Cabin, Lovely Resort and Orchid in LAVA, Rishop and Lolegaon respectively. Those were good from all. Booking is also done by WBTDC. My suggestion: to book little bit high range accommodations because, I observed that, those were being maintained properly. There are several private hotels or lodges also; “Journeyy Mart” might be a good holiday planner for these places.

Getting around:

One enjoyable activity is the trekking that any tourist has to see sun rise & set from a particular top of hills. Other getting around are the following bellow:-

LAVA (2100 mt)-

Gumbadara - Tibetian Buddhist Monastery and a graceful statue of Lord Buddha, 6km by road and 1km by narrow up hill trek.

Neora – Valley National park

Chhangey falls; 

Lava is an ideal place to get a lot of medicinal plants.

Rishop (4310 mt):

Tiffindara – spectacular view of sunrise over Kanchenjunga range.

Lolegaon (1524 mt):

Canopy Walk - hanging wooden footbridge amidst the huge pines and oaks.

Jhandi Dara- sunrise or sunset from the nearby hilltop is an experience of the lifetime.