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Sikkim and West Bengal - 04 to 11 December 2004
The
postings and the discussions on india-nature-pixs was in full swing
when Sumit Sen proposed a trip for the members of the group. There were
different options to consider - Bharatpur, Corbett, Thattekad and the
North East. A few of us signed up for the North East and Sumit started
working on the travel plan through
Help Tourism.
Well, that was in the month of June. Finally December arrived and we
were all set for the trip. We were 4 photographers shooting for 7 days,
at anything that moved.
Vijay, Giri, Ramki, Swarna, Murali and I joined Sumit at Bagdogra in
West Bengal along with Raj Basu from Help Tourism, who was the backbone
for the logistics of the trip. We had a glimpse of Mt. Everest
while landing at Bagdogra. There were 2 Tata Sumos for our use on all
the days. We immediately set off to Pelling in West Sikkim.
On the 4th evening, We were at Hotel Mount Pandim overlooking
Mt.Khangchendzonga. On 5th morning, we birded and photographed at Sanga
Chelling Monastery. Almost all the birds we saw were new to us and we
sought Sumit's help in id'ng them. We spent the rest of the day
photographing near the hotel. Pelling was a fantastic place for
birding/photography as we found out. Vijay was shooting slides and the
rest of us digital. The best part of digital was, after the day's shoot
we used to plug the camera to the TV and enjoy the day's images.
The next day(6th),
after some photography in the morning, we traveled to Biksthang and
shot all along the way. By afternoon we reached Bliss Resort and
photographed for some time around the resort. All through the
trip, we normally had overcast afternoons. We spent time around
the resort on 7th morning, before proceeding to Kalimpong. It was an
overnight stop at this place with some shopping, before heading
to Lava, the birder's paradise.
Lava was an amazing place with birds all around us, throughout the
day. They were mostly hunting parties moving from one bush to the
other. We saw many of the birds which we had often seen only in those
last pages of Inskipp. The Minlas, Yuhinas, accentors, thrushs,
bulbuls, robins.....they all were there. It was a great day of
birding. By 8th evening, we reached the Rishyap tourist center.
This was the highest point in our trip, at an altitude of 8200 ft. And
also the coldest of all places.
We spent the day at Rishyap on 9th and proceeded to Gorumara Jungle
camp in the afternoon. We came down from 8200 ft to 600 ft in about 2
and 1/2 hours covering just about 55 kms. That's what makes West Bengal
one of the best birding places in India with such a vast
biodiversity. We visited the Gorumara National Park on the 10th
where I had my first sighting of the Rhino. That evening we were
entertained by some local folk dance. We did some photography on 11th
morning and returned to Bangalore by night.
Overall, a superb trip, very well organized by Help Tourism. And the
food was great at all the places. For trip reports from Vijay and
Sumit, please do visit
India Birds and
Kolkata Birds.
In case you plan to visit the North East, please do contact Asit Biswas of
www.helptourism.com
And finally, the Photographs from this trip are here. Enjoy the Images from the North East.
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