Buxa-Jayanti
Visiting Jaldapara in 2 days, as depicted in our previous post Jaldapara, we had to start for Buxa and Jayanti, then.
Day 2:
After lunch, we started for Buxa. On our way, we saw numerous tribal fishermen catching fishes in a peculiar fashion.
With a close watch, we understood that the fishermen had poisoned a particular part of the river. It would make the fishes come out of the depth of the river to breathe and that was when they would get caught.
On the other side of the road, I snapped some photographs of colourful butterflies.
Finally, by early evening we reached Rajabhatkhawa. We waited near the entry point for a guide we contacted for Rajabhatkhawa-Buxa-Jayanti trip. On his arrival, we left for Buxa Jungle Lodge of WBFDC.
The WBFDC lodge at Buxa is located in nature’s lap. It was full of trees, flowers, fruits and birds.
After putting all our luggage in our room, we came to know about some train-accident hitting some elephant. To know how the elephant would get rescued, we rushed to that location.
But we couldn’t find anything maybe as we were late or we didn’t locate the place. Dejected, we went to some nearby watch-tower instead to test our luck. We spent some time over the tower, located beside a stream and core of the forest.
With the series of refusal, we planned to enter a little deep inside the forest. We reached another watch-tower and the tower-keeper informed us that a herd of elephants were visible. In a hurry, our cab driver, excited and frightened, honked while parking the car. Fortunately, the sound did not reach them or they ignored. We ran to the tower-top and quenched our eyes. I got some photos before my camera-battery ran out.
We returned to the lodge and went for a walk around. We walked to the railway station, nearby constructions and way-side stalls for tea. I liked the green foliage all around us and took photos of some birds.
Afterwards, we returned to our room. We spent the evening listening to stories from our guide until dinner-time.
Day 3:
Even the Sun didn’t rise when the rain started. I came out to the lawn when the rain stopped by 7.30 AM. But, the rain resumed again.
We finished breakfast and got dressed. But had to wait until the rain stopped. Finally, by 10.30 AM we started for Buxa fort. We reached Santalabari by 11.30 AM and the motorable road ended there. So, we started hiking up to the fort. The path ahead had deep jungles on both the sides and we kept on hiking.
With the increase in height, the weather started getting foggy. After hiking for half an hour, the path started getting steeper.
But, we rarely had times for feeling tired as the flowers grown on side-by plants kept amazing us.
The weather was getting hazier gradually. Soon we reached a stream and understood why this area is foggier. The tremendous humidity made the place a good hunting ground for leeches. Our guide rescued one cow from a leech and we moved on.
We took rest beside the stream and started hiking again.
Soon we reached a wooden bridge and followed by that, some localities started. After walking for ten more minutes, we reached the fort.
In front of the fort, there lies two scripts: the first from the prisoners to Rabindranath Tagore and the second as a reply of the first. We entered the fort. It is almost a ruin and hardly possesses any testimonies intact from history. But, some renovations in the recent past has been made.
A large banyan tree covered the fort from the backside. The tree amidst the fog creates a mysterious scenery.
After visiting the fort, we came back to the locality and had coffee with some snacks. After resting for half an hour, we started returning to the base: Santalbari.
A detailed and photo-illustrated account of this small hike has been offered in an another post : Buxa Fort.
From Santalbari, we took our cab to Jayanti. Jayanti is a small forest village within Buxa Tiger Reserve and located beside Jayanti river. The Beauty of Jayanti is increased because of the Bhutan hill on the opposite side of the river.
After enjoying the beauty of Jayanti for a while, we had our lunch.
After lunch, we planned for a safari at Buxa tiger reserve with our own cab. Hence, we had our guide also with us. But, having a local guide was mandatory.
After driving through the tiger reserve for hours, we did not come across any wild animal. We only enjoyed the natural beauties.
Moreover, we lost our chance to visit Mahakal cave due to monsoon. Rather, we moved on to Kalpokhri. It is a sacred pond for Buddhists and showcased amazing bio-diversity.
After finishing the Buxa reserve safari, we returned to the bank of Jayanti river once again. We roamed for hours near the river before leaving to Rajabhatkhawa.
Day 4:
We went for a morning walk as we didn’t have many places to visit for that day. Relaxed, we, walked towards a nearby railway checkpoint.
Due to nature’s intervention, every single detail of the morning seemed too beautiful: whether it was the passing herd of bores to the postman cycling to reach his office.
We had a booking at a jungle bungalow which eventually got cancelled. Subhomoy discussed the matter with his uncle and came up with an alternative to visit a tea garden near Siliguri. Our cab-driver also had some pre-booked trips on that day. Hence, after checking out from the hotel he dropped us at New Alipurduar (NAQ) station. We waited at a tea stall for a while as the train was late by an hour.
Finally, we boarded on the train, we booked and reached Siliguri station by lunchtime. Subhomoy’s uncle also booked one sumo for us. We had our lunch and then travelled nearby temples before reaching the tea garden (I can’t recall its name).
Apart from visiting the garden, we got a chance to closely experience the processing of tea as the factory manager was a friend of Subhomoy’s uncle. The following day, we started for Kolkata.
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