Virgin Beauty of Neora Valley National Park

It was a pleasant morning we started our journey by bus from Siliguri to Kuapani (near Lava). While gaining altitude after Gorubathan we felt chilly breeze and misty romantic weather. The lush green forests and lesser Himalaya will certainly give u peace and tranquility.

Neora Valley National Park is of 88 square km. area and it has its highest point at Rechela (10,458 feet). Starting from 1000 feet to 10,000 feet causes the huge Biodiversity of this National Park.

It took almost 3 hours to reach Kuapani from Siliguri. Kuapani is a small village under Kalimpong subdivision Forest. From this place our Trekking begins towards denser and richer biodiversity.

The spiral trails, shadowy ups and downs, rich flora and fauna, cold breeze, cloud fight, sounds of Jhora (mountain springs) and birds, aroma of rain forest, mosses and ferns, no human habitat will certainly give u eternal peace of mind. You can experience rare glimpse of ample Tree Fern (Dicksonia antarctica), Tiger Fern (Nephrolepis exaltata), Lycopodium annotinum, Dhupi (Cryptomeria japonica) and Orchids.

First night we made our camp near Neto. It was a short 2 hours trek from Kuapani.

We came to know that this forest is a big reservoir of Barking Deer, Dhol (wild dog), Asiatic Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus), Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens), Gour, Asian Elephant, Royal Bengal Tiger, Asiatic giant squirrel and Leopard. These are all schedule I animals in Red Data Book (RDB) that means endangered species. And also some Schedule I bird species like Satyr Tragopan (Tragopan satyra), Great Hornbill, Blood Pheasant (Ithaginis cruentus) and Rufous necked Hornbill (Aceros nipalensis).

                            

Second our journey continues to Leolakha. This place is very moist and full of blood sucking leeches around, though we put our camp over there near a Jhora. The place is so serene and virgin. The thick moist forest and starlit clear sky made us crazy for nature. I think this is called true Wilderness.

Third day we came to a small village called Birashi but could not found any camping ground, so we headed for next village Lakethang. It is also a small village with 5-6 families. Their main occupation is farming and cattle rearing. They speak Gorkha and Nepali but understand Hindi. After spending a beautiful breezy and moonlit night we headed for Dolay next day.

Dolay is our last destination into the forest. There is a Forest Rest House at Dolay. The day was Dolpurnima – a full moon night. The whole forest seemed to be very happy and thus celebrating their freedom by dancing and singing their whole body and leaves. It was such a mesmerizing and unique experience I ever had. During night the air was blowing from rapid directions and the rich vegetation was floating away by moon light. We were sleepless up to midnight beside fire and singing songs in the shivering cold weather but having our best time ever into the wild.