It was ‘Kurseong-The land of White Orchid’ Bengalis think that this city is full of eternal nostalgia, Kurseong means Downhill, Toy- Train ,Victoria School, Eagle’s Crag, Netaji Subhas Chandra Basu Museum, Gidda Pahar -View Point, Makaibari Tea Garden , and many more tea gardens. And in the middle of so many beautiful tea gardens, we were in ‘Karbia’ Tea Garden. That’s where we stayed. We were in a homestay, no doubt about the hospitality.
It was in the middle of the tea garden, greenery all around.
Early morning we reached Siliguri Junction. It was a one and a half hour Drive to Kurseong via Pankhabari Road. The path is a must walk, steep hill with a zig-zag structure. My heart nearly plunged out when we were at the turnings. We had lip-smacking hot momos on the way. After a tiring journey, we reached our Homestay. Took some rest, had lunch and went to stroll by the hills. With the chilly breeze passing by, after a short walk we reached the main town of Kurseong. The beauty of nature was astonishing. We went to the market and bought some local fresh buns, local juice and then went to our homestay while enjoying the beautiful scenery of the mountains at night.
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Victoria school
The next day we went to Dowhill Victoria school.The place is well known for being haunted (I am not much of a believer in this stuff). The incident that was a ‘true’ incident, went something like this, Mr. Rai (our homestay’s manager)’s sister used to study in that school. Their music teacher fell ill and expired, since then when they used to pass by the music room at night, they could hear the same music notes their teacher used to play. It went on for a long time, so for safety reasons of the children, the administration had to change the path to the rooms of the students.
An Old Church
We headed to Dowhill church, it’s a quite famous place because of the spooky experiences people ever had. No one dares to pass by this area after sunset because they say if someone does go after sunset, they never return. I’ve always been a fan of these experiences so I tried to explore the place; sadly I wasn’t able to do much of it because it was all blocked. But when I was returning I felt shivers and as if someone was keeping an eye on me in the woods. Scary!
Margaret’s Deck
This is one of the main attractions of Kurseong. Having a cup of tea under the open sky enjoying the beautiful mountains is the best experience I’ve ever had. I’m glad to experience this.
A cup of Tea with bliss morning
The next day early morning I woke up to bless my eyes with a view of the Kanchenjunga mountain range, turning golden because of the sun rays. It was so mesmerizing.
Kanchenjunga
With a heavy heart, I had to wave Kurseong a goodbye because it was time already. The past two days I had explored, enjoyed, and learned new things and I’m forever grateful for that.
During this journey, I realized travelling is not only about the destination but also the journey. Every journey somehow shows the short form of our life. New people, new place and a very new experience. It also shows us to look at life from a different perspective. For some people hills and mountains might be a barrier or just a huge stone but for some, it is mother nature’s beauty personified. Every journey teaches us to expand our comfort zones. The wind blows our minds more than ever, it carries the smell of the mountains. The sunlight touching our faces touched the happiness of some little girl too. We become a part of them. “Every journey is a huge part of our small life, our small life is a huge journey.”
Adieu Land of White Orchid..!
She is a 13 year-old girl, who has a keen interest in writing and keeps all her memories and opinions written somewhere. Apart from writing she also plays guitar, music has always been her passion. She loves dancing too.