Lava - Neora Valley (Birding Trip)

I added another birding place in my list with Lava & Neora Valley. It's in Kalimpong district, West Bengal (India). I went there in April 2016 and I was very excited for a new place to experience and lots of Himalayan birds to see.

I made this trip with the GoingWild group. I have earlier done a wildlife photography trip with them to Sikkim (Read here) and completely trusted them for this one too. 

It was hot in my city 'Bhubaneswar' and what a relief that I was off to a colder place. As there are hardly any direct trains, I had to take two connecting trains to reach NewJalpaiguri via Kolkata. I reached and met Dibyendu, our tour guide and an excellent birder and photographer himself. We waited for two more companions to join. Mr. Sarbjit ji an Ex. army man and his wife Meena ji joined us. They were an extremely sweet couple. We started off to our destination. I kept dozing off in between and then finally after an 3 hour ride we reached Pedong. We were to stay there and visit out birding destinations and trails of Lava-Neora Valley.

It was a nice staying place called 'Neel Pahari'. Neat and full of flowering plants around. It was partly a primary school and home-stay. So we were surrounded by super cute school children. After some tea we went around for a walk in search of birds. Quite a good birding habitat. It was getting dark and we returned back hoping for good sightings tomorrow.

The overall location was beautiful; like a small town in a far away land. Little houses here and there, furry dogs, flowers everywhere and smiling people. There was also an Army base.

Next day early morning, we started our bird hunt in the vicinity and after some good sightings like leiothrix, thrushes, shrikes, bulbuls, minivets.. we took off in Sumo towards Lava. We did birding all along the way and trails. The roads weren't great but the surrounding region, the trees and the habitat were pleasant. After lunch we were off to a village called Sillery Gaon. The four km stretch was a terrible one. Full of stones and bumps. It was little far but worth it. On the way we got some special birds sighted by Dibyendu, called 'Himalayan Cutia.' The place was so pretty with bright colored houses and flowers all over. It was typically made as a touristy site. As it started getting cloudy, we turned back and it rained heavily. We enjoyed some tea and pakoras and had dinner around 8 over a good chat with my fellow birders, discussing places and birds and own experiences. I had a good time with them.

Following days too went birding from early morning on the trails of Lava and Neora valley till dawn. The places were ultimate. We used to roam in the Sumo and then get around and walk with lots of patience to hear the bird calls and spot them hoping for a good picture too. While birding Sir ji and Meena ji would be talking a lot of things about forest life. About various flowers and trees. I took some interest in various flora too.

We stopped at Lava town and shopped some cute mugs and wind-chimes as souvenirs. Evenings went in making bird listings and searching their names.

One time we spotted a 'Red-headed Trogon'. A rare species which are usually hard to find. It just flew in front of us and sat somewhere in bushes. Luckily  I too got a record shot. I was damn happy.

That night it rained again with hailstorm. There was no electricity and we enjoyed it like that and on top of it we even got Momos (Dumplings) as a treat. Yummy! 

Last day, early morning we again went to that Trogon place and roamed around in search of it. No luck for that but we saw 'Khalij Pheasant' on the way. It was awesome. I didn't get a picture. But loved that I sighted it. It was one of my dream birds.

After rain and hailstorm, the Jungle looked terrible. As if someone knowingly chopped of the trees and shrubs. It looked depressing. I didn't wanted to imagine the condition of birds and animals yesterday night. We did birding around and came back with no Trogon luck. Meena ji had packed and Sir ji and Dibyendu all bid goodbye for they were going to their next trip to Zuluk (Sikkim). I had been to Zuluk last year so I only opted for Lava birding trip this time.

This was a nice tour with everyone. I met amazing people and learned a great deal from them.

After they were off, I had some time in hand before my arranged driver came to pick me up. I roamed around the village area and did some birding there. I unknowingly took some long route and got back to hotel after a long 4-5 km tiring walk. After lunch I met the drive Bhaiya and off we were to New Jalpaiguri. He was a good company, telling me about Pedong, his village Algarah which was on the way and Kalimpong which was another popular tourist hill station. We kept moving towards city and it kept getting hotter. The weather change was so unwelcoming. After hill stations, plains are difficult to take all of a sudden. Literally like low altitude sickness. I was dropped off at Railway Station and after sometime took my train to Kolkata. And from there to Bhubaneswar; my Home!

I overall had an amazing trip with awesome people, birds and location. Traveling to North-eastern India had will always be a pleasure.

Sharing some pictures from the trip. Enjoy :) 

View from our home-stay

The birding group

After the rains

The beautiful green chirpy place

Me :)

A little girl in Lava

Somewhere towards our destination

Sleepy dog

 ~ Birds ~

You can check out GoingWild guys here: http://goingwild.in

Pedong is 4070 feet, 3 hours (100 km drive) from New Jalpaiguri. Lava-Neora valley is around 24 km (1 hr) from Pedong.

Love 
Tanuja

Solo wildlife trip!

Hey everyone,

I'm back to share my second solo travel tale. The first had been Pondicherry, Tamilnadu and this is in my own State: Odisha.

I had been planning to go a new wildlife sanctuary since a long time but it never happened because of fear of remote places, no company and expenses. But finally I saved some money, got some guts, Google-d stuff online, made few calls and settled everything! The place to go was 'Kuldiha'.

I had heard good reviews of the place and seemed particular closer to Bhubaneswar i.e. my city. 

To read my more detailed trip report and pictures check the link --> Wildlife trip to Kuldiha

I have a passion for bird watching in their natural habitat and with this place I had great hopes! Two and a half days with Mr. Manaranjan Das, my tour guide (who is also a birder) went excellent! I explored a beautiful new place. A complete raw and pristine forest with a positive vibe that energizes you. Forgetting the clumsy busy world, I enjoyed this calm green! At the peak hours I enjoyed plenty of bird calls and had some amazing bird sightings like Malabar Trogan, Pale-capped Pigeon, Vernol’s hanging parrot and Heart-spotted woodpecker. One late evening I was lucky to see a cow Indian Elephant drinking water with its calf. What a peaceful sight and it fills you with a feeling of awe. How beautiful is nature and its ways!

One night we stayed in 'Kuldiha' rest house which is deep in the forests with no network and limited electricity. It rained heavily that night, and guess what! I had a tent for night stay. Exciting!! I enjoyed the gossips with the locals having black tea and snacks. The next day after rains was extremely fruitful in bird watching. I saw Indian Giant squirrels, Spotted deers and some fascinating butterflies, insects and lizards. With birding I also have an interaction with the habitat; the trees, leaves, soil; everything is a part of it. You learn nature's behavior although it's quite unpredictable and that's the fun part; it surprises you!!

I felt like I challenged myself to go solo again and accomplished it. I have more confidence in me and the ways to deal with people and places. My overall view with Kuldiha was very nice. It's safe and people are nice plus within one and half hour you're close to cities.  

***

Selfie and the view from my vehicle

Me with Mr. Manaranjan Das and his wife who also had great interest in birds!

Doggy love and the nice guest house at Panchlingeswar, Balasore

Crested Serpent Eagle

Elephant and it's calf going for a drink

Shrike

Malabar trogan

Oriental turtle dove

Indian Giant Squirrel

Peninsular rock agama

Spotted deers

My tent! How adventurous :) 

***

"I was little scared to do this solo trip in a wildlife sanctuary but with Manoj bhai's help and hospitality all my fear turned into joy. Bird watching went good and all other amenities were taken care off. You don't need to worry about food or stay. It's a good place and a lot of things like water-falls and hills are nearby to see. I'll come again for that and of course birding too. Hoping to see more Elephants and Bisons as well"


You can reach Mr. Manoranjan Das at: 9937332552
www.kuldihasafari.com  
 ***

Last day when I was dropped in the city I decided to check out a nearby beach which is quite famous. So I changed two auto-rickshaws and within one and half hour I was in Chandipur beach. It was hot but the place was nice! Beaches are always peaceful and serene. I had some fresh coconut water and came back to Balasore railway station. After 3 hours I took my train and was in home in next 3 and half more hours. :)

Chandipur beach and Great Egret birds

My solo time towards beach

Hoping for a comeback to explore more ~

Auroville Tale ~

Hey I'm back to finish my Pondicherry solo-trip tales.

~ Part Three ~

Read other two here and here!

After my amazing time at Pondicherry, I headed to Auroville. It's a spiritual township around 30 mins away from Pondicherry. I had booked to stay at Atithi Griha looking at some beautiful pictures and it turned out to be really nice. The room I got was pretty neat. I was so dead tired after Scuba diving that I dozed off. After around 2 hours I woke up, got dressed, clicked lots of pictures, asked directions and went off the see Matri Mandir. I actually lost my way but reached at the place. The night view of the amazing architecture was beautiful. I was so close and it looked magnificent. I heard and saw lots of owls probably all Spotted owlets. An excellent place for nature watchers. I got back through a scary, almost lonely dark route. Do not roam alone at night in Auroville, at least on foot.

There was no dinner at the place and eating places were quite far, so I gobbled up my snacks. Craving for some tea I asked at the counter. He said that he doesn't serve tea but would make a cup of lemon tea for me while he makes some for himself. I happily agreed. So we had a good chat over the tea. He said that he's a Nepali, doing odd jobs here. He's been here for last 10 years. Random topics came in like the Nepal earthquake, different places in India, foreign people staying there, how he gives vehicles on rent, how he waits for the bullet trains to be launched in India so that he can go home in a faster way. I shared my journey till now and he was amazed :)  After a while I was off to my room and fell asleep. Quite an exciting day it has been.

   
 

***

I woke up right before the breakfast time. There was brown bread, papaya, watermelon served along with various beverages, jam and butter. There was a North Indian family who joined there and much later a foreigner couple. After sometime a Cheery Indian girl joined me up and asked if that's it for the breakfast or she missed anything. We had a good laugh over the boring breakfast served. We Indians are used to heavy spicy food even in the morning. We chatted up while eating. I shared my side of story and she did hers. She was doing a solo art exhibition in Auroville and  has done solo trips before. Isn't amazing meeting other Solo travelers especially women. :) She was off and I has some time in hand before I left for my journey to Chennai. 

I simply strolled there, relaxed, looked around the place, played with the doggies & took lot of pictures.

I checked out around 11 am and walked out to again see Matri Mandir in the day light. This time I took a public route and saw it from quite far. I was awestruck with the golden look of Matri Mandir. The place was flooded with tourists. I took a bus from there to the main entrance. At the entrance one can find lots of eateries and boutiques and shops. So buy your souvenirs from there like I did! Quite an expensive place I must say. I had a typical Thali in lunch with rice, dal, papad etc and went in search of an Auto. I got with a cheap deal. The auto person left me till the main road and there he helped me find a bus to Pondicherry Bus stand. That is what was left in my journey, a travel in the local public transport. I got a seat and enjoyed the Tamil songs. 

From there I took a bus to Chennai. It went through ECR road which had the beautiful Bay of Bengal by it's side. I reached Chennai in 3 hours. After that I took my train from the Indian Railways and reached my city Bhubaneswar the next evening. 

This was a really short stay in Auroville. I wished to stay longer to understand the concept behind the place and have a learning. Somethings remain pending to happen next time. 

An everlasting bunch memories for me.

His name is Mani. I love this pic

Atithi Griha which means the Guest's home in English.

Me in my-made sparrow dress.

Nice isn't?

Camera timers :D

Matri Mandir in evening ~

A fountain there! It was so peaceful.

The morning in Auroville.

The room !

Puppy love <3

The room looked better now with Mani posing.

around the place ~

Beautiful in the day!

Read more about Auroville here : http://www.auroville.org/ 

You can book your place and volunteer for various programs through it.