A trip to Buxa Tiger Reserve, Duars

A trip to Buxa Tiger Reserve, Duars

Buxa is just way too beautiful to be described using words

Life is short, and lets not make it even shorter tarrying at home. Whenever you get time, you should consider creative activities, such as reading, travelling, writing, trying something new or something similar. And travelling especially broadens the mind and widens your perspective.

Green canopies mark the milky skyline of Duars

The world is full of wonders, both natural and artificial. Travelling makes your acquainted with those 'wonders', and thus adds to your experience and knowledge. It makes you bolder, stronger and certainly wiser. The more you travel, the more you get to explore.

I recently enjoyed one such very pleasant trip to Buxa Tiger Reserse (BTR), deep into Duars, making the northern edge of North Bengal. Honestly saying, I didn't even dream that I'd enjoy exploring the region that much. I had already heard of Duars and its beauty, of how it attracts an ever-growing population of tourists and how it presents them with beautiful memories, not the least of which can be trapped and stored using photography. But this was the first time I found myself as one of them.

So, the journey started from Cooch Behar, on 17th of March, 2013. We were travelling by a Hindustan ambassador, not the sort of car perfect for ascending the hilly slopes of Buxa. But however, things were settled such and such, and it went on thus. The entire route was pretty much simple, travelling from Cooch Behar District Headquarters, though Alipurduar, to Buxa. The journey started at around 8:30 AM, and I was pretty excited about it, thanks to the opportunities of photography the region had to offer.

Alipurduar is pretty close to Cooch Behar, about 25kms by road. It marks the southern frontier of the northern district of Jalpaiguri, and I wonder why it isn't a part of Cooch Behar district (considering the proximity it enjoys to Cooch Behar). Well, the answer, I guess, is pretty simple. Cooch Behar had been a separate kingdom, a Princely State to be exact, and joined India after its independence from British rule. And after the integration of Cooch Behar, the government got too busy with other things and didn't consider re-structuring the districts. But it should be done now, in my humble opinion, so as to maximize administrative efficiency in North Bengal. That would also minimize cost of transportation, as a much closer Cooch Behar would replace a distant Jalpaiguri as its district headquarters.

Well, not going into further details regarding the situation, we passed through the peaceful town of Alipurduar. It was a Sunday, but still the town was pretty much brimming with activities. I was just amazed to see how well-organized it is, compared to its equivalent sub-divisional headquarters in South Bengal. Roads were surprisingly broad and clean for such a small town, and dividers were neatly setup to prevent traffic congestion. One thing especially worthy of being noted is the Alipurduar rail station, surprisingly decorated with simplicity.

With friends, in front of Jainti

I relished a cup of tea with a couple of biscuits at Gagandweep Hotel and Restaurant, a charming and beautiful destination for people of the locality and tourists alike for their breakfast. After that, the journey resumed. It took about 1 hour to reach the gates of Buxa, deep into Duars, and arrange our passes to get inside. The sky was particularly Sunlit at first, and as soon as our car entered the forested region, we discovered that everything under the vast green canopies of large trees had almost turned green. This was a particularly nice 'natural lighting effect' to witness. At some places of the forest, we couldn't even see the Sun, thanks to the increasing density of canopies everywhere. Trees, shrubs and plants marked the way neatly.

Within 15 minutes, we reach Buxa. Basically, the place is a gently sloping elevation rising out the middle of the forest. Wavy roads took us further towards our destination. I noticed that small shops have been setup by local folks for providing tea and other resources to tourists. Talking with some of them, I came to learn that they usually go to Alipurduar for their shopping, only once or twice a month. Another thing to witness is their technique of housing. Most of the houses in the region are actually build on an elevated platform. Elephants and other large animals often come out of the forest at night, and this is a precautionary measure adopted to prevent them from damaging houses. Elephants lurk further deep into the woods, and I didn't consider it a good idea to go looking for them. It's difficult to recognize whether the big guy is willing to pat or smash you without approaching too close to it.

My new friend

Anyway, we started off on foot, relishing the breath-taking beauty of the scenery on both sides of the sloping road. Yeah, it takes a considerable amount of strength and stamina to go hopping continuously, and I had to take momentary respite from walking at times. The dogs and pups of this region are some of the best I've ever seen. Dogs back there in Kolkata would love nothing more than plainly biting us and tearing us apart if they get the chance, and here the exact opposite happens. In fact, believe it or not, a cute little dog took the role of the guide and went ahead of us, showing us the way to the top of the hill. Beautiful, isn't it? At the top of Buxa hill is a small, and now destroyed fort, where the British had kept Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, one of the leaders of Indian independence movement. While walking, I first saw glimpses of bluish hills 'kissing the clouds' to my right, and hilly vegetation rising out of my left. It was almost noon, and I the sky was now a bit clouded. This added to the beauty of the situation, also endowing me with an even better environment to try my skills in photography. I especially employed Orton effect, one of my favourites of all time, to capture my shots.

Feeding the dogs

On the way back, we saw a strange milky aura reflected off the hills, making the scene even dreamier. Certainly one of the best moments tourism has to offer. After finishing the descent, I bought a couple of biscuits and fed our canine friend and guide. By this time, many other dogs have already come, and one of the bigger guys started warding off pretty much everyone else to get more than his share. Unfortunately for us, our friend didn't feel much interested to compete against the bigger dog for his own share. To be honest, I still miss the dog.

On the way back we enjoyed a hearty lunch at a hotel nearby. Cuisine in this part of Bengal has been influenced a lot by its Nepalese equivalent, and this I believe has given rise to a whole new array of dishes. Not much spicy, but delicious and easier to digest, just the sort of meals I enjoy.

The magazine stall at the hotel

The hotel also serves as a local magazine stall, featuring books on Duars written by celebrated travellers. But most of their magazines were outdated, which can be forgiven considering how isolated they are from the mainland of Bengal. Also, charges are very high for almost everything. But once again, tourism is one of the main industries running the economic engine of the locality.

I believe many of you will enjoy Duars, and especially Buxa. Although I didn't notice a single tiger or elephant, birds and other small animals, and last but not the least, trees of surprisingly many varieties, were captured by my camera. Overall, Buxa presents us with momentary respite from the constant din and materialism of Kolkata and other urban communities of India.