Nestled amongst the lofty Himalayan mountain ranges, Lamagaon is an alluring peaceful destination in the Darjeeling district. As comprehended from the name Lamagaon is the dwelling place for Lamas. An abundance of Lamas is found in the village of Lamagaon. Located at an elevation of 5200ft, Lamagaon is near about 33kms from the main town of Darjeeling and about 10kms from Bijanbari. Lamagaon is one of those villages in the hills of North Bengal where Ishkus (squash) and black cardamoms are produced in huge quantities.
Lamagaon is an idle, calm and quaint village where you will get lured by the glittering Kanchendzonga in the early hours of the morning. During the daytime, you can take a walk through the serpentine village roads taking a look at the hills and hills of Ishkus farms. In the evening you can keep your eyes gazing at the glittering town of Darjeeling while you sit under the sky full of twinkling stars. Lamagaon is a place where you will be lured away by the melodious chirping of the birds and the sweet smell of the flowering orchids. If you want to escape the rush and buzz of your daily life and spend some of your time in the solitude of mother nature then Lamagaon is the place that you must give a try to.
Itinerary
Day 1 – 24th Dec 2020: CCU – IXB. IXB – Lungchu
Day 2 – 25th Dec 2020: Lungchu
Day 3 – 26th Dec 2020: Lungchu – Tabakoshi
Day 4 – 27th Dec 2020: Tabakoshi – Bungkulung
Day 5 – 28th Dec 2020: Bungkulung – Baasbari (Bijanbari)
Day 6 – 29th Dec 2020: Baasbari (Bijanbari)
Day 7 – 30th Dec 2020: Baasbari (Bijanbari) – Lamagaon
Day 8 – 31st Dec 2020: Lamagaon – Darjeeling
Day 9 – 1st Jan 2021: Darjeeling
Day 10 – 2nd Jan 2021: Darjeeling
Day 11 – 3rd Jan 2021: Darjeeling – IXB. IXB – CCU
NOTE: Lungchu is in Kalimpong district while the remaining destinations of our tour are in the Darjeeling district. Generally, this should not be a route plan of yours, however, as we wanted to explore Lungchu we planned it anyway.
Lungchu – A Secluded Destination In North Bengal
Tabakoshi – A Land of Pristine Tea Garden
Bungkulung – Bird Watchers Paradise
Baasbari Farms (Bijanbari) – Rejuvenate Your Soul
Lamagaon – A Pristine Hamlet Of North Bengal
How To Reach
The most convenient way to reach Lamagaon is to hire a private vehicle yourself or consult with your host to arrange for a pickup/drop to & from NJP / Bagdogra which is charged at Rs. 4500/- each way via a Sumo / Bolero. Unfortunately, due to the present road condition, small vehicles do not ply through the route. So even if you are a couple or a small group you’d have to end up hiring a 7 Seater vehicle such as Sumo / Bolero.
For solo/budget tourists, there’s only one shared cab that leaves daily by around 2 PM from Siliguri Bijanbari Taxi Stand near Mahananda Bridge which is charged at around Rs. 400/- per head. Other than that, you may always choose to travel up to Bijanbari / Kainjalay Bazaar (easily accessible from Siliguri & Darjeeling via shared cab) and then consult with your host to arrange a pickup/drop via a private vehicle from there.
What To See / What To Do
Lamagaon being a tranquil and offbeat destination in the heart of the Himalayas here you just need to relax your hectic soul and body while adorning over the surrounding natural beauty. Contrarily you can also take a walk through the serpentine village road where you will get to watch Squash farms on both sides throughout your way. You can also indulge with the locals and get to know about their lifestyle. At night you can soothe your eyes by watching over the glittering Darjeeling town with the sky full of stars above it.
Day 7 – 30th Dec 2020 – Baasbari (Bijanbari) To Lamagaon:
Bidding goodbye to Dipesh Ji, Govind Ji and other staff of Baasbari Farms we commenced for Lamagaon at around 10:00 AM. We first halted at Kainjalia Bazar (also spelt as Kainjalay Bazaar) as Dilip Da wanted to have a look at the jackets. We spent around 10 minutes in the market and finally reached Lamagaon at around 12:00 PM. Upon reaching Lamagaon Homestay, Prakita ma’am – the manager of Lamagaon Homestay welcomed us traditionally with white robes and offered a cup of Darjeeling tea to each of us.
The homestay was beautifully decorated with small plants at the entrance. On the top floor where the rooms are located there is an open terrace with an arrangement of 2 tables. Here one can spend the afternoon soaking in the warmth of the sun. From this terrace, on a clear day, one can catch a glimpse of the majestic Kanchenjungha and the distant Darjeeling town. On the other days, you can watch the clouds passing over the green lofty Himalayan mountains.
Prakita ma’am requested us to wait for a while as the rooms were still being cleaned up. We assured her of the same and utilized the time to capture some of our pictures over the picturesque balcony. Finally, we were shown our rooms and as usual post-Covid19 Suparna and Boudi took the charge to sanitising the same.
At around 2:00 PM we were served our lunch. The food was homely and delicious. Post lunch me and Dilip Da gossiped for a while whereas Suparna and Boudi decided to take a stroll through the village road. As the evening started to set in by the late afternoon I noticed that white cottony clouds were passing amongst the green Himalayan mountains. I instantly planned to shoot a time-lapse and went forward to set up my gears.
As we are accustomed that with the onset of darkness in hills there is nothing much to do, so most of the evening we spent gossiping amongst ourselves over our glasses of whiskey. While we were chit-chatting amongst ourselves suddenly there was a power outage and we noticed the adjacent hills glittering with the lights of Darjeeling town. I immediately took up my lenses and went ahead to capture this dazzling view.
At around 9:30 PM we were requested to have our dinner. Generally, we are used to with homestays serving rice/roti, dal, sabji and chicken curry at dinner. However, to our utter dismay, we found that the host has prepared fish for us without even consulting with us. We were really abhorred with it as most of us do not like fish and that too with chapatis. Upon enquiring with Prakita ma’am about the same she informed us that we being Bengalis they thought we would like to have fish instead of chicken. Well, I do understand that their intention was to please us, however, unfortunately, it didn’t quite match up with our expectation.
Well, with no other options left she requested us to complete our dinner with dal and prepared us a plate of omelette each. They also offered us a plate of mutton curry from the meals, they have prepared for them. Considering our experience, we recommended Prakita ma’am to at least consult with the guest if they are planning to go out of the box as a lot of people have their own food preferences.
Post dinner we gossiped for a while and finally called off the day at around 11:30 PM.
Day 8 – 31st Dec 2020 – Lamagaon To Darjeeling:
Today we woke up at around 6:30 AM. We took our time to go through the usual morning chores.
As we had quite a time left to leave for Darjeeling we decided to take a stroll through the serpentine village road. We spotted Squash farms throughout our journey on both the side of the road. We infer that Squash is largely produced at Lamagaon.
After around 30 minutes of strolling through the village, we returned back to our homestay. As we returned we found that Mr Bishes Subba, the owner of the homestay was present there. With a quick introduction amongst ourselves, we spoke over various topics with Mr Subba for quite a few minutes. As the clock was running ahead we requested an excuse from him and decided to pack our belongings and get ourselves ready till breakfast gets served. Our breakfast was served around 8:30 AM. With the incident of last night’s dinner, we didn’t have high expectations for our breakfast. However, notwithstanding it, breakfast was delicious and heavenly similar to our experience with the lunch. Well, frankly speaking, after having such a delicious lunch yesterday, we really expected the chicken curry would be heavenly. However, unfortunately, we had to give it a miss.
Finally bidding goodbye to Mr Subba and the other staff of the homestay we left for Darjeeling at 9:30 AM.
Reviews :
Lamagaon Homestay: Nestled amongst the lofty Himalayan mountain ranges, located at an elevation of 5200ft, Lamagaon is near about 33kms from the main town of Darjeeling and about 10kms from Bijanbari. Lamagaon is one of those villages in the hills of North Bengal where Ishkus (squash) and black cardamoms are produced in huge quantities. Lamagaon is an idle, calm and quaint village where you will get lured by the majestic Kanchendzonga during the daytime and in the evening you can keep your eyes gazing at the glittering town of Darjeeling while you sit under the sky full of twinkling stars.
The homestay is beautifully decorated to give you a quaint feeling. The entire property, rooms and washrooms are clean and well maintained. On the top floor where the rooms are located there is an open terrace with an arrangement of tables. Here one can spend the afternoon soaking in the warmth of the sun. From this terrace, on a clear day, one can catch a glimpse of the majestic Kanchenjungha and the distant Darjeeling town. On the other days, you can watch the clouds passing over the green lofty Himalayan mountains.
The host cum manager – Miss Prakita and all the staffs are very warm, welcoming, always smiling and very co-operating. We found, the owner, Mr Bisesh Subba to be soft-spoken, always smiling and co-operating as well. However, he is generally not present at the property. We found Lamagaon Homestay to be the classic example of homestay turned into a resort. So this is not a place where you really share the rooms and food with the host, instead, it’s more of a resort. Well, this is not a bad thing though! And with a flock of tourists plying into these offbeat destinations each year, most of the homestays have either turned themselves into a resort or on a verge of being one to cater the business demand.
Costing :
Lamagaon Homestay: Rs. 2000/- per head per day (including Food & Lodging).
Contacts :
Lamagaon Homestay – Mr Bisesh Subba (Owner) : +91 70470 98695 / +91 98323 30100 | Prakita (Manager) : +91 83378 45993
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April 5, 2021 at 11:51 AM[…] Lungchu – A Secluded Destination In North Bengal Tabakoshi – A Land of Pristine Tea Garden Bungkulung – Bird Watchers Paradise Baasbari Farms (Bijanbari) – Rejuvenate Your Soul Lamagaon – A Pristine Hamlet Of North Bengal […]