A Family Trip To Remember

It was years back, when the time was normal (I mean before the COVID). My sister, me and mom decided to make a trip to Shelpu Hill and explore the area. My sister was on holiday, and she only hosted the trip. Dad wasn’t ready to go to hills as he is not that fond of hills, so the trip turns to ladies only trip.

We book a cab after a long struggle. 1st, we thought of booking an Ola outstation, but all drivers were rude and wanted extra money. Well, in Siliguri never try to book Ola as drivers are very rude here and will always ask extra money. This is strange, but true. It actually happens because, locals here always agree with their demands unethically. Anyway, so we booked a cab through a personal contact.

Our journey was cool. Roads were with a million turns as hills’ roads are usually. It was through the greens, with the light golden sun ray.

We started in the morning and reached Shelpu by 11 am. The place is peaceful, lively, and with mesmerizing views of the Eastern Himalayan Range.

We stopped at a point and walked through an alpine forest to reach an old dried lake. The lake is locally popular as Namthing Pokhri. Pokhri is a Nepali word, which means lake. Interestingly, there was a government board near the lake, which says that the lake is a natural habitat of Salamanders. But, Sadly we didn’t find one as we traveled down to the place during winter and the lake was dry.

The lake area has one or two old broken wooden houses. Those are also perfect for some photos. We explore the area a bit, and then we went to the Ahaldara view point.

Ahaldara view point is the main attraction of Shelpu Hill. It really has breathtaking views of the Himalayan range. Some parts of the viewpoint are covered by tea plants and other parts are plain hill. The government has also arranged some sitting places as one has to walk to the view point and may get tired. So, you can take multiple rest while walking up to the view point.

The view point is giving you an amazing view of the different layers of hills. It is a place where you may sit for a whole day and won’t get bored.

Unfortunately, there is only one place to eat and also with a very less variety of food. So, I will suggest you to carry some foods with you while travelling there or arrange it somewhere else like Sittong or Latpanchar area. These two areas are also close by. So you can plan your trip accordingly.

It was our one-day trip as we live in Siliguri, and we can go and come back on a same day. But, you can also stay there as many home stays are available there. You even can stay in Kurseong or Sittong or in Siliguri and plan your trip. Click here to find your best place to stay.

Watch more travel related videos on my YouTube channel Ujjainee Chakraborty, and also get more travel information from my Instagram @ujjainee.