A growing hamlet in North Bengal - "Icche Gaon"

Icche gaon during the sunset

Icche gaon is at an altitude of 5800ft. It is a small Himalayan Village located at a distance of 89km from the nearest Railway station New Jalpaiguri (NJP). A drive of around 3-4hrs will take you to this mesmerizing location.

This small hamlet is in the Kalimpong district of West Bengal. This place is still now not known to many. It's still devoid of the crowd. If you want go away from the hustle and bustle of the city, you might find solace in this peaceful, calm and beautiful village, with majestic view of Mt. Kanchenjunga!

The home stay where I stayed.

You can choose to spend your time your alone, soaking up all the light warm sun, reading a book or paint, if you have a creative bent and enjoy the majestic views of the Himalayan peaks and the valley. The silence and the cool breeze of the Himalayas will give you enough time to introspect. I spent time by taking photographs of this beautiful place. 

You get a wonderful sunset view just in front of you. With layers of mountains it adds to the beauty! With a cup of coffee it is a perfect combination. 

View during the sunset.

Local boys playing games

At night if you're lucky enough to have the weather clear, then definitely you should come out and see the moon rising from the back of the mountain. I suggest you to take a time lapse of it. It would be wonderful. I took a long exposure shot with my camera for around 5mins. Since I was not carrying my tripod, I kept my camera on a brick to provide stability. Hahahhaha. So the photograph was something like this. 

The moving clouds, as captured by my camera in the long exposure mode

Trek to Sillery Gaon, Damshang Fort and Ramitey View Point:

There is a trek that you can go for in the next day you reach Icche Gaon. The trek begins through the Elaichi and maize field in the upper part of the village. The trek is about 4kms each side. You can take a local guide or just ask the starting point and you can do it on your own. A steep climb in the beginning then normal trail taking you through the forest and trail full of leaves and branches. Remember to take salt and wear shoes to avoid attacks of leeches. With about 2hours of walking you'll reach a place from where the trail diverts. One will take you to Sillery Gaon and Damshang Fort and the other will take you to the View Point. I went for the view point. From this view point you'll get to see the layers of mountains and Teesta river meandering through the valley. It was an awesome view. 

Meandering Teesta through the valley, as seen from the Ramitey View Point

An unique Tree

Layers of mountains

 No matter whichever trek or hike it is, there is always a dog that will always be with you to a point. And with all the furs the mountain dogs looks even more cute!

The dog that accompanied me to the view point

While coming back from the view point,  I spotted some beautiful flowers. They were not planted, rather its natural. It shows how beautiful nature can be. I stopped to click some photograph of them. 

Flowers that I found on the trail

Sunkissed Flowers

Some points to note:

- Best time to visit is from September-December. Also March-June i.e., before the onset of monsoon
- All the home stays are available at a rate of 800-1000 per day per person (food and lodging)

- Maximum of 3 days can be spent here.


By- Tirthankar Ghosh