Lepcha Jagat and Mirik
welcome back to Travelling Aloud, this is a travel tale. we are Saswati and Santanu. If you want to experience the forbidden forest of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, then Lepcha Jagat is the place to experience it. Located in the Darjeeling district, accessible via New Jalpaiguri or NJP railway station, also via Bagdogra airport. It's a small hamlet, famous for its spooky enchanted pine forest, tea plantation, and view of the Kanchenjunga range. Lepchas are the original inhabitants of Sikkim, though this is a place of mixed cultures like Lepchas, Bhutias, and Nepalese. When we visited in 2020, only 8 to 10 homestays were there. we wanted to enjoy its solitude. we started our journey from Darjeeling Chowk Bazar. The experience of walking parallelly with the forest in chilly, foggy weather after having tea and then lunch was fabulous. walking is the best way to explore a place. Having tea and Maggie while Buddhist praying flags were flapping with the wind in front. It was Dasherah, or Dasami, or Dasai, an auspicious day for Nepalese, we had an unplanned Musical Night with Guitar and our homestay hosts, and other guests. experienced an illuminated view of Kanchenjunga. enjoyed the morning forest when sunrays entered, pine cones were scattered around, birds were chirping. we went to Mirik, Gopaldahara Tea estate was on the way. Mirik is known for Sumendu Lake(a Man-made lake, a kilometer long, surrounded by pine forest on one side and a garden on the other, connected with an 80 ft long arch bridge), Bokar Monastery. we tried Thukpa here, which is a traditional noodle soup, that belongs to the eastern part of Tibet, and traveled to India with Dalai Lama and his team. his mother was also carrying Tsampa, which is supposed to be consumed with butter tea. you can also try boating here. link of our Darjeeling trip- https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Jy6coV0PxxMbrASb1L6Ut?si=sTQctz1aTUGGB1fcHMublg