If you are in Dooars the second day trip after Jhalong ->Bindu -> Murti would be the one to Samsing -> Suntalekhola. This is relatively a short day trip and you would be back to Lataguri at around 3 – 4 PM. But this all depends on you as to how much you would like to explore. Personally, for me, I could have stayed back an entire day.
You would depart from your hotel right after breakfast and you do not require an SUV or a Jeep to go for this trip. The road conditions are relatively all right and a smaller Maruti Van would do the job. This leg of the journey will take you through some famous tea gardens and the views that you would get would only be nothing less than that the tea gardens of Darjeeling.
Lataguri to Samsing and Suntalekhola
Satpaki View Point
From Lataguri, you would go straight to Chalsa and start climbing up the hills. This point is known as “Satpaki” the reason behind the name is the seven turn one need to take before reaching the top. Cleverly a new viewpoint has also been developed here and one can get a wonderful panoramic view of the forest range in front of you.
Tea Gardens
If you drive on you will start slowly seeing the landscape changing into lush green tea gardens all around you. A stop in these gardens are a must after all probably this is where your morning cup of tea comes from. You will also have the wonderful opportunity to see tea leaf pickers busy plucking the young green buds and putting them into the basket tied to their backs.
Samsing
After driving for some time you will reach Samsing, this is mainly a viewpoint from where you will see the beautiful valleys and the mountain slopes. As usual, you will find some shops here and have a plate of Momo’s or Noodle is not a bad idea, this way you will have enough time to enjoy the beauty of the surroundings.
Suntalekhola
Further, if you drive you will reach your final destination of Suntalekhola. In Nepalese language khola means river and Suntale mean orange so it means “Orange River”. If you like to spend some undisturbed time in the hills then it’s probably a good idea to book the West Bengal Tourism Eco Forest Bungalows which are just a few meters from the river.
The time we went the water level was quite low else during the monsoon the water stream can be quite menacing. It is recommended to spend some time here and enjoy the beauty of nature and the beautiful calm and serene surrounding. If you are adventurous enough then do take a dip in the flowing river and enjoy a cold splash.
I hope you have enjoyed going through my blog, will be back soon with some more blogs from the Dooars.