• A photo-feature on village Lamahatta i.e. 23 kms from Darjeeling. Beat the crowds, go to Lamahatta.

Lamahatta is a tiny village located at an altitude of about 5,700 feet and at a distance of 23kms from Darjeeling. It took us around an hour by car to reach.

A beautiful Eco Park is situated on a hill slope in this tiny village. It is maintained by the local villagers. They have a nominal entry fee for the park. It's a great place to get beautiful views. It is a very well maintained park. The place is adorned with vast stretches of Pine, Cypress Wood (called Dhupi in Nepalese) & Cardamom trees. These along with the looming Mount Kanchenjunga in the forefront is a visual treat.

Once inside, you can walk on beautiful trails through the pine forests. There is also a watchtower that you can climb for better views of the surrounding valleys and mountains. It is an excellent photographic location. It is very peaceful and quiet there in the mornings before it becomes a busy tourist place. There is a little pond around 1 km ahead on the top of the hill.

There a few benches to sit on and enjoy the views of the pond. The villagers consider it to be sacred.

But not too many climb all the way to the top. We spent an hour near the pond. It was serene and exquisitely beautiful. There was no one else. The silence and the stillness can be unnerving and calming at the same time. The quiet was disturbed only by a few bird calls. It is a place where one can completely lose themselves in nature. The short hike surely gives you the feeling of trekking in the dense forests. It was a few hours well spent in the lap of nature.                              

Lamahatta has some lovely home stays for overnight stays, just opposite the Eco Park facing the beautiful mountains.

A few km ahead of Lamahatta are many tea Gardens. We visited the Peshok tea gardens, lush green tea gardens with a very scenic point. As a touristy point, there was a small stall for food, and some traditional clothes to wear and click pictures on the tea slopes. The customary dress looks and is called different in most of these regions. The basket which they put on their head is called the Doko. There are 3 seasons for tea plantations. The 1st and 3rd season tea quality is the best, as the 2nd season tea is grown in the monsoons, thus the quality is not as good as the other two seasons.

On the way back to Darjeeling, we stopped at Lopchu village to try their famous cow milk pedas and their passion fruit squash. They were also selling the Lali Guran (Rhododendron) syrup and a few more which are all locally produced.

A good place to visit for a day trip from Darjeeling, or for an extended stay.

Also see albums

1. Darjeeling

2. Sunrise Darjeeling

3. Sillery Gaon  

4. Trek to Sandakpu in West Bengal

5. Glenburn Tea Estate, Darjeeling