Editor’s Letter: West Bengal Travel

Dear reader,

West Bengal is one of the few Indian states where you can wake up to a view of the third-highest mountain on earth and, a day or two later, be watching the tide come in across the mangroves of the world’s largest delta. Between those two ends lies a long, varied state of tea gardens and river towns, terracotta temples and Nawabi palaces, poets’ universities and fishing villages. This August issue is our attempt to give you a sense of that range, while being honest that we have only touched part of it.

Most of our existing features this month look at Darjeeling, and for good reason. The hill town remains one of India’s most loved destinations, with its tea estates, its mix of Nepali, Tibetan, Lepcha, Bengali and British influences, and its views of Kanchenjunga on clear mornings. We have written about its natural beauty, its tea, its multicultural life, its adventure options and its cultural heritage. Around those pieces, we have added new stories that take you along the road up to the hills, to a quieter neighbour, and down to the plains.

Why August

August is not an obvious month for West Bengal. The monsoon is usually at its heaviest, the hills are often hidden in cloud, and landslides can disrupt roads in the Darjeeling and Kalimpong hills. In the plains, the rivers are high and the air is thick. We chose it anyway, partly because the state is at its greenest now, and partly because this is the month when many travellers begin planning for the season ahead, from the Durga Puja celebrations in autumn to the clear winter days in the hills.

If you do travel now, keep your plans flexible, follow local advisories and allow extra time on hill roads.

What is new in this issue

Our route story follows the journey most travellers make into the Darjeeling hills: from Siliguri, or New Jalpaiguri station, up through Sukna, Kurseong and Ghum, alongside the tracks of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the toy train that has been part of UNESCO’s Mountain Railways of India World Heritage listing since 1999. It explains why the road, the railway and the changing forest tell you more about North Bengal than any single viewpoint.

Our three-day piece goes in the opposite direction, to Murshidabad on the Bhagirathi river, once the capital of the Nawabs of Bengal. It is a town of palaces, mosques, cemeteries and memories, central to the events around the Battle of Plassey in 1757. Today it is quiet, a little faded and, for the patient traveller, deeply rewarding.

We have also written an honest what-to-skip guide for first-time visitors to Darjeeling, aimed at the habits that turn a lovely hill town into a stressful one: rushed sunrise tours, crowded Mall Road afternoons, packed itineraries that leave no time for simply walking.

Our quieter place of the month is Kalimpong, Darjeeling’s neighbour across the Teesta valley. It is a market town known for its nurseries and orchids, its monasteries, its old schools and churches, and an easier pace than its famous sibling.

The state beyond our pages

What we have not covered this month is almost as interesting as what we have. The Sundarbans, the mangrove delta shared with Bangladesh and home to the Bengal tiger, deserves a careful feature of its own. The Dooars, the forested foothills east of Siliguri with national parks such as Gorumara and Jaldapara, are a different world from the hill stations above them. Shantiniketan, the university town associated with Rabindranath Tagore, has been nominated for UNESCO World Heritage status, and many in Bengal are hoping for good news soon. Bishnupur’s terracotta temples, built under the Malla kings, are among the most remarkable brick temples in India. And along the coast, places like Mandarmani and Bakkhali offer simple seaside breaks from Kolkata.

Kolkata itself, of course, could fill an entire issue, and in time it will. For now, we have treated it mainly as the gateway that most journeys through the state pass through.

How to use this issue

If you are planning a first trip to the hills, start with the route story and the what-to-skip guide, then read our existing Darjeeling features for ideas on tea estates, monasteries and treks. Add Kalimpong if you have two more nights. If you have already done the hills, or want history rather than views, Murshidabad is an easy and rewarding trip from Kolkata by train or road.

A balanced first trip to the state might combine three or four nights in the hills with two or three in the plains. It is a lot of distance, but the contrast is the point.

On food

No letter about West Bengal would be complete without food. In the hills, momos, thukpa and Darjeeling tea dominate. In the plains, it is fish in mustard, shukto, luchi and alur dom, and an extraordinary range of sweets, from rosogolla and sandesh to mishti doi. Murshidabad has its own Nawabi dishes, and every town seems to have a sweet shop it is proud of. Eat locally, ask what is in season, and leave room for dessert.

A word on care

The Darjeeling and Kalimpong hills are fragile. Water shortages, traffic and waste are real problems in peak season. Travel in shared transport where you can, carry a refillable bottle, and spread your stay beyond the busiest few streets. In Murshidabad and other heritage towns, many monuments are protected and rules on photography and access can change, so check locally.

Thank you

This issue was a pleasure to put together, partly because West Bengal is such a writer’s state, with layers of history and culture behind every view. If you have a favourite corner of it that we should cover, whether it is a tea garden homestay, a village in the Dooars, a terracotta temple town or a quiet beach on the Bay of Bengal, please write to us.

Until next month, travel slowly, eat well, and look up when the clouds part.

Warmly,

Khushi Anand, Editor