I begin with two confessions. The first one is that I delayed writing about Sittong and The Husband has already released his visual story on social media. The second confession is that I am guilty of taking too many photos and am very tempted to unleash almost all of them on social media. ;-) Kill me now, please!
#Sittong – the name was not familiar at all, and I was quite convinced that we were going for a short vacation to Lamahatta. It was only when I checked our hotel booking (oh no, not a hotel, but we would be staying for the first time in a homestay?!) that I realized we were going to this place in the hills of North Bengal. I was not disappointed though – I fell in love from the moment our expert tour guide and chauffeur Mr. Ram Limbu navigated the car up the winding roads to a place that wrapped us up in soft grey clouds, the gentle pitter patter of rain, and greenery like we had never seen before. I felt as if I was in the opening scene of a Kaushik Ganguly movie with an Abir or a Parambrata or Kaushik Sir himself appearing around the corner in front of me!
Panch Pokhri Homestay in upper Sittong was where we stayed for three nights and because we had chosen to visit during the off-season, we got exclusive attention and I got a lot of peace and quiet, which I like. We were the only guests there. The food choices were set, towels were not replaced at all, and amenities were basic, yet we never wanted to complain. And why would we? We only had to step out onto the balcony to see a vast expanse of natural beauty in front of us, and any woe or complaint would instantly disappear.
I trekked and hiked up paths that I would normally avoid like the plague, that too, in wet and slippery conditions, just because I loved doing it. We did sightseeing for almost two whole days. The Rabindra Bhavan in Mungpoo was another revelation and I would love to go back and explore it more. Jogighat, Latpanchor, small and calm Buddhist monasteries, numerous waterfalls, and viewpoints that were sometimes shrouded in fog, rain, and mist, and sometimes gave us glimpses of beautiful scenery was how we spent most of our time.
At the homestay, we read, wrote, created, laughed, argued, and talked over the phone with our people back home. I told The Husband that he could leave me behind or even bury me there when the time came, so much was I enamored of the place. Ram and his whole fleet of contacts provided anything we asked for, especially as The Husband went to the trouble of establishing a great rapport with him.
It is a lovely place to relax for a weekend but if you are looking to party or eat out, you may find it a tad too quiet. The roads are good until a point after which they are rather uneven and only expert local drivers should attempt driving there. Regardless, if you want to stay somewhere closer to a city like Kalimpong or Kurseong, you can perhaps add a day visit to this dreamy, cloudy, hamlet with people who are hard-working and welcoming to all who visit.
I certainly want to go back again and spend more days there, maybe, when it is tourist season there, or maybe, I will go back during another off-season and enjoy the solitude and natural beauty of the place, uninterrupted once again.