My first day visiting beautiful Siliguri gave me the thought that it was a sleepy little town. I was imagining myself sleeping in my hotel room throughout our trip. How wrong was I? The ride was kind of expensive, considering the distance from the railway station to the hotel was about 15 minutes.
Since we had reached in the morning around 7 am, the citizens of Kanchenjunga were arising from their deep slumber. We were pleasantly welcomed by the aura and glory of this magnificent town.
The town was waking up slowly and soon became quite crowded as the day wore on. The hustle of the two-wheelers, auto-rickshaws, and shabby buses. It was quite a sight to see from our hotel that is based right in the heart of the city.
A little history about beautiful Siliguri
Siliguri was formed thanks to the floods that occurred in 1968, the Jalpaiguri district. This beautiful town is right between Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts. Not to mention, it is the transit to countries like Bhutan and Nepal.
Hence, you do have quite a bit of tourist flocking the town. If you are living abroad or South India, then you can choose air travel. The city has little to offer but keeps you engaged and excited with all the melodrama happening within.
The life of people in Siliguri
Our room boy suggested we visit Sevok that is on the outskirts of the town. He was spot on. Sevok is about a 30-minute ride, thanks to the traffic, and we were stunned by the beautiful landscapes and forest region.
You can spend some time in the Mahananda wildlife sanctuary. It is definitely worth it, especially if you are from a crowded city. You will enjoy the elephant ride, and the view of the Nandi river was splendid.
There is also the Mahananda river that is part of the town and flows majestically. Not to mention, you can also quickly drop in at the Kali temple, if you want. What took my breath away was the road that leads to Sikkim – Gangtok.
The road is known as the Coronation bridge. The river belts in this region are just amazing. That is because you have 3 rivers to talk about and see. The sights on the bridge were unforgettable. The view was inviting, and without hesitating, we descended into the river, dipping our feet for some time in there.
Shopping in Siliguri
The market and shops in Siliguri provide you with excellent products that are based on several parts of North India. We were quite taken aback because we were not expecting that. There are the Bidan and Hongkong markets.
You can find just about anything that you are looking for. However, the prices are quite high, and we did not bargain much, because we just bought a few souvenirs for our friends. Apart from that, the oranges and apples seemed juicy and delicious.
To add the spice, there is the Kanchenjunga stadium, where several football games are played. The auto man was kind enough to take us around the town apart from there. It was a good thing we started in the morning after breakfast itself.
The town as so much to offer that we were surprised at that.
Our days in Siliguri, though few, provided us memories to last us a lifetime. As the train chugged off from the New Jalpaiguri railway station, I could not help by notice, beautiful Kanchenjunga, that was quiet and dark, engulfed in darkness.
One can feel the rejuvenation of both the mind and the soul. I was right after all Siliguri is indeed the gateway to North-Eastern India.
-Travelrasoi
