Fantastic Hill Trek Page 2

  Srikhola, set beautifully amidst hills and pine groves, revealed its unique charm. The verandah of the house adjacent to our hut was decorated with multi colored season flowers in leather tubs. Mili told that she had tried some of these varieties at Kolkata but they did not bloom, might be due to warm weather.

  Spending one day at Srikhola we proceeded for Rimbik which was an ordinary hill town. The minibus was waiting for us at this place and after lunch we began the last part of the tour by minibus for Mirik, the last hill station in our itinerary. We reached Mirik in the evening and the atmosphere was foggy with occasional drizzles. We were relieved to find Amitavada in good health. Mirik is a beautiful hill station, almost flat like a valley or plateau. Overpopulation in recent years had made the place congested robbing off much of the serenity of this hill resort.

  Next morning we waded through dense fog to visit the flower shop and multicolored fishes in the beautiful lake in which boats with tourists were cruising majestically. Some of us bought lily bulbs from the flower shop. These lilies are suitable for warm weather also. Many of us also bought Darjeeling tea from a tea stall. In the large ground at the south east corner tourists and their children were riding horses and playing joyfully. The dense fog made the place a dreamland. But we had to get the return Darjeeling Mail from New Jalpaiguri Railway Station in the evening. So we had to bid good bye to the dreamland and ride the minibus for New Jalpaiguri.

  The reminiscences of the tour, however, occasionally relieve me from boredom caused by the drudgery of the city life at Kolkata.

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  The Author

  The author of this travelogue is a Ph.D. in economics and professionally an economist but his passion for literature compels him at times to eschew the arena of economics and escape into the world of love romance and adventure. From his very childhood his favorite hobbies included swimming in turbulent rivers during the rains, small game hunting, boxing, hill trekking and adventure in wild animal infested deep forests. Later on he gave up hunting and boxing considering them to be cruel sports. In course of his hill treks he came in contact with various hill tribes and he could feel the heart bits of these honest and simple people, especially the charming girls. Many of his romantic short stories are based on these hill people and the hilly charm amidst which they are born and brought up. In this travelogue he gives a vivid account of his adventure to the magnificent peak-Sandhak-Fu and the valleys and hills around. Dr. Basu may be contacted at rlbasu@rediffmail.com.