Last month me and my wife went to a small village in Himalaya named Lava.We started our journey on 27th September from Kolkata station with Garib Rath express for NJP. The train was not very crowded. We reached our destination station in the next morning at 8 AM. We couldn’t find any affordable share cab for Lava from Siliguri. We decided to break our journey and go to Kalimpong first and then take another cab from there to Lava. We took bus from Siliguri for Kalimpong. I road condition was very bad in this route now. We reached at Kalimpong around 11:30 AM but again couldn’t find any share cab and had to book a whole cab in a much higher price.

We reached Lava around 1 PM in the next day 28th September and checked in the hotel. Lava is a small village so we preferred walking through and explore it. The cloudy and cold weather made us happy. You can’t imagine the weather of Lava from Siliguri or even Kalimpong. I never saw this much of clouds so closely. There is a monastery in Lava which is very beautiful and we spend afternoon there.

The next day 29th September in the morning we went to Rishop. The road from Lava to Rishop was narrow, very bad condition and scary. If weather is clear then you can see Kacjanjangha from Rishop which was not in our case. In the afternoon we returned to Lava again and mostly enjoy the rainy and cloudy weather there.

We stayed at Paradise hotel. Room was nice and clean. Food and other services was good. We used to get hot water in the morning. But tea/coffee was over priced compare to its quality.

The next day morning 30th September we returned to Siliguri. We choose a different route while returning which is Gorubathan route, one of the best route I have seen. The natural beauty was beautiful but the road condition was again very bad. After returning to Siliguri we mostly spend time at city centre and local markets. Our train Darjeeling Mail was at 8 PM from NJP on the same day to return back to Sealdah.

Lava is a peaceful place to spend a couple of days. The scenic beauty and weather is top notch. People’s life style is simple. They work from the early morning (6:30 AM) till the sun light stays. After sunset there are not much activities to do. Evenings are boaring. We didn’t experience local food there but they use to eat rice. I also like to go there in the winter to enjoy the cold. Overall Lava is a small and sweet destination for a short holiday in Himalaya.

You can find some of the pictures here.