Latpanchar
In Lepcha word derived from land of Cane, vanishing tribes Lepcha’s old habitat. Not many have heard about this place. Because for some strange reason, Latpanchar hasn’t had much tourism development. This is despite the fact that it’s a beautiful mountain hamlet offering stunning views including that of Kanchenjunga, having wide range of bird & animal life as well as many different types of amazing plantations.
Latpanchar actually forms the highest part of Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary with an average altitude of about 4,200 ft. Since it’s part of the sanctuary, there is good chance that you will come across some wildlife here like deer, barking deer, wild boars, and sometimes even leopards and elephants while exploring the jungles around.
Latpanchar is also famous for the medicinal plants it produces. Snow capped peaks of Kanchenjunga range can be seen from here. One can also see the Tista River,Kalimpong hill area, Algara, Lava, Tode, Tangda and the plains of Terai. The best part of visit to Latpanchar is that you can enjoy the beauty of the hill without having to jostle among tourist crowd.
Attractions in & around Latpanchar
1) Walking towards and through the Cinchona plantations is a pleasure and wonderful experience. The meandering road passes through forests of sal, teak, pine and dense Cinchona. Take a morning stroll… you will love it.
2) Visit the Ahal Dara View Point. You can take a car, go up to its base (about 5kms from the village), and walk up the boulder path to the top (about 500 meters). Jeeps can take you up for some distance though. From an elevation you can get spectacular view of Kanchenjunga peaks. Look below and you can see the lower reaches of the forests on mountain slopes and the river Teesta flowing as far as Haldibari.
On a clear day you can see Gangtok and Kalimpong townships from here and even the famous Silk Route through which once trade took place between India and Tibet. There used to be long line of mules carrying loads across the border along the Silk Route. However most come to Ahaldara View Point to watch the stunning sunrise.
3) From the base of Ahaldara View point the main road continues and leads to a lake called Namthing Lake through Cinchona and pine trees. One side of the lake is surrounded by dense pine trees. Other than many different types of birds, this lake area is well known for the rare Himalayan Salamander (small lizard like creatures). A board says not to swim at the lake an disturb the creatures.
You should ideally take a Jeep or Scorpio type vehicle (which costs about Rs. 800 for round trip). However during the summer season, the lake becomes almost dry.
4) Another view point is Sarsari Dara. This is another place from where you get sweeping views of Kanchenjunga snow peaks, other mountains and the valleys around. You can walk up to this place (about 1.5 kms from the village).
5) Sitong Ornage Orchard: Although Latpanchar comes under Sitong-3 Mahakuma, Sitong itself extends to other areas like Sitong1 and Sitong2. Road to Sitong1 is extremely bad and requires a jeep to access, but that is where you will find some of the most beautiful orange orchards (you should not however pluck oranges without permission from the orchard owner… if you ask, they will let you pluck one or two).
Animals & Bird Life in Latpanchar
As I mentioned earlier, Latpanchar is part of Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary which is well known for its wide range of animals and birds. There are some 36 types of animals and over 240 species of birds which can be spotted here.
Most common animals include Himalayan black bear, leopards, deer (including barking deer), mountain goats, monkeys, wild boars, and even elephants which often drift to this side. In order to see the most exotic animals, you will need to go to the core area of the sanctuary which is about 6kms walk from the village. You should always take an armed guide with you. The lodge can arrange for the guide. Most tourists visit the stretch of forest area between the Forest Rest House and Raja Rani Hill.
Among plethora of birds, the commonly seen ones include yuhina, scaly thrush, woodpeckers, black bulbuls, ashy backed shrike, spotted eagles, magpie, minivets, minla, drongo, King Fishers, Robins and if you are lucky, Himalayan Pied hornbills.
Communication :-
Take a taxi from NJP railway station or Bagdogra airport. Latpanchar is about 44kms from NJP and takes about 1.5 hours. From Teesta / Kalijhora, a road (not in a good condition though) rises to Latpanchar.
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