Delo & Charkhol -Hill Retreats Less Known

Delo village is at the hill crest above Kalipong. It is about 6 Kms from Kalimpong taxi stand. It offers commanding view of the Tista river and the valley towards South and lofty Kanchenjunga on North. We arrived at Kalimpong from Bagdogra Airport on 14th March, 2020 around 8 PM. Our stay was at Delo Cliff Eco Resort. We took another taxi (Maruti Omni) from Kalimpong Taxi Stand to the resort. We arrived here in pitch darkness.

Delo Cliff Eco Resort

This is one of the few and good resort to stay in. The hotel has some maintenance and management issues but it scores 10/10 for the location. It hangs on the edge of a cliff providing a jaw-dropping view of the entire 180-degree range. In left towards South, the Tista Valley and Kalimpong Town look alluring.

And on the right entire range of Darjeeling and Sikkim is visible. On a clear day, Kanchenjunga will mesmerize throughout the day with changing colors from Sunrise to Sunset. We were lucky to witness the white beauty at its pristine glory once again along with several other unknown peaks of Sikkim and Western Bhutan.

Delo Hill Top Park & Paragliding

The hill top of Delo has a park that acts as another vantage point for having uninterrupted vista of Kanchenjungha. It also has paragliding facilities near the park. Near the Delo, there are few touristic spots like Morgan House , few temples etc. The scenic viewpoints are the attraction of Kalimpong area, not the spots itself.

Charkhol Resort

Charkhole is a quaint Himalayan village nestled about 30 kms from Kalimpong. It has few homestays and couple of resorts. We had a booking in Charkhol for the night stay. Charkhole has no attraction or things to do apart from staring at Kanchenjunga or few aimless hill walks .

The real charm of this villages are the journey to and from them. Once you reach there, there is nothing but to stare at endless chain of ridges and cliffs and the lofty Kanchenjunga in morning.

Next Day, we drove to Siliguri in wee hours. We took the route from Charkhole to Siliguri via Samthar. It is a less frequented route. Hence, it is free from traffic and pollution. Here we drove through small hill hamlets under clear blue sky and Kanchenjunga in horizon. It is a heavenly sight and a blissful journey that cant be appropriately described by words. It is something to be felt and it will be etched to memories for long time.