Kalimpong
About Kalimpong
At an altitude of 1250m, this tranquil hill station is located on top of a ridge on the east of river Teesta. Kalimpong offers many
different tour options. Apart from leisure tours many options are available for adventure lovers such as treks. The travel attraction
of this place also includes monasteries, orchid-nurseries and overall the exquisite view over the surrounding countryside.
If you want to go for a shopping-spree for crafts during your tour, Kalimpong is the place. The town is famous for its indigenous handicraft.
The artisans here produce Tibetan and Bhutanese handicraft and jewellery such as woodcarvings, copperware like feng-sui bells, tapestry bags,
scrolls, paintings and Tibetan jewellery.
The town and its surrounding area was ruled by Bhutan for about a century and a half before it was annexed by the British in 1865. This also
paved way for increased trade with Tibet through Jelepla. Even today Kalimpong remains one of the largest market places in the region.
Local people and culture
Kalimpong is known as the land of the Lepcha, due to major migration of Nepali community from different parts, the indigenous Lepcha
community has become a minority in the area now. Still a number of Lepcha villages can be visited based in the town. There is effort to
revive the culture and tradition of these indigenous people. Current population of the town is about 45,000, the majority of them are
Nepalese, there is also a substantial number of Tibetan people leaving in the town.
Kalimpong Weather
The town offers pleasant weather for most of the year. During summer the maximum temperature rarely crosses 25 degree centigrade. Since
the town is located at an altitude of about 4200 feet only, the weather during winter also does not get lower than 10 degrees during the
day. The town receives heavy rainfall during the Monsoon months of July to September.
Reaching Kalimpong
If you are travelling to Kalimpong from Siliguri or Gangtok you have to follow the NH31A. This is main road connecting Bengal with Sikkim
and it passes through Teesta Bazar area where it crosses river Teesta before entering into Sikkim. Near Teesta Bazar you have to take a
turn from NH31A and drive uphill about 14 km to reach the town on the hill top. Travelling from Darjeeling to Kalimpong, you may reach
Teesta Bazar through the Peshok road, from west Sikkim you have to travel via Jorethang. There is another major road that travels through
Gorubathan in Dooars and then through Lava and Algarah before reaching Kalimpong. This road is used by travellers coming here from Lava,
Lolegaon, Kaffer, Pedong, Rishop and surrounding area. There is another short route from Loleygaon through Rally khola that can be taken
to reach Kalimpong from Lolegaon area, although the road condition varies from average to bad depending on when you are travelling.
see more places of interests from kalimpong