Where to Visit

 As mentioned earlier, Sittong is spread over a large geographical area. So to explore the entire Sittong you need to spend at least 3-4 days here or you have to visit Sittong 2 to 3 times.

Shelpu: Main attraction of the area is the orange orchards, in fact Sittong is called the "Land of Oranges" so you can visit the orange groves by collecting tickets at the Shelpu area. But the actual time to see Orange is from December to January month.

Ahaldara: Another beautiful destination is Ahaldara view point, which is located on the top of Shelpu Hill. From this top you can enjoy 360 degree view. On one side you can see the snow covered Kanchanjangha, a long stretch of mountains, including a rock that looks like Poet Rabidranath Tagore, and has been named as Tagore Rock. From the Ahaldara view point you can enjoy the flowing Teesta river, Darjeeling hills, Mongpu hills, Kurseong hills, even Takdah and Tinchule can be seen. It all depends on the weather conditions. Here you will find privately managed tea gardens and cinchona plantations.

Namthing Pokhri: It is located 1 km from Ahaladara and is the Conservation Area of Himalayan Salamander. A very beautiful lake surrounded by pine forest. You can walk through this pine forest enjoy the greeneries and Shiva temple. But this lake has water only in the monsoon till some time, after that there remains no water for the rest of the time. Here you can spot the endangered Himalayan Newt or Himalayan Salamander during the monsoons.

Lepcha Monastery: Sittong Lepcha Monastery is 350 years old. This monastery was once used as the palace of the Lepcha Queen. The main attraction of this monastery is that it is made of mud and bamboo. There is only one lama here who takes care of it, if you want to know the history from him, he will show you the whole Monastery and tell you the history.

Mahaldiram Tea Garden: You can visit Mahaldiram Tea Garden. From the green tea garden area you can see the snow covered Kanchenjunga peak. Earlier though it was allowed to enter the tea garden area but now it is not allowed anymore.

Jogikhola Rock Climbing Spot and Lepcha Falls: Many water falls are seen in Sittong during the monsoons. Among all these waterfalls, Jogikhola Rock Climbing Spot is the most notable one and the another one is Lepcha Falls. You have to walk for 10-15 minutes from the main road to reach the beautiful Lepcha Falls.

Jogighat: The Jogighat Bridge under which the Riyang River flows is one of the main tourist attractions. The original name of this place was Gumba Gaon, but in 2015 the 74 meter long steel bridge was inaugurated by Baba Ramdev and since then it is popularly known as Jogighat. Earlier the people of the village used to use the wooden footbridge which has now been abandoned. If you want, you can cross the steel bridge and go down to enjoy the clarity of the water of the Riyang River. The Jogighat Bridge was actually built to improve the connectivity of Mongpu to the rest of the Sittong.

You can go to Mongpu by crossing the Jogighat Bridge.

Mongpu: It is well known for two reasons, one is the Cinchona Plantation and the other is the Rabindra Bhavan (now museum). Poet Rabindranath Tagore stayed in this house in 1938 and 1939, at the invitation of poet and novelist Maitreyi Devi, the wife of quinologist Dr. Manmohan Sen, who was the director of the quinine factory at that time. It is there that Tagore wrote “Janmadin” on his 80th birthday on Maitreyi Devi’s request. He recited the poem for AIR Calcutta over telephone from Kalimpong. His stay is recorded by Maitreyee Devi in her ‘Mongpute Rabindranath”, the English translation of which is called Tagore by The Fire Side.