Sikiajhora in Buxa Tiger Reserve

Recently I visited Buxa. The tiger reserve is located in the easternmost part of Bengal nearing the Assam boarder. I normally prefer to take my Enfield for these trips, but given the present road condition, I chose the morning train. The Siliguri - Dhubri intercity express now starts from Siliguri Junction at 06.05 hours, which is a little early for me, but still a great option if you are traveling to Dooars from Siliguri for a day trip. The train runs mostly in time and reaches Alipurduar Junction by 09.30. It runs through the Dooars route that passes through the forests and offers great view of the jungle on the way.

As I traveled through the forests, I remembered the talk about starting a tourist train in this route. The long overdue tourist train still remains a dream. A few months back the West Bengal Tourism and the Railway Ministry had decided to start the train, the dates were finalised, logistics were put in place, then.... as in many other cases in our country and our state, the project was put on hold.

View of Mahananda River from the train while crossing Gulma station

The train runs through a single track route. Every time there is a crossing, one of the trains are held at a station while the other train is passed. Still we did fairly well to reach Kalchini at 9. I had to meet a friend at Rajabhatkhawa, but the train wont stop there, so I planned to take a van from Alipurduar and come back to Bhatkhawa. Fortunately for me, the train had to stop at Bhatkhawa station to give pass to a coming train, giving me enough time to alight and walk to reach my friend.

My work was over in half an hour and the return train was at 16.45. I asked my friend to show me around the important tourist sites. Jayanti and Buxa fort has been a oft visited place for me, so we decided to ride to Sikiajhora.

As we reached the highway bypassing Alipurduar, the road condition turned horrible, the 6 kms drive till the Sikiajhora turn at Panialguri took about 30 minutes.

Road between Alipurduar and Sikiajhora crossing

At Panialguri we took a left turn, don't mistake this turn for the Durgabari more which is a more important crossing half a kilometer further ahead towards Assam. The Sikiajhora Picnic spot is about 2 kms from this turn through village road.

Sikiajhora is a small stream that flows within the Buxa Tiger reserve. A small dam and embankment was constructed by forest department here a few years back. There was also boating trip available inside the forest. The small stream turned a furious river during the rainy season and the embankments were breached. today boating has stopped and the place gives a deserted look.

The Small dam and embankment

If you are here to be close to nature, you would still love spending a couple of hours besides the forest on the watchtower.

View of Buxa forest including Sikiajhora

Its not being very long when a group of friends took the boat ride from Sikiajhora and went about 4 kms inside the forest, they had come across a large python on the riverbank.

Today that option is no longer available. The building and the gates constructed for boating is abandoned. Although it was the first week of December, already a high season for tourists in Dooars, I could not find any tourists there.

Entrance to the Boating area covered with bushes

It shouldnt take much to revive the beautiful spot, the embankments, although breached, would not take much of an effort to rebuild. The nature and the birds are still there, so is the watchtower and the boats, probably a little effort from the forest department could bring back Sikiajhora back to its past glory.

Storks on top of a Tree

It took half an hours drive to return to Alipurduar where I took a train at 4.45 and reached Siliguri at 7.30 PM.
Visit the travel site for more information on Buxa Tiger reserve and its surrounding area.

Tourist Accommodation at Rajabhatkhawa in Buxa Tiger Reserve.