Suntalekhola
Suntalekhola | |
---|---|
Village | |
Country | India |
State | West Bengal |
District | Darjeeling |
Languages | |
• Official | Bengali, English |
Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
Suntalekhola or Suntaley Khola (also Suntaleykhola) is a small village and a tourist spot in the Darjeeling District of West Bengal. The altitude of the place ranges from 650 to 950 m. It gets it name from a small stream: Suntaley Khola. In Nepali, Suntaley means orange and khola means stream. This place is nearly 5 km from Samsing, which is also a small picturesque serene village. The green patch on the left side of the way to Suntalekhola is amazing and holds many rarities of birds and butterflies.
There are WBFDC cottages for the tourists to reside. Several trek routes originate from Suntalekhola, most of which are within the Neora Valley National Park, which is located adjacent to this place. It is known for its beautiful landscape with green tea gardens, hills and forests, which attract a lot of tourists.
Species of birds are found here include: pond heron, black eagle, hill partridge, red-vented bulbul, ashy wood pigeon, bronzed drongo, white-throated fantail, blue rock thrush, scarlet minivet, lesser racket-tailed drongo, rufous sibia, grey treepie, spangled drongo and common green magpie. Many locals are involved in tourism-related business.