Dooars Stranger Trip

The Plan, Stop by Stop

1. 1
   Day 1 · 14 Oct 2026

   Sealdah → the Dooars

   Meet the group at Sealdah in the evening, board the overnight train, and work out over the next three hours which of the twenty of you snores. Lights out somewhere past Malda.

2. 2
   Day 2 · 15 Oct 2026

   New Mal, the Murti river & Gorumara safari

   Off the train at breakfast, straight to the lodge on the Murti. Afternoon jeep safari into Gorumara — gaur, deer, and rhino if the grass is kind. Evening on the river bed, which is where this trip usually stops feeling like a group of strangers.

3. 3
   Day 3 · 16 Oct 2026

   Jaldapara — the big one

   Early run to Jaldapara for the jeep safari through elephant grass taller than the vehicle. One-horned rhino country. Afternoon at the Hollong bungalow area and the salt lick, then a night at Madarihat.

4. 4
   Day 4 · 17 Oct 2026

   Chapramari, Jhalong & the Bhutan border

   Chapramari's watchtower in the morning, then the road up the Jaldhaka to Jhalong and Bindu — the river is the border here, and Bhutan is the far bank. Night in the tea and orange slopes at Samsing.

5. 5
   Day 5 · 18 Oct 2026

   Samsing, Suntalekhola, night train home

   A morning walk down to Suntalekhola and the hanging bridge, lunch in the tea gardens, then the drive to NJP for the evening train. You are back in Kolkata early on the 19th, in a WhatsApp group that will not shut up for a month.

Terms & Conditions

On the page rather than behind a link, because the advance is non-refundable and you should be able to read that before you pay it.

1. The advance holds your seat and is non-refundable. The balance is due 14 days before departure.
2. Seats are confirmed in the order advances arrive, not in the order enquiries do.
3. Early-bird pricing ends on the date shown above, or when the seats held at that price are gone — whichever happens first.
4. Rooms are twin or triple sharing, allotted same-gender, unless you are booking with someone and tell us otherwise.
5. Cancel 21 days or more before departure and the balance is refunded in full. Between 20 and 8 days, half of it. Inside 7 days, none of it. The advance is not refunded in any of these cases.
6. If we cancel the trip, you get everything back — advance included.
7. Weather, landslides, forest closures and permit decisions can move the plan. The trip captain will pick the nearest sensible alternative; a swapped stop is not refunded.
8. Safari slots, permits and forest entry are the forest department's call, not ours.
9. Carry a government photo ID. Hotel and forest check-ins will ask for it.
10. Alcohol or any illegal substance in the vehicle, in a protected forest or in the stay means you go home at your own cost, with no refund.
11. We do not carry travel or medical insurance on your behalf. Take your own.
12. Anything not written under Inclusions is not included.
13. Booking a seat means you have read and accepted these terms.
14. Safaris run in shared or private jeeps as the forest department allots them on the day. Both are inside the price.
15. Gorumara and Jaldapara close on short notice for census, weather or elephant movement. If a safari cannot run, we swap in the nearest alternative — the fee is refunded only if the department refunds it to us.