The quaint hill station of Kurseong lies about 30kms ahead on your way to Darjeeling. With a pleasant climate all the year round and winters much less severe than Darjeeling, Kurseong makes up for your perfect travel destination if you’re looking to spend a couple of days away from the usual humdrum of overpopulated spots.
If you’re in Kurseong, make sure you make a stop at Eagle’s Crag- a viewpoint and noteworthy place to visit in this sleepy hill town. Located at a distance of a short walk up the meandering lanes from the Kurseong Railway Station, Eagle’s Crag offers remarkable views of the rest of the town and the surrounding mountains.
How to reach Eagle’s Crag
You can take a train to NJP, or take a flight to Bagdogra and then take a shared cab to Kurseong. Eagle’s Crag is located a kilometer away from the railway station and makes for a pleasant walk up until the main viewpoint. The roads leading up to it are quite steep and characterized by multiple fountains along the way that make this journey quite adventurous and exciting.
What to see in Eagle’s Crag
Though Eagle’s Crag is fairly popular among locals for a casual evening soiree or a day out with friends and family, it is not a very well-known destination among tourists mostly because of its neatly tucked away location atop a cliff. This incidentally also makes this place one of the best in the area to catch panoramic views of the sun setting behind the mountains, bathing the otherwise moss of green landscape in a warm golden glow.
Eagle’s Crag houses a Gorkha war memorial as well, which has an altar with a Nepali Khukri on top. Other than that, there’s a water reservoir right in the middle that stores water for the entire town. The mysterious color of the blue-green water reflection inside the glass tank while listening to the soothing sounds of the water rushing into the tank is almost magnetic..
You can also find a beautifully manicured garden here blooming with colorful, seasonal flowers. There are benches for visitors to rest; get yourself a peaceful spot and you can spend hours gazing into nothingness watching time pass by. There is also a cafeteria inside the premises where you can get a cuppa for yourself as you prep for an afternoon all by yourself.
Most noteworthy here is the narrow, spiral staircase that leads you to the top of the observatory. The view from here is nothing short of magnificent so make sure you have your camera on you when you get here. On clear days, you can see the mighty Kanchenjunga range up until both Siliguri and Nepal complete with their bounty of varied landscapes.