■ Class IX student Isha Ganguly (name changed) was checking her new rucksack to make sure she had put in everything she would need for the trek when her mother broke the news. “The trek’s been cancelled... I am so sorry,” she said.

■ Company official Naresh Sinha was discussing with his wife and two kids what sneakers to buy for their holiday in the hills when a newspaper headline caught his attention. “Oh my god, we can’t go there now,” he screamed.

The four-day Darjeeling strike from Monday has left in the lurch hordes of Calcuttans who were to head for the hills this winter, including students looking forward to their first taste of freedom and adventure.

The holiday casualties of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s Telangana-triggered strike include La Martiniere for Girls’s mid-altitude trek to Tumling and Tonglu as part of International Award for Young People, a Commonwealth scheme to foster the spirit of adventure and independence in children.

The 42-member group was to leave on Friday. “The cancellation has left our students depressed. But safety comes first,” said Joydeep Ghosal, the expedition co-ordinator for the International Award for Young People.

A trek to Sandakphu for students of Modern High School, South Point High School and two Jamshedpur institutions from December 26 was also cancelled, choosing safe over sorry.

“We took the decision on Thursday night. Parents are not keen about the trip any longer,” said Bivujit Mukhoty, a field officer for the International Award for Young People.

The West Bengal Triathlon Association and the West Bengal Cycling Association cancelled a seven-day trip for 14 from Manebhanjan to Sandakphu, starting Saturday.

Tour operators in the city were deluged by calls from tourists wanting to cancel, amend or put on hold their winter trips to north Bengal and beyond. “A group of foreign tourists for whom Darjeeling was the main purpose of their visit to the city cancelled the tour on Friday and picked Bangkok,” said Anil Punjabi, the chairman (east) of the Travel Agents’ Federation of India.

According to travel industry sources, over 20 per cent of tourists with flight, train and hotel bookings for Darjeeling and other parts of north Bengal have already opted out. Those who had been planning to spend the Christmas-New Year week in the hills are also having serious doubts.

Airlines operating on the Calcutta-Bagdogra sector, where traffic is usually high at this time of the year, are apprehending a spate of cancellations over the next few days. “Our flights have been going full but we fear cancellations by hill-bound tourists from Saturday,” said an Air India official.

“Who would want to be stranded in a strike-prone place? You never know when these people will announce another shutdown,” said Naresh Sinha, who has begun scouting for other getaways to bring the smiles back on the glum faces of his wife and kids.

Rajasthan and Goa are two of the “hot alternatives” while Bangkok’s visa-on-arrival facility is drawing many, said a tour operator.

While individual tourists are spoilt for choice, schools and adventure clubs caught in the Darjeeling logjam are having difficulty making alternative arrangements for large groups at short notice.

Field officer Mukhoty said the school team whose trek to Sandakphu had been cancelled could be merged with another scheduled to leave for Panchalingeshwar, in Orissa.

Delhi Public School, Megacity, has escaped the cancellation pangs, having opted for coast over mountain. “We opted for a coastal trek to Shankarpur on December 20, anticipating the possibility of disruption in the hills,” said Moushumi Banerjee, the school’s co-ordinator of co-curricular activity.