The Neora Valley Jungle Camp, a wooden staircase inside, a bedroom and a tent on the compound. Telegraph pictures

Siliguri, May 19: The tiny hamlet of Kolakham near Lava has no electric supply, nor a pukka road, but is still managing to attract droves of tourists wishing to go off the beaten track.

“Less than a year ago, we set up our Neora Valley Jungle Camp project at Kolakham, located 9km from Lava and around 40km from Kalimpong town,” said Raj Basu, the managing director of Help Tourism, a Siliguri-based tourism company.

“The lack of basic amenities notwithstanding, our resort has gained instant popularity. During the ongoing holiday season, we are afraid that we will have to turn away many tourists,” Basu added.

Neora Valley Jungle Camp charges Rs 4,400 a night for a double-bedded room, food and guided tours inclusive. A local family has also opened its doors to home-stay tourism, where accommodation for one night costs around Rs 400 for two people.

“It is quite a revolution,” Indu Rai, a resident of Kolakham, said. “The whole community has come together to promote tourism, which is the only way to bring about development in this backward village. Tourism services are offered by local people and every evening our children put up cultural shows for the visitors.”

Not having electricity often comes as an advantage to those wanting to escape the urban world.

“We were happy to glimpse the beauty of the splendid, still unexplored and densely forested area in the light of kerosene lamps and campfire. We had sought out the place exactly for this reason — to be away from crowds, noise, smog and pollution,” one of the visitors Partha DeSarkar wrote in his travelogue.

Besides the authentic rural feel, the nearby pine forests, the Neora Valley National Park, and other attractions like Lava and Loleygaon make Kolakham a sought-after destination.

On a clear day, Mt Kanchenjunga, the world’s third-highest peak, can be seen along with the whole range of mountains.

“The place offers a number of possibilities, like trekking and bird watching,” Basu added.

Development often precedes tourism, said the managing director of Help Tourism.

“But when development is not taking place, it is better to begin with tourism,” Basu said. “We started tourism in places like Lava and Rishyap without the basic amenities. As tourists started arriving, development had to follow. Rishyap got electricity much after we began tourism there.”

Under the several community-based programmes taken up by the Neora Valley Jungle Camp, the residents of Kolakham are planting trees as part of a sustained re-forestation campaign. “A Siliguri-based school has agreed to donate uniforms to the children of a primary school there,” Basu said.

“The women of Kolakham will be trained in stitching uniforms and later other clothes as well.”

The managing director added that a Siliguri-based NGO has agreed to supply sewing machines.