Sonada

Geography

The map alongside shows a part of the southern portion of the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region in the Darjeeling district. In the Darjeeling Sadar subdivision 61.00% of the total population lives in the rural areas and 39.00% of the population lives in the urban areas. In the Mirik subdivision 80.11% of the total population lives in the rural areas and 19.89% lives in the urban areas. There are 78 tea gardens/ estates (the figure varies slightly according to different sources), in the district, producing and largely exporting Darjeeling tea. It engages a large proportion of the population directly/ indirectly. Some tea gardens were identified in the 2011 census as census towns or villages. Such places are marked in the map as CT (census town) or R (rural/ urban centre). Specific tea estate pages are marked TE. Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the subdivision. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map. Sonada is located at . It is 17 km from Darjeeling town and 16 km from Kurseong. Mirik is 23 km away, Ghoom 8 km, Mangpu 8 km and Takdah 11 km. It lies on National Highway 55 connecting Darjeeling with Siliguri. Sonada Monastery, Tiger Hill, Chatakpur, Goreto Nalichour, Intek Ceder's and Senchal Lake are some places of interest near Sonada. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (Toy Train) passes through this town and there is a DHR railway station here. There are several tea estates located in Sonada Valley: Oaks, Rungmook, Ceder's, Milling, Moondakotee, Ringtong, Balasun, Margaret's Hope, and Kalej Valley. Trout are found in the Balason River, a site used for fishing. Chatakpur Eco Village, located 6 km uphill from the town, attracts tourists as a vantage point for viewing the…