Map of Nepal with Ilam and Jhapa districts highlighted

I discovered Kanyam by accident. I had heard of Ilam’s beauty. However, I had zero knowledge of this district and the places I must visit. I was supposed to catch a flight to Kathmandu the next day from Bhadrapur, Jhapa. So, the plan was to stay somewhere in Ilam where I could do some exploring. Journey to Kanyam started from Pashupatinagar, Ilam (bordered to Darjeeling, India). From there you can take a local bus all the way to Fikkal (another famous town of Ilam). There was nothing much there, took another local bus from Fikkal towards Jhapa. On the way I witnessed a long stretch of tea estate, and was absolutely awestruck. That’s when I decided this is where I’ll stay. The place was called Kanyam.

Later found out, Kanyam is a very popular tourist destination in Ilam. Tourists on their way to Kanchanjanga base camp also have a night-stay in this beautiful town. I haven’t captured much of this place. I just went down to this tea farm, it was so romantic just couldn’t leave that place and captured whatever I saw in that moment. There’s more to Kanyam than what you see in the video given below. If you ever visit Ilam – do make it a point to visit Kanyam. This place is not at all crowded, the very fact that it is such an underrated tourist destination. For someone who just came from Darjeeling to Ilam, this place is impeccably clean with zero pollution and lush green tea garden stretched as far as you can see.  As cliche as it may sound, this place is nothing less than a heaven on earth. If there ever was one, it would be Kanyam.

P.S: Story behind the music I used in this video:
For a long time I had been wanting to use hindi film song as a background music to my video, primarily cause I’m a total sucker for hindi movie songs. Also, this particular one that I came across is a love song that you would sing to the one you love. It’s titled “Pakeezah” released this week I think (2nd week of Nov 2014). It just so happened that I wanted to sort of write a love letter to Kanyam. It was a place I had never heard of, it was neither in my plan nor my head space. But it was such a wonderful discovery. This is my way of thanking this place for somehow being there on my way and allowing me to explore. It seemed to fit perfectly as my ode to Kanyam.

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Kanyam, Ilam from Shailiza Manandhar on Vimeo.