Darjeeling to us humanoids is a gateway to a little heaven on earth set against the mystical backdrop of the Kanchenjunga. Tucked away in the north eastern corner of India, this town is fondly called the Queen of the Hills. A queen no doubt, sipping up on a lot of tea at an altitude of 6000 feet.

Darjeeling with its dazzling alpine vista homes a mix of Bengali and Nepali inhabitants. But apart from its distinct tea concoctions, Darjeeling offers a lot of local attractions that will seize your interest on any given day. These attractions include the Observatory Hill where you meet tranquility at its best while gazing down at the town and the Darjeeling Zoo which homes the likes of Siberian Tigers and Red Pandas. You can hop onto the Toy Train that chugs slowly around the town while stopping at the Bastasia Loop. Here at Bastasia the train trails an eight. Further it goes up to Ghoom which is one of the highest railway set ups in the world. Mind you, the Toy Train is no toy, it has been branded by the UNESCO.

Those who are traveling to Darjeeling for sheer nostalgia like me, you definitely cannot miss Keventers, the restaurant and a mighty bite off its hotdog by the roof. The open roof, on a clear winter morning, presents a wonderful panorama of mount Kanchenjunga.

You could hire a jeep to travel within the town and visit Buddhist monaastries and pagodas like Druk Sangag Choeling, Peace Pagoda and Yiga Chholing. Then there’s the Capital Clock Tower, an imprint left by the Britishers, St. Andrew Church and the crossroads of Chowrasta where you can latch yourself on to a bench, sip on some local tea and treat yourself to the culture that is Darjeeling.

Tea being Darjeeling’s trump card, you cannot afford to miss its stretches of tea plantations. It is said that the tea grown here finds its way to the shackles of Buckingham Palace. One such plantation is the Happy Valley Tea estate which is open for tourists.

However, there’s more to Darjeeling than its tea and once you’ve experienced its crisp air you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Best Time to Visit: October to February

How to reach:

1. You could either catch a flight to Bagdogra, which is the nearest airport to Darjeeling. Bagdogra is situated at a minimal distance of 10 kms from Siliguri and this can be covered by a bus or a cab.
2. Another alternative would be taking a train to New Jalpaiguri. Then there’s the toy train which goes right up to Darjeeling from New Jalpaiguri, but the journey eats up a lot of time and is non functional for a few months in a year.
3. Darjelling is also well connected to nearby cities like Calcutta by roadways. So you can hire a car and drive down or get onto a luxury bus.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 14th, 2010 at 8:54 pm and is filed under Hill Station. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.