Snippets of Darjeeling

I made my maiden voyage into Darjeeling in May 2015 with S and some of her friends who soon became my friends. We left Kolkata in the night by train and reached New Jalpaiguri early in the morning.

You can either book a taxi or take a shared taxi to Darjeeling from NJP. The shared taxi costs around Rs. 200 per person. We received a number of offers for transport at lower rates, each of which turned out to be a scam. They offered to take us to Darjeeling for a lesser amount if we hire their transport service for our travel in and around Darjeeling. A quick calculation suggested that it would be cheaper to take the standard shared taxi and to hire a taxi for travelling  inside Darjeeling once we get there.

The drive up was a beautiful introduction to Darjeeling. We drove through hills, watching the toy train go by. We could not travel in the toy train in this trip because of lack of time. Lack of time was something that I felt multiple times during the trip. Darjeeling is a city that needs to be seen at its own pace, with time to stop, smell, taste and savour it. The next time I go, I will pace myself.

Anyway, I reached Darjeeling around late afternoon and checked into Pineridge Hotel. It is an old colonial building right at Mall Road with big rooms, great view and a haunted feeling. There are big mirrors on the staircases and big balconies on each floor which give the place an eerie feeling in the night. It also has a lovely restaurant called Foodsteps that serves great waffles and pork sausages. If fact, I would recommend a breakfast here over the more commonly known places such as Keventer's and Glenary's.  However, the hotel needs some TLC. In one of the rooms, the carpet was slightly burnt while in the other room, charging points were not working.

Pineridge hotel

Since S had been to Darjeeling before, we took her recommendation and had lunch at Dekeling which is famous for its thukpa. Lightly spiced egg thukpa was perfect for the cold afternoon though their momos were just about okay. Before we left Darjeeling, we found the perfect momos at Kunga, which is next door to Dekeling.

We spent the rest of the day just walking around Mall Road and beyond. Darjeeling was cold, full of clouds and a welcome break from the heat of Bombay. I could feel the clouds walking by us.

Clouds in Darjeeling

As I mentioned earlier, we were short of time in this trip and therefore, hired a taxi to take us around Darjeeling and Ghum in one day. Since we wanted to see the sunrise at Tiger Hill, the day started at 3 a.m. On a clear day, the sunrise at Tiger Hill is stunning and you can see the first rays of sun falling on Kanchenjunga. If you are lucky, you can even see Mount Everest. It was about 4.30 am when we reached Tiger Hill. The crowd and the energy at Tiger Hill was surprising for that time of the day. However, because of the clouds, we got to see glimpses of the sunrise but not much else.

On the way back to Darjeeling, we stopped at the Ghum monastery. It has beautiful paintings on the wall. However, after having seen the lavish Buddhist temples at Bodhgaya since childhood, the monastery failed to make much of an impact at me. The quiet and peace inside the monastery was was destroyed by flashes of cameras and tourists who do not know the concept of keeping quiet in a monastery.

Batasia loop however was a pleasant surprise. Famous for the beautiful view from the toy train, it also has a beautiful park which was in full bloom.

Flowers at Batasia Loop

Darjeeling has a long list of places to visit and things to do. A walk through the tea gardens, view of the city from the rope-way and para-gliding (which we did not do) are some to be mentioned. It was full of clouds which obscured the hills around us but also gave a beautiful feeling of walking through the clouds. Three places that stayed in my memory are the Japanese temple/ pagoda, the Victoria waterfall and the Darjeeling zoo

The Japanese temple/pagoda is beautiful, peaceful and extends its acceptance to everyone. We reached the temple during their prayers and were invited to join them. While I am not a very spiritual person, the energy inside the temple was very calm.

Japanese Pagoda

Victoria waterfall provides a beautiful viewpoint from the top. The walk to the top is fun, especially if you stop at the waterfall to get wet. We did and thoroughly enjoyed it. Rocks under the water were a little slippery but nothing dangerous. Water at the bottom of the waterfall is generally clean though could do with a bit of help. The tourists have been throwing water bottles and other garbage in the water and the water may become very polluted in the next few years. Has anyone wondered why a large number of Indian tourists visit a place because its clean and unpolluted and immediately start polluting it?

Victoria Waterfall

View from the top of Victoria waterfall

The biggest adventure of the day was the Dajreeling zoo. We saw a royal bengal tiger, a bear, a black panther, a jackal, various types of leopards, Himalayan wolves, yaks, snakes, birds and numerous other animals. On the top of the list however is the red panda. These furry, red, cute beings are just perfect to visit on a cold Darjeeling day.

Bear and Red Panda at the Darjeeling zoo

Darjeeling is also a heaven for shopping. Apart from the standard tea and woollens, we saw lovely pieces of art, silk scarves, jewellery or other nick-knacks. S found a beautiful antique snuff-box at throw-away prices (which, if she ever reads this, I am willing to steal or buy any time).

We returned to Kolkata via bus from Siliguri. While waiting for the bus, someone at the stop suddenly screamed "earthquake" and everyone ran outside. I am as yet not sure, if there was an earthquake or not.

P.S.- Never take a bus from Siliguri to Kolkata. When I did, I did not know that instead of the promised 11 hours, it always takes 17 hours to finish the journey.