Darjeeling - a darling for many!

“THE ONE LAND THAT ALL MEN DESIRE TO SEE,
AND HAVING SEEN ONCE BY EVEN A GLIMPSE
WOULD NOT GIVE THAT GLIMPSE
FOR THE SHOWS OF THE REST OF THE WORLD COMBINED.”

Said Mark Twain about Darjeeling.

Darjeeling is a hill station located in the eastern Himalayan regions of the West Bengal state. Calcutta is the nearest metropolitan city. Darjeeling is elevated at a height of 2,134 meters above the sea level. Darjeeling is very similar to an English countryside and the British loved it very much.

From Kolkata we reached Siliguri. Siliguri is the base point for going to Darjeeling. From Siliguri there is a hill train.

In Darjeeling, we could only visit a limited number of places due to fog. We can’t even see who is standing in front of us even in the afternoons. That much fog was there. I was wondering how the driver could manage to drive amidst the fog. Regarding the dresses, they are damn cheap especially the sweaters, bed sheets and shawls. You won’t have heart to bargain because the materials will be so nice and very cheap. You will be astonished. The people living there were mostly gurkas. They look different.

We used to eat only in Jain Dhaba. They won’t provide south Indian dishes and most of the north Indian dishes too. i.e., they provide only paratha along with dal and aloo. It tastes extraordinary. It helps in withstanding the cold. The common transportation in Darjeeling is the jeep.

It is basically a British hill station. One can also see many tea estates. If u go near by the tea estates, u can feel the fresh fragrance of the tea leaves. We enjoyed drinking tea near the estate available in a tea shop. We also bought a tea pack. There is also a zoo in which rare species of Bengal tigers, Himalayan bear, and many other animals dwell. There is also a mountaineering institute.

The hill railway is taken as a World Heritage by the UNESCO. Pictures of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. In Darjeeling you can’t find snow. But you can see the snow capped kanchanjanga peak, a few distance away from darjeeling. There are lots of pine trees seeming to prick the clouds.

All together Darjeeling is a nice place to visit.