Queen of Himalayas

Being a Bengali I have always consider Darjeeling the place of mountains where the Mighty Kanchenjunga is seen from almost every corner of the place. But my scenario is little different as I covered almost all the places in Northern India during my childhood, but Darjeeling never wanted to welcome me in my entire 27 years of life. This time it is an exception as I planned to make my foot print in this region of Northern Bengal. Although the situation is bit difficult as the election is knocking at the door, But Darjeeling didn't disappoint me at all.

From Kolkata or any city who have its airport can easily visit to Bagdogra airport which is in Siliguri from which Darjeeling is around 70 km. From Kolkata it usually take around 1 hour to reach to Bagdogra airport, but I was willing to take a train ride to reach Darjeeling. For train well situated New Jalpaiguri station is there from which you need to rent a car or taxi to go uphill to Darjeeling. Frequent trains are available from Sealdah or Howrah railway station. Due to Covid-19 situation there is an alter in every schedule of train during these days. But somehow I have booked a train ride to NJP from Howrah. it took around 13 hours and then around 3 hours to go to Darjeeling. You will surely get lot of attention once you get out of the station. Now those who have a talent to bargain with people can easily get a reserved 5 seater car in around 2000 rs but if you want to spent a little more you may get something like a SUV in around 2500 to 2700 rs. Thanks to my friend who somehow managed to reduced the price from 2500 to 2100 and get a Tata Sumo. The way to Darjeeling is around 3 hours from which 1 hour is in the city of Jalpaiguri and rest hours is in the hill road. The way up hill is never a monotonous sight for me as there more people in the whole way up in the hill whose main way of living is by working the major tea gardens around that region. A few tea gardens already been spotted in the way.

After freshen up in the hotel, we headed out to explore the city. Hotel and restaurant business is booming in the streets. 1st time Darjeeling visitors like me may need google map to reach out to the mall road or else anyone in the street can give you a proper direction with a smile. The Nepali and Bhutanese population is more in this region. after a certain talk with the locals we finally found a way to the mall but seeing few people strolling around we come to know that night 08:30 PM may be the time for everyone to be in the house and ready for dinner. Anyway we didn't bothered about that and headed to Glenary's for a fancy dinner and drink. Glenary's certainly can be heard from anyone's mouth as that may be the signature place for a bakery stuff and fancy dinner with live music. With John Denver, Leonel Richie we finished our dinner with Roasted Pork, Chicken Sizzler and Beef Steak. While returning to the hotel we somehow managed to found the road as we eventually lost in our way. The night is dark around 10:00 PM. And the fact is almost all hotel doors will close around 10:00. So its better to reach before otherwise you need to call someone to let you in.

The next day started with a breakfast in Keventers. That also needs no introduction as the famous hot chocolate and the meat platter is popular throughout everywhere. Price is bit ok I would say as the place is another reason people visit to Darjeeling along with Kanchenjunga. If you are lucky you may seen it while eating in the roof of Keventers. But we are not so lucky that day. We have got our breakfast but Kanchenjunga didn't give its presence to us. The whole weather was wrapped around in thick fog. It happens in Darjeeling by the way, we cannot complain about that.

Anyway after a sumptuous breakfast we head out to the Zoo. the utter surprise it was totally different that our Alipore Zoo in Kolkata which may refer as a picnic spot but here in Darjeeling the zoo is well maintained in every possible way. with proper hygiene and clean mountain steps to see Snow Leopard, Panther, Mountain Goat, Wolves and none other than the Bengal Tiger although it was taking a nap not interested to show his face to the visitor but still its presence is all you need.

We started climbing up to the hill while returning to the hotel, the way is around 4 km. long all the way up. It was tiring enough so better keep a bottle of water is a very good idea.

You may not be thirsty but water may help you in every possible condition. We finished our lunch with Chicken Momo which may be the staple food for Tibetan, you will found in every where in Norther Hill regions in Bengal. After a quick nap we headed out to the Mall road for some local cultural stuffs to explore. The garments shop, curio shops will be there in every corner in Darjeeling. woolen caps was everywhere so I have decided to take one and headed to a curio shop. its hard to take a foot inside the shop as it was full of various stuffs. after a long thought I brought one Buddha in seating position and one mask of Mahakal god. The mask is pretty famous there with different price range of 250 to 10,000. Mine was around 800 bucks. Again bargain will work.

After a bit strolling in the mall road, we end up eating some Chinese cuisine from our hotel itself as that day the temperature was below its average we didn't look up for any restaurant that night.

The last morning we didn't go far from our hotel as the way downhill to Bagdogra will take around 3 hours if we are taking Pankhabari route. Although we didn't have much time in hand, we didn't forget to take some Darjeeling tea with us back home. You will find plenty of shops around the city where you can get various kind of tea from different gardens. We opt for The Golden Tips, one of the oldest shop around Darjeeling. The almost 3 days in Himalayas foothills has ended with a reminder that this may be the first ever visit to Darjeeling but definitely not the last, It has a power to attract you again and again.