ALL ABOUT DARJEELING - THE QUEEN OF HILLS

QUEEN OF THE HIMALAYAS - DARJEELING

Darjeeling is the perfect getaway in North East India. With its inexplicable beauty and adventure opportunities, Darjeeling has been blessed with some of the most amazing gifts of Mother Nature. The place rejuvenates the mind, body and the soul with its fresh air and spectacular sights. Darjeeling offers a panorama of the dazzling snow peaks of Kanchenjunga, the beautiful tea gardens on the slopes of rolling hills, the orchids, pines and rhododendrons, the cute Himalayan toy train whistling its way through the mountains and colorful cultural displays along the streets of the city. The easy accessibility of adventure sports like trekking and water sports make the place even more alluring.

HOW TO REACH DARJEELING

Darjeeling hill town is located at an altitude of 6,710ft at the northern part of the state of West Bengal. It doesn’t have an airport or a regular broad gauge railway station.To reach Darjeeling from other parts of India, the nearest airport is Bagdogra. It takes around 3 hours to reach Darjeeling from the airport. Only pre-paid reserved taxis (small and large) are available at the airport for Darjeeling. Shared taxis and buses are not available there.

New Jalpaiguri (NJP) is the nearest major railway junction. Darjeeling is around 80 kms from there. There are ample taxis and shared jeeps from NJP to reach Darjeeling in about 3 hours. Few trains pass through Siliguri as well. There are also plenty of shared jeeps, taxis and buses at Siliguri (takes about 2.5 hours to Darjeeling).

There is a longer and scenic route from NJP/Bagdogra to Darjeeling via Mirik (takes about 4.5 hours). The Mirik lake and lovely tea gardens can be seen on the way. However this is possible if NJP/Bagdogra is reached in the first half. 

If time permits, taking a toy train ride from either NJP or Siliguri through scenic mountain route is also an option. It takes about 7 hours to reach Darjeeling. The toy train track runs parallel and next to the Hill Cart Road for most part.

BEST TIME TO VISIT

The two best seasons to visit Darjeeling are spring (March-May) and autumn (October-November). These are the times when the temperature is pleasantly cool and the sky is usually clear offering lovely views of Kanchenjunga snow peaks.

The temperature during spring season ranges between 17°C during day time to 6°C at night. During this time, Rhododendrons and Magnolia bloom in plenty and in different colors along with different kinds of garden flowers. Though the sky remains mostly clear, you may face strong winds and even hail storms at times. Darjeeling again becomes a paradise during the autumn.  Temperature ranges between 18°C to 6°C and starts becoming colder. This is a great time to get views of snow-peaks. 

The summer is short from May up to June. But by June the monsoon usually starts and lasts through September. It can sometimes stretch even up to October. The winter is from December until February. Winter in Darjeeling can be very cold. 

PLACES TO VISIT

Who doesn't know about the magnificent view of sunrise from Tiger Hill, the changing colors of the Kanchenjunga snow peaks as the light strikes? On a clear day, there is a possibility of getting a glimpse of Mount Everest, Mount Makalu and one of the most beautiful peaks of the world, Tibet's Chomol Hari.

Ghoom Monastery, one of the oldest Buddhist monasteries (1850) of Darjeeling houses a 12-foot tall statue of Maitreya Buddha which represents the Buddha of the future. The monastery preserves some of the rarest Buddhist manuscripts. Jang Dong Palriffo Brang Monastery was consecrate by Dalai Lama and was established in 1976.

Batasia Loop and the War Memorial. Batasia Loop is an engineering marvel located in Ghoom area. This is where the toy train makes a double spiral loop to negotiate a drop of 1000 ft. The War Memorial was constructed in honor of the Gorkha soldiers who sacrificed their lives in service of the nation.

Japanese Temple and Peace Pagoda. Close to the Darjeeling town there is a temple built in a traditional Japanese style. In the same complex, there is large Peace Pagoda that showcases four avatars of Buddha. 

Darjeeling Ropeway, the 45 minutes ride from an altitude of 7,000ft to 800ft with wonderful vista of a valley around Rangeet river, tea estates and sweeping views of the snow peaks of Himalayan range including Kanchenjunga (try to book tickets in advance). 

Tenzing and Gombu Rock. These huge rocks are located on Lebong Cart Road where rock climbing is practiced.

Visiting Darjeeling and not paying a visit to the tea gardens is a big mistake. The tea gardens which are located at the rolling slopes of thehills are going to charm everyone without a doubt. Some of the tea estates are Badamtan Tea Estate, Happy Valley Tea Estate and Rangeet Valley Tea Garden.

For the wildlife enthusiast, Darjeeling Zoo breeds some of the very high altitude animals and endangered species like Snow Leopard, Panther, Siberian Tiger, Tibetian Wolf, Deer, Black Bear, Snow Yaks, etc. Among them, Red Panda catches special attention of the tourist. It is internationally recognized for its conservation breeding programs of Red Panda, Snow Leopards, Tibetan Wolf, Siberian Tiger and other highly endangered animal species of Eastern Himalaya. 

Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Natural History Museum, Tibetan Refugee Self Help Center, Rock Garden and Ganga Maya Park are some other major attractions in Darjeeling.

One must experience the famous Toy Train Joy Ride in Darjeeling (remember to book tickets in advance).

After seeing the serene mountains, wildlife and the spiritual gompas, time to unleash the adventurer inside by indulging in a plethora of activities ranging from Trekking, hiking, rafting etc.The hilly areas of Kalimpong are best used for hiking as well as trekking. Teesta River of Kalimpong allows the adventure tourists to experience their wild side in river rafting activity. The activity starts at Melli Bridge and ends at Geilkhola in Kalimpong.

Darjeeling is a must to visit to find an escape from the hustle-bustle of the cities and find peace in its serene surroundings.

HOW TO BOOK

Toy Train Joyrides in Darjeeling

While in Darjeeling, who doesn't want to ride the heritage toy train of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR)? After all, this is the first public transport that was built by the British to make a train move along the steep gradient of the Himalayas and connect the lower plains with Darjeeling hill town.

It's not about just the heritage and the history, it's also about experiencing one of the engineering marvels where many amazing loops and zig zags had to be created to negotiate the steep gradients in the mountains. It's also about enjoying the breathtaking beauty of the Himalayas as you take a relaxed lazy ride on this cute mini train that runs on a narrow gauge track.

Booking a 2-hour Toy Train Joyride

(Darjeeling to Ghum and Back)

There are several ways to book the DHR Joyride itself.

1) The best way is to book online and use the Indian Railway website www.irctc.co.in. Here you will first have to sign up for an account. It's free and quite easy. Only after logging into your own account in the website, you can make the bookings. But carefully note the following points:

While finding the trains for joyrides, you will need to enter the source station code as DJ (which stands for Darjeeling). For the destination station, the station should again be Darjeeling because it's a round trip. But the web-form does not accept the same station code for both source and destination. This is a limitation of the website. So for the destination code, you should enter DJRZ which also stands for Darjeeling (meaning 'To Darjeeling').

Use the ticket type as 'e-ticket' so that you get a soft copy of the ticket and print it yourself. Use the quota type as 'General'. You will then see all the joyride toy trains running for the date chosen. While entering your names/sex/age etc, ignore the choice of berths.

2) Another way of booking the joyride is through the site www.irctctourism.com. This is the tourism site of Indian Railways. To find the joyrides, click on 'Tourist Trains' and select DHR Joyride. But note that the ticket rates are higher here. The cancellation charges are also higher. So your preferred way of online booking should be using the first option I mentioned above. 
*Update January 2016: Only Toy Train Charters can now be booked through this option.

3) You can book at any of the computerized reservation counters in India. You will pay the same fare as in online booking through irctc.co.in.

4) You can also get tickets at Darjeeling Railway Station. If you decide to take the ride while in Darjeeling, you can call them up and check the availability before you go to the station for booking. Phone (Inquiry): +91 354-2252555

5) If you have difficulty booking the tickets online, you can request your hotel or tour operator in Darjeeling to help you book seats in the toy train. Several hotels, guesthouses and operators do so. They will need a scanned or photo copy of your Photo ID (passport in case of foreigners) to book the tickets across the counter.

How to book Toy Train Jungle Safari

You can book the safari online through www.irctc.co.in railway website. For source station use SGUJ (station code for Siliguri Junction), and for destination station use SGUD which is another station code for Siliguri Junction (it can not be the same because it's a round trip to the same place). You can also manually book this safari across any railway reservation counter including at Siliguri Junction.

NOTE: This train is usually seasonal and may run only on few days of the week.

Booking NJP-Darjeeling or Regular Toy Train ride

This is a diesel engine hauled train and the journey takes about 7 hours each way. Best is to book online through Indian Railway site www.irctc.co.in.

Once you log into your account in irctc website, use the 'Plan my Journey' form. For New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling, enter NJP at the 'From Station' and DJ at 'To Station'. For travel to other intermediate stations, in 'To Station' use GHUM for Ghum, KGN for Kurseong etc depending on your destination (reverse the order of station codes for source and destination if your journey is other way).

Enter the journey date, choose 'E-ticket' option and proceed. It will show you the trains, coach class, fares etc. You can go ahead and book. The train that runs between Darjeeling and NJP is named 'DJ NJP PASSENGER', and the one between Darjeeling and Kurseong is 'DJ KGN NG TRAIN'.

Like any other normal train, you can also book seats and buy tickets for all these toy trains from any computerized Indian railway reservation counter across the country.

Windamere Heritage Hotel – History

Windamere Hotel was built as ‘Ada Villa’ in 1841 and then turned into a Boarding House for Tea Planters and other Raj types, on contract, in the late 1880s. In 1939, it became ‘Windamere Hotel’. It is a colonial hotel situated on Observatory Hill, in Darjeeling, India.

The hotel became more widely known as Darjeeling became India's summer capital. It expanded and took over a new wing.

In 1959, Palden Thondup Namgyal, Crown Prince of Sikkim, met his future wife Hope Cooke for the first time in the Windamere Hotel.

The hotel is also known for its views of the tea plantations below and of Mount Kanchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world.

It is "One of the three Jewels of the Raj", said a celebrated travel writer of The Windamere Hotel. Established in the 19th century as a cozy boarding house for bachelor English and Scottish tea planters, it was converted into a hotel just before the outbreak of the Second World War. Well known to sophisticated travellers the world over, the Windamere is famous for its unique ambience and charm, and has been the subject of many leading stories in the international media.

During the first National Awards Ceremony for outstanding hotels in India, the Prime Minister presented Windamere Hotel with a coveted award for its excellence as a Heritage Hotel of India.

Over the years, Windamere Hotel of Darjeeling has collected many coveted accolades and awards. It has been placed at the third position in 10 Top Colonial Hotels in the Asia-Pacific by Asian Geographic Passport in 2009 after the Raffles Hotel of Singapore and The Peninsula of Hong Kong. It was also part of The World's Best Colonial Hotels as listed by The Sunday Times, London in the year 2007.
Windamere is the original "Heritage House of the Himalayas". It is situated on Observatory Hill, a Darjeeling landmark, believed to be the focus and repository of life-enhancing cosmic energies.

Recommended Resources 

You can contact https://justyatra.com, a great resource to plan your tour and get deep insights into various attractions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Sikkim including trips, tours and rides.

You may contact author for more information at tribeni.das@justyatra.com