Trip to Darjeeling - 2

[Continued from Trip to Darjeeling] The Darjeeling railway station was a long walk from the Chowrasta. From the Passenger Reservation Counter of the station, we bought tickets for a one way ride from Darjeeling to Ghum. After that we were lucky to witness a joy ride train starting from the station so that we could get the shots. Dhirdham Temple, one of the attractions of Darjeeling is visible from the station. On the way back we booked car for the Tiger Hill tour from a travel agency. The tour consisted of Tiger Hill, Batasia Loop and Ghum Monastery. Then we went to the Bengal Natural History Museum. It is located close to the Mall. The museum hosts an impressive stuffed collection of butterflies, moths, insects and other animals and birds. Various stuffed fishes and reptiles are also kept in this museum. In another room the varied ecosystems of West Bengal has been depicted. After that we came back to our hotel.

Toy Train at Darjeeling Station

The next day we woke up at 3 am and got ready. The car picked us up from the Mall at about 3:45 am. We reached Tiger Hill at about 4:30 am. Although the sky was lighting up but the actual sunrise had not started yet. After a while we saw a small portion of the sun becoming visible. Gradually the whole of it became visible to us. After watching sunrise we got back to our car and then went to Batasia Loop. At this place the toy train traverses a loop. There is a Gorkha War Memorial along with flower gardens. The beauty of the loop has now been damaged by the people sitting on the rail tracks selling various items to the tourists. Our next destination was Ghum Monastery. The scenic view of the distant hills and houses from the monastery is amazing. After that we came back to Darjeeling.

Sunrise at Tiger Hill

In the afternoon we had lunch and then set out towards Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park. The zoo was a very long walk from the Mall. One can also reach the zoo by car as part of sightseeing tour. We had to buy tickets of Rs. 40/- to enter the zoo. The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) is located within the premises of the zoo. Entry to the HMI is included with this ticket. The zoo is quite large compared to what we had seen in Gangtok. First we saw the herbivores including barking deer and Sambhar. Then we saw the mountaineering institute which hosts various equipment used by the mountaineers as well as various photos of successful expeditions in the Himalayas.

Batasia Loop

After that we came back to the zoo and saw the leopard, tiger, Tibetian Wolf, Jackal and the Himalayan Black Bear. Then we saw the Red Panda and Wild Cat. There were a number of Red Pandas in this zoo. A bird's corner was also there in the zoo. We had coffee at the zoo cafeteria and then started walking back to our hotel. On the way back we had to rest a number of times at the rest sheds constructed on the side of the road. At last we reached our hotel. We were all tired that night and crawled into the bed quite early.

Red Panda at Darjeeling Zoo

Continued to Trip to Darjeeling - 3

How to Reach :

A number of trains are running from Sealdah, Howrah and Kolkata station to New Jalpaiguri. Auto rickshaws are plying from New Jalpaiguri to Siliguri. There are many travel agency counters scattered around the city of Siliguri which run daily car service to Darjeeling. You can buy tickets from those counters and hop into the car in order to get to Darjeeling.

Where to Stay :

Darjeeling has plenty of hotels for the accommodation of tourists but they are quite scattered around the town. In Darjeeling you cannot expect a road with a line of hotels. It often becomes difficult to find a perfect hotel in one go because there are no taxis or horse carts or other vehicles at the taxi stand and you're on your own feet. Hotel tariffs also vary wildly with season and even within few days. Here are names of some hotels in Darjeeling.
1. Hotel Alice Villa
2. Hotel Bellevue
3. Hotel Dreamland
4. Hotel Sonali
5. Hotel Mount Pleasant
6. Hotel Dikila
7. Hotel Dekeling

Places of Interest :

The main tourist attractions of Darjeeling are the Mall (Chowrasta), Observatory Hill, Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Himalayan Mountaineering Institute and the Toy Train. Other tourist spots include the Japanese Temple, Peace Pagoda, Dhirdham Temple and Happy Valley Tea Estate. A great attraction for tourists visiting Darjeeling is watching sunrise from Tiger Hill (11 km from the town). The car will also take you to Batasia Loop and Ghum Monastery. Other excursions tours include Mirik, Kalimpong and Kurseong.

For more information, please contact :

GTA Tourism
Deputy Director of Tourism,
Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council Silver Fir Building,
The Mall, Darjeeling-734301
INDIA