Trip to Darjeeling - 3

[Continued from Trip to Darjeeling - 2] The day after we woke up late in the morning. After breakfast we had a stroll in the Mall and inquired about how to go to Mirik at the Supermarket Taxi Stand. We booked a car which would take us to Mirik tour, the next day  We were told to get ready by 8 o' clock in the morning.

View from Simana

The next day we got ready quickly and reached the place where our car was to wait for us. The car came and we started our journey towards Mirik. On the way we stopped at Simana. The view of the distant hills of Nepal from Simana is awesome. Next we reached Mirik. In front of us we saw the Sumendu Lake, the prime attraction of the place. The lake has an arched footbridge over it linking the two sides of the lake. Firstly we had our breakfast with Momos. This traditional delicacy is much tastier and cheaper in these hilly places than in the cities.

Paddle Boats at Mirik Lake 

After that we went for boating. Boating at Sumendu Lake is a great experience not to be missed. Then we started our journey back. On the way our driver stopped the car at the Gopaldhara Tea Estate. There we shot some photos inside the tea garden. After that we went to Pashupati Market. Different foreign goods especially apparels, bags, umbrellas and perfumes are sold in this market. But those who expect to buy electronics goods at a cheap rate will be disappointed. We had to do a lot of bargaining before buying things from the shop as the prices are initially raised quite high. After having done our shopping we hopped back into the car and returned to Darjeeling.

Gopaldhara Tea Estate

The day after we went to Lloyd's Botanical Garden. It is located at a walking distance from the Supermarket Taxi Stand. The road was very steep downwards and since it was raining at that time, it became very difficult for us to walk on it. Somehow we reached the entrance of the botanical garden. It was a huge area full of trees, shrubs and flowering plants. There was a glasshouse where we saw various kinds of colourful flowers. Then we visited the Orchid House hosting a range of orchids. We also saw a collection of Bonsai and Rare Plants of the Himalayas. After that we came back to our hotel. We had already booked a toy train ticket from Darjeeling to Ghum for the next day.

Lloyd's Botanical Garden

The next day was cloudy and rainy. Mists and clouds sailed through the roads and we could hardly see the distant things. Our toy train was scheduled to depart at 16:00 hrs from Darjeeling Station and arrive Ghum at 16:30 hrs. So we took rest in the morning in our hotel room. We set out for the station when it was 3 o' clock in the afternoon. It was still raining. We reached station at about 3:20 pm. Our train consisted of three bogies. The interiors of the train was so well decorated that it left us astonished. At last our train started its journey. It was a unique experience and cannot be expressed in words. The train went past cars, trucks and buses on the road. At the Batasia Loop, our toy train traversed a circle and ascended in altitude. After half an hour of the most memorable journey of my life, we reached Ghum. Now we had to return to Darjeeling. Luckily we got a Darjeeling bound shared jeep which was coming from Gangtok. We hopped into the car and returned to Darjeeling. The sweet memories of the heritage train ride would remain with us forever.

Darjeeling Toy Train

Continued to Trip to Darjeeling - 4

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