Stunning~ Queen of Hills

"Do not be angry with the rain; it simply does not know how to fall upwards."- Vladimir Nabokov 😂

This trip was my first in many ways. First time staying in dorm ( and loved it!), first in bumping fist with complete strangers and turn them into travel companions. what I learnt is if you are traveling solo, there's no better way then staying in hostel.

(No, not recommended for official tours; there you go deserve your 4 star hotels.)

Started off from Kolkata for New Jalpaiguri

I find it difficult to get sleep in train. so here's my owlish eyes seeking sunrise outside

On reaching NJP at 8am, I had my breakfast in food court and with no time to kill, took leisure steps toward pl no 6

Here's our train! to be specific TOY TRAIN!

furtive discussion on what to do with Vistadome coach. the water was seeping inside through glasses

Inspite of the officers cautioning us to move to the second coach (regular), we took our seat with dew drops falling around us 😁

and our rail journey for Darjeeling started

For first 20 mins, the train passes through densely populated residence (temporary) area. I remember kids being the star in this road. those precious little muffins with such a bright smile and eagerness brimming in their eyes would come running on hearing the whistle of toy train. Their open smiles would automatically make the corners of the mouth turned up 🙂

Tea gardens

and some more Tea gardens 😂

It was drizzling outside and train was passing through the forest. you will have to know that this was train's second trip to Darjeeling after covid lockdown.

I'm not sure whether railway authority prune the wild plants/ vegetation near railway track, in this trip it seemed as if both train and the wild verdure had declared war on each other, were constantly hitting each other.

and in this wild battle, one of the leaf got stuck in window pane and remained there for most of the journey. why do you think? maybe it wanted to break free or was adamant on punishing the intruding train with her presence

The railway rep in our coach was a strict man, he didn't allow us to even peep outside

( safety concerns)

🙂

11.50am,Rongtong railway station- here we were told that there's landslide near Tindharia and we will need to wait for few minutes before we resume our journey

12 then turned to 1pm, then 2pm. It was like hoping for India to win with 28 runs to make of 11 balls.

Finally we were told than train is returning to NJP because the route was not safe. and No, we are not having the above kings in momos below. it was veg momo 😁

I saw group of co-passengers (from Deogarh) trying to renting out local cab for Darjeeling. It was torture to return to NJP ( from where we had started), so I went forward and requested if I can join them and these kind people agreed. 🙂

our taxi arrived at 3.30pm and we set off for Darjeeling

Please note that generally you won't get cabs in such locations. either you will get in NJP, Siliguri or Kurseong. would strongly recommend do make journey in this train, from sukna the views are mesmerizing. You can make trip from kurseong to darjeeling (3-4hrs), if the earlier (NJP to Darjeeling takes 7-8 hrs) is not possible

Near Selim hill tea factory, Tindharia

our jolly team

Our driver took local route passing through villages, schools and then we spotted a beautiful view point with no tourist

Giddhe pahar view point

The views seem to change every passing seconds and clicks keep going, yet it didn't seem enough. The sun setting behind the clouds was treat to eyes. All of us were reluctant to leave the spot but we had to, because very few people want to drive through these hills in dark

Kurseong

We stopped for tea break (momos come by default)

Finally reached Darjeeling at 7pm. Instead of checking in hostel then, I decided to reach there after completing my dinner (shops closes by 9pm)

The famous Glenary's. 2 points for food (1st floor) and full point to the ambience. if you visit there, try the bakery on ground floor. If you want to enjoy the ambience, take them to 1st floor.

Finally reached my stay

🙂

Day 2

view from our dorm

Prayers

walk toward mahakal temple

🙂

6.30 am, Tibetan temple- the complex was filled with the humming of monks.

The quiet morning, with crowd of lighted lamps whose flames were swaying with the gentle breeze, echoing the vibrant prayers. It was magic. I was unable to move my feet, stood there frozen till it ended. they handed me a lamp to offer in front of the deity and even offered me sweets! I was so grateful. Such a gratifying start to my day.

After getting down, I checked the opening time for Keventer's, 8am. I had one hour to kill, so

I randomly started going in circle, from mahakali to mall and back

it was beautiful circuit; while walking, one half of route was flooded with mist; the other side of route had stark clear sky

In such a serene place, at 7.30am, saw few people (tourist) smoking and walking proudly with his kids and family. when requested to stop, his wife glared at me! (whom to blame😂)

9.30 and I started for keventer's ( no relation with keventer outlets in cities)

Must and Must have- Pork sausage

and hot chocolate ( finally found one which don't taste like bournvita)

it would be sin if you don't have tea in Darjeeling

It was raining throughout the day. after having feast for breakfast, I trotted back to hostel

to be more specific, our hostel rooftop cafe and there met with ever friendly vaibhav.

within 60 mins, he and his room mates (they were staying in next room) started off for happy valley tea state

Google maps 😂

Attitude! ( not to us. this guy was showing off to the lady in the frame)

our ytube blogger https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J1BphejdmY with his bestie

These Men! busy admiring themselves even in this downpour. so much so that in next

😂 doing what we are good at; crashing pics. and there goes the poses 🤣

Soumik- star of our trek

Vaibhav creating tales of illusion and we, breaking it

Titanic view point- some 5km below the happy valley tea factory

with no water or food, we were famished. the local people were such a sweetheart, they gave us tea and also local produce as gift

our gruesome walk towards mall road

Having lunch cum dinner. Linner?? Ignore

Homemade Thali

on our way to hostel

That night we had bonding session in hostel with most of the residents. Music, rain, momos and some unmentionables. at 10pm we decided to go for tiger hill tomorrow. we booked our cab. Now the major task, who was to wake everyone at 3am. when Subir generously took responsibility, Ayushi and I looked at each other relieved, little did we know the outcome next day😂 It was already 1am when we left the boys in common room.

Day 3

Woke up to find its already 5.00am and no calls from our waking guardian. After waking Ayushi and Pranjal ( we were in same room), we tasked Pranjal to keep knocking their door unless our sleeping beauty awakens. and god, the way he executed 🤣🤣

It was almost 5.30 when we rushed outside and while on way to our cab, with sinking heart was seeing the sun already rising from mall road view point. We reached Tiger hill at around 6.20am; and our happiness ( in below pic) when we heard that due to mist nobody could view the sunrise from tower that day😂

😂🤣🤐

Just 200m below tiger hill view point lies Old Mahakal temple with it's magnetism. As per tales, it is said that tigers used to sit in this complex. The ambience was surreal. It has such a lure and some calming presence that you can spend hours, hours sitting there. If I ever decide to visit Darjeeling again, it would be just to spend time in this place

There are four goldfish in this pond. make sure to carry some food for them while you visit

We reached Zoo, but it was closed due to covid. Subir discovered a place to have breakfast. so after consuming two ice cream at 8.30am, here we are

Hey! Don't judge

After fulfilling breakfast, we decided to visit Tibetian refugee centre. You will get woolen stuff in such reasonable prices. worth buying

Bondages

We left the complex after an hour and came down to Kunga for Lunch at 3pm

Dinner with bakery goods in glenary's

and mid night wandering in mall

Last day:

Day started with Wine tea

After waiting for subir to wake up (which, as usual he didn't), started walking toward Japanese Peace pagoda

Beautifully crafted road

Drizzles and mist= Magic

Suiboku-ga-Japanese ink paintings

This lady (in below pic) taught me how to offer prayer in pagoda

was fascinated with the cracks. I guess imperfection adds beauty of another dimension to otherwise perfect things or individuals. Perfect is predictable and boring 🍕

Breakfast

Finally, here's our blogger 🙂 in crossroad. He's on his way to Pagoda

on way to pagoda, I had passed a board showing St paul's. while returning, I thought to follow the route

Granny sitting on the porch told that it's a famous school and I should visit. only after reaching the school gate, I got to know that this school was site for famous movies like main hoon na and they don't allow visitor

Road towards St John's was engulfed in hazy green, poetically romantic

Came across a wonderful personality, Laxmi narayan ji. st paul's, darjeeling where he shared his shayaris

I had to rush back, because both me and Arghya (from hostel) will have to travel for kolkata today. others were staying for another 3-4 days.

Hot chocolates in Keventer's

on reaching siliguri, I rushed off to Arirang. That is my go to place for lunch or dinner whenever I'm in town. Had my lunch cum dinner and packed some for my late night carvings

and finally back to kolkata.

Beautiful people, kind and generous; some great food and cool company (from our dorm). Someday, we might come across each other and when we do, I hope we have enough adventures in our bag to regale for whole night. See you guys soon!💛

🙂

(sweets from Tibetan temple)

Notes:

• NJP Railway station to Darjeeling ( Toy train)- Rs 1400

• NJP Railway station to Darjeeling ( Shared Jeep)- Rs 500

• Darjeeling to Tiger hill and Tibetan refugee camp (all shared)- Rs 1000

• you can opt for stay as per your budget. since I was solo traveler, I went with hostel

• Trip cost from Kolkata ( including transport and food)- Rs10000

• Avoid smoking in public space

Please carry your own water bottle, avoid using plastic.

PC: Subir and Vaibhav

PS: Travel as traveler not as tourist. Feel free to connect to give inputs or to get any information. Keep travelling!