After
a gap of four months, this time we decided to visit Darjeeling and Gangtok. This was our first visit to any place in
north east India.
Darjeeling, also known as the "Queen of hill stations", is nestled in
the Himalayas and is famous for its tea production
and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railways, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage
Site. This hill town was developed
in the mid 19thcentury, when the British set up a sanatorium and a military
depot in Darjeeling.
Before this, Darjeeling
was the ancient Gorkha capital. Later, the Maharaja of Sikkim gifted Darjeeling to the
British. Apart from tourism, Darjeeling is also popular for its many British style
public schools, which attract students from across India and even neighbouring
countries.
Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim
(22nd State of India), is located in the eastern Himalayan range. The noticeable things here for us were
disciplined traffic and a separate lane for pedestrians almost all over the
Gangtok.
We
started our journey on 14.4.2014 by Air India Flight which started at 11 am and
reached Bagdogra at 1 pm. From Bagdogra
one has to go by road to reach Darjeeling. One of the friends was waiting for us at
Bagdogra and we reached Darjeeling
at around 5 pm. The hotel was already
booked in advance hence no time was wasted in search for the same. As we reached hotel, it started raining. We waited for some time and proceeded towards
Chowrasta. The Chowrasta or the Mall is
the heart of Darjeeling
town. Located on top of Nehru Road,
this is a nice flat land where tourists and locals come to lounge in the sun,
take a seat on one of the many benches along the periphery, and watch the
wonderful views of the mountain peaks and valleys all around. We could not
view great scenery around because of clouds but we were able to see the
sun-set.
We roamed around the mall,
shopped white and green tea as demanded by Aditya and enjoyed the evening very
much. After dinner, we went for early
bed as we had to leave the hotel at 4 am next day to view the sun rise from
Tiger hills and the changing colours of Kanchenchanga due to reflection of
sun-rays on it.
Next
day, we started our journey at 4 am and proceeded towards Tiger Hills. Tiger Hill is located 11 km from Darjeeling. It's the highest point in the Darjeeling area at an
altitude of 8482 feet (or 2590 meters).
The
blaze of rapidly changing colors of the snow peaks of Kanchenchanga as the sun
strikes was an awesome view, but Tiger Hill is great even otherwise. It's a
destination by itself offering not just great views during sun rise, it's a
place where you can soak yourself with Himalayan serenity anytime during the
day. One can also view Everest from here but due to fog we could not see
that.
Later
on, we visited Padmaja
Naidu Himalayan
Zoological Park,
Batasia Loop and the War Memorial, Toy Train and reached Gangtok in the
evening.
Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological
Park – it is one of the best zoos in the country. It is a small but clean zoo. Here we saw Panda, major attraction for
us. We also saw black leopard, white
leopard, normal leopard, cloud leopard and many types of rare birds, etc.
The
Batasia loop situated almost 5 km away from the town is a gigantic railway loop
where the Toy Train makes a 360 Degree turn. It was basically built to make it
possible for the Toy Train to cut the deep ascend. Strategically located the
Batasia Loop offers a panoramic view of the Kanchanjunga Range.
A War Memorial constructed in the memory of the brave sons of the soil who laid
their lives in different wars since the independence of the nation adds to its
attraction.
Toy
Train – we were not lucky enough to get a ride of the toy train but we were
able to click some photos with the standing train at Ghoom station.
We
reached Gangtok at 5.30 pm and settled ourselves in the guest house. On our way to Gangtok we crossed the famous Teesta River. We planned to visit M.G.Marg in the evening
but could not due to heavy rains.
16.04.2014
We
decided to visit local places on this day which included Bathang water falls,
Tashi view point, Ganesh Tok, Zoo, Hanuman Tok, Flower Show, MG Marg, Ban Jakri and Roomtek
Monestry.
MG
Marg, the main street of Gangtok town is a great place to chill out. The
country’s first litter and spit free zone, no vehicular traffic is allowed into
the marg. One can sit at the Titanic
Park or at the various benches
stretched across the mall and take in the carnival like atmosphere. The Mall is
lined with shops on both sides of the road so shopping becomes an added
pleasure.
TASHI VIEW POINT – From here one can get a breathtaking view of Mount
Khangchendzonga and Mt. Siniolchu,
one of the most graceful peaks in the world.
GANESH TOK
- It is situated on a ridge and is only 7 kms. from Gangtok. From this spot one
gets birds eye view of sprawling Gangtok town down below.
HANUMAN TOK - it is situated
approximately 5 km rising from White Hall on a bifurcating road of the
Gangtok–Nathula highway. And it is 11 km away from Gangtok town. The height of
this point is roughly 7,200 ft. From the top of this hillock, one can get
wonderful view of Gangtok town and the nearby hills. The temple is managed by a
division of the Indian Army and can be observed to be completely neat and
clean.
Ban
Jakhri Water falls and Engery Park – It is a very beautiful picnic spot and one
can spend the whole day with family here.
Rumtek
Monastery - The Rumtek monastery or the Dharma Chakra Centre is located on
the top of the hill facing the city of Gangtok.
Rumtek Monastery is one of the most important seats of the Kagyu lineage
outside Tibet.
It is the largest monastery in Sikkim,
and a home of the monks’ community. The complex has many sacred objects. One of
the most magnificent objects is the Golden Stupa, which contains the precious
relics of His Holiness, the Sixteenth Karmapa. A college or Karma Shri Nalanda
Institute for Higher Buddhist Studies is situated opposite the building.
This
day was fixed for Nathula Pass, Tsangu
Lake and Baba Harbhajan
Mandir so we started our journey at 7 am.
Nathula Pass is a mountain pass in Eastern Sikkim, on the
Indo-Chinese border that serves as the trade link between India and China. Nathula Pass
nestles at an elevation of 14,140 feet and ranks amongst the
highest passes accessible by tourists via motor-able road. The Nathula Pass
is marked by Entrance gates of both countries (India
and China)
and military bunkers on both sides of the gates
The
road that leads to Nathula was bumpy and repair work was on full swing. It started snowing as we reached Tsangu
lake. It was snow everywhere as if
everything was covered with some white sheet.
A few small birds were flying even during the snow. The snow was very light yet fluffy. A long pending wish of watching live
snow-fall got fulfilled and it also compensated the previous day’s bad climate.
This experience of the beauty of snow fall and sceneries around cannot be
explained in words but can be described through pictures. We had an unforgettable experience at
Nathula.
The gate of both the countries
and bunkers were covered with snow. It
was difficult for us to bear the biting cold as we didn’t have enough woolens. After Nathula we visited new Harbhajan Temple. While returning back to Gangtok, heavy
snowfall started, all the vehicles were in rush to return back and the vehicles
started sliding due to heavy snow on the road.
As a result of this, heavy jam struck the narrow road. As is always there, Army came to rescue all
from this …… We reached back at the
guest house at 6.30 pm.
18.04.2014
