The very first thing that comes to my mind, and perhaps to a host of other people around the globe when you utter “Darjeeling‘ is the soothing aroma of the finest liquor tea in the world.
Well, this hill station has far more to offer than the bouquet of natural fragrance that the tea brings when one sips and gets into a tizzy of joy.
She is truly an empress of surreal beauty.
Heavenly Glory🌤️🌈
Breathtaking views of the mountains, undulating plateaus, valleys, and the greenery stretched far and wide.
The most striking are the vivid colors that had danced around our eyes.
The ever changing sceneries will make you forget who you are, where you come from.
I was astounded and spent hours soaking in the exalted beauty that kept me immovable. I starred on.
Whether it is morning, or late afternoon, the scudding clouds, the scattered angled house tops and the receding forest line on the hills, all glimmered under the glare of the cool, subdued morning or the setting sun.
of fluffy clouds hung from the sky
Mystical Colours🎨
A mix of blue dipped in light and dark shades of emerald green, made an incredible style statement.
In all directions, the eyes caught dazzling colors thrown by nature.
catch the sunrise on Kangchendjunga
Darjeeling Mountain Drive🛣️
We planned to spend four to five days in this hilly crucible.
The terrain was harsh and the roads were steep, circuitous, and moderately drivable.
On reaching Darjeeling from Kolkata in our most trusted Swift, we set her for rest and jumped into an old war horse of the hills.
We were driving in a locally bred rugged SUV, a modified Mahindra 750 ST hardtop 2.1 liters which was fairly well suited due to her high ground clearance and low-end torque of 121 Nm, needed to climb the gradient.
We started our sojourn by getting up early to face the wind swept rugged topography to get blessed by the sunrise at Tiger Hill.
At five am, the temperature was around one to two degrees or perhaps lower and with the skin numbing cold, we were hardly able to talk.
With hands dug deep into the jackets, we kept our eyes peeled through our woolen caps to catch the first light of the sun.
The Spectacular Kanchendzonga🏔️
I will try to paint the frame of mind that assailed me when I saw the streaks of diffused gold on the white mountain.
I felt like being a nonexistent entity and all my problems in life overshadowed, all my challenges in life melted away.
All my accomplishments in life had simply evaporated.
I had completely lost my worldly presence, perhaps I was looking at the creator.
The range stretched from left to the right and has the following wind shearing peaks – Rathong, Kabru South, Kaburu north, Kanchendzonga main, Kanchendzonga south and finally the sliding Kabru dome with the lone Siniolchu on the far right.
Tiger Hill🗻
Visitors flock to this mountain face to see the surreal sunrise. With all the flashing colors they looked like a supreme force from another world, patiently watching the human mankind with its sardonic grin.
As we came down after the sun flashed white light instead of orange gold, the valley was all lit up and the business activities had started. It was seven in the morning.
Batashiya Loop🌄
A huge section of local people had laid out a market to sell warm garments for the ferocious winter ahead that included shawls, pullovers, sweaters and multi colored mufflers.
Himalayan Flowers🌺🌼
We went for a stroll across the hill encircled uneven flatland to catch a glimpse. The cool breeze wafted across the valley and multiple varieties of flowers swung randomly to welcome the visitors with a mixed fragrance of a zillion flowers with Magnolias and Michaelias holding fray .
In some places, we saw the dense forest growth which stretched as far as the distant mountains.
The backdrop of the dark mountains continuously changed colors presenting nature’s ever-changing temperaments.
slowly blanking the Kangchendzonga range
Ghum, Highest Railway Station🚂
On our way down, we saw “Ghum“, India’s highest railway station.
Tucked away on the inclines, the small station had a few meter-gauge railway wagons parked.
How tiny they looked.
The Ghum Town 🏘️
The most noteworthy part is the drive over the Hill Cart road which juxtaposed itself with the meter-gauge railway tracks.
Both train and vehicular traffic criss-crossed each other with a subtle sense of respect.
playing hide and seek on the Hill Cart Road
The feeder roads in Darjeeling are narrow and turned in sharply with a thirty-degree angle, this necessitated to have smaller cars with short wheelbases for quick turns.
Darjeeling Zoo🦁
One of the most interesting places is the Darjeeling zoo.
It had great inmates – Red pandas, leopards, exotic birds, so we parked on the angled road and paid a quick visit.
on the caged wire, that long tail helps the feline
to balance on rocky ravines when
it pounces on its prey
to kill, it took quite an effort to locate the cat
on its side to catch the sun
walk across the tree branches
Famous Tea kingdom🫖🌿
After a two hour stint at the zoo, we started driving towards newer areas to see the enigmatic tea lands which hugged the mountainsides like a stitched green carpet.
As far as we could see, we saw tea gardens hung over the undulating hills and valleys.
The temperature was quite low due to a mix of heavy moisture from the trees and a slight drizzle from the rain.
We never felt tired.
with this low height trees that fill the appetite
of millions across the globe
Tough Mountain Drive🏞️
Driving in Darjeeling is quite challenging, especially if you are a driver of the plains.
The road surface in some places was quite rough but the trick is to drive in low gears, and I being a die-hard stick shift gearhead, the manual transmission, killed the obstacles with relative smoothness.
On my descent from the zoo, the slopy roads became favorable. Both the roar of the engine and the tilting roads subdued to my emerging hill drive.
Of course, a four-wheel-drive vehicle like a Land Rover would have been really good for climbing steep roads.
the beautiful scenery or the snaky roads ahead
The difficult part is when you are turning on the outer edge of a road where there’s a plunge on your left and you have a car on the opposite side.
You just drive with the outer edge as your guide and keep slow speed and use the engine as your brake.
Mountain Handicrafts🧵🪡
We came down and parked to visit the handicrafts shop to see things on display… absolutely beautiful decorative objects were available on the lower echelons of the slants where the local handicraft vendors and their shops had flourished in great numbers.
Food of the Hills🫕
For lunch, we used to have this very simple and highly nutritive dish, called Thukpa.
Not only we felt ready to heave ourselves and move around even after a good meal, we also could pull for at least four hours without a meal.
noodles with veg or non-veg mix
One of the famous places in Darjeeling is the ‘Mall‘, it is an open area with scores of handicraft shops, eateries with good music that rang around the ground with mainly western beats.
People in loads, flocked to this place to have a great view of the Kangchenjunga during the day and just dawdled away the evenings to the cold dark nights.
Everyone had a fair share of their liking.
Flowing hills of Kalimpong🌀
The following day, we drove to Kalimpong, another hill town, around 49 kilometres from Darjeeling with splendid mountain views all around.
We saw a great many tea gardens and files of village workers coming back from them after a day’s work.
On our way down, we visited a few monasteries, which were quite prevalent across hill town.
We saw the revolving rhymes line the walls.
Young lamas were seen playing on the monastery grounds.
Monastries and lamas🧘♂️
On the outskirts of Kalimpong, we saw a senior Lama lighting up the fire before the worshiping sessions started.
An intense fragrance of herbs and plants, a smell of the woods and forests cloaked the stepped monastery.
The smell and quietness dissolved into a distant hum of a Tibetan hymn, kept us captivated for hours.
The Rivers🌊
During our day drive, a sharp U-turn with a mild slope suddenly opened into nothingness and then after we parked, a breathtaking view awaited us.
The confluence of Teesta river and Rangeet river, the spot from where we took a snap was picture perfect.
we spent about an hour exploring
was playing cricket as we visited
The road went up and down with numerous bends which kept my hands very busy with the steering wheel as we changed course.
The roads in these parts of the country ride squealy and swaying wooden and metal bridges over scores of small to big rivers as streams and rapids are commonplace in this terrain.
Darjeeling After Sundown 🌤️
By the evening, we could see the setting sun disappearing among the Himalayan mountain ranges.
coming to an end as we drove back to Darjeeling
started looking menacing with the
fast disappearing light
A singular experience of visiting and driving in Darjeeling. Every bit of the place is a nature’s creation of vivid colors coupled with constantly changing moods of the weather.
Darjeeling and Kalimpong, snippets🚞🍂
the hillsides and the valley like a necklace
Once the sun went down, the general activity of a town came down very rapidly and a quietness falls over the mountains.
Tightening the collar of my warm jacket I eased the clutch of the Jeep and with a cloud of loose dust off the hills, the quarter ton four wheel drive, took us to our refuge at the base for the night ahead.
Inference
- Darjeeling is one of the spectacular places in northern West Bengal, India.
- Lofty Himalayas with the third highest peak, Khangchendzonga sits far away like an empress or a queen of undulations. The hills along with their all encompassing rugged terrains no doubt look formidable but a peace prevails in you, if you just keep staring at it.
- Do not be in a touch and go exercise but let the beauty soak in. The tea has million variety; however, the finest is known as the flush tea of Darjeeling. Mild and intense, the liquor soothes you in an unexplainable way.
- The sun rise and sun sets, are stunning and are different everyday.
| The distance from Kolkata to Darjeeling | 643 Kms North |
| Places to visit | Mall, Zoo, Kalimpong, Tinchuley village, Tiger hill for sunrise, Khangchendzonga, for anytime viewing, Batasia loop |
| Time to visit | April to May (Summers) and Oct to December (To see snow fall) |
| Car used, fuel burned | Maruti Swift diesel 1.2 liters and Mahindra Jeep for steep climbs, 58 litres |
| Food / Beverages | Kwati, Aaloo Achar, Sel Roti, Pork Curry, Tibetan Thukpa and of course, tea of any variety |
| Pocket pinch | Rs.5000 to Rs.6000 (fuel), Rs.1200 to Rs.1400 (toll road tax),Rs.900 to Rs.2500 (budget hotels), Rs.250 to Rs.1200 per head food cost, Local sight seeing car hire:Rs.750 to Rs.1600 per day depending on the car type. |
SPITFIRE GAUTAM 