Hello everyone,
Coronation Bridge
The North eastern part of our country is extremely beautiful, and less explored. After having covered south, west(by road), we decided to cover this part now. Since I was travelling with my parents and children and my younger sister I decided to visit the main tourist places without making it too hectic ...
Well, after a lot of thinking and rethinking and starting the thinking part again, we finally booked our flight tickets for Bagdogra from Delhi for May, 17th, booked a hotel in Darjeeling, Gangtok and in Kalimpong. So now the trip was in place, but not the itinerary for the trip.
Did a lot of research and considering the fact that I had elderly parents and young children with me decided to cover selective places. In any case we didn't didn't have many days in hand too.
Just wanted to mention here that people do not prefer to travel by road late in d evening(after dusk), the market also closes down early here, unlike in the metro cities.
The trip ... in detail.
Boarded the flight at 6a.m. from Delhi
We booked ourselves a cab from the pre paid counter at the airport in Bagdogra.
Bagdogra to Darjeeling via Mirik Lake
Total cost Rs 1600 + Rs 800(for going via Mirik)
Time taken- around 5 hours( with stops for lunch and photo sessions)
I would like to mention here that many people waste an entire day travelling to Mirik, to visit the lake. You can save that extra day by taking this slightly longer route, which happens to be more scenic. You can also visit the Pashupati Market at the India -Nepal border.
On the way to Mirik Lake
Mirik Lake
Say hello to our hungry li'l friend here...
Enroute
After reaching Darjeeling we checked into our hotel, which was very close to the Mall road. Please note that hotels do not have lifts here, so choose your rooms accordingly.... however if you desire stunning views then naturally, be willing to climb stairs.
We rested in the hotel for some time and after that went out to explore the Mall road and Chowrasta area. Enjoyed bhutta (corn) and momos from the roadside stalls.We loitered around aimlessly on the Mall road till late that day, taking in the cool and fresh air. Don't forget to carry a light sweater or shawl, in summer season too.
The famous 'Glenary's', in Darjeeling
Next day we got up, to get a view of the mighty Kanchenjunga though not very clear. Before this morning I was under the impression that like most of the mountain ranges, this range too would be visible far away in the horizon. however must say that Kanchenjunga , is very mighty ,close and towers high above Darjeeling. Now I know why it is called the mighty and majestic Kanchenjunga range...
View from our room's window.. view 1
View from our room's window... that's Kanchanjunga !! View 2
Well today we had planned to go for sight seeing. We had decided that the driver Krish who had brought us to Darjeeling from Bagdogra would be taking us around in Darjeeling and to Gangtok too. He was a patient driver(stopped whenever we showed a desire to click pictures), good guy who knew the area very well, and was a good, fast driver, and that saved our time.
Breakfast at the hotel
Sight seeing in Darjeeling
We covered all the places which were on the route we were taking. Did not want it to be too exerting for my parents, though will admit, by the end of it, it did get a bit tiring for them...
On the way
Many houses had these beautiful flowers.
Peace Pagoda and Buddhist Temple
This is in a nice quite area, surrounded by dense tall trees.
Peace Pagoda
Buddhist Temple
Dense Vegetation
Ghoom Railway Station
Got off the cab and clicked a few pics.
Batasia Loop and the War Memorial
The train stops at the Batasia loop for a while, we were wishing sooo badly to get a glimpse of the train at the loop..... and that was exactly what we got... Luck was with us!!
We literally went mad , clicked as many photos as we could.
Do remember to book your train tickets way in advance otherwise you too will have to do with just the clicks !!
Yipeeee!!! There was the train at the Batasia Loop.... right in front of us !!
Ha ha more people posing besides the train....
The War Memorial
Rock Garden
The down hill drive to this garden is breathtakingly beautiful, through beautiful tea estates on either sides. We stopped at one point to click pictures and buy fresh tea being sold there.You'll get a wonderful view of Darjeeling from this point too.
There is an entry fee of Rs 10 per person for Rock Garden. Be prepared to walk around, as this garden had various levels of waterfalls. Its a long walk to the top most waterfall.You can click beautiful pictures here.
The downhill ride
Rock Garden from a distance... imagine the walking around one has to do here, if you wanna cover the entire area.
On our way back
You can also visit Gangamaya park, which is further downhill, very close to the Rock Garden.
Darjeeling Zoo- Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park
We managed to get great clicks of one of the main attractions of this Zoo- the Red Panda ! Even the Black Bear got up on his hind feet and posed for us :-)
Do be prepared to walk around here too.
There were benches here, besides a shop.... had lovely, fresh pastries, brownie, etc
Headed where we'd find the Red Panda...
After patiently waiting... partial body
Another one... smaller one... that's where he lives...
Patience pays
Finallyyyy
Ain't he cute :-)
Before exiting...posed again !!
Wanted to go to the rope way too, but decided against it, because you have to wait for a long time for your turn... didn't have that kind of patience, so headed back to the hotel.
We paid Rs 2500 to the driver for this sight seeing.
On our way back to the hotel
Next day it started to rain in Darjeeling since morning, unfortunately did not get to see the mighty and majestic Kanchenjunga that day :-( .... it was the day when we were to leave for Gangtok.
Darjeeling to Gangtok
Time Taken - Around 4 hours
Road condition - good, though roads are narrow.
On our way we stopped and did river rafting too, on Teesta River.
Teesta River
This is the point where you board the jeep to go for river rafting on Teesta River.
We enjoyed rafting here... easy level.
We paid Rs 2500 for the rafting experience (5 people).
Gangtok
I read at many places that only cars having Sikkim registration nos are permitted to enter Gangtok, rest can only go up to Deorali, however we managed to reach our resort in a WB cab.The cab driver informed us that he had a permit, so could drop us, but could not take us around for sightseeing in Sikkim.
We reached our resort around afternoon, checked in, enjoyed the breathtaking views we got from our room balcony.On one side Gangtok town was visible, could also see the cable cars transporting people up and down , and on the other side people paragliding. Right in front of us was this mesmerizing view of the mountains and the valley.... extremely beautiful !!
Look closely... that's the cable car
Somebody paragliding ....view from our room's balcony... and that's not one of us!
Had planned it for the next day, but it rained so we couldn't do it.. Alas !!
View form our balcony... pure bliss !!
Outside our room
Our rooms
Strawberries.. yummm !!
Look what we found...
Blessed are the people who own that beautiful property - Hidden Forest Resort.
In the evening we hired a cab from outside the resort for MG Road. Like to mention here, that in a cab maximum 4 number of people excluding the driver can travel for Rs25 per head (sharing basis)
or hire the cab for Rs 150.There majority of the cabs are Alto.
I wonder how these tiny Alto cars manage to climb up those steep roads... but they did... with ease!
Waiting for a cab to come our way.... wanted to go to MG Road
MG Road seems like.... it doesn't belong to India, it has a different feel altogether. We did a lot of souvenir shopping from there. Thoroughly enjoyed the evening spent on the MG Road.
This is where the cab will drop you... no vehicles allowed on the MG Road.
Next day we had planned to go for paragliding, but..... alas! it started to drizzel , so paragliding was out :-(
Nevertheless that did not dampen our spirits , we hired two Alto cars and headed for sightseeing.
Hanuman Tok
This is a beautiful temple located on a hill top from where you get beautiful views of Kanchenjunga range.
Ganesh Tok
Another temple that we visited, but by this time it had started raining heavily.
Back at the hotel
The cab guy took Rs1600 for two cabs for the sight seeing.
We got back to the resort (really repenting why we had not kept a few more days for Gangtok), packed and left for Kalimpong.
The roads are like this ... I think, for anti skid.
I would suggest, do visit Pelling and Changu lake (Tsomgo Lake) and Nathulla Pass too, if you are in Gangtok. You will require permit to visit Changu lake and Nathulla Pass, so do carry two passport size photos and photo ID proof .During this trip my main motive was to make a short and memorable trip with my parents to the North East,without making it too hectic for them.
Well I will be making another trip to the North East very soon all by myself and covering all these places and many more...
With a heavy heart we bid goodbye to Gangtok, and headed for Kalimpong.
We reached Kalimpong in the evening, headed for Dealo Hill, got beautiful views, clicked many photographs. You can also do paragliding over there.
At the resort in Kalimpong..... in the morning.
We spent the night in the resort and the next day headed for Bagdogra airport .On our way stopped at the Coronation Bridge, and clicked photographs.
The cab driver charged us Rs 2800 for the ride to the airport.
Sharing the contact nos of the cab drivers we used.
Krish (Darjeeling) -09609966263
Dinesh (Gangtok)- 08944993738
Thank you for going through my blog :-)
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