Enchanting Darjeeling and Gangtok

Darjeeling and Gangtok are one among the most enchanting places on earth, the real heaven on earth. The places are so much worth seeing that one gets fascinated to visit them once more on their life time.

SILIGURI is a small town that is the gateway to Darjeeling and North-eastern India. It is approximately 80km from Darjeeling.

AIR: The nearest airport is BAGDOGRA, around 88km from Darjeeling (around 3-4 hours drive). Bagdogra is just 12km from Siliguri.
RAIL: New Jalpaiguri (NJP) is the nearest railway station that is approximately 88km from Darjeeling. Siliguri is just 6km away from NJP railway station.

•  Bus services are regularly available from Siliguri to Darjeeling.
• Regular cabs ( TATA Sumo, Scorpio, etc) are also available from Siliguri on seat sharing basis.

DARJEELING HIMALAYAN MOUNTAIN RAILWAY: Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is a narrow gauge railway from SILIGURI to Darjeeling. The journey may take more than 4-5hours, but it is worth a life time.

Places of Interest in Darjeeling

• Mirik Lake 
• Tiger hill 
• Ghoom monastery 
• Batasiya loop 
• Himalayan mountaineering institute 
• Ganga maya park and Rock garden 
• Tea gardens 

MIRIK (Sumendu Lake):

•  This is a beautiful spot on the way to Darjeeling. It is 55km from Siliguri.
• It is around 4900m above sea-level.
• Boating in this lake is the main tourist attraction.
• Horse riding is also a pleasure pass time here.
• For those willing to have a night stay here, regular hotels and resorts are available.

DARJEELING SIGHT SEEING:

   1) TIGER HILL:

•  This is the most important spot of Darjeeling sightseeing and is extremely famous for the SUNRISE and the clear view of Mount Kanchenjunga (8586m), highest in INDIA and the third highest in the world.
• The first ray of the sun falls on Mt.Kanchenjunga and the mountain glows in orange colour. This spot is simply breathtaking and a must watch for one in their life time.
• On a clear sunny day even MOUNT EVEREST is clearly visible from this spot.
• This spot is 11km from Darjeeling town.

2) GHOOM MONASTERY:

• The spot is 8km from Darjeeling town.
• This Buddhist monastery is considered the holiest in Darjeeling district.
• Inside the monastery is 15ft tall Buddha, studded with precious stones.

3) BATASIYA LOOP:

This tourist spot on a clear sunny day can be the most picturesque place on earth.
 This place has 3 significances:
(1) This is a memorial created for all the Gorkha army jawans who sacrificed their lives for Indian independence.
(2) This is the place where the Himalayan mountain rail from Siliguri takes a loop (circum navigates) around the war memorial.
(3) One gets a panoramic view of Kanchenjunga.
The tourist spot is 5km from Darjeeling town.

4) HIMALAYAN MOUNTAINEERING INSTITUTE:
• The Institute was started by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru after Tenzing Norgay (the first Indian and a native of Darjeeling) scaled Mount Everest with Edmund Hillary.
• Just a small ascent from the institute is Tenzing Norgay’s memorial.
• There is also a small museum here, covering all the important events in the history of Himalayan Mountaineering Institute and various pictures of Tenzing and Edmund Hillary in Mt.Everest.
• The institute regularly trains trekkers to scale Mt.Everest and also has many courses for trekkers that is internationally renowned.

5) GANGA MAYA PARK AND ROCK GARDEN:

• The 2 parks are very pleasant picnic spots in Darjeeling sight seeing.
• Ganga Maya park has a small waterfall and like any other garden has beautiful unique floral shrubs.
• Tribal dance is an added attraction in Ganga maya park.
• Rock garden has a natural waterfall (cascade) flowing from a considerable height, and the cascade can be witnessed from various levels by walking over the path that ascents till the top of the cascade. It can be a new exciting experience for the tourists.

6)  DARJEELING TEA GARDENS:

• For those who have visited Ooty and Valparai, the Darjeeling tea estates may not be very new and special. But it is worth a visit.
• There are lots of tea shops available nearby the spot where one can sip a hot cup of Darjeeling tea in the cold climate and have a look at the tea gardens.
• Better to buy Darjeeling tea powder packets from reputed shops in the town as the local shops in the tourist spot may charge too much.

SIKKIM­­­-GANGTOK

Gangtok city is truly the mini Singapore in India. The city is very disciplined and is neat and tidy. The city has the finest restaurants to cater to all the tastes of people. South Indian, Punjabi, Marwari, Gujarathi, Bengali and much more international cusines.

            As the city has quite narrow roads, only small vehicles like maruthi omni, Alto, are being operated for local sightseeing.

TSHANGU LAKE:

• The spot is situated 38km from Gangtok and 12,400 feet above sea-level. The lake is considered very sacred by the natives of the state.
• The lake is 1km long and resembles our country India in shape when looked upon from an aerial view.
• The uniqueness of the lake is that it completely freezes during winter season.
• No one is allowed even to touch the water of this lake to maintain its purity and holiness.
• Yak ride is available in this spot as an added attraction.
• There are lots of shops available to buy woolen clothes for hire and to own.
• It is better, tourists arrange for big vehicles like- Sumo, Scorpio, Tavera, etc to travel to the spot as the road conditions are quite bad in some stretches owing to the hilly terrain and frequent land slides.

BABA MANDIR – NATHULA PASS

• NATHULA PASS is the INDO-CHINA border situated at an altitude of 14,500 feet and 56km from Gangtok. The temperature is freezing here and the travelers can watch the Chinese armed forces guarding the border from the other side of the border.
• The pass was reopened for trade between India and China in 2006 after it was closed in 1961. 
• Indian tourists are allowed to visit the pass on 4 days in a week (Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday).
• Another 10km from Tshangu lake but a slight deviation from the Nathula pass route is Baba mandir at an altitude of 13,000 feet.
• The place is located between Tshangu lake and Nathula pass.
• Tourists can see plenty of cascades enroute to the Baba mandir.
• The shrine was built in memory of Baba Harbajan Singh, an army soldier who went missing 35 years back and was believed to have got drowned in a stream nearby.
• Free food is offered to all the tourists who visit the temple on Sundays. We can see all the army jawans cooking and serving food to all the tourists on Sundays.
• One can really feel the patriotism seeing our armed forces serving and guarding our nation in such severe conditions.

RUMTEK MONASTERY:

• The monastery is 24km from Gangtok city and is the largest monastery in Sikkim.
• It is said to be a replica of Tsurphu monastery in Tibet.
• The monastery is four storeyed and has a huge prayer hall.
• The monastery also has 1001 small golden images of Buddha.
• The small elevator path that takes us to the main building has numerous prayer wheels lined up on one side, that is typical to any Buddhist monastery. 
• One can see numerous Buddhist monks performing prayers and special offerings to lord Buddha in the monastery.
• Behind the monastery is Karma Nalanda Institute that admits students from all over the world for imparting Buddhist studies and is an internationally acclaimed institution in Buddhist studies.

NAMNANG VIEW POINT:

• The view point is in the heart of the Gangtok city, and is very famous as the Ropeway is available from this spot to have a clear aerial view of the whole city.
• The ropecar has 3 stoppings and tourists can getin at any one point and travel to the other 2 spots.The rope car here is imported from Switzerland and is the same that is being operated in Mt. Titlis there.

HANUMAN TOK AND GANESH TOK:

• Hanuman tok is the shrine dedicated to lord Hanuman and is 11km away from Gangtok. The place is at an altitude of 7200feet.
• Ganesh tok is the shrine dedicated to lord Ganesha and is at an altitude of 6500feet.
• The temple is very small and is located 7km from Gangtok city.