The Trip to Darjeeling
Guess what? Another unique road experience – on the road to Darjeeling -- as if we hadn’t had enough already.
Guess what? Another unique road experience – on the road to Darjeeling -- as if we hadn’t had enough already.
We landed in Bagdogra after our flight from Mumbai with a short stopover in Kolkata. Bagdogra is a small agricultural town at an elevation of about 500 feet above sea level, situated in the plains below the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains where Darjeeling tea is grown. We were met by our local tour representative, and our driver Basant – of Nepali descent – who would drive us up to Darjeeling at an average elevation of 7,000 feet. Darjeeling tea is the major crop that is grown on steep hillside plantations all the way up to Darjeeling.
As we started up the one-lane, winding road for a 3 ½ hour ride over about 90 kilometers, little did we know that we were in for another “exciting” ride. We were travelling in a small Chevrolet SUV passing an assortment of vans, scaled down buses, trucks and cars that looked liked the Indian version of the tiny Smart car. Passing is an art in India where you have to slow down and either move close to the hillside or the steep drop below to squeeze by. Sometimes, there were turnouts of a few feet that made it seem like a “piece of cake.”
Our multi-lingual driver Basant who lived in Darjeeling, was a soft spoken, patient man of few words. He deftly navigated the challenging mountain road to get us safely to our destination – the New Elgin Hotel in Darjeeling. After our first moments of fear, we gained confidence with his driving to get us where we needed to go. It seems like the Indian drivers certainly know how to negotiate their terrain, but we were not ready to give-it-a-go.
On the way up, we passed the “Toy Train” – one of the highest, small-gage railroads ever built. It is a popular tourist attraction to ride the railway to the top, but it takes twice as long as a motor vehicle so we opted for the latter. As we passed the train, we saw a cameraman filming out of an open doorway as the train ascended to Darjeeling. It turns out, we met the camera crew the next morning and learned they were part of a Japanese film crew making a documentary for the Japanese TV station WOWOW about the train ride, Darjeeling and the spectacular view of Khangchendzonga, India’s highest peak soaring at 8598 meters or 28,169 feet, and the third highest peak in the Himalayas.
After settling in at our comfortable hotel, the New Elgin, we ventured out to the Chowrasta, the town square that had an array of shops and restaurants with the City’s main public auditorium nearby. Lauren did some successful jewelry shopping again and we then had dinner at the Glenery – one of the restaurants recommended in our guidebook. We then headed back to the hotel to get some rest before our 4:40 am rise for our trip to Tiger Hill, the highest point in Darjeeling for the sunrise view of Khangchendzonga.
As we started up the one-lane, winding road for a 3 ½ hour ride over about 90 kilometers, little did we know that we were in for another “exciting” ride. We were travelling in a small Chevrolet SUV passing an assortment of vans, scaled down buses, trucks and cars that looked liked the Indian version of the tiny Smart car. Passing is an art in India where you have to slow down and either move close to the hillside or the steep drop below to squeeze by. Sometimes, there were turnouts of a few feet that made it seem like a “piece of cake.”
Our multi-lingual driver Basant who lived in Darjeeling, was a soft spoken, patient man of few words. He deftly navigated the challenging mountain road to get us safely to our destination – the New Elgin Hotel in Darjeeling. After our first moments of fear, we gained confidence with his driving to get us where we needed to go. It seems like the Indian drivers certainly know how to negotiate their terrain, but we were not ready to give-it-a-go.
On the way up, we passed the “Toy Train” – one of the highest, small-gage railroads ever built. It is a popular tourist attraction to ride the railway to the top, but it takes twice as long as a motor vehicle so we opted for the latter. As we passed the train, we saw a cameraman filming out of an open doorway as the train ascended to Darjeeling. It turns out, we met the camera crew the next morning and learned they were part of a Japanese film crew making a documentary for the Japanese TV station WOWOW about the train ride, Darjeeling and the spectacular view of Khangchendzonga, India’s highest peak soaring at 8598 meters or 28,169 feet, and the third highest peak in the Himalayas.
After settling in at our comfortable hotel, the New Elgin, we ventured out to the Chowrasta, the town square that had an array of shops and restaurants with the City’s main public auditorium nearby. Lauren did some successful jewelry shopping again and we then had dinner at the Glenery – one of the restaurants recommended in our guidebook. We then headed back to the hotel to get some rest before our 4:40 am rise for our trip to Tiger Hill, the highest point in Darjeeling for the sunrise view of Khangchendzonga.
P.S. Check out the short video of the trip down from Darjeeling below.
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