My Darjeeling Holiday Experience

My Darjeeling  Holiday Experience.

 With a traveler’s Bag and a tourist’s spirit, I started my four-day Darjeeling trip after Comparing options for Kerala Holiday. And  Bhutan Holiday. In Early-September with a small pocket bearing lots of dreams.

It was a family vacation with my husband and two of my little angels. We preferred an airplane journey from Delhi Airport, Indira Gandhi International Airport to Bagdogra Airport, from where a cab service transported us to the City of Sunshine, Darjeeling. Railways can be another option to reach NJP railway station in Siliguri from Delhi and then one can board a cab to Darjeeling.

We had an early morning Indigo flight from Delhi and everything was smooth and on time. As we didn't have had our breakfast, we ordered a Sandwich for ourselves and some chocolate cookies. Around 10, as we landed at the airport, a rush of feelings got us. It was so calm, even in the hustle-bustle of the airport and here, it marked the beginning of our vacation. Lost in dreams of wandering in the woods, my eyes caught the pendekar of our trip, ‘Dorji’, our cab driver, Arranged by my Travel Agent with a big board reading our names. He welcomed us a big grin and loaded our luggage in a white-colored WagonR. As the engine started, we were all ready with our ‘Things to do in Darjeeling' lists. With 13-15 C, it was a little cold and luckily I was carrying a Pashmina shawl that I bought During my Kashmir Holiday last year and sweaters in my handbag.

Darjeeling Holiday

 Plan an Andaman Holiday 

 On our way To Mirik (It is a few hour detours from our way to Darjeeling), Dorji who came out to be a very interactive native of Darjeeling told us about all his previous adventures with the tourists and even suggested us few places to dine at during our journey, Kunga Restaurant being his favorite. He even asked us to visit ChowRasta, which is a historical public square in the Victorian era hill where a lot of activities for tourists are organized and people assemble there for leisure and strolls. In the middle of sharing all the culture and pride of Darjeeling, we reached Mirik which was a delight to my eyes. Stretches of greenery peeking out from the high browns with the dots of orange amidst the shivers in the cold weather, Mirik is known for its orange orchards and the tea gardens. My husband and I had a cup of Oolong tea in the shades of trees and kids went after the sweet orange juice. After spending an hour in the lapse of nature, Dorji took us to the Tingling Viewpoint where your eyes can map the entire village and beautiful landscapes. After clicking a lot of photographs, about 10 km from there we reached the Mirik village where we spent some time at Sumendu Lake feeding the fishes another side of the Lake lies the forest connected by the Rainbow Bridge. A few minutes away from there was the proper commercial twin of Mirik with guest houses and hotels for travelers. We planned on staying in the town of Darjeeling on the mall road as to the central location and it near to all the major attractions. Spending 2-3 hours in the village and after satisfying the shopaholic in me in the Mirik market roads, we came back to the cab happy and contented. Dorji was constantly around us sharing the stories of places, clicking photos and even suggesting to us what should we buy and of how much. Horse riding is another activity in the town.

we resumed our journey to the hotel. We also took an hour stop at the indo-Nepal border where you will find a Nepalese market with a high bargaining scope. It was 4 already and we all were tired and spent the rest of our journey quiet listening to some regional tapes that Dorji always kept with himself. Finally, around 7 we reached our hotel at Mall road and all the booking were done beforehand. We made the bookings for 3 nights and we had our flight in the evening on our fourth day. The hotel staff took out luggage to our room and we thanked Dorji for the wonderful trip. Later, we got to know that Dorji lives about 30 minutes from here and we asked him if he could only guide us to tiger hill tomorrow morning and he gladly agreed. After saying and checking in the hotel, I checked my room which came out to be very basic and simple. We were very tired, so we ordered food in our room only from the restaurant on the first floor. We ordered two traditional Nepali thalis, a plate of Momos and some rice. It was a very different taste and till today I can't decipher what it was. After stuffing in a lot of food, our daughters went to sleep and my husband and I thought of going out on a night's stroll. As we came downstairs, it was very quiet and there were hardly more than 4-5 people on the road. All the shops were closed and the only source of light was the restaurants packing up. It was just 8 in the night and all this looked so unfamiliar yet relaxing. Our eyes caught the boards of various restaurants and hotels we heard about and we planned on having our breakfast at Glenary’s tomorrow morning. For tomorrow, we planned to see the sunrise at tiger hill and then spent the rest of the day exploring other locations that were near the Mall road. We slept around 9 Pm

North East Tour Guide VDO

Plan a Assam Meghalaya Holiday with Club Holiday. 

 The next morning, our pendekar ‘Dorji’ was waiting for us around 3 at the gate with special tea and Gundruk he made for us at his place. I must say, it was the best thing to start our second day in Darjeeling. We left our hotel around 330 in the morning to Tiger hill which was about an hour's journey. Few other guests also left with us. On our way, Dorji asked us to taste Thumpka and buy some Kakra ko Achar on our way back. Around 5 we reached Tiger hill and although it was still a little dark, it was the liveliest place I saw that day. With the waiting eyes of many tourists and the places buzzed of various small tea and food stalls to satisfy the morning hunger, I bought a cup of green tea and some biscuits. At about 530 am, we caught the first ray. Beautiful. Serene. Magical. It was a very different experience of how the oranges and yellows were escaping out from the blues of darkness in the lushes of green. The day couldn't have gone better. About 2 hours later, we left the tiger hill and reached back out hotel room.

 We got ready for breakfast and as planned went to GLENARY'S for a sweet morning. After breakfast, we had a usual day exploring places around like the mountaineering academy which had the statues of Tenzing Norway and various sites to teach mountaineering for those who aim higher. Also, there was a section where tourists can try rock climbing if they wish. I shopped for few hours in the city and everything I saw was so colorful and lively that it was so difficult to resist, I even bought a small packet of teas and traditional food items along with Darjeeling souvenirs. We spent a lot of time in similar-looking Gardens with their own stories. We went to peace pagoda, which was a Buddhist monastery and it was magical. I practiced Buddhism for a brief period of my life and it is very peaceful. The shrines, the sound of the bells, the colorful visions, the chanting of unfamiliar words and the purity of the air mesmerized us, we spent about 2 hours in this serenity. We even planned Zoo for today but after spending so much time in the monastery and as we were very hungry by 6, we postponed it to tomorrow. We went to eat Thumpka in Kunga restaurant and ordered typical Bengali food and drinks and Momos. After food, we drove back to the hotel around 7 and strolled around in nature. We planned on exploring the zoo and the Ghoom village tomorrow.

The next morning, after breakfast we planned on going to the zoo on foot as it was just a 15-20 min walk. The kids had good fun with the animals and they got excited. After watching and playing with the animals, Dorji came back to pick us at Ghoom Village. In Ghoom village, the major attraction was the toy train. Apart from that green views were everywhere to compliment the fun. It was about an hour's journey from our hotel and as we reached, we got out our cameras and shawls. We bought tickets for the toy train and boarded it which took us through the greenery of the place. At Batasia Loop, the toy train took a 360-degree turn. We enjoyed the train trip a lot and it was truly the pride of the city. After spending some time over there, we went to the Ghoom monastery and then for some sightseeing.

Kanchenjunga was visible from there was very pretty. We even sent hours talking to locals and listening to their stories. On our way back, Dorji invites us to his home for dinner to which we couldn't refuse. Dorji lived in a small house but the house was painted in such bright colors and it was very lively He offered us Seoul Rotis, Dalle (Darjeeling Hills Pickles) and Alu Dum. It was the most delicious meal I had on my entire trip. The homeliness a=at is place and the love that his family showered upon us was very pure. The place and people in this place are equally beautiful. Later he dropped us to our hotel and as we had our flight the next day at 4, we packed our bags at night. Like always, we went out for a little walk on the roads with a lot of memories to cherish. We spent hours roaming in the cold air and went to sleep around 12 that night. The next day, we had a lazy morning and we work up around 10. We had to check out at 12. So we rushed and got ready and settled the payments. We found Dorji waiting for us at the gate. We loaded our luggage in the car. We had a quick breakfast at Glenary's again that morning and paced few sweets to Delhi. We started our journey to the airport around 12. We reached the airport on time and had a relaxing flight to Delhi. It was an amazing journey to the land of pure magic and all thanks to Dorji, who made it even more sweet and nice. Our next planned Holiday In Andaman Nicobar 

Souurce: http://clubholiday102.blogspot.com/