1000 Places to See Before You Die 23 - Darjeeling, West Bengal, India

I went to India in 2004 (I have another post about my visit to the Taj Mahal) and this was my first brig trip away from home and on my own. I say on my own, but we were actually a group of 14 girls going, but I didn’t know any of them beforehand. We were going to the small village of Bijanbari in the West Bengal highlands to teach English in the village schools. 

The view from Darjeeling

We spent a few days sightseeing around Delhi, Jaipur and Agra before we headed up the mountains to the city of Darjeeling. We took the train from Delhi to Siliguri, which is a 24 hour overnight experience, but it is possible to fly to Bagdogra, located 90 km from Darjeeling, and drive for a few hours to Darjeeling from there. 

Darjeeling was founded by the British in the mid-19th century, when they set up an sanatorium and a military depot here. Soon it became a popular spot for summering among the British, as it provided an escape from the heat of the plains. It is located at an altitude of 2130 m and this provides cooler temperatures and stunning views of the Himalayas. You can sometimes see Mt. Everest from the city, but Kanchenjunga is the mountain that dominates the views. This peak is the third-highest in the world and the Buddhist consider it to be sacred. 

The main street in Darjeeling

The bakery, Glannary's, a popular spot among Western tourists

Around Darjeeling are masses of tea plantations. The British started the tea-growing here and today there are still dozens of plantations providing tea for the traditional English high teas at the local hotels and beyond. 

In and around Darjeeling there are a number of things you can do. Of course you can use the city as a jumping off point for mountaineering or trekking expeditions in the Himalayas, or you can enjoy the city itself with its twisting streets and calmer feel compared to Delhi or Jaipur. If you want to prepare for a mountaineering expedition, there is the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, located in the Zoo, where there are exhibitions about expeditions to Mt. Everest and other peaks. They also have a small climbing wall, if you want to test your skills. 

Statue of Tenzing Norgay

There is also the famous Toy Train; a steam engine that winds its way from Siliguri to Darjeeling with an average speed of 10 km per hour. Not for the impatient, but I do believe it is possible to board the train at a later station and thus experience the ride for a shorter, more manageable, time period. As far as I can tell this “Toy Train” is not only a touristy gimmick, which I had pegged it as, but is an actual railway, built with the narrow set of train tracks because of the geography. In fact it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, declared as such because of its influence on the social and economic development of a multi-cultural region and its innovation. 

We also went to Tiger Hill to watch the sun rise over the mountains. It is located about 11 km from Darjeeling and you can hire a jeep to take you there, or you can hoof it yourself. We went by jeep…The view offered here consists of Mt. Everest and Mt. Kanchenjunga together, bathed in light before the sun fully rises (if you arrive early enough, that is). The viewing platform was absolutely packed with people, but somehow it was still a calming experience and the view was stunning. 

As I said above the temperature in Darjeeling and the surrounding areas are quite a lot cooler than in Delhi for example, due to its location in the mountains. It doesn’t get much warmer than 20 degrees Celsius in the hotter months, so be prepared for that, especially if you are planning trekking og hiking expeditions and staying out at night. 

All facts from “1000 Places to See Before You Die” by Patricia Schultz and Wikipedia.