Day 1: Mirik | Day 2: Darjeeling | Day 3: Tiger Hill, Tonglu & Tumling
Day 4: Takdah, Tinchuley & Lamahttah | Day 5: Kalimpong | Day 6: Lava
Jan 2020
I was visiting my parents in Kolkata, India, had not seen them for two years but after the initial catching up most of my leave was getting consumed in the writing of grant applications. So I reminded myself that I needed to get out, I was in India and had been missing the mountains since relocating down under. It was time to respond to the call of the Himalayas. Mon was busy at her parents and the kids were completely taken up with Cricket training, I tried to convince my parents to come with me but they were not prepared to swap the warmth and comfort of their house for the winter chill of Darjeeling. Their had been a cold wave and plenty of snow fall. Anyway when the mountain calls you, you have to respond.
From Himachal to Sikkim I had made many trips into the Himalayas, but had never been to West Bengal’s pride Darjeeling, a bit embarrassing really for someone who loves the Himalaysa like I do. There were other options as well; Leh – Ladakh (too difficult to organise at short notice), Bhutan (too expensive since I have given up my Indian passport), revisiting Nepal (would have been my choice if my parents came with me as they have never been). So in a way given the choice of Darjeeling was made for me. It was the perfect balance between the amount of outstanding work I had, the amount of organising it needed and ticking off something from my longstanding Indian bucket list. And why not, people don’t refer to Darjeeling as the Queen of the hills for nothing. Only trepidation was that on my last attempt at seeing Kanchenjunga (Sikkim Trip), I had been bitterly disappointed as not a single time had it shown its visage. Oh well all the more reason to head back.
Booked hotels and flights (Rs 7207 return) on makemytrip.com, and off I went a day later, a solo traveler. Four nights at Udaan Dekling in Darjeeling (Rs 12751) and two at Summit Barsana in Kalimpong (Rs 6788).
Day 1: Outward Journey and Mirik
Left Kolkata for Bagdogra, I had read about all the scams that happen at the airport and how one might end up getting caught up with a tout. From Bagdogra to Darjeeling is a 4 hour road journey and one can book a taxi directly on the spot at the airport which I did (Rs 1860). All the websites advice that ensure that you take the taxi with the registration that they have put on the slip and avoid touts who will try to link you up with an empty returning taxi to Darjeeling and take a large cut from the money, not to mention that if something goes wrong you have no way of reporting it the authorities. Guess what, I have lost all my Indian genes and since I could not find the taxi outside ended up asking one of the vultures hanging about who pounced with their helpful gestures and guided me further away from where my taxi would be waiting. Within minutes I was being handed over to another taxi and a deal had been struck. I had been had. Oh well, I was in a taxi and now headed towards Darjeeling.
For me without any concrete plans it was a blessing in disguise. My taxi driver was Anand (+91 8101127373), a really nice guy with whom I ended up spending the next four days. Pretty certain he would not mind me sharing his number as this should do his business good. I had a wonderful time so I will recommend him with eyes closed but cant give any guarantees for traveler satisfaction, what worked for me might not for others 🙂
I asked Anand to take me via Mirik and negotiated an additional Rs 1500 to go via Mirik. Although I did this, and it worked out ok, I would not recommend doing this with an unknow taxi driver. I was a bit nervous when I got off at Mirik as I had left my suitcase in the taxi.
Mirik is on the tour map of most tourists so it was convenient to get it done on the way to Darjeeling. It adds another hour to hour and a half to the drive time and is supposed to be the most beautiful route to Darjeeling. In my case though it was a bad decision, the weather changed for the worse after the diversion towards Mirik and a local mountain side concert blocked the road after Mirik adding a further 4 hours to my journey time.
The Sumendu Lake is the prime attraction in Mirik. I could imagine that on a sunny day this will be a beautiful sight, calm but invigorating. Unfortunately for me it was cloudy and bitterly cold at the end of a long day of travel. The lake has an 80 foot bridge running over it and I spent some time photographing horses and ponies by the side of the lake. Some people were boating as well but with temperatures hovering around zero I did not fancy getting on to a boat.
Got back on the road, had a short stop at a tea estate, this was beautiful as it was shrouded in fog and mist and there was a tinge of sunlight giving the tea gardens an orange hue. Difficult to capture the atmosphere of the Gopaldhara Tea Estate on camera, but this was easily the high point of my day.
Next stop was at the India – Nepal border,spend half an hour at the Pashupati Market just to get a sense of what’s all the fuss about. I could see why this is such a hit with domestic tourists. Back on the road again with a short stop at Simana view point but it was almost dark. It is a 60 feet by 40 feet plateau and a viewing area. Simana in Hindi means border. This is the Indo-Nepal border area, the road itself belongs to India and the viewing area falls in Nepal, but one can freely cross over to get the views. I could make out an impression of Maneybhanjan below and the narrow winding road leading to Sandakphu, this was on my list of day trips. On a clear day one can see Kanchenjunga from here but it was over cast and the feeling of deja vu from my 2009 Sikkim trip. However Anand was very positive about tomorrow, of course he was, he was trying to strike up the deal with me for next day. He was proposing a whole day Darjeeling sight seeing (Rs 3000) as he predicted the weather to be perfect. By the time I arrived in Udaan Dekling, it was dark. Got a traditional welcome with a cup of invigorating Darjeeling tea and a white ceremonial scarf. Checked out with the hotelier where the best views of Kanchenjunga will be and called it a night.
Day 1: Mirik | Day 2: Darjeeling | Day 3: Tiger Hill, Tonglu & Tumling
Day 4: Takdah, Tinchuley & Lamahttah | Day 5: Kalimpong | Day 6: Lava
