Here is the Second part of my travelog!
Day 6
Its Darjeeling - The Queen of Hills.
Where did we stop?
Hmmm we are heading towards Darjeeling aren't it.
Its Day 5 and around 10 in the morning. Finally we arrived at the Siliguri Bus stand after a creepy journey. Now our next duty is to get a Shared Jeep to move us towards Darjeeling. As per what I have read in some travelogs, Jeeps should be available at a cost of 200-300INR. And we were searching for that, a driver approached us, he had bid a quote of 130Rs per head. I was amazed, what I had read in travelogs was wrong? He then asked us to wait in a corner and said he would be back in 10 mins. He went in search of more travelers. We waited around 20 mins, but he didn't return. So then, we decided to move on instead of wasting time at Siliguri. We approached a guy in the taxi stand, as expected his reply was "200Rs Per head". We decided to give him 200 and got into the car as we didn't have much time to waste. He asked us to wait sometime for filling the other seats. I asked him for the front seat, he said its already booked by 2 ladies. After sometime 4 more persons joined us. So the car was filled with 10 persons. Time to move on !
We departed from Siliguri around 11. There were some stunning views from top of the mountain. And At around 12.30hrs the driver stopped by a hotel. Stepping out from the car we took some photos in the meantime, in the surrounding area.
As we moved forward, the scene was getting more and more splendid.
We were stuck in the middle but and thankfully I could take some wonderful snaps from that position. And by the way the lady sitting in the front seat also helped me to take some snaps. Happy moments of school children's who marched towards their home after a tiring day. We passed through the stations of Kurseyong, Sonada and Ghum, and after a 4 hour journey we reached our destination - DARJEELING.
"About Ghum"
-Ghum Railway Station is the highest Railway station in India situated at an altitude of 7,407ft.
-The incredible tiger hills is just 5kms away from Ghum.
"AboutDarjeeling"
- Altitute 6,700ft
- Known for its spectacular views of Mt Kanchenjunka
- Hub of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
As we approached Darjeeling, I had many thoughts about it triggering in my mind. I saw the mighty and majestic Himalayas again in Darjeeling. I had seen the Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh, during my trip to Manali last year.
Meanwhile there was a huge traffic block, and I was thinking about the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. We had had a plan to come to Darjeeling via DHR, but the plan was dropped due to seat availability. The toy train to Darjeeling is regarded as among the most spectacular in the world.
We reached 'The mall' around 16.45hrs, and checked into the hotel that we already booked through an app. We had to walk from town, around 1-2km. Our hotel reception was on the ground floor and our room was on -2 ( :O ). We didn't waste a single second, checked in, quickly we went out for sight seeing. And in between, we reserved seats for 3-Point view the next day. The guy at the reception arranged the trip, and it cost us 250Rs per head. We were Ok with that, and he asked for a confirmation once again and replied:-
" The weather conditions in Tiger Hills has not been good for the past few days, So Iam not responsible and there will be no refund in this case "
Anyways we are in Darjeeling and we are gonna spend a night here and who knows when we will be here the next time, thinking about that we agreed to his terms. And we moved towards The Mall. The Mall road is very clean and tidy. And there was an open theater too. There was an IPL match on screen, just the highlights of the previous day's match.
Then we moved towards the downtown, where we found some street foods. As we had nothing to do for the rest of the day, we decided to spend sometime roaming around the streets. Below are some pictures of street foods, and believe me Its damn tasty and cheap too!
After having some local foods we moved towards the Darjeeling Railway Station. And in between we stopped at the taxi stand and took some photographs. By this time it was around 18:30hrs and tourists was all around the corners of the station, taking pics, relaxing, chitchatting etc. The view from Railway Station towards the town is something not to be forgotten. We spend some time at the Railway station taking snaps, and moved towards a temple and after that back to the Room. The next day we have to wake up at 3.30hrs so we decided to sleep early. And that was the end of Day 6.
Day 7
The Tiger Hills and The Journey to Gangtok
After a short sleep the long alarm sound rings. It was around 3.15 in the morning. To me, it's one of the toughest job in the world to wake up early in the morning. But I decided to keep my laziness away for some days, because mountains were calling and I had to go :P.
"About Tiger Hills"
- It is known for its spectacular view of the Kanchenjunga and The Mount Everest together.
- Situated 11kms away from Darjeeling
- Elevation - 2590M.
We quickly got ready at 3:45hrs and knocked at the reception room. The guy was in the middle of the sleep and we disturbed him, he asked us to wait inside the room. By the time, the bad news was awaiting us.
"It started to rain heavily" and we started losing our faith. It was really a bad news and our 250INR did nothing good. Anyhow we should complete the trip as there was no refund available. So we decided to move on. The Driver knocked our room and asked us to follow him. We walked till The Mall road and the cab was waiting with other tourists.
After a short drive, we reached the tiger hills by around 5.05hrs. We just had one umbrella with us and its continuously raining then. Then, we bought one from the hills and it costs around 200INR. It was freezing cold then, a mix of Rain and morning temperature. I don't need to tell how it would be, people who had experienced it will know it well. We had some tea, and waited for the rain to stop. It was foggy too. So we were not able to see anything beyond our surroundings. Around 100-200 cars were waiting in the parking area and lots more arrived by the time we left. I was wondering how it would have felt for the whole tourists. Anyways we took some photographs and got inside our cab.
After taking some photographs we came back to the parking area. All other tourists have arrived except a couple and a child. We waited for 20 more mins. But no sign of them. Driver received a call, and it was them, informing that they are waiting for the cab somewhere down the parking area. :/
On our way back from Tiger hills, Driver stopped at Batasia Loop or War Memorial. The other tourists were not interested in getting down from the cab. We decided to get in there and take some photos. Driver allotted us 30mins to visit the memorial. We rushed towards the ticket counter and had 3 of them. The luxurious Toy train rides through Batasia Loop. Its such a nice garden.
After spending some time at the Gardens, we decided to go back to the cab. In the meantime the driver came upstairs searching us. And then we returned back to Darjeeling town. The driver stopped and we got down near the railway station. We had some some breakfast from a hotel and then we walked back to our lodge. By the time i was around 9.30hrs.
We checked out from the hotel and walked towards the taxi stand in search of a share jeep going towards Gangtok. Unfortunately there were no shared cabs available. We requested one agent to arrange a taxi somehow. He asked us to wait sometime. We paid him 250INR/head. At 11.30hrs the cab going towards Gangtok approached the taxi stand. We got into it and placed our luggage's at the roof. And the Journey towards Gangtok begins !!
We faced a huge traffic block 10kms south to Gangtok, to be exact from Ranipool. It took us 1hr to cover a distance of 10km.
It was around 17.00hrs when we approached Deorali Stand. Most of the shared cabs will drop you at Deorali stand, and from there one have to catch a taxi to reach the city. We hired one cab costing 150INR. We booked our room online near to MG Marg. We checked in our hotel by around 18.00hrs, freshed up and quickly went to roam around MG Marg. It was a cold day with rain showers. We had our umbrella with us. Then we started to inquire each and every travel agencies out there, for permits towards Nathula Pass. But the sad news was that as the next day was a Wednesday there will be huge rush towards Nathula and Baba Mandir. We have to pre-book the journey. So we decided to book for Thursday, and decided to come the next day for booking. That's one big mistake we did, we should have paid the advance for Nathula and get the permits done then and there itself.
We went to have dinner at around 20.00hrs near to MG Marg. We tried out some local foods, it was not as much tasty as Darjeeling's. After having Dinner we went back to the room and slept peacefully.
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Travel and Accommodation Expenses for the day 23-May-2016 - 24-May-2016 :
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day 6
Its Darjeeling - The Queen of Hills.
Where did we stop?
Hmmm we are heading towards Darjeeling aren't it.
Its Day 5 and around 10 in the morning. Finally we arrived at the Siliguri Bus stand after a creepy journey. Now our next duty is to get a Shared Jeep to move us towards Darjeeling. As per what I have read in some travelogs, Jeeps should be available at a cost of 200-300INR. And we were searching for that, a driver approached us, he had bid a quote of 130Rs per head. I was amazed, what I had read in travelogs was wrong? He then asked us to wait in a corner and said he would be back in 10 mins. He went in search of more travelers. We waited around 20 mins, but he didn't return. So then, we decided to move on instead of wasting time at Siliguri. We approached a guy in the taxi stand, as expected his reply was "200Rs Per head". We decided to give him 200 and got into the car as we didn't have much time to waste. He asked us to wait sometime for filling the other seats. I asked him for the front seat, he said its already booked by 2 ladies. After sometime 4 more persons joined us. So the car was filled with 10 persons. Time to move on !
We departed from Siliguri around 11. There were some stunning views from top of the mountain. And At around 12.30hrs the driver stopped by a hotel. Stepping out from the car we took some photos in the meantime, in the surrounding area.
 |
| Army Truck, somewhere near Siliguri |
 |
| Siliguri-Darjeeling |
 |
| Checkpost |
 |
| Siliguri as seen from Darjeeling Highway |
As we moved forward, the scene was getting more and more splendid.
We were stuck in the middle but and thankfully I could take some wonderful snaps from that position. And by the way the lady sitting in the front seat also helped me to take some snaps. Happy moments of school children's who marched towards their home after a tiring day. We passed through the stations of Kurseyong, Sonada and Ghum, and after a 4 hour journey we reached our destination - DARJEELING.
"About Ghum"
-Ghum Railway Station is the highest Railway station in India situated at an altitude of 7,407ft.
-The incredible tiger hills is just 5kms away from Ghum.
 |
| Kurseong Railway station |
 |
| Back to Home Child :) |
 |
| Photo of the Day ! |
 |
| Ghum Railway Station |
 |
| DARJEEEELINGGG ! |
"AboutDarjeeling"
- Altitute 6,700ft
- Known for its spectacular views of Mt Kanchenjunka
- Hub of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
As we approached Darjeeling, I had many thoughts about it triggering in my mind. I saw the mighty and majestic Himalayas again in Darjeeling. I had seen the Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh, during my trip to Manali last year.
Meanwhile there was a huge traffic block, and I was thinking about the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. We had had a plan to come to Darjeeling via DHR, but the plan was dropped due to seat availability. The toy train to Darjeeling is regarded as among the most spectacular in the world.
We reached 'The mall' around 16.45hrs, and checked into the hotel that we already booked through an app. We had to walk from town, around 1-2km. Our hotel reception was on the ground floor and our room was on -2 ( :O ). We didn't waste a single second, checked in, quickly we went out for sight seeing. And in between, we reserved seats for 3-Point view the next day. The guy at the reception arranged the trip, and it cost us 250Rs per head. We were Ok with that, and he asked for a confirmation once again and replied:-
" The weather conditions in Tiger Hills has not been good for the past few days, So Iam not responsible and there will be no refund in this case "
Anyways we are in Darjeeling and we are gonna spend a night here and who knows when we will be here the next time, thinking about that we agreed to his terms. And we moved towards The Mall. The Mall road is very clean and tidy. And there was an open theater too. There was an IPL match on screen, just the highlights of the previous day's match.
Then we moved towards the downtown, where we found some street foods. As we had nothing to do for the rest of the day, we decided to spend sometime roaming around the streets. Below are some pictures of street foods, and believe me Its damn tasty and cheap too!
After having some local foods we moved towards the Darjeeling Railway Station. And in between we stopped at the taxi stand and took some photographs. By this time it was around 18:30hrs and tourists was all around the corners of the station, taking pics, relaxing, chitchatting etc. The view from Railway Station towards the town is something not to be forgotten. We spend some time at the Railway station taking snaps, and moved towards a temple and after that back to the Room. The next day we have to wake up at 3.30hrs so we decided to sleep early. And that was the end of Day 6.
 |
| Taxi Stand |
 |
| My friend - Sreekanth K |
 |
| Darjeeling Railway Station |
 |
| DHR Shed |
 |
| Temple |
 |
| The Mall |
Day 7
The Tiger Hills and The Journey to Gangtok
After a short sleep the long alarm sound rings. It was around 3.15 in the morning. To me, it's one of the toughest job in the world to wake up early in the morning. But I decided to keep my laziness away for some days, because mountains were calling and I had to go :P.
"About Tiger Hills"
- It is known for its spectacular view of the Kanchenjunga and The Mount Everest together.
- Situated 11kms away from Darjeeling
- Elevation - 2590M.
We quickly got ready at 3:45hrs and knocked at the reception room. The guy was in the middle of the sleep and we disturbed him, he asked us to wait inside the room. By the time, the bad news was awaiting us.
"It started to rain heavily" and we started losing our faith. It was really a bad news and our 250INR did nothing good. Anyhow we should complete the trip as there was no refund available. So we decided to move on. The Driver knocked our room and asked us to follow him. We walked till The Mall road and the cab was waiting with other tourists.
After a short drive, we reached the tiger hills by around 5.05hrs. We just had one umbrella with us and its continuously raining then. Then, we bought one from the hills and it costs around 200INR. It was freezing cold then, a mix of Rain and morning temperature. I don't need to tell how it would be, people who had experienced it will know it well. We had some tea, and waited for the rain to stop. It was foggy too. So we were not able to see anything beyond our surroundings. Around 100-200 cars were waiting in the parking area and lots more arrived by the time we left. I was wondering how it would have felt for the whole tourists. Anyways we took some photographs and got inside our cab.
After taking some photographs we came back to the parking area. All other tourists have arrived except a couple and a child. We waited for 20 more mins. But no sign of them. Driver received a call, and it was them, informing that they are waiting for the cab somewhere down the parking area. :/
On our way back from Tiger hills, Driver stopped at Batasia Loop or War Memorial. The other tourists were not interested in getting down from the cab. We decided to get in there and take some photos. Driver allotted us 30mins to visit the memorial. We rushed towards the ticket counter and had 3 of them. The luxurious Toy train rides through Batasia Loop. Its such a nice garden.
 |
| Toy Train Rail |
 |
| A view of Darjeeling Town from Batasia Loop |
 |
| My friends Sreekanth and Mithun |
 |
| A full zoomed pic from top of Batasia Loop towards the highway |
 |
| Batasia Loop/War Memorial |
 |
| Garden |
We checked out from the hotel and walked towards the taxi stand in search of a share jeep going towards Gangtok. Unfortunately there were no shared cabs available. We requested one agent to arrange a taxi somehow. He asked us to wait sometime. We paid him 250INR/head. At 11.30hrs the cab going towards Gangtok approached the taxi stand. We got into it and placed our luggage's at the roof. And the Journey towards Gangtok begins !!
 |
| Teesta River Rafting |
 |
| Sikkim - WB Border |
 |
| Sikkim Checkpost. VERYY STRICTT ! |
It was around 17.00hrs when we approached Deorali Stand. Most of the shared cabs will drop you at Deorali stand, and from there one have to catch a taxi to reach the city. We hired one cab costing 150INR. We booked our room online near to MG Marg. We checked in our hotel by around 18.00hrs, freshed up and quickly went to roam around MG Marg. It was a cold day with rain showers. We had our umbrella with us. Then we started to inquire each and every travel agencies out there, for permits towards Nathula Pass. But the sad news was that as the next day was a Wednesday there will be huge rush towards Nathula and Baba Mandir. We have to pre-book the journey. So we decided to book for Thursday, and decided to come the next day for booking. That's one big mistake we did, we should have paid the advance for Nathula and get the permits done then and there itself.
We went to have dinner at around 20.00hrs near to MG Marg. We tried out some local foods, it was not as much tasty as Darjeeling's. After having Dinner we went back to the room and slept peacefully.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Travel and Accommodation Expenses for the day 23-May-2016 - 24-May-2016 :
- "Shared Taxi from Siliguri to Darjeeling" - 200INR / Head
- "Room rent" - 473INR / Night ( We booked the room with Discounts )
- "Shared Taxi from Darjeeling to Gangtok" - 250INR / Head
- "Room Rent @ Gangtok" - 850INR (Online with Discounts)
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