Darjeeling

Darjeeling is situated at foothills of The Himalayas. I have visited this place in winter season of 2009, that is in the month of November.  This was my first vacation as a traveler and this is where my travel interest has sprouted. Darjeeling is beautiful hill station of West Bengal.

A toy train runs daily from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling, which usually takes about 5-7 hours to reach the chilling destination. If you have a habit of reading books, this long journey wouldn't be boring and will be the best way to reach Darjeeling. However, I took a fastest and easy jeep route which takes you there in 2 -3 hours from New Jalpaiguri. Well, I still remember those narrow roads and the tiny villages on the way to Darjeeling. I had a stop over at a small village called "Kuseong" where I had my breakfast with "Momos" and "Dargeeling tea". Momos are staple food of Darjeeling and nearby towns, they have varieties of Momos to choose from, steamed or fried, veg or non-veg.

I had to wake up early in the morning at 5 and head to "Tiger Hill" where I saw many people already there waiting for a sunrise. Yes, Tiger Hill is the place where you can see the sunrise very close. Thats when I knew or saw "The Sun" rises very fast. We waited for one hour to see him rise and all it took for him was two minutes. In five minutes after the sun rises, you could walk towards the other side of the hill to see the shining hill tops. Snow capped mountains "Kanchenjunga" shines with silver and golden color with early sun rays which looks like a "Mountains with Silver Linings".

Tea (Darjeeling tea) is main source of cultivation since it is a hill station. The town offers wide varieties of Tea. You should also plan a trip to tea gardens situated outskirts of the town. You would find many stalls selling the tea packets of all kinds near the tea estates, you can try a free tea which they offer before you can buy couple of tea packets.

Darjeeling Zoo is the one of main tourist attractions. Its pretty much like a regular zoo perhaps, you would probably get to see few animals which never saw before like "Red Panda" and "Snow Leopard".