A tour of 5 nights and 4 days. From the start of the night bus ride with my family on the night of December 24, 2019 to the arrival of the house on the morning of December 29, 2019, my first trip to Darjeeling was, to say the least, ‘eventful’. There were (1) five of us in the group - mother, sister, brother, aunt and I, (2) another group of four and (3) the organizer of our tour. A total of ten people. Shortly after boarding the same bus for Banglabandha with our host brother who was with us on the 24th, we found out that the name of the port was wrong in our visa; Instead of Banglabandha, we (meaning 5 members of my family) got visas for Chandrabandha. And the other five had Banglabandha on their visas.
Upon learning of this mistake, my mother-aunt-sister's appearance made it seem as if the new clothes they had bought on the trip had been taken away by the border guards. After catching the problem, it was decided that we would get off at Rangpur and take a bus from there to Chandrabandha. I realized that the state of mind of my family members is very sad in the thought of how to get to the bus in an unknown place so late at night.
At around 3:30 in the morning, the bus dropped us off at the modern corner of Rangpur. Not that I wasn’t thinking at all; But I was worried about crossing the port on time. My anxiety began to grow over time as I watched the failed attempt to cope with the cold with the help of a cup of tea and the departure of one bus after another. Finally after waiting for about two and a half hours I got a bus to Chandrabandha. Even after arriving in Chandrabandha on December 25 at around 8:30 am, the mental state of my family members did not improve much.
Arriving at the port we decided not to spend extra money even if it was late. But it was for this delay that the city of Darjeeling was finally seen celebrating Christmas; However, the decoration of Siliguri was also quite captivating. It is to be noted that the bus in which we reached Chandrabandha was assisted by the authorities of that bus. It is about 4 o'clock in the morning. The five of us set off for Siliguri in a station wagon from the Indian port. At 6:30 pm we met the rest of our group in Siliguri (they reach Siliguri in the afternoon) to see the plain tea gardens and the countryside.
We packed lunch for us and started our journey in two cars for Darjeeling. In a word, the journey at night through the winding mountain path like a snake was extraordinary. As I climbed higher, the lighted houses below looked like tiny fireflies. Since there were no other vehicles at that time, we reached Darjeeling very quickly. Then around 10 pm we reached the hotel.
Seeing others late the next morning, without waiting for them, go out with the camera in hand and walk around the city like yourself. I looked at the local people's morning life, and captured the camera. After breakfast, ‘Site Seeing’ started around 9.30 am.
The first destination is the Japanese Temple and Peace Pagoda, which has been open to tourists since 1992. The Buddhist temple was designed under the supervision of a Buddhist monk named Nichidassu Fuji. This whitewashed temple can make any visitor feel good. Our next destination was just a car ride. But when I got there, I found out that the number of tourists standing in line just to get in the car was so high that not all rides on that line would end before evening.
We waited there and left to see Tenzing Rock. In the area called Jalpahar, there is nothing but a pair of rocks and a rope needed to climb like a mountaineer. So maybe, a small market has been set up in the same place so that the visitors are not wasted. Indigenous clothes, winter clothes, jewelery, tea and other items are being bought and sold there. Where ten minutes is enough, I spent about an hour; The mother-aunt finally found something to make her feel better. And after taking the picture, I licked a plate of petals and put it in my stomach.
The next destination was 30 km north of Darjeeling city, about 2100 m above sea level, covering an area of 177 hectares.
Darjeeling's second oldest tea garden, established in 1854, is called Happy Valley Tea Estate. We could not go to the factory without prior permission, we only visited the part that is open for tourists. Adjacent to the beautifully landscaped and beautiful landscaped tea garden, a number of shops lined up to taste and sell free, premium quality organic tea. Each car with passengers is contracted to each stall, I realized that as soon as we parked, the representative of shop 13 came and told us that only in that stall we can eat and buy tea. The first day of site seeing ended here. We still stopped at two places on the way and took pictures.
Then we moved to the heart of the city. After standing in a long line for about 45 minutes, I got a table for lunch at the famous Kunga restaurant. Note that this restaurant is open daily from 10:30 am to 6:30 pm. However, when the meal is over, it is stopped beforehand. And such a long line is every day. We had lunch with Momo, Chaomin and Fried Rice. Then my mother-aunt started shopping as she wished. This night we went to bed a little early.
At 4:00 am the next day, dressed in four layers of clothing to withstand temperatures below zero, we set off for Tiger Hill. Located at an altitude of more than 2,000 feet above the city of Darjeeling, more than 2,500 meters above sea level, Tiger Hill attracts more than 10,000 visitors every morning to observe the sunrise in Kanchenjunga. And there is nothing wrong with thinking of that scene in another world! With the first touch of sunlight, a bright, light pink hue forms on Kanchenjunga, which soon turns golden.
Even with a cup of hot coffee in hand, I was losing the battle with that cold. After a while, looking around, the matter became clear. The first snowfall of the season occurred just hours before we arrived, with a few centimeters of snow covering the surrounding vegetation. As soon as I got up here, I saw many Tibetan prayer flags hanging. I spent a lot of time getting down to capture the beauty of these flags.
We moved from Tiger Hill to Padmaja Naidu Zoological Park and Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, established in 1958, at an altitude of 7000 feet above sea level. There, at a roadside restaurant, we had breakfast with Momo, Egg Ban and Vegetable Parota. Let's go around here to see Batasia Loop. This loop was created in 1919 to facilitate train travel at the height of the hill. There is also a minaret built here in memory of the martyrs of 1947 independence. There are also arrangements to wear traditional tribal costumes for a while at a cost of only Rs 50. We then proceeded to see the famous ‘Sleep Monastery’ of Buddhists, founded in 1875. But here we could not give more than ten minutes.
After lunch I went to visit the Mahakala temple. Founded in 1782, the temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Surrounded by innumerable prayer flags, coming to this temple at any time will feel like coming to attend a festival. This place was not in our itinerary. Here I go on my own initiative. We visit a few more such spots on our own initiative. Darjeeling's famous mall is also seen on this occasion. And when you go from one place to another by car, you can see a lot of the city. Although there were enough tourists in the winter, it did not become an obstacle in the way of enjoying the beauty of the city.
Satyajit Ray's famous detective character Feluda's journey started from this Darjeeling. From there we learned about the famous restaurant 'Coventers' which was established in 1911. But due to lack of time, one has to be satisfied with just eating a corner ice cream from here. Another famous restaurant, Glenaris, was also closed for a short time on the same day. The shopping of mother and aunt was not stopped in any way. After buying two rounds of tea, this time branded tea of export package is also bought. We didn’t go to the Rock Garden to get the road work going. Due to time constraints, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway's famous 'Toy Train', a UNESCO World Heritage Site, did not even board. I just sat in the car and saw the train moving.
We started our return journey to Siliguri at 9 am the next day. Due to the political procession, the road to Miri was supposed to be taken instead of the normal road. But after walking some distance, he also had to cancel the road. This third road was the Kalimpong Road, meaning that this road leads to Gangtok. I didn't really know what a long drive adventure on a hilly road was like on this road! It is not possible to find a traveler who knows the Royal Enfield motorbike, known as the 'icon' of Darjeeling, and has not been able to ride it even once in his life. From the time I was in Darjeeling, every time this Enfield passed by, I was looking for a tempting meal. The desire to ride that bike on this road becomes even stronger.
The Emerald Green Teesta River is also seen as a bonus as you walk along this road. The river flowing through the mountains looked as if I were looking at a calendar page with a picture of a western country. The Coronation Bridge, which connects Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts along Highway 31, built in 1941, can also be seen on the way. Note that this bridge is used to reach Bhutan by road.
After crossing Chandrabandha port through Siliguri, after entering the country, I took a micro bus from Lalmonirhat to Dinajpur railway station. The last journey of our return journey was scheduled on the Ekta Express which left Panchagarh. Shortly before Syedpur, on a section of the Nilphamari highway, we had to take a detour as the oil tanker overturned and the road was closed. At the same time, a lot of time is wasted. However, the speed at which our driver drove to catch the train on time was an indirect experience of Formula One. However, this was the last adventure of our journey. After boarding the train on time at 11 pm, I reached Dhaka the next morning almost without incident.
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