Showing posts with label India. Show all posts
Showing posts with label India. Show all posts

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Gangtok and Darjeeling (Part II)



The drive to Darjeeling was lush, and heavenly. The local farmers had set up roadside stalls every few hundred yards loaded with fresh produce. My father, who was travelling with us, was in absolute heaven. He would stop our car every few kilometers and stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables from these farmers. Instead of munching on chips and crackers we drove around in the car, munching on carrots and cucumbers and any other fresh vegetable my father could get his hands on laced with chaat masala (spice powder) and lemon juice.
The city of Darjeeling was much more of a tourist center and bigger than Gangtok. The area is surrounded by glorious tea estates, the neat rows of tea plants covering the entire hills giving a very majestic feel.

The tea gardens are a sight to cherish. Being in Darjeeling, you realize how aptly the area was coined as “Queen of the Hills” by the British. We used our car for a day’s worth of sightseeing which included Tensing Mountaineering Institute, Pagoda, Zoo, Tibetan Refugee Center and a few other focal points. Within the town itself, we walked just about everywhere. The walk to Chowrastha, and from there up the hill to the Mahakal Temple makes for a nice walk.

For people who want to experience an Indian monsoon, Darjeeling is a perfect place to be. I loved curling up with a book, sipping chai and munching on pakodas, quaint tea sandwiches and indian-chinese noodles. And when the rain let up, we would go out for nice walking tours within the city. All Indians who grew up in India will know exactly what I am talking about. I think you have to be an Indian at heart to cherish the monsoon. For all others, without a nice book or a large group of friends to keep the entertainment going, the constant rain can get very tiring as it did for my kids.

For anyone planning a future visit to Darjeeling and Gangtok, my advice, go to Darjeeling first and then to Gangtok. A visit to a tea plantation is a must especially if you like to drink tea. Only a few tea plantations are open to public. If you are planning to buy Darjeeling tea, go to any large retailer in town and smell the various tea leaves, ask the retailer to explain the various harvesting seasons and their influence on the flavor, sample the one you like the most and then buy.

Gangtok and Darjeeling (Part I)

Last year, during our summer visit to India, we decided to spend a week in Gangtok (Sikkim) and Darjeeling (West Bengal) in the cooler Northeastern states.

From Delhi we flew into Bagdogra via Deccan Air. For those who have not yet experienced India, watch out for that concept of lines. The concept of “waiting in line” along with the concept of personal space is almost nonexistent. It exists but only in the minds of visitors from abroad. Deccan Air had first come first seating. Never mind how many people had been patiently waiting in line, but when the gates opened, all those who had not been in the line, shoved and pushed and nudged and got inside the waiting craft. Naïve us who had the poor foresight to actually wait in line and were so busy being aghast at being shoved around, were the last few to board the aircraft. The flight itself turned out to be very comfortable, with freindly crew and actually landed on time.

At Bagdogra, we rented a 4X4 to Gangtok, medicated ourselves with Dramamine and started our trip. The drive from Bagdogra to Gangtok was approx 5 hour long, very winding and incredibly scenic. The drive was dotted by villages and little hamlets the entire way. Many times along the way we stopped for a breather, some hot Chai and Momos (dumplings). You can’t skip them momos.


At first glance, Gangtok was a really small and overcrowded town. The hills were covered by concrete buildings seemingly built haphazardly upon each other, the roads pretty steep and full of cars. The fumes from the cars constantly driving in low gear really got to us. There was not much to see within the town other than the local market but once we got beyond the town, the natural beauty was breathtaking. The Buddhist monasteries, the terraced rice fields, and the rivers overflowing with clear water were incredibly beautiful.

The people were warm, friendly, and always eager to strike up a conversation. Since we were in Gangtok for only two days, and that too in the middle of the monsoon season, we did not venture into the smaller (but highly recommended) towns of Pelling and Yuksom. And for the same reason, we did not even attempt to go for whitewater rafting or hiking. Our only regret is that, it was too cloudy the entire duration of our stay that we did not get to see the Kanchenjunga; the 3rd highest peak in the world.




Our most talked about incident involves our visit to the Rumtek Monastery. While at the monastery, we went to see the monks-in-training’s meditation and classroom area, and in the process we became friendly with a few young monks there. These monks invited us for chai and being tea lovers we readily accepted. The monastery kitchen was closed so I am not sure how they managed to make tea but their version of chai included boiling water with milk and ghee (clarified butter) in equal parts. No matter how much sugar we added, the tea was absolutely unpalatable. Our fear of being rude was so great that we kept on sipping (more like licking) it for almost an hour. We kept waiting for the monks to leave the room so we could discuss our predicament. That one hour was a lesson in the art of body language communication. After about an hour, when we could not take the taste or the smell of “monastery tea” anymore, we excused ourselves and insisted on washing the teacups (so they would not see all the tea we were throwing away) put some money in their donation box and left. I don’t think any of us enjoyed our food that day, even the hot and savory momos did nothing for our ruined palates.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Bagdogra - Gangtok - Darjeeling Itinerary (6 Nights / 7 Days)

Day 01/ Bagdogra – Darjeeling: Arrive Bagdogra and drive to Gangtok (5hrs) by private 4x4. Stay in Cherry Hill Inn. Very clean and comfortable, clear view of the Kanchenjunga mountains and view of the valley.

Day 02/ Gangtok Sightseeing: After breakfast went sight seeing: Research Institute of Tibetology, Chorten (Stupa), and Rumtek Monastery. Night stay in Gangtok.

Day O3/ Gangtok Sightseeing: Visited waterfall, M.G. Marg shopping center.

Day 04/ Gangtok – Darjeeling: On arrival transfer to New Elgin hotel. Night stay in Darjeeling.

Day 05/ Darjeeling Sightseeing: After breakfast proceed for Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Ropeway, Tensing – Gumbo Rock, Tibetan Refugee Self Help Center, Peace Pagoda & Rock Garden. We went to the local market to shop for Darjeeling teas. Night stay in Darjeeling.

Day O6/ Darjeeling Sightseeing: We skipped the planned early morning excursion to Tiger hill, Ghoom Monastery & Batasia Loop as it was raining and very cloudy. We did visit the Tea Estates. Night stay in Darjeeling.

Day 07/ Darjeeling - Bagdogra – Departure to board flight for Delhi.

Recommendation: Bagdogra- Darjeeling-Gangtok will be a more scenic itin.