Day 33 to 37: Kolkata and Darjeeling

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Am updating the blog after a long gap, thanks to limited net access and a hectic travel schedule (especially in the North East).

Kolkata was a stop-over from Port Blair (night spent at Port Blair was horrible, hotels there very unprofessional, will confirm you a room and at last minute say that they are over-booked and push a higher price room in another hotel to you, so be careful when traveling to PB).

Did the usual touristy stuff in Kolkata, Victoria Memorial is live reminder of yesteryear glory of Kolkata (after all the city was the capital of the East India Company's rule of India till 1901 after all), but is also proof of what happens if you rest on your laurels instead of continuing to work hard. Went to Birla Planetarium for a show, visited a Planetarium after ages. Belur Math always raises questions in my mind - are Ramkrishna Paramhans, Sharda Devi gods as they are worshipped here or just men and women of exceptional mystique? Guess its a matter of faith and to each his own

But one thing for sure - Kolkata has some of the best (and cheapest) food in India

Left Kolkata in couple of days, with a train to New Jalpaiguri and then the toy train to Darjeeling

Darjeeling, hmm here is an attempt to describe the place

1. Only place where you can jump off a moving train, take a leak and jump back onto the train

2. A place where people go to watch a soccer match in complete fog and have no clue what happened in the match after 90 minutes due to the fog

3. A place so big that if you take two rounds of the town you will meet the same people again and again

4. A place where every home, every shop has "Gorkhaland" written on it, its a demand for statehood resonating all over the place

Weather reports (will never trust Google on weather matters ever again) suggested max 25 degree centigrade and min 15 degree centigrade, but reality was 14 and 4. Froze off the moment we got here 😊

Darjeeling is famous for views of Kandchendzonga (3rd highest mountain in the world) from Tiger Hill, but first day was fogged out, so focused on checking the town out and the Observatory Hill. Next day was off to Tiger Hill (risked it despite the fog), was completely worth getting up at 3.30am to watch the sunrise in this chilly weather. Also went to the Samten Choling Monastery (one of the few monasteries that allow photography inside) and the Batasia Loop, the war memorial dedicated to Gorkha Regiment. No questions, Gorkhas are one of the bravest and most committed part of the Indian military set-up

Of course, no trip to Darjeeling is complete without spending idyllic hours having their delightful tea and visiting their tea gardens.

I can't agree with the description of "Queen of the Hills" for Darjeeling, the place does require more attention, but it has a quaint charm which I hope is retained

Got multiple recommendations from travellers to visit Sikkim, so changed travel plans on the fly and off to Gangtok

PS: Have become very patient in life, uploading this blog took 2.5 hours thanks to power cuts and net connection going down. Hope I carry the patience back with me when this trip is done 😊

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Comments

[Gouri]

Nice.....
finally something bout ur trip.... thot u had disappeared...... :) come back to mumbai and lets see how long ur patience stays...... lol.....

[praveen]

Darjeeling 1
LOL on description 1 :)

[Darjeeling places to visit]

Darjeeling places to visit
The oldest site in Darjeeling is the Observatory Hill, locally called as Makal-Babu-Ko-Thaan. Darjeeling thus derives its name from the Tibetan words 'Dorje' and 'ling'. The languages spoken here are Gorkhali, Hindi, Nepali, Bhutani, Bengali, Assamese and English. A temple of Mahakala now stands here and the hill is thus popular with both Buddhist as well as Hindu worshipers. The hill affords the most spectacular view of snow-capped peaks, including the majestic Mount Kanchenjunga in the far distance. http://www.travelindia360.net/brihadeeswara-temple-thanjavur-tamil-nadu.html