Prelude
I had a long desire to go for a winter trip at Darjeeling, India, the queen of hills. We had booked the rail tickets two months ahead of the trip, which was from January 5th to 12th, 2012. January is not the usual tourist time in Darjeeling & we didn't book any hotel or package. Our main intention for this trip was to experience the beautiful weather of winter. Also, another intention was to experience the biting cold in the month of January. If you can tolerate extreme cold, then consider a winter trip to Darjeeling, it's worth visiting at that time.
5th & 6th January: On 5th of January along with my parents, boarded Darjeeling mail at 22:05 from Sealdah station & reached NJP on 6th morning. From NJP we got a share jeep in Rs. 200 per head. There are plenty of shared jeeps around, you can choose one having a convenient seat that you want. We started around 12 in the noon. The main route was blocked because of construction works, so we followed the route via Mirik.
The weather was too much foggy & the driver was forced to cut down the normal speed & that's why we were late by an hour to reach by afternoon. Because we didn't have any prior hotel booking & it was almost evening, we decided to check in a nearby hotel temporarily & found 'Dragon Lodge' (they charged unnecessarily huge rates for their rooms, but we had no option to devote more time for searching other hotels in the evening) to check in for that day.
7th & 8th January: Because my father was little bit sick, we decided to keep next day as rest day & walked around the mall & the 'Mahakaal Mandir'. Adorable Nepali kids were hanging around & I managed to have some snaps of them..
The weather condition was not as good as was expected, so we were little bit disheartened & decided not to go for 'Tiger Hill Sunrise' for a couple of days. I like the busy roadside market towards the mall, Darjeeling itself has lot of things to offer to the tourists regarding the local culture & environment.
There are a number of Curio shops near the Mall & I always like to spend time inside these shops...
Next day we roamed in the mall area in search of a better hotel. Seeing so many hotels at Mall area at reasonable prices, I was regretting of checking in at Dragon lodge. After a bit of searching, find out a nice hotel named 'Hotel Capital' (1, Gandhi Road, Darjeeling. Ph: (0354) 2254160, 2254698). The hotel is situated beside the jeep stand & just 2min walk from the mall having nice view of Kanchenjunga from balcony. Because it was off-season, we managed to get a 3-bed view room at Rs. 700. The hotel staffs were also very nice.
The picture below is taken from the hotel rooftop
That day we went to visit the Bhutia Monastery, around 20 min walk from the mall. It was a nice place & was very quiet & calm, probably because lack of publicity. If you haven't been here before, consider visiting once. Ask local people how to go there, you will see the house of Tenzing Norgey on the way.
Whenever I go to a new place, I like to taste local food. And in Darjeeling, what else can be better than traditional Nepalese & Tibetan food? For most of the days, my dinner menu was delicious Momo!
We were depriving of the clear view of most expected Kanchenjunga because of cloudy sky. I took a chance & decided to go for tiger hill next day. Because of the chilling weather condition my parents were not willing to go with me & remained satisfied with the view from hotel balcony :P
9th January: I woke up at 3:30 AM for going to tiger hill. To me, it's one of the toughest job in the world to wake up early in the morning. But surprisingly this time I felt no fatigue or unwillingness in waking up. It happened may be because 'mountains were calling & I had to go'. I was prepared within 4 AM & went out to the jeep stand in front of our hotel in search of a share jeep to tiger hill. Finally managed to get into a shared jeep at a rate of Rs. 150. Reached tiger hill around 5:15. Practically it was night, a full moon night.
Around 6:15, the first rays of the sun were peeping... it was a breathtaking scene with the moon exactly at the opposite direction of the sky.
Took some awesome sunrise snaps. However, the Kanchenjunga was not clearly visible at her best, & I had to come again...
After coming back from tiger hill, we planned to utilize the day by covering the local sight-seeing. We talked with the agency (upper cubicle vehicle owners' association, Gandhi Rd., Darjeeling. Ph: 9434121658, 9434329218) just beside our hotel. They arranged a small car for three of us at a rate of Rs. 600. After the breakfast we started around 11 AM.
First we visited Japanese temple & peace Pagoda, a nice & calm place to visit.
Then we went to Ava art gallery, followed by museum & zoo. Then went to the most awaited place, a place of my passion: HMI, the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling.
The campus of HMI is really awesome.
Didn't miss a chance to salute at the statue of Sir Tenzing Norgay...
By that time it was already 3PM & the weather was getting worse as well as chilling. Local people were telling among themselves that next day it might be snowing. As daylight was vanishing rapidly & we noticed a few raindrops, our driver told us to get into the car soon because we had still a place to visit, the tea garden. It was a heavenly as well as a romantic place.
The foggy weather had made the place like earth's paradise. It was a nice place to have some family photographs.
My amazing mother...
The bluish environment made the place more mysterious.
A little Nepali boy was busy with fireworks... seemed that he is a part of those mountains...
For that day our hanging out was over & we came back around 5 PM. At night we went to a nice Tibetan restaurant, 'Nawang' & had some delicious 'Thukpa'. Actually Nawang is mainly a trek tour organizer, but prepares delicious Tibetan food too.
Next day we planned to go for rock gardens.
10th January: Today just after waking up in the morning & opening the door for going to balcony, I was stunned for a moment. The mesmerizing Kanchenjunga with full range was clearly visible from our room!
By that time I had started repenting why I didn't go to tiger hill, may be I won't witness this weather tomorrow. But it was too late. So I had to keep patience for the next day. I stepped outside of the hotel with my camera. Today was the day of taking photographs. The mall was also looking really nice & lively.
And Kanchenjunga was visible from almost everywhere.
I was regretting of not having a good camera.
Later on, the weather was deteriorating & the view of Kanchenjunga was also getting worse. But still it was awesome. For going to Rock Gardens we hired a car from the same agency as in the previous day at same rate. Rock gardens is about 3,500ft. downhill from Darjeeling & the scenery on the way was really awesome. On our request our driver stopped the car in the midway in the midst of a nice tea garden.
Rock garden is basically a human made place which is based on a waterfalls.
But the concept is nice & the whole area is decorated neatly. We had some Momos there as our lunch.
After coming back from Rock Gardens around 3PM, we went for some marketing at 'Chalk Bazaar' and the market at Mall Road. Next day we had to leave for NJP. So I had no choice other than going for tiger hill on last day. Had early dinner & went under blanket asap.
11th January: Woke up at 3:30AM to go to tiger hill. It was a full moon night & I was feeling that I might be lucky today. Managed a share jeep at Rs. 150. Today my co-passengers were all foreigners: 3 Canadians, 2 Germans & 2 from USA. Our driver was telling that today we may be lucky to see even Mt. Everest & Mt. Makalu range. It was really my day. The first rays of the sun was reflecting on Kanchenjunga & it was one of the amazing views I have ever experienced. Was feeling like I am the king of the world.
Kanchenjunga was looking like a furnace. Within a few minutes the colors changed & it turned orange.
It was biting cold & I had no sensation in my palms & toes. Even the Everest & Makalu ranges were visible far in the horizon. I was really lucky.
It was a color competition in the sky & the competitors were obviously the Kanchenjunga, sun, sky & the clouds...
Previous night there was a light snowfall at tiger hill, that's why the roadside areas had accumulated a layer of frost. I came back to hotel at 8AM. By that time my parents were enjoying the breathtaking view of Kanchenjunga from the hotel balcony. It was a crystal clear view of the range.
Stepped out of the hotel to go near mall & had some awesome photographs behind the 'Mahakaal Mandir' at Mall area.
Although initially hampered by bad weather, this trip ended nicely & we checked out of Hotel Capital around 11:30 AM and took a share jeep to reach NJP at 3PM. We boarded Darjeeling mail at 8PM & reached Sealdah on 12th morning.
