We (my friend and I)began our journey from Siliguri at 9am. Got a Tata sumo which took us to Darjeeling in about 3 hours charging Rs 250/ person.
Upon reaching Darjeeling, we booked a cab to reach Sarangi homestay we had booked for the stay. It charged us rs90 but maybe it would be a little cheaper if you go on sharing.
Since we wanted dal-chawal for lunch, we walked a few steps from the homestay to have lunch at a tiny restaurant, which usually operates for the office employees (the office ot the District Magistrate is just nearby). A plate of Rice, Dal, Chicken, 2 types of vegetables, pickle cost us rs 130/plate.
After lunch we took a walk to the Padmaja Naidu Zoological Park, which is about 1.5-1.8kms from the homestay following the google maps. The entry fee of the Zoo is Rs60/person and it remains open till 5pm. There are a variety of animals, from Snakes to Snow Leopard to Insects to those from the Cat family. The Zoo also houses Red Panda in its natural habitat.
The Zoological Park compound also has the Bengal museum and Himalayan Mountaineering Institute.
Outside the park, there are vendors selling souvenir and street food. 'Chatpate'- made of flattened gram, flattened maize, onions, tomatoes and secret spices is satisfying to the soul.
We then took a walk to the famous 'Mall Road' of Darjeeling, which was about 2kms from the Zoo through a narrow street which reminded us of the Twilight movie backdrop.
Mall Road is hustling and bustling full of tourists and locals and cultural events. Sitting at Chowrasta in the heart of Darjeeling is indeed a very peaceful and calming feeling in spite of the crowdof people and music. There are a variety of eatery and souvenir shops and Golden Tips tea boutique. Darjeeling is famous for Tea,do not forget to take a pick for yourself.
After this we receeded to our stays and had our dinner there.
It was going to be an exploring day. Though I've been to Darjeeling before, every visit feels different from the last one.
We booked a cab for rs 1500 which took us around to various spots.
The first was a Japanese temple and Peace Pagoda. It is serene. The tall trees surrounds the temple compund.
After spending a little time there to soak in the calming atmosphere, we moved to Batasia Loop. This is a famous tourist spot where the UNESCO World Heritage Darjeeling Himalayan Railway's Toy Tain stops at certain timings. You can get on the train to click pictures, shop for locally made woollen items. Batasia Loop also has a War Memorial.
After this, we went to Tibetan Refugee Camp in the outskirts of Darjeeling. This is a settlement of the Tibetan people given by the Government of India, when they had to flee form their Homeland in Tibet after Chinese acquisition. Here,there are self help groups which make handloom items for the international market. We were lucky to see them at work. There is also a Photo Museum which has photographs from history. Pictures of HH the 14th Dalai Lama, the Tibetan expeditions, history of Tibet and their culture.
Moving downhill from the refugee camp is the famous tea spot of Lebong having more than 20 tea stall and an access to the tea estate downhill, where one can click pictures. The stalls sell the most tasty tea, they also sell tea leaves and if you are kind and polite they also share their secrets to how to make tea, their way.
It was about 2 by the time we were done and wanted to have lunch. We didn't go to other places as many of them are far off and ww wanted to shop as well.
For lunch we moved back to Mall Road to Kathmandu Kitchen, which makes authentic Nepali food. We ordered Jhol Momo(momo in chutney like consistency soup, the tastiest), fries and Nepali thali known as Thakali thali.
The rest of the evening we spent shopping and sitting by Chowrasta.
And moved to our stay at about 7pm in taxi which cost rs90 on booking.
This day we were to return to Siliguri and go to our homes.
The homestay organised us a heavy breakfast. The boys there were amazing cooks. After breakfast, they arranged for us a taxi to Siliguri at Rs250 per person. On the way, we promised to ourselves to return for longer period and visit and the Lamahatta farm, Rock garden, Tiger Hill for sunrise and Cable Car experience.
