I am one of those people, who occasionally needs break from the din and bustle of city life, to reflect on life at a secluded place, to slow down the pace of life. But managing long days off from a corporate banker job isnt easy. So I prefer short vacations, particularly in the serenity of the hills.
We boarded Darjeeling mail at night and reached Njp in the morning. Then we took a shared cab for Darjeeling (mindful that this was a budget trip). Got down at jorebunglow, about 30 mins before Darjeeling and took another taxi from there to reach our destination, known as Takdah! The road is not good from jorebunglow to takdah but the view of the majestic white Kanchenjunga would compensate for that. This was my first homestay. We chose a Heritage house known as Siney guest house. We reached in the afternoon and were received with a warm welcome by the owner of the house. The house is located atop a hill, thankfully you don't have to climb, the car takes you there. The house also had a special member, a sweet beautiful dog. Once we freshened up, we were served delicious lunch. Tired at the night long train journey, I quickly caught up with my siesta. In the evening, we were served tea and delicious chicken pakodas. After having a good chat about all the good and bad things about life, we had our dinner. And then amidst the silence of the surroundings, which was a little scary, I dozed off for the night.
After breakfast, we began our local sightseeing of Takdah. The first stop was Lamhatta, followed by a beautiful tea garden and a lover's view point. Every corner of this little place will quench your thirst for the love of Nature. It's almost picture perfect, we left no opportunity of taking innumerable pictures
It was time to leave Takdah for Darjeeling. Afterall how could we miss the awesomeness of the sausages of Keventera or the pastries of Glenary's. But we were not totally done with Takdah! We got up early morning and visited a monastery located right next to our house. We then had a chat with the members of the house over our cup of hot tea. After lunch we packed our bags to leave. The owner gave us a memento to take back home. This kind of warmth is something you will never get in a hotel, I realised that opting for a home stay was a great decision.
We were in Darjeeling, with the majestic hills all around us. We booked a hotel right on the Mall road just opposite the Glenery's. We took the heritage steam tram ride in the morning. The experience needs no mention. After a delicious breakfast at Keventers, it was time to be home bound with all the rich memories. And yes, we did bring home chocolates from glenery's too.