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Visiting the eastern frontiers I

The year was 2008, I was getting married and me and my wife were searching for honeymoon destination. We wanted some unique place to visit, with moderate weather and with a little bit different cultural flavor. The month was March, hot and humid Summer was about to start so we had a very few options in our hands. Goa and Kerala were out of question because of the humid weather, Uttarakhand was not accessible due to harsh weather, Himachal Pradesh was so common and we had plans to visit the Kashmir in future. Then I looked with hope towards the east and felt like east is calling us. So we finalized Darjeeling and Gangtok as our destination on the eastern edge of our beloved country. 

    3 hours from Pune to Mumbai, 3 hours from Mumbai to Kolkata by air, overnight journey of 12 hours from Kolkata to the place called New Jalpaiguri  and we were at the feet of the great Himalayas.  Now our next journey was by car. There were 4 places which were going to visit, Mirik, Darjeeling, Kaling Pong and Gangtok.
                                                           
Mirik
Famous for its pleasant, mild weather, beautiful scenery and Sumendu lake. People normally take a short halt at this town to spend some time and to enjoy before moving on the way to Darjeeling. We too halted here and enjoyed the beauty of the town. This is the point from where you can start feeling the Himalayas. Sumendu lake is the main attraction of the Mirik. Here are few snaps of the town.





Beautiful Sumendu Lake


 


Bokaar Monastery, a Buddhist Monastery in Mirik


Beautiful pine trees round the Sumendu lake

Darjeeling
Darjeeling! beautiful Himalayan hill station, famous for its 'Toy Train', Himalayan Mountaineering Institute and its tea estates, located in Indian state of West Bengal. When we were entering Darjeeling, we saw the famous 'Toy Train', it has been declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and I think it is the only narrow gauge Rail way in India. So we were in the famous hill station of the east, the roads were narrow, with vehicles parked, giving very narrow space, driving a car on these hilly roads was a hard and skillful job. The town was little bit crowded and compact because of  lack of plain surface. The weather was not that good, there was freezing cold at least for us. I felt nervous because of this first impression of the town and started thinking to reduce our stay. But when we started exploring the town, we fell in love with Darjeeling. We visited Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, you can find absolutely everything about the art or adventure sport (whatever you call it) of Mountaineering. Then we visited the 'Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological park' where we could watch wide variety of animals and birds mainly found in Himalaya region. You can stand anywhere and see the large tea estates, beautiful mountain ranges of Himalayas. Darjeeling is the land of brave and honest Gorakha People. I was aware of their skill of mountaineering and their favorite weapon called as 'Kookary'. Sometime a thick fog used cover the town's atmosphere and because of that once we lost our way back to our hotel. There is one Buddhist temple in Darjeeling, know as 'Japanese temple', which is also called as Japanese peace pagoda. It was built by a 'Fuji Guru' who was a friend of Mahatma Gandhi for the peace after second world war. The main attraction in the Japanese temple was the eternal smile on the Buddha's face. We wanted to see the famous sunrise from tiger hill of Darjeeling but the gloomy, cloudy weather did not permit us that beautiful view. Another exciting experience was a short travel by 'Toy Train'. When our stay in Darjeeling came to an end, I was not willing to leave that beautiful town. I was in love with Darjeeling. I was going to miss the famous dish of the town 'Momo', I was going to miss the tea of Darjeeling. Just have a look at the snaps and you will also fall in love with this beautiful town.





Beautiful City of Darjeeling

Bazaar of Darjeeling

A layer of fog covered on the town








A famous Toy train





Eternal smile on Buddha's face

A Young Gorakha Hawker

Himalayan Mountaineering Institute

White Peacock in Padmaja Naidu zoological park

Tea estate
(In continuation)
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Comments

  1. Julian BoothJuly 13, 2012 at 5:41 PM

    Hello !!!

    Very nice post i really like all this pics & your provided information. One suggestion for you should keep all this pics in one personalized photo books to make more attractive all the pics.view more


    thanks a lot for sharing this lovely blog
    soapstone

    ReplyDelete

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