My recent visit to Darjeeling was not trying to change myself into loving tea all over again. Having said that, I love my morning cup of Darjeeling tea with no milk of course, but this blog is definitely not going to be about tea vs. coffee as I’m and will always remain a coffee lover 😉
Never in my dreams had I thought Darjeeling would automatically fall on my travel list of 2018, soon after majestic Gangtok. Almost 4 hours ride in hilly roads, amidst fog, slight rain and falling temperature, Darjeeling welcomed us looking too shy to show off its beautiful landscapes. And a warm welcome by our very own daju (brother) who treated us to a much deserved bowl of heavenly Thukpa (Tibetan noodle soup). Soon after it was raining cats and dogs, and it wouldn’t stop for a minute. Through market and alley, we were dragging our luggage and sharing umbrellas (which did not help much though) 😀
Two things that I really wanted to do in Darjeeling was view magnificent tea garden along with experience Himalayan railway aks toy train. Then again, I was only feeling sorry for daju who had planned so much to make this trip memorable but who knew about such horrendous weather. We decided visiting various historical places, monasteries, tiger hill, Himalayan institute and zoological park, toy train and tea garden. With that my energy was so down I had to take a quick nap in the vehicle while my travel partners visited another famous peace stupa. In between we surprisingly missed our train ride. We ran from one place to another like a kid in a candy store but the train did not stop for us 😦 Having to wake up as early as 3:30 with less than 5 percent chances of seeing sunrise, pit stopping at touristy places one after the other and missing the most awaited train ride, the only thing that was going in my mind was “ok I’ve seen a lot already” ^_^
Amidst rain, dropping temperature, hailstorm and foggy Darjeeling, we possibly did everything that a tourist does there. My best buy was a knitted hat. I sure didn’t want to get sick and ruin the trip. Extremely short but quality time spent with daju and yummilicious dinner treat at The Park Hotel and Restaurant is so far the best memory of this trip. Huge learning!!! In Darjeeling one should always carry an umbrella and check the weather forecast.
sandhya.sahi 