A trip to Darjeeling including a Ride in Himalayan Railway (Toy Train), West Bengal, India

A trip to Darjeeling including a Ride in Himalayan Railway (Toy Train), West Bengal, India

My family and I visited Darjeeling in January 2018.

Darjeeling is a busy little hillside town in northeastern West Bengal.

My route –> Bangalore to Bagdogra (flight)

Bagdogra to Darjeeling (by Innova)

#Bagdogra airport really needs a Facelift. One of the worst airports that I have been in India

We had stayed at Sterling Darjeeling resort during that trip. From Sterling property, we can see an spectacular view of Kanchenjunga Mountain ranges. So we avoided the trip to Tiger mountain hill. If you plan for this place, you will have to wake up very early in the morning to reach there before sun rise. Located 10+ kms from Darjeeling is Tiger Hill Mountain, popular for its sunrise view.

The main idea behind this trip was to take a ride in the Toy train.
Its really an amazing journey. It’s good to pre-book the tickets, to avoid any last minute rush.
Tickets can be pre-booked in the website www.irctc.co.in
You can give the source destination and target destination as below:

Select the Joyride (Steam) option.

You can book the First class ticket (only option). The entire journey is 2 hours.

I have seen many of the co-passengers getting down at the Ghum station. This can save your time, if you have a tight packed journey plan.The train stops in between for water refilling.

Couple of other places that we visited were:

1.Rangeet Valley Ropeway

If you want a panoramic photograph of tea plantations, Rangeet Valley Ropeway is a must. This was built in 1968 and is the first cable car in India. It’s a 15 minute ride over the sprawling field and an epic view. The ropeway stops at a small village of Tuvkar, where you can keep walking to its tea estate and visit its factory. The ropeway met with an accident in 2003,a cable car fell off killing four people. However, it reopened in 2012.

2. Japanese temple and Peace Pagoda

The Japanese Temple is the symbol of peace. It is located in the Jalapahar Hills and is built in the traditional Japanese style. The view from here is simply wonderful.

3. Chunnu Summer falls (Rock Garden)

The Rock Garden and Ganga Maya Park are two beautiful parks located close to each other. Rock garden is a terraced garden that has been cut through the rock and seating arrangements are made in between. The major attraction here is the cascading waterfall.

4. Batasia Loop and War Memorial

Batasia Loop is a garden and one of the scenic routes for the Toy Train . The valley view from this park is stunning. In this park there is a war memorial dedicated to Gurkha soldiers.

5. We also visited a couple of Monasteries and temples.

Overall, It was a nice 2 days vacation in Darjeeling.