Travellog: Sikkim – Kalingpong – Darjelling - Kolkatta
Summary:Our trip started on Apr 28 2006. It was 8 day trip on the whole. Initially we had to catch a flight from Hyderabad – Kolkatta. From Kolkatta - Baghdogra. It takes 2 hrs from Kolkatta to reach Baghdogra and now from Baghdogra we had to goto a place called Silliguri which is like 1 – 2 hr by car. We stayed in Silliguri for 1 day to reach Sikkim it takes about 4 hrs to climb the hill and reach the place.We were in Sikkim for 3 days + Kalingpong 1 1/2 day + Darjelling for 2 1/2 days. 1 day in Kolkatta.
Apr 28, 2006:
The next day after the Hyderabad Reception was the day to fly to Kolkatta.Beautiful Friday Morning we said Goodbye to all at home to catch the Kingfisher Airlines which was scheduled at 8:00 A.M. After a pleasant journey we landed at the international Netaji Subhash Airport. We reached Kolkatta at 10:00 A.M. Now at 1:00 P.M. we had to catch a flight to Baghdogra. Sikkim does not have any airports or railheads because of its rough terrain. The closest airport, Bagdogra Airport, is near the town of Siliguri, West Bengal. The airport is about 124 km away from Gangtok.
We boarded the Flight to Baghdogra at 1:20 p.m. luckily that day they didn’t cancel the flight else the whole package trip could have got affected. Generally if there are fewer passengers then the flights get cancelled here. Since it was just beginning of the tourist season we had enough people on board. Our Package trip would start from we reaching Silliguri. Out Travel coordinator was a very concerned lady who would keep calling us up at regular intervals to know our whereabouts. It would take another 2 hrs from Kolkatta to Baghdogra. Baghdogra is in West Bengal. The capital of Gangtok - Sikkim is nearly 75 miles from the nearest airport at Baghdogra and 70 miles from the railhead at Shiliguri, Roads, though not extensive, are the primary mode of travel. Baghdogra is only a connecting means to the Northeast.
Once we reached Baghdogra – at 3:30 P.M. the land was burning hot!! Bagdogra airport is 12 km west of Siliguri. Our package tour started from here so the travel agent had sent us a taxi to reach Siliguri which is like an hour from Baghdogra. While traveling far across we could see huge Mountains and all the houses on the way were made of Long Bamboos. We were very tired by the time we reached Siliguri.. At about 4:30 P.M. we reached our Hotel at Silliguri. We took rest for a while and got freshened up to do some site survey. It was already 7:00 P.M. now. We just took a walk and looked around the place. Lot of localites said that Siliguri is the major trade centre for the north-east and eastern Nepal. At 7 – 8in the evening the roads are silent and all trade close for the day. We too had our dinner early as the next day morning we had to travel to SIKKIM! and we were really excited to reach the place as soon as possible.
Apr 29 2006:
A beautiful Morning, fresh breeze and a pleasant weather. We got ready and quickly had our breakfast. The Taxi driver had already arrived at the hotel to take us to Sikkim. The best thing about this Trip was we were not put together with 100s of other tourists instead we had a separate car to travel to all the places in the package. After taking some instructions from Raghu like – stop at all the places where you think is a site seeing place on the way to Sikkim and show us a good hotel to have our lunch. We started our way to Sikkim. At the entrance of the Hill there was a Kali Mandir. We took Mata’s Blessings and opposite to that was the Shiv Mandir...We went there also. It was a lovely place with river flowing underneath. Got to know that the river flowing there is ‘TEESTA’ river. We started our trip. It was said that Sikkim is about 4 -5 hrs from Siliguri. Raghu was busy shooting the scenic beauty of the place. As we climbed the hill through the Tanzing Norway Road we got to know that Sikkim is a hidden valley of rice or "Bayul Demojong" as called by the local people Sikkim is a tiny State of the Union territory of India. The most widely accepted origin of the name Sikkim is that it is a combination of two words in the Limbu Su, which means "new", and Khyim, which means "palace" or house, in reference to the palace built by the state's first ruler, Phuntsok Namgyal. The Tibetan name for Sikkim is 'Denjong, which means the "valley of rice".
It started getting colder as we were climbing the hill. We could see lot of steep slopes; streams on the way and than anything there were many Army trucks movement in that area. Sikkim is surrounded by the Tibetan Plateau in the North, Nepal in the West, Bhutan in the East and West Bengal along its Southern border. Its Capital is Gangtok. 
We reached the Sikkim Border and the best thing I liked about it was its mysterious mist, fluttering prayer flags painted pagoda roofed houses, rich culture heritage and its friendly smiling people. People here are very creative, hardworking. We were inside Sikkim and we could see the natural beauty as every house had a garden with roses, lilies filled in their Garden. A very pleasant weather. At few places I could see the Clouds coming down. Sikkim has become one of India's most visited states, owing to its reputation of cleanliness, scenic beauty and political stability. It has narrow roads and somewhere far we could see even higher mountains and the driver said it is Kachenzonga (Kanchanjunga). We passed amidst the continuous murmur of springs and waterfalls coming from all sides. The car was washed several times by the fountain waters. We were in Sikkim, known as the the Switzerland of the east.
We just reached our Hotel which was a nice place at a hill top. It was in between the commercial area. We checked into our room. A Beautiful view of the ice covered Kanchanjunga range from our room window. 
We rested for a while and got down to the Restaurant ‘Tangerine’. We wanted to try the typical Sikkimese food out there. Sikkimese eat lot of Non-Veg food but we got a couple of good options for Vegetarian food from the waiter to happened to be from Bangalore and took very good care of us. He was insisting Raghu to speak in Kannada. We ordered for a dish called ‘ Bamboo shoots ‘ , Paratha, Hot n sour soup, Mamoos ( a very famous local dish made of fried maida & cabbage ) . We also ordered for vegetable masala to be on the safer side. All the food was made in Mustard oil and the taste of the food was ok, ok. Mamoos was a huge hit with us. It was llike a quick snacks. Bamboo shoots have to taken with plain rice. It was so so …!! But on the whole the whole ambience of the hotel was mirror to Sikkim Culture.
Our Site seeing for the day was for the next day…we would be going to Rangpoo. But after having lunch we went to look around the Place. After enquiring about the local site seeing places – the restaurant waiter said that we could see the Flower show, Ropeway and visit the local market which is close by to the place. We got ready and left to see the flower show which was said will close by 6:00 P.M. Sikkim believes in early to sleep, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
We hired a taxi and went to see the flower exhibition. Gardening being one of my favorite hobbies I was very excited to see the different varieties there. I wanted to buy orchids and other flowering plants but was worried if they would bloom the same way in Bangalore. 
There were vast varieties of flowers, show plants. Orchids are the state flower. Apart from that were the Lilies…etc. From there we were walking towards the Nathula pass road…it was already 6:30 pm in the evening and the place was getting colder. Imagine when the whole India was under heat waves – Sikkim is a place where the sun never scorches. We took couple of photos of the ice caped mountains from far. We went to a commercial street there – we noticed that this place is largely influenced by Chinese culture – all feng shui laws...Etc. I bought a couple of purses to gift it to close relatives. We just kept seeing the cultural richness of the place. We went to a local exhibition. It was good. We ate Momoos, Pani Puri, and other chat...that became our dinner for the night. We went back to our hotel. We captured the magnificent view of Eastern Sikkim at Night. The whole place was like twinkling stars positioned on mountain terrains.
Apr 30 2006: Today was the Sikkim site seeing day. We were to goto Tshango Lake, Ganesh Tok, Hanuman Tok, Flower show..etc.
The driver – Pashang too had his Sister – in –law in Blore and felt happy to meet us and he said that we can’t see lot of ice near Tshango Lake. I was like its ok we’ll se that some other time. We asked him how far we have to goto see ice…the driver said proper ice area is like 6 hrs from Sikkim but he knows another place where it has snowed and its only 1 ½ hr away fm Tshango lake and he charged Rs.500/- for that trip.
We started our trip and saw many mountains and clouds passing by us. Steep and skiddy roads where the main traffic was the army trucks and Army people were maintaining the roads and called it as Border Road Organization (BRO).
Tshango Lake situated at a height of 12,400 ft. with an average depth of 50 ft. The cool water of the lake is perfectly attuned with the scenic beauty around. A small temple is constructed on the lakeside and beautiful flowers & Alpine vegetation grow around the lake. We got down at Tshango lake and drank Coffee.
Pashang – Our driver insisted that we start early to the Baba Mandir as the route to it is a narrow road and the weather in Sikkim is very Unpredictable.
We had to hire extra winter clothes (like Snow shoes + Gloves + Jacket) from a shop on the way to go to Baba Mandir, situated over 14,000 feet above sea level. On the way to this place the taxi driver stopped at one place where the land was fully covered in ice. The place was located beside the road to climb the hill. We got down and I was having one of the best moments of my life. I always wanted to touch & play in the snow. This was the moment I was waiting from the time we planned to come to North East. We both were throwing snow balls at each other and were falling in the snow as we were not getting that grip in snow. It was fun. We took couple of photos her and progressed forward towards Baba Mandir. It is the last point in India. After just a small hill, the Tibetan state in China begins. The weather in Baba Mandir area was so cool that I was feeling that chill inspite of the winter wear. We could take few snaps of the extreme Indian border area. 
The small Baba Mandir was built in memory of an Indian soldier who was killed during an operation in the area several years back. The arms and outfit of the soldier Harbhajang Singh were preserved there. Army personnel particularly those who are Shikh consider him a saint. Other than the beautifully decorated wooden Mandir, the visitors also feel the thrill of observing a water fall directly coming from China. The time was 1:00 p.m. now. The area looks like a barren land as there is hardly any human habitation within ten to fifteen kilometers area. The sun is barely visible throughout the year as the weather always remains cloudy. On the way from Gangtok to Baba Mandir we found natural fountains and water falls in almost every corner of the road. There were also several springs or water falls within one hundred yards. A few hundred feet above the Baba Mandir area, the Nathula border check post is located. The check post remained closed since a war between India and China during 60s. Now they recently opened the checkpost for trade & commerce. We went on a Sunday so the army officials were distributing lunch for all visitors. We had a quick bite and moved from there. .
The weather while coming back was rough lot of breeze, clouds covered the clear mountains which we saw a few hours back. The clouds were touching / passing by us. I was enjoying every Moment. There was a waterfall where we got down for a while and quickly pushed off from there. Again few more minutes in the snow but this time the weather was getting rough so the driver insisted that we come down quickly to goto Tshango Lake. Around 2,000 feet down from the Baba Mandir, is the famous Tsomgo / Tshango Lake 12,400 feet above sea level. Thousands of people come from all over India to enjoy the beauty of the lake and surrounding snow-capped mountains. The water in the lake was crystal clear. We reached there and had some Maggie to eat and hot coffee to drink. We looked around the place which was breathtakingly beautiful. We wore the local costume. This suited us pretty well, sat on a yak and took few snaps. Then we went a little shopping and brought two bags there. By now it was already 3:00 P.M. We saw the Tashi View point too there.
We had to see few more places so we started from there – we went to a place called Hanuman Tok. It was well built. Tok means the peak of mountain. At around 4:00 P.M. we reached Hanuman Tok which also happens to be Raghu’s Favorite Mandir. Then we did not have any lunch so asked Pashang – driver to take us to a good hotel to eat in Gangtok. We reached Gangtok and had a good lunch in one of the Agarwal Restaurant there. We reached our Hotel took rest for a while and later went to the commercial shopping center in Gangtok. No vehicles are allowed inside this area. We walked around the place..bought few more gift items. When we went out we saw many beautiful well dressed Sikkimese girls / women. That day was Akshya Trithya so we decided to buy 1 gm of gold as its considered auspicious. Raghu gifted me that 1 gm of gold.
We had our dinner too in Agarwals that night and went back to our Hotel as the next day too we had to get ready to goto other site seeing places in Sikkim. May 1 2006: we got ready to visit Budhist Monasteries. Around 10:00 a.m. after having our breakfast we were all set to explore Sikkim. We were taken to a ropeway climbing point. We traveled by the ropeway over the roads of Gangtok. The other side of the ropeway was a small Monastery very colorfully built. After that we came back to the car and visited the Sikkim Museum. The place has antique collection on Buddhist culture. It was good. Later we visited another Enchey Monastery on a hill.
We went inside this monastery. The Om shanty Shanti Bells were really interesting to turn. There are number of beautiful Buddhist monasteries most of them situated on the hilltops are another attraction. The monasteries are beautifully decorated and built in Chinese and Tibetan styles.
We went to the Government Institute of Cottage Industries. It is another interesting place to visit. Located uphill from the main market, the institute was established in 1957, with the aim of promoting local handicrafts. The outlet at the institute is a good place to pick up handicrafts like tangkhas, woollen carpets, dolls and masks amongst other things. Raghu bought a Sikkim jacket for my Brother and himself. It was good. After this we asked the Driver about best Monastery and he said ‘Rumtek’ after few discussions he said that it falls on the way to Kalimpong. So we decided that we will have our lunch pack our bags and start to Rumtek and then goto Kalimpong. We had our lunch in the hotel itself and packed our bags and left the place at 2:15 p.m. It was another 1 ½ hr drive to Rumtek Monastery. We were capturing the architectural beauty that radiates with pagoda-like wooden houses, painted turquoise roofs and gay bazaars. Undoubtedly modern times have wound their way into this picturesque town, but the gently swaying and elegant costumes of the Sikkimese people, their smiling faces, the unhurried pace of their life-style and the towering beauty of Kanchenjunga ..... All cast a magic spell on this delightful location in the foothills of the grand Himalayas on the way to Rumtek Monastery. We reached Rumtek Monastery 
which is also called the Dharmachakra Centre, is a
Tibetan Buddhist monastery . It was around 3:30 P.M. and it was raining heavily, so had to take umbrella and walk inside. The monastery is currently the largest in Sikkim. It is home to the community of monks and
where they perform the rituals and practices of the Karma Kagyu lineage. A Golden Stupa contains the relics of the 16th Karmapa. Huge Budha Statue and other satues were inside along with the buddhist paintings inside the silent monastery. Opposite that building is a college, Karma Shri Nalanda Institute for Higher Buddhist Studies.Rumtek is located 24 km from Gangtok, the capital of the Sikkim, at an altitude of about 1500 m. on the other side of the Ranipool valley. It was amazing to see that the Monastery is guarded by Police and there are many students residing and learning. The monastery is very large, and many of the local children study there: the children sit outside in the courtyard, studying their homework, and reciting their lessons for the older monks, basking in the sunshine. 
At the end of the session they clap hands to a side indicating class dispersal. We had our now famous Veg Mamoos and drank hot tea after visiting the Monastery. The road was meandering with beautiful wooden houses and lovely gardens on the way down towards our car. We started for Kalimpong which is another 2-3 hrs journey from Rumtek Monastery.
As we passed by the River Teesta coming from Tibet and flowing through Sikkim we saw that the water was crystal clear. The image of green hills and a meandering blue river against the frosty skies remained with us long after we left this piece of heaven. We said Goodbye to Sikkim and were out on our way to Kalimpong. At one Village we got down to have some snacks. We ordered for Maggie and our now famous Mamoos and tea. It was Yummy!!
The journey to Kalimpong was pleasant. Well maintained roads, we got from One Mountain and climbed the other. We slept in the car for a while. When we got up it was getting dark and now it was already 7:00 p.m. The place was very lonely. After sometime we reached our hotel ‘Park Hotel’ - Kalimpong Park Hotel, once known as Dinajpur House, the former summer residence of the Maharaja of Dinajpur is a hotel with character, situated on a viewpoint, 1 km. uphill from the downtown area. 
The hotel has it's own beautiful gardens. It was raining outside and there were many mosquitoes outside our room. In the hotel it was written that there is scarcity of water and the staff advised us to use less water. Then we got to know that though in a hill where it rains almost everyday also has scarcity of water as its
difficult to store water on the Hill. We had our dinner early as the next day was the site seeing of Kalimpong.
Kalimpong is a hill station (a hill town) nestled in the Shiwalik Hills (or Lower Himalaya) in the Indian state of West Bengal. Kalimpong is also famous for its flower market, especially the wide array of orchids. It also houses several Buddhist monasteries which hold a number of rare Tibetan Buddhist scriptures.
The meaning that has found the most favour, however, is the Lepcha meaning of the name-'ridge where we play'. It is said that these local tribesmen used to organise field sports while not engaged in agricultural pursuits - hence the name. There are many other versions to it.
May 2 2006:
Around 10:00 A.M. after having our breakfast – delicious Parathas and good Coffee with wonderful scenic view from the Hotel we got ready to hit the place.
Our first tourist place was the Golf field which had green grass spread over miles on hilltop. It was suprising to see that golf is played on a hilltop.
The next destination was the Flower exihibition. Exotic varities of cactus, flowering cactus in huge shapes and sizes. Rose plants with flowers blooming in a bunch. Different varieites of lilies, show palnts..etc. The many flowers nurseries in Kalimpong are known for the diversity of Himalayan flora they house, most of which are exported.
On our way we saw the vast rolling meadows covered with a riot of wild flowers, the sparkling brooks and rivulets meandering lazily by the terraced fields are a feast for one's eyes. Kalimpong is a blaze of color throughout the year owing to the richness of its stunning flora. The orchids of this region in particular are famous for their infinite variety as well as their delicate tints. On the way to Deolo Hill we saw Dr. Graham’s House. Dr. John A. Graham is a sprawling educational institution built on Deolo Hill north of the main township. 
The town centre is located on a ridge connecting two hills, Deolo Hill and Durpin Hill. Deolo, the highest point in Kalimpong, has an altitude of 1,704 m (5,590 feet) and Durpin Hill is at an elevation of 1,372 m (4,501 feet). One of the numerous hill destinations that warrant a visit. A perfect picnic spot replete with a splendid tourist lodge, run by the Department of Tourism, DGHC. A stay here is definitely recommended as the early morning view of the sun lighting up the Khangchendzonga Range is a marvelous example of nature at her best, a heart stopping sight indeed. We spent some time here walking and sitting on the horse and moved to the next tourist spot. We saw Durpin Dara on the way it was a beautiful view point. We visited the Pedong monastery – which was similar to the other monateries. The colors and paintings were rich. Then we went to the Mangal Dham Mandir – It was a Krishna temple where both the sides of the prayer hall has a vivid picturesque story of Nijanandacharya Shri Devchandraji, meeting Lord Krishna, Rev. Prannathji blessing the brave Bundela Chhatrasal Maharaj and other scenes from the Krishna Leela. 
It has a Samadhi of their Guruji. From here we wanted to do the shopping which was pending. We asked the driver to stop at a commercial street there. We wanted to buy something for everybody. So we went into a clothes store and brought three shawls…one for Raghu’s Mother, Grandmother and my Mother. Then we bought few Nepali purses, Chinese bells, Om Shanti Shanti Bells, few Sikkim cardboard dolls…etc. we were getting late as we had to have lunch, pack our bags and move to Darjelling the same afternoon at 2:00 P.M. It was already 1:00 P.M…so we reached our hotel dumped all the things and went to have lunch in the hotel itself. The food was good compared to Sikkim food. I esp liked a veg pickle which is made here. I wanted to take that back home. Even you get good coffee here. then packed our lugguage & within no time got inside the car to goto our next destination!! - DARJELLING!! I have heard a lot about Darjeeling as a hill station and was very excited to see the place. The car was getting down one hill to climb another. When we were getting down we could see so many school children running in the rain with umbrellas and this is when I got to know that they get Winter holidays for two months and have the schools open in Summer!! We also saw many Villagers selling fresh Cabbage, Carrots, Betroots on the roadside. They were so healthy,colorful and fresh. I wished to buy but knew that it will take another 3 days to reach home and the veg will get spoilt by then. I was looking to buy the Veg pickle. We searched few shops in the market and I got my Veg Pickle. We both were resting in the car as it would take about 2 -3 hrs to reach Darjelling. The car stopped at one place, the driver said there is a viewpoint. We went near the viewpoint it was awesome scenery. The driver showed us three hills and said the Hill on which you are standing is Darjelling and the one left to you is Gangtok and the hill to your right is Kalimpong. 
Below the hill were two rivers Teeta and Rang(j)eet. The two rivers were meeting at this point (Sangama) we could make out the color difference in the river. We had some Chirmuri there - Bhel Puri on the Hilltop and also bought Red Chilly Pickle. North East is famous for one variety of Red Chilli which is a must buy. All Himalayan recipes use this rounded red chilly. This is very hot and spicy.
We reached Darjelling all through the climbing we saw beautiful flowers, green hills covered with Tea Garden and a lake below the Hill. Clouds were something I just loved during the entire trip. The cloud would just touch us and go. The feeling is great!
Darjeeling is the Queen of India's hill stations. Its setting is one of incomparable beauty. A Victorian town of old world charm 'discovered' by the British, it is almost completely surrounded by fragrant tea gardens which seem to flow over the layered slopes like emerald swells on a rough sea. These are in turn interspersed by untamed jungle of Fern and Bamboo, groves of sweet smelling Coniferous trees and hamlets lost and which may be the finest this earth has to offer, It hits one like Darjeeling's true name, “Dorje Ling”, or 'Place of the Thunderbolt'.
When we almost reached Darjeeling it was just 4:30 P.M. and the whole roads were covered with Clouds, mist. We hardly could see anybody outside. We were just discussing how will do site seeing. There was so much traffic
jam in the place. Steep roads, traffic due to two way moment of Army trucks, water Tankers, cars...Etc.
Darjeeling straddles a ridge 2,200m up in the Himalayas and almost 600-km north of Kolkata. Its been more than 50 years since the British departed, still the town remains as popular as ever with holiday-makers from the plains, and promenades such as the Mall and the Chowrasta still burst with life.
We reached the Hotel the ambience was beautiful. The Manager there had some confusion about our room booking. The Travel agent cleared his confusions and we got into our room. The room was made of wood and was very spacious. It was raining heavily outside. The rains stopped at around 6:00 p.m. and we got ready to go out and explore the town. Just near our Hotel was the busy shopping area of Darjeeling.
We got ready to go out and Ragu wanted to travel in the very famous Toy Train of Darjeeling. This is a steam train that runs only in OOTY and DARJEELING. We asked the Manager to book the train tickets for us. He said its difficult to get a seat but he’ll try for the next day. We then went to the local Mall/Bazaar. The Mall is Darjeeling's popular commercial street. It is lined with Tibetans selling hand-knitted sweaters and souvenir shops chock-full of Himalayan artifacts and both real and imitation antiques. Photo shops carry turn-of-the-century photos as well as specialising in hand-painted black and white prints with glowing oil colours. The Mall leads to Chaurasta, a square, which doubles as a bandstand, a pony riding arena for children and a haven for lovers. The Chowrasta, meaning crossroad, is a hive of commercial activity. The Mall Road originates and culminates at the Chowrasta. This is the heart of Victorian Darjeeling. Here hotels, restaurants and shops brush against each other. The shops and stalls are a veritable paradise for souvenir collectors. The Bhutanese sellers display their wares. Woollen garments, tribal ornaments, Thankas, rosaries, brass statuettes and Gorkha daggers are kept on display for sale. Foreign goods are also available in some shops. Local handicrafts are much in demand. We bought a bag to put all the gifts, Chinese bells, Kurthas of jute...etc. It was tiring climbing the hills to do shopping also. We wanted to have our dinner so we looked for a good hotel. We had the Agarwals hotel here too. There was a huge crowd inside. We had our dinner and went back to the hotel room. On our way it started again and the next day morning our site seeing starts at 4:00 A.M. in
the morning to see Tiger Hills. Tiger hills is the highest point in the area which provides the most exotic view of the Kanchenjunga peaks. We had asked the hotel staff to give us an alarm at 3:30 A.M. to get ready to go out.
May 3 2006:
Alarm buzzes its already 3:30 A.M. the car was waiting for us and we got ready soon The driver then told us that we are going to Tiger hills to see scenic beauty of Himalayas. I was excited. On the way to Tiger hills there was a Traffic Jam. Traffic Jam at 4:00 A.M. Gosh!! And will not believe that at 4:00 A.M in the morning looked like 7:30 a.m. in the morning there - the sky was clear and bright. We car zoomed off away from the traffic at last and all the drivers around seemed to be in a hurry as iof they are going to lose something if they don’t reach on time. At one point there was huge crowd the driver said Saab aap yehi se Himalaya dehk lo aage jayenge to yeh Nazara chup jayega.
We walked forward – we made our way through the crowd to view the landscape. My God!! What a beautiful panorama!! The sun rise was reflecting on the ice capped Kanchenjunga mountains and it was giving a radiant Orange color to the mountains and it looked like heaven so near! 
Tiger Hill are 8,163 and 8,515 feet respectively. The first rays of the sun shoot ahead and shed light upon the twin peaks of Kanchenjunga and gradually paint the whole of its snow body with a beautiful orange colour. From Tiger Hill, just the top of Mount Everest (29,002') is visible, peeping out through two other peaks standing by its side. The peak that looks highest is that of Makalu (27,799'). These three peaks are seen to the north-west a little left of Phalut. Everest looks smaller than any of its two sisters, although Everest is not only higher than either of them, but the highest peak in the world, the distance in straight line of Everest from Tiger Hill being 107 miles. This phenomenon arises from the fact that Everest is several miles beyond them. On a clear day the sight of Mt.Everest is just enthralling. But today it was luckily just visible though they were clouds but we could see the beautiful mountains that were first Orange then it turns yellow then white. Hot Teas was also sold here. we then came down to reach the next palce. Te recently constructed Gangamaiah park .Tourists enjoy the beauty of this park as much if not more than that of the Rock Garden. The park has some good flowers. From this place through Binaculars one can see the China Border – Nathulla pass. Also at this place Tibetian women sell some articrafts at 5:00 in the morning! There were many photographers taking photos of tourists in the local costumes. Raghu asked me also to wear it. So both of us wore the local costume and posed for the photo. It was good poising like plucking tea leaves. Then from there we went to a Buddhist Monastery - YIGA-CHOLING MONASTERY. We spent some time around the Monastery as the Monks were chanting prayers inside.
We came back to our hotel to have breakfast it was 8:00 a.m. in the morning and took rest for some more time as the next trip was scheduled at 2:00 P.M. so we had enough time. Then we got ready by 2:00 p.m. to go out.
We had our lunch in the hotel and we went for a site seeing. We had to see five places in the evening and the first place was The Himalayan Zoological Park (2km from the town) next to the Mountaineering Institute is the only center in India for the captive breeding of Snow Leopards. The Park houses a wide variety of animals and birds some of which are Siberian tigers, Himalayan black bears, Yaks, Red Pandas and the Llama of the Andes. Open daily from 8am to 4pm. Red Pandaas are the state animal. Inside the zoo was a show that showed us about the Himalayan region Animals. It was fun especially when Raghu was taking the tiger’s video it would growl and when we were just standing it would be silent. Even the bear there was showing some very good cicus when all tourist were around it. We were thinking maybe they were trained to react like that. J it took us 3 hours or more to cover the whole zoo. I was very tired but still Raghu Enthusiastically covered every small place in the zoo.
The next place was Himalayan Mountaineering Institute located on the West Jawahar Rd, was established after the conquest of Mt. Everest by Hillary and Tenzing. Tenzing Norgay was the Director of the institute for many years and after his death in 1986, was cremated near here. The institute conducts preliminary course on Rock climbing on Tenzing Rock and Gombu Rocks which is situated at Lebong Cart Road. Short films on mountaineering is also screened here. The mountaineering museum here contains a collection of mountaineering equipments including the ones that were used on that historic Tenzing Hillary climbs; specimens of Himalayan flora and fauna
and relief model of the Himalaya. The Everest Museum next door traces the history of attempts on the great peak. Open daily 9am to 5pm. There was a practice Mountaineering trekking there and Raghu took that trail to climb on a sample hillock. From there was a hill called Tenzing Norway Hill. It was a small hill of 60 – 70 ft where tourists are allowed to climb with expert people around. Raghu gave it a short. I was a little anxious till he came down as the hill was on a step slope at the road end the other side of the hill was deep valleys. He was very good at climbing as well as getting down. Then he said that he had been to couple of trekking places and has climbed hills bigger than this. From this place we reached the beautiful green lush tea gardens. It was cold - cloudy weather.>
We reached the Happy Valley tea estate is around 3 kms away from the main town (Chowk Bazar), towards the North. If you walk there, you will get a magnificent view of the Mt. Kanchenjunga, provided the day is sunny and you are lucky. Also on the way, you will come across the crematorium of some world famous personalities.
The estate stretches to many kilometers and you can hardly see its end. The estate produces world class
We reached our hotel by 5:30 p.m. got freshened up and went took a long walk around the town. At around 8:30 we had our dinner. We got to know from the manager of the hotel that we could not get any tickets to goto Ghoom by toy train as the seats are full. Toady was Dad’s Birthday and we wished him.
All through this trip every night we called our parents to tell them about our whereabouts.
May 4 2006:
We packaged our lugguage as we had to check out of the hotel by 11:00 A.M. as we had to goto Baghdogra to catch the 2:30 P.M. flight to Kolkatta.
We wanted to finish buying few more gift articles. So we went to the Bazaar and at the chowrasta there was Mahakaal Mandir. Raghu wanted to visit this temple. This temple was situated on a hill top. Nearby was a Buddhist temple too. After that we came to our hotel and we checked out. The car was waiting outside to take us. Now we were going back directly to Baghdogra. While going back on the way in Darjeeling we saw this toy train. Raghu got down from the car to take few snaps of this train. It is hard to believe that the treacherous 83 kilometers between Siliguri and Darjeeling can be covered by riding piggyback on Tom Thumb carriages for about eight hours while it takes only 3 – 4 hrs by car. The gauge is narrow, only 0.6096 m but the journey is something that cannot be experienced anywhere else in the world. It could have costed us Rs.250/- each for only to & fro one hour ride to Ghoom and Darjeeling.
We reached the Baghdogra airport at around 1:00 P.M. but the flight was delayed by 4 hours and was scheduled at 6:00 P.M. Gosh!! Even Raghu was not feeling that well as it’s a cold region and he ate some fried stuff – Mamaoos on a roadside. Waited till 6:10 then the flight arrived and took us safely to Kolkatta...it was already 8:00 P.M. now. We took a pre paid taxi and reached our hotel there.
It was summer and we could feel the heat waves. We had light dinner and thought the next day till 4:30 do the site seeing also. Raghu was feeling little better now.
May 5 2006
We had our breakfast and got ready to go out. It was a very hot day. After visiting North East the heat was a lot to bear. We decided we’ll not get down and see all the places instead book A Taxi and ask him to show us few site seeing place. The hotel staff arranged for a taxi and spoke to him Bengali about the places we wanted to see. We checked out from there itself.
He took us first and showed Victoria Memorial, it was good. 
It also has a museum inside but we couldn’t go due to shortage of time. We just took snaps then we saw around that theer are huge ancient british zamane ke Monuments are many. The roads were narrow and we saw a tram. Tram is a the train that runs on road. Within our time we zeroed on to few places which we wanted to see and is quite nearby to other places. We saw the Hooghly River, new/old Howrah Bridge, Kali Mandir all by sitting in the car. We had coconut water as it was very very hot outside. Now we both were tired and it was the right time to goto the airport to catch the flight to Bangalore. After reaching at 2:00 P.M. the Bangalore flight scheduled at 3:30 P.M air deccan got delayed by 4 hrs. Gosh!! So We at around 3:00 P.M had our lunch in the airport itself. Looked around the airport and passed time. At around 6:30 P.m. the Bangalore flight took off and by 8:30 P.M. we landed in Bangalore, took a pre paid taxi and went home. On reaching home Raghu’s parents were anxious about us coming late. We started narrating what happened during dinner…!!
With its eye-catching visual view, fantastic vistas North East was JUST perfect for a Holiday - honeymoon. The place was a treat to our eyes - the one you will never forget but cherish for days to come. One can find a harmonious blend of diverse culture and religion in thsese places.
The people here have a strong bonding with their age-old traditions and customs. Despite this the place is definitely not behind the rest of the world in terms of urbanisation - broad roads, flyovers, posh markets, state-of-art hospital,Educational institutes, fast food outlets, discotheques, and all other modern amenities that the heart can desire for.
Memories cannot be replayed now and then, but the journey to a beautiful place can be replayed in our memory every now and then……….!
Sringeri is home to a number of historic temples. Of these, Sri Sharadamba temple and Sri Vidyashankara temple are very prominent. Hornadu - Set amidst enchanting natural scenery, Hornadu is 100 kms southwest of Chikmagalur and has an ancient temple of Annapoorneshwari, which has been renovated recently. With the installation of the new image of Adi Shakti, now the temple is called Adi-Shaktyatmaka Shri Annapoorneshwari. The place attracts lots of pilgrims who are provided free boarding and lodging by the temple.
