Visit & explore Darjeeling with Bengal Tourism

What Alps is to Switzerland – Kanchendzonga is to Bengal. Queen of the Hills & home to the finest Darjeeling Tea on earth. Located at a height of about 6800 ft above sea level. Cool & pleasant climate of with a backdrop of mighty snow capped Kangchendzonga. The Toy Train (an UNESCO World Heritage site) with worlds highest built railway (Ghoom) station. A hideout in the hills, when it all started in the early 19th century, when a patrol of the East India Company, who were exploring an easy access to Sikkim during the Anglo Nepal wars, came across a sleepy hamlet atop a thickly wooden ridge with a brilliant view of Mt. Kangchendzonga. It’s strategic value aside, the collective British soul pinning for cold & rain instantly recognised a ‘hill station’ when it saw one. In its formative years, like most Raj getaways, Darjeeling was simply a scattered village of English cottages, confined to Birch Hill & Jalapahar.

But it had an earlier messy history too. Initially, Darjeeling was a part of Sikkim, which had been lost to Bhutan, then reclaimed and lost once again to Nepal in the 18th century. But then the Anglo-Nepalese war took place. After it ended in 1817, what Nepal had stolen from Sikkim was pawned over to the East India Company.

So, because of its location & the fluid political situation, Darjeeling became a sort of ‘frontier town’ in the 1840s & ‘50s, a haven for international misfits. Tibetan & East European refugees, fleeing Russians & displaced monarchs such as Emir of Afghanistan, were all found here. And this political compost burped up spies of every persuasion – British, of course, and then Japanese. Some working for the Chinessity, Kuomintang, some for the INA. And then there were also the independent strays with bad cases of curiosity, plotting secret entry into forbidden Lhasa.

 

From the lost era of cosmopolitan intrigue, shrouded in high mists & whispered small cottages, Darjeeling has grown hugely in its domains and one wishes Darjeeling’s coming of age had been better nursed.
The name of the town is believed to be a corruption of Dorje-ling, literally the ‘land of the mystic thunderbolt’ of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist mythology. But the Earl of Ronaldshay, once the President of the Royal Geographical Society, complained that this was incorrect & claimed that the name came from Lama Dorje-rinzing, founder of the monastery which once stood on Observatory Hill.

Places of interest : Himalayan Mountaineering Institute • Batasia Loop • Himalayan Heritage Train • Ghoom Monastery • Natural History Museum • Japanese Peace Pagoda • Bhutia Busty Monastery • • Padmaja Naidu zoological Park • Shrubbery Nightingale Park • Tiger Hill • Ghoom Monastery • Yiga Choling Monastery • Rock Garden • Ganga Maiya Park • Tibetan Refugee Self Help Center • Dhirdham Temple • Chowrasta • Natural History Museum• Observatory Hill • Lloyd Botanical Garden • Singla • Majitar • Peshok • Tea Gardens • Makaibari Tea Estate • Happy Valley Tea Estate  • Takdah • Mungpoo • Pashupati (Day Outing) Mirik • Dello Hill • Hanuman Mandir • Dr. Graham's Homes • Durbin Dara • Tharpa Choling • Zong Dog Palri Fo-Brang Gompa • Pedong • Rikissum • Damsang Fort • Sillery• Rikissum, Samthar Valley • Trek Today Tangtey • River Rafting • Reshi • Samthar Valley • Neora Valley • Monsong • Sillery • Damsanguri • Nurseries • Ralei Khola • Relli Khola • Gumbadhara • Pasting  & more… 

At a short distance : Mirik (Divine Lake) • Kurseong (land of the White Orchid) • Kalimpong • Lava (Abode of the Gods) • Rishap (Misty magic) • Loleygaon • Tinchuley • Sandaphu (Trekkers delight) • Lepchajagat • and also Sikkim • Gangtok • Rumtek • Pelling • Yuksom • Ravangla • Aritar Reshi • Rongli • Nathang Valley • Rinchenpong • Legship • Norbugang Tsomgo lake • Nathula Pass • Baba Mandir Lachen • Gurudongmar Lake • Tso Lhamu Lake • Lachung • Yumthang • Mangan • Singhik • Thangu • Uttarey • Bhutan • Paro • Thimpu • Phuentsholing • Trongsa • Bumathang • Punakha • Samdrup • Jongkhar • Lhuntse & Ura Valley •Trashigang & more… 

Must try cuisine: Authentic  local inhabitant influenced Bengal’s hill region (Gorkha / Tibetan / Sikkimese / Bhutia / Nepali / Bhutanese) / preparations

 
HOT SPOTS
Darjeeling
Digha
Dooars / Duars
Kolkata
Sundarban
PACKAGES
Darjeeling — 5N & 6D
Dooars — 5N & 6D
Digha — 4N & 5D
Kolkata package
Sundarban — 3N & 4D
Puri & Konark — 5N & 6D
Sikkim & Gangtok — 5N & 6D
Bhutan & Paro — 4N & 5D
Bangkok & Pattaya — 4N & 5D
Nepal/ Kathmandu — 4N & 5D
TAILOR MADE

Boat Stay
Camping
Eco Tourism
Event Management
Film Shooting
Heritage Tour & Walks
Hotel Booking / Home Stay New
Jungle Safari
Religious Tour
River Rafting
Spa / Massage / Yoga
Tea Tourism
Theme Package
Trekking
Village Life

EXCLUSIVE
Medical Tourism
OTHERS
Orissa
Bihar
Andaman & Nicobar
Sikkim
Bhutan
Nepal
Thailand