Holiday in India & Bhutan (5): journey to Darjeeling
Next day (Sunday) was essentially about transferring from our hotel in Siliguri (where we spent just one night) to our hotel in Darjeeling (where we will spend three nights). Part of the journey was by road when we were transported by a convoy of six cars. Part of the journey was by a very special railway.
But first we visited the Buddhist shrine of Salugara Monastery just outside Siliguri.This is believed to have been built by the Tibetan Lama, Kanu Rinpoche, and it is notable for its ‘super’ stupa of 100 feet (30 metres). Here our local guide took the opportunity to give us a short talk on the recent history of the region and the main features of Buddhism.
We then started our road trip and stopped after about an hour to stand in a rice field where our local guide gave us an explanation of how the British brought tea cultivation to the region and how there are different types and different flavours of tea.
At this stage, the terrain changed dramatically and we rose steeply though a series of no fewer than 27 steep bends on a single-lane road, which necessitated much hooting or horns and squeezing past other vehicles. It was sometimes hair-raising and stomach-churning, but it was always scenic and exciting.
It was a drive of about a further half hour to reach the town of Kurseong which is located at a height of 4,864 feet (1,483 metres). Here we had lunch at “The Cochrane Place”, a former British colonial house full of all sorts of memorabilia.
Kurseong is a major station on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. Completed in 1881, the the rail line was the brainchild of Franklin Prestage, the agent of the East Bengal State Railway and today it is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Compared to most of the country’s railways, this one is narrow gauge: just two foot (0.6 metre). Unlike other railway line, this one has a tiny, steam-driven locomotive which is used for some trips, although our particular locomotive was diesel-powered but still small.
Over its full length, the railway climbs from about 330 feet (100 metres) above sea level at New Jalpaiguri to about 6,812 feet (2,076 metres). The train hits its zenith at Ghoom,the highest train station in India at 7,407 feet (2,258 metres) before trundling the last four miles (6 kms) to Darjeeling.
We travelled on a single carriage train – with no toilet – over the stretch from Kurseong to Darjeeling which took us almost three hours.
Since the railway is followed by a single-lane road, right alongside it, and since it runs through many small towns, almost brushing houses and shops in those settlements, the piercing warning hoots are continual. Since it is an effort for the small engine to pull carriages and passengers up this constant incline, the steelwheels continuously shriek on the tracks.
As if this wasn’t atmospheric enough, there was the weather: sometimes it rained, sometimes it tried to shine, and the rest of the time it was overcast with thick mist. The journey invited photographs but movement, weather, vegetation and buildings made it really hard to take good photos. However, I did make a short video.
The most notable feature of Darjeeling is its altitude: 6,811 feet (2,076 metres).
In the early 19th century, during East India Company rule in India, Darjeeling was identified as a potential summer retreat for British officials, soldiers and their families. The narrow mountain ridge was leased from the Kingdom of Sikkim, and eventually annexed to British India.
Experimentation with growing tea on the slopes below Darjeeling was highly successful. Thousands of labourers were recruited chiefly from Nepal to clear the forests, build European-style cottages, and work in the tea plantations.
Today, the city is sandwiched in a corner of India – known as ‘the chicken’s neck’ – with Nepal to the west, Bhutan to the east, China to the north and Bangladesh to the south. It is has a small population of about 120,000 which includes a large community of Tibetans exiled from their homeland following the Chinese occupation.
Having left out hotel in Siliguri at 9.15 am, we reached our hotel in Darjeeling – the splendid Mayfair Hotel – at 6 pm, so it was another long day but a really enjoyable one.