Trip to North East India (Day 3)

Day 3
3:45 AM
Wake-up call. Today we were supposed to take the three point tour, the three points being the Tiger Hill, the Batasia Loop and the Ghoom monastery. We had made the tour booking in the hotel itself in advance and had been charged Rs. 900 for this tour. We had been provided a dedicated Toyota Innova vehicle with a driver cum guide.

4:15 AM
Leave for Tiger Hill from the hotel. Tiger Hill is a famous spot in Darjeeling from where one can witness the grand spectacle of the rising sun. It was drizzling and the weather was very misty outside as we set out from the hotel. The visibility en route was very low, and at some points we could not even see a couple of meters ahead. Fortunately our driver was experienced under such conditions and took us safely to our destination.

5:00 AM
Arrive Tiger Hill. There were a lot of tourist vehicles that had already arrived there, indicating the popularity of the spot. The driver had to park some distance behind and we had walk up to the view point. Here's a view of the view point building:
The building reminds one of a cinema theater with different classes. There were some three floors in the building with different rates for different floors. We chose to visit the Deluxe lounge for which we had to pay Rs. 30 per head. It was raining incessantly, the sky was very cloudy and the sun god was playing hide and seek. After waiting for more than half an hour, we had to be content with watching the view from the enclosure. Two or three hawkers were selling Darjeeling guide books and mementoes at a premium there, advertising their wares with loud raucous voices.

5:40 AM
Leave Tiger Hill after taking some photographs outside. Many vendors sell traditional Darjeeling tea outside the view point building, carrying the beverage in big airtight drums. A sip of the hot tea is certainly welcome to ward off the early morning chill!

6:00 AM
Arrive Batasia Loop War Memorial. There was an entrance fee of Rs. 10 per head. The place has a war memorial to commemorate our brave soldiers. Here's how it looks:
The toy train that runs to Darjeeling makes a loop around the war memorial and that's probably the reason why the place is called the Batasia Loop.
A couple of hawkers were doing brisk business by dressing up ladies and children in Darjeeling native dress and getting them photographed. It takes them just two minutes to wrap the dress around their customer, put some pins, hang a couple of necklaces and bingo they are done. They were charging Rs. 20 for one such dressing. Easy money, eh? For their part, the tourists did not seem to mind the drizzle in their eagerness to get themselves photographed in the native dress.

7:00 AM
Arrive Druk monastery. Actually we were supposed to visit Ghoom monastery, but our driver convinced us that the Druk monastery was bigger and we would like it better. This is how the monastery looks from the outside:

The Buddhist monks in the monastery follow the practice of rotating several big cylinders, the Dharma Chakras, round and round in the belief that it brings world peace.


7:45 AM
Back to hotel after completing the three point tour.

8:30 AM
Breakfast at the hotel (bread toast and bananas).

9:00 AM
Leave hotel for some shopping. The local markets have shops selling all kinds of wares, mostly sweaters, jackets, umbrellas and memorabilia. It was drizzling constantly and we had to keep our umbrella out always.

10:00 AM
Check out of the hotel and leave for the Mixed Point tour which was priced at Rs. 1200. We were presented white souvenir scarves by the hotel receptionist.

10:45 AM
Arrive Japanese Temple.

This is a Buddhist temple and monastery. We had to remove and leave our footwear outside before entering the temple. The prayer was in progress in the prayer hall on the first floor when we arrived there. We also sat down for some time and prayed by beating a round plate with a small stick rhythmically. We met a Tamilian family in the temple which had also come there for sight-seeing.
Just adjacent to the temple is a Peace Pagoda which is simply magnificent to behold. It is pure white in colour and has an image of the Buddha embedded in it. There are two silver coloured lions guarding the entrance. The structure reminds one of the Vidhana Soudha dome in Bangalore.

12:00 PM
Arrive at the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park and Himalayan Mountaineering Institute. There was an entry fee of Rs. 30 per head. The park is a one of its kind high-altitude zoo which houses several rare species such as the snow leopard, the Tibetan wolf, the Red Panda and the Himalayan bear. Besides we saw other animals like the common leopard, tahr, sambars, pheasants, langurs, yaks and the slow loris. We could espy the red panda lying curled up in its enclosure:

We also got a clear view of the Himalayan bear:

And the Tibetan wolf:

However we were not fortunate enough to get a glimpse of the famous snow leopard. There were two or three big enclosures with its name mentioned on the signboard, but we could not spot it anywhere. Maybe it had taken shelter from the rain somewhere inside.

After spending over an hour in the zoo, we visited the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute which is just adjacent to the zoo. We visited the Everest museum that houses several photographs and articles used by famous mountaineers such as Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary. There's not much else for the average tourist to see; however there's a training centre for mountaineering enthusiasts.

2:30 PM

Break for lunch. There's a small restaurant just opposite the zoo where we had a nice lunch of chapattis. A short distance away, the driver pointed us to the Tenzing Rock where beginning mountaineers are trained.3:00 PM
Arrive at a typical Darjeeling tea estate where freshly packed tea is sold in sachets. The scenery is very enchanting there. We could explore the tea estates on our own, but since it was raining, we were cautioned not to venture far due to the slippery wet ground. We bought some tea at the rate of Rs. 300 per kg after sampling the beverage prepared from the very same tea leaves.

4:00 PM

Leave Darjeeling for Gangtok. There's a point from where shared taxis leave regularly for Gangtok. We got into a Tata Sumo that was jam-packed with passengers and were charged Rs. 130 per head for the five hour ride. The driver was a sullen chap with few words but he drove very carefully. Initially there was a traffic jam with a lot of vehicles piled up in either direction. The drive from Darjeeling to Gangtok is simply breath-taking with splendid scenery all along the way with the River Teestha providing the backdrop for more than three quarters of the journey.

7:30 PM

Brief halt at Rangpo where we bought some assorted sweets in a sweetmeat shop.

9:00 PM

Arrive Gangtok. The shared taxis halt at the main taxi stand of Gangtok from where local taxis are available. We had an advance reservation at Hotel Sagorika which is about 10 minutes by walk from the taxi stand. Initially we had some difficulty what with having to lug our baggage in an unknown place. After a few minutes, we found a coolie who agreed to carry our bags to the hotel for Rs. 30. We had dinner at the hotel after refreshing ourselves and finally called it a day.

Stay tuned for the Gangtok story! Coming up soon...