Kalimpong :An untapped hill station from North Bengal

Local sightseeing in Kalimpong area includes visits to famous monasteries that have old rare scriptures & Tibetan architecture, lovely view points offering sweeping views of Kanchenjunga snow peaks, rivers & landscapes, visits to museums, parks, flower nurseries, historical missionary schools and so on. You can also make great day trips to near by areas like Pedong, Lava, Loleygaon, Rishyap, virgin villages etc.

 Hill view from Kalimpong

 All taxi drivers and tour operators in Kalimpong offer standard package tours for local sightseeing in Kalimpong. It could be half day or full day package covering the major attractions in and around Kalimpong. However such local package tours will take you to places and attractions within 8-10 kms of the town center. If you like to reach out to places further away, you will either need to work out the cost with the taxt driver or go through a tour operator.

The easiest way to avail a tour in Kalimpong is to walk down to the taxi stand on the main market area (Rishi road) and choose a taxi of your choice. Taxis here are mostly private cars that are used commercially. They come in various makes from small to large vehicles like Alto, Maruti Van, WagonR, Santro, Scorpio, Sumo etc. The tour operators & hotels can organize luxury vehicles like Innova, Tavera etc.

Deolo Hill Kalimpong

 Rates are different depending on the vehicle you take. A small car like Alto would be the cheapest. But keep in mind that road conditions in some places like Rishyap, Loleygaon etc can be very bad and small cars can be very uncomfortable on such roads. You should check beforehand about the current road conditions before deciding on a vehicle. Sumos, Jeeps and Scorpios can negotiate bad roads much better. However there is no problems taking a small car for local sightseeing though.
 Note that while local sightseeing tours (half or full day) have standard rates, the rates offered for day trips and non conventional tours can vary widely. So always talk to a few drivers and negotiate before zeroing on one. Low season rates are lower.

 Below I have described the different tours that you can undertake in Kalimpong.

 LOCAL SIGHTSEEING (EAST KALIMPONG) -

 1) Dr Graham's Homes: This missionary school was set up by Dr. J A Graham in 1900 as an orphanage cum school for the destitute Anglo Indian children. It started only with one cottage that accommodated up to 35 children. Over the years it has grown as a well known multi religious and co-educational school spanning over 500 acres of lush landscape and having some 50 cottages. It is located on the way to Deolo Hills. You can walk across to various parts of the school.

2) Lord Buddha Statue: Close to Deolo there is a small rock garden in which you will find this nice statue of Lord Buddha sitting in a lotus position. This is only a quick stop over point and a good place to click a picture.

3) Sherpa View Point: This is a watershed near Buddha statue from where you get great views towards both north and south. You get excellent views of  Sikkim hills and Mount Kanchenjung if you look north, towards south is the beautiful view of a valley and the Relli river flowing through it as well Loleygaon (Kafer) and also the hills of Samthar plateau. This view point is unfortunately not well maintained.

 4) Durga Mandir: This is a Hindu temple of Goddess Durga located near Sherpa View Point. A nice garden full of flowering plants and a viewing gallery. The temple is small but quite nice. Good place to relax for a while.

5) Hanuman Temple: Right after Durga Mandir is a huge statue of Lord Hanuman perched on the hill. Climb several flights of stairs to reach up to the temple.

 6) Deolo Hill: This is the major attraction in East Kalimpong. The tourism department has created an 8-acre lush parkland with manicured flower gardens and several view points with breathtaking views of Kanchenjunga, Durpin hill, Kalimpong Township and the valley with rivers flowing through them.

Iscon Temple at Kalimpong

Deolo hill is the highest point of Kalimpong with an altitude of about 5,500ft. There is a GTA (erstwhile DGHC) lodge here and a multi cuisine restaurant. Children can also take pony rides. At one corner of the lawn are stalls offering coffee and snacks. Overall a great place to have a picnic or just relax. Entry fee: Rs. 10/- for day visitors.

mangal Dham at Kalimpong
 7) Mangal Dham: An excellent temple complex built in the memory of late Guruji Mangal Dasji and dedicated to Lord Krishna. Devotees come from far away places.

 8) Thongsa Gompa: This is the oldest monsatery in Kalimpong which was built in 1692. It's also known as the Bhutan Monastery and located close to Mangal Dham.
 LOCAL SIGHTSEEING (WEST KALIMPONG) -

1) Nature Interpretation Center: This is a museum run by the forest department. It has many pictures and paintings of flora & fauna explaining the nature and environment of Kalimpong area. It's located close to the town.

2) Army Golf Course: A scenic 9-hole golf course which was conceived and laid by the army authorities. You can see the golf course from the roadside Watershed View Point. From here you also get splendid views of the mountains as well as Loleygaon. It's located close to the Circuit House.

 3) Morgan House: This used to be an old British property and reflect a typical colonial architecture with sprawling garden and views of Kanchenjunga. It has been converted into a hotel and now run by West Bengal Tourism Department. You can enter the premises and walk around, but can not go upstairs in the building where most rooms are located. Morgan House is located opposite to the Army Golf Course.

 4) Durpin Monastery: This Tibetan monastery is located on the Durpin hill and hence such name. The actual name is Zang Dog Palri monastery. It was built in 1972 and has some rare Buddhist scripts that were brought here by Dalai Lama from Tibet. From the upper terrace of the monastery, you get magnificent views of Kalimpong town with Kanchenjunga in the background, the valley and the plains, Teesta & Reang rivers flowing down, and lovely tea estates of Peshoke area.

 5) Jelepla View Point: You get spectacular view of Jelepla Pass which once used to be a route for regular trade with Tibet. You can also see the confluence of river Teesta, Reang and Relli. The view point is maintained by the army.

 6) Pratima Tagore House: This house with nice garden and lovely views was built by Pratima Tagore in 1943, daughter-in-law of the poet Rabindranath Tagore. You will find original furnishing, lot of memorabilia and poet's verses in this house. It is located on Atisha road close to the Pine View Nursery.

 7) Pine View Nursery: It has great collections of cactus and ornamental plants. You get great view of Kalimpong town from the backside lawn. Entry fee: Rs. 10/- per person.
 8) Kali Mandir: Temple of goddess Kali. Climb a stairway from the roadside to reach up to the temple. From an adjoining terrace, you get wonderful view of west Kalimpong and the mountain range.

FULL DAY LOCAL SIGHTSEEING TOUR OF KALIMPONG

 You can combine the East and West Kalimpong local tours I have described above to make a full day local sightseeing tour. In addition to all the places I have mentioned above, you can also cover the following:

 1) Kalimong's colorful market (particularly Haat Bazaar which sets up on Wednesday or Saturday). You can buy unique local hand made products here and taste local food.

2) Sahid Park - a monument and a small park set up in memory of the Gorkhas who laid their lives during the agitation of Gorkhaland movement for a separate state.

3) Gouripur House - Poet Rabindranth Tagore used to visit this house and wrote several of his verses here. This house was one of his favorites.

4) Rishi Bankim Park - nice park for a leisure stroll.

5) Kalimpong College, Surya Sadan, Curcuit House etc.

 DAY & OVERNIGHT TRIPS FROM KALIMPONG

 1) Lava & Loleygaon Trip: Drive to Loleygaon (2.5hours), take a canopy walk amongst tree tops on a thrilling tree-top hanging bridge made in lush jungle, then drive to Lava (1hour), visit the Lava monastery and drive back in the evening via Algarah. If you plan to stay overnight in Lava or Loleygaon, know what else you can do & where to stay.

 2) Pedong and View Points: Take a short drive of about half an hour and see the ruins of Damsang Fort of 1690. Then visit Pedong, its heritage sites and some of the lovely view points around, and drive back to Kalimpong in the evening.

 3) Village Tour & Trek: Visit several villages, experience the village life in virgin Kalimpong area, understand Nepali culture & traditions, interact with the villagers to get deeper insight into their lifestyle, experience quaint home stay and village food, walk through the forests and villages and be one with nature.

Main tourist attraction from Sikkim

To visit Sikkim you need to have permission from ministry of external affairs for foreigners and Indian also need prior permission to visit in some restricted places. In any case, every one of these endeavors are justified regardless of an attempt on the grounds that the excellence that this spot holds is great and separated from the characteristic offerings of the nation. It is an extremely peaceful spot with wonderful mountains and customary Tibetan Buddhist Culture.

Beautiful Sikkim View
As Sikkim is the centre for Tibetan Buddhist society so you will locate various exceptional religious communities all around the spot. This ridge is known not encompassed by around 200 religious communities. Likewise, different celebrations are commended with extraordinary enthusiasm at these cloisters. An absolute necessity's percentage visit cloisters incorporate Rumtek, Pemayangtse, and Tashiding. The celebrations occur for the most part around the season of February/March. December/January additionally has some celebrations including the New Year at the religious communities. There are distinctive religious communities situated in diverse parts of Sikkim and some of them are open just by foot and have their own appeal that one must find it for.

On the off chance that you are a courageous voyager, and affection trekking then Sikkim likewise has an intriguing alternative for you. The trek from Yuksom to Dzongri Peak and on the off chance that you are searching for all the more difficult and more trek then you can even proceed till the Goecha Peak. This trek goes from timberlands to capable streams of Kanchenjunga National Park and then some. Nonnatives need to apply for exceptional grant for trekking from the tourism office in Gangtok or the Sikkim House in Chanakyapuri in New Delhi. There are different visits and vacationer offices which compose gathering treks on this trail.

 New tourist attraction Char dham in Sikkim

Another experience movement that Sikkim brings to the table to its voyagers incorporates the River Rafting at Teesta River. The course for the rafting goes from Makha – Sirwani to Bardang and further to Rongpo. There are various white sandy shorelines along the waterway which are the ideal choices for the rafters to spend a night for outdoors. The ideal opportunity for rafting begins from March and goes ahead till May furthermore from October till December.

Pemayangtse sikkim
Alongside characteristic magnificence, the town additionally gloats of an alternate widely varied vegetation excellence that you would not discover in some other piece of the nation. It has around 450 types of flying creatures and 400 more types of butterflies that makes Sikkim a heaven for winged creature partners. Orchids are additionally spread around in distinctive assortments and even 40 unique types of Rhododendron are likewise a part of Sikkim's Flora and Fauna magnificence .

Ramtek Monestry Sikkim
At the point when in Sikkim, you must go on an audacious adventure from the previous Old Silk Route to Nathu La Pass which is around three hours from Gangtok on the Chinese Border. Just Indians are permitted to go this close to the Chinese Border from Sikkim and that too on particular days, as Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays as this is an exceptionally touchy region concerning the security of both the nation.

Darjeeling :Queen of all hill stations

You believed that Darjeeling must be a little hill station and what might you be able to see there other than Kanchenjunga tops and some beautiful sight seens? Definately Darjeeling town is little, however you may be stunned to know what number of awesome spots you can access from here that are inside of this town. Furthermore, in the event that you want to go down the winding mountain streets, you can achieve a few fortunes that are unmatched anyplace on the planet.

Over the past numerous years of our family travels, we have revealed all such extraordinary Darjeeling attractions. Keep in mind, while Darjeeling town is little, the area of Darjeeling compasses over more than 3,000 square kilometers (or around 1,200 square miles). So it's truly up to you how far might you want to go to reveal a fortune.

In the areas beneath, I have depicted the top Darjeeling vacationer spots and attractions including the parks & gardens, picturesque spots & perspective focuses, waterfalls, temple ,churches and monasteries, museums & memorable places, and many more. In any case, you should take Sightseeing Tours to experience all that unless you have your own particular vehicle. Few of these interesting spots are obviously within walking distance from city centre.

On the off chance that you want to visit some of them by walking, remembers some important things first small distance in hill feel like three times of plain. Also, the streets' majority in Darjeeling have steep inclination or slant. So unless you are accustomed to strolling in the slopes, it may not be as simple as you may think. Second, there are some touring spots in Darjeeling that must be come to by walking. A vehicle can just go up to a point past which you should walk. So all in all, a touring day in Darjeeling ought to begin early.

As you go through the Darjeeling tourist attractions below and visit the links for details, you will get the distance of the places and time it should take to reach from the town center. Let me start with our top favorite sights and tourist places in Darjeeling. And then I'll talk about the ones which too come very close to the best.

Main 10 Tourist Places in Darjeeling - Our Favorites

Here are the top spots to find in Darjeeling. In the event that you are going to Darjeeling for a short get-away, then you ought to focus to visit some of these spots recorded in this segment.

(1) Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) and the astonishing Darjeeling Zoo

HMI is a destination without anyone else and a said to be a journey for every climbing aficionado of the world. It was built up to pay tribute to Tenzing Norgay after he and Sir Edmund Hillary climbed the Everest in 1953. It has an all around loaded exhibition hall with mountaineering showcases and numerous endeavour ancient rarities, a live-in school for mountaineering understudies, houses for the coaches, an eatery, a trinket shop and the sky is the limit from there. HMI is situated on Jawahar Road or the Birch Hill that can be gotten to from the Mall Road and Lebong Cart Road. One can really stroll down Mall street & then Jawahar street to reach HMI. 

The Zoo is situated in the same premises where HMI is and along these lines ought to be secured in the meantime. The extraordinary element of this zoo is, it houses creatures of high height and for the most part from upper Himalayas. You can see some uncommon creatures here like Red Pandas, Snow Leopards, Tibetan Wolf and part more.

(2) Tiger Hill

Situated at the most elevated point in the Darjeeling territory, Tiger Hill is best known for the dazzling sunrise view of the Kanchenjunga and the snow secured crests of the whole eastern Himalayan range. On a crisp morning you can even see the Mount Everest from here. Tiger Hill is found 11km from the Darjeeling Town and takes around 40 minutes to reach via auto. 

(3) Batasia Loop

Found 5km from Darjeeling Town and just beneath Ghoom, Batasia Loop as the name recommends, is a circle or a winding of a narrow gage railroad track where the Toy Train arranges a sudden sharp drop from Ghoom. It's a brilliant review place with manicured gardens, streams and falls, from where you can get a wide range perspective of the Darjeeling's scene, Kanchenjunga and the other Eastern Himalayan crests.

(4) Darjeeling Ropeway

This is restricted you can be a piece of extraordinary different offerings from the nature and all in one spot. From the ropeway of Darjeeling which is otherwise called the Rangeet Valley Passenger Cable Car, you can have psyche blowing perspective of the valley underneath, see the spread of rich tea gardens, thick woodlands, mountain streams in their full stream, waterfalls, and the magnificent snow tops at the foundation. Get off at a lower station and appreciate the tea domains, stroll through the tea patio nurseries, or simply unwind and appreciate the perspective around. It's elusive all these together in one spot.

(5) Darjeeling Mall & Chowrasta

The Chowrasta or the Mall is the town focus in Darjeeling. This is a flawless minimal level territory, an open square where four streets meet. This open spot is the place you might want to relax & prepare in the sun, sit and watch the great perspectives of the mountain range and see numerous local people and vacationers sticking around. One side of the shopping center is lined with pine trees through which you get glorious mountain vistas, the other side is lined with stunning boutique shops of various types. And all around the shopping center, you have seats to sit and unwind.

(6) Rock Garden & Ganga Maya Park

These two are grand parks in radiant settings found a couple of miles far from the Darjeeling town. Rock patio nursery speaks the truth 10km and Ganga Maya is another 3km from that point. Rock Garden is about terraced patio nurseries at distinctive levels that have been sliced through the stones having a waterfalls with pleasant seating game plans. Ganga Maya is more spread out and has a lovely stream moving through it on a valley, has bloom greenery enclosures, wellsprings and that's only the tip of the iceberg.

(7) Japanese Temple & Peace Pagoda

Around 10 minutes via auto, you will achieve a grand territory that is typical of peace and serenity. Situated in the Jalapahar slope, the Japanese Temple is inherent customary Japanese style where you can join the supplications to God and feel the profound peace amongst murmuring and serenades. Near it is the Peace Pagoda where there are four huge symbols of Lord Buddha. The perspective from the top is glorious. You can see the snow top extent from here including the Kanchenjunga.

(8) Bengal Natural History Museum

What began as a humble exertion in 1903 to show butterflies and winged animals of the Darjeeling region, has developed to house an extensive accumulations of warm blooded creatures, fowls & homes with eggs, reptiles & fishes and even bugs of wide mixtures. The presentations are really examples of genuine animals that had been caught, stuffed and saved. The Bengal Natural History Museum can be come to by couple of minutes stroll from the Chowrasta Mall.

(9) Observatory Hill and Mahakal Temple

Ascending from behind the Mall, Observatory Hill is a perfect spot to get a 360 degree perspective of Darjeeling and the tops encompassing it. The Mahakal Temple, the focal sanctuary of Darjeeling of all beliefs is situated on top of the slope where the first Dorjeling Buddhist Monastery once stood.

(10) Tibetan Refugee Self Help Center

This middle was built up on October second, 1959 for restoration of Tibetans who took after Dalai Lama and got away from their country amid the time of commotion. With a specific end goal to manage living, they embraced the rule of self improvement. The inside is situated on a slope top that can be drawn closer from the Lebong Cart Road. You can see Tibetan men and ladies making choice hand created things like woolen rugs, shawls, cut wooden artworks, calfskin things and then some. There is an outlet at the inside from where you can purchase these things.

Other Great Tourist Places in Darjeeling

Truly, there are numerous other vacation spots and sights in Darjeeling that just as contend to be in our rundown of main 10. Look at the connections beneath to think about a greater amount of our undisputed top choices. I have assembled them under diverse heads.

Darjeeling Monasteries, Temples & Churches

After Hinduism, Buddhism is the following overwhelming religion in Darjeeling, and afterward comes Christianity which is honed by a minority group. We have had the chance to get profound bits of knowledge into the lives of a few lamas, clerics and priests here. For us it has dependably been a benefit to comprehend and feel the awesome most profound sense of being of the spot through the individuals who have committed their lives to such cause. You have to visit a cloister, a sanctuary or a congregation, listen to the place of worship's leader, join the supplications to God and retain the deep sense of being to get that vibe.

A few religious hallowed places in Darjeeling have been constructed by extraordinary religious pioneers of the past, and some are roosted on slopes with superb perspectives all around. This segment will tell you about all our most loved religious communities, sanctuaries and places of worship in Darjeeling, their history, offerings, area and part more.

Darjeeling Parks & Gardens

Here is your fortune for the best of patio nurseries and parks in Darjeeling. The segment likewise catches my top choices amongst lakes and water zones, backwoods and havens and even intersection or meeting purposes of awesome waterways of Darjeeling slope territory.

Galleries, Monuments and Memorials

In the event that you like to abide profound into the historical backdrop of Darjeeling, comprehend creature and flying creature life of the area, know who had relinquished their lives from this a world's piece, and other extraordinary ways Darjeeling has assumed its part on the planet like its magnificent mountaineering accomplishments, then visit an incredible's percentage exhibition halls and dedications. They clearly catch the life and history of Darjeeling and its novel verdure & fauna. You will be inundated with the rich legacy of the spot.

Darjeeling Art & Craft

Darjeeling has its own particular fortune of work of art and artisans. There are understood craftsmen who have their own particular studios, exhibitions and handiwork processing plants. Furthermore, there are numerous gifted neighborhood artisans and artists whose work can