subject: Darjeeling The Lonely Tourist Paradise [print this page] Sobriquet as the "Queen of the Hills" Darjeeling is a tourist paradise. Located in the hills of north Bengal filled with plenty of love in the atmosphere with smiling faces all around of the majority of fair complexioned Nepalese population intermingled with the Bhutias Lepchas Biharis, Marwaris, Muslims etc. living under perfect harmony. The main town of Darjeeling is bustling with shops, motor stands, and crowed narrow lanes where no face sees hurry to reach anywhere. Darjeeling is a popular tourist destination and during the dry seasons the rooms of the hotels are packed to their full capacity.
Darjeeling is famous for its three T"s tea tourism and toy train which is a heritage site. Darjeeling offers its visitors the full satisfaction to their tour as it is mostly dependant on tourism as it has no industries or factories offering jobs to the locals except the tea gardens. The unemployed locals have engaged in some or the other way with the tourism here.
The tourists drop at the proper Darjeeling town from where one can get into the large number of hotels ranging according to your pockets. Some of the best hotels here are The Hotel New Elgin, the Windermere Resort, the Mayfair Resort, the Cedar Inn, etc. the hotels here are sure to start your day with the worlds best tea, the Darjeeling tea which is known for its flavor. With a nice breakfast at your stay or if you are interested in eating outside the Kaventers is here with its ham salami and the best cheese in the town. Darjeeling is filled with plenty of places to enjoy your vacation roaming around. Darjeeling seems no less than a paradise during the spring with almost all trees, bushes and even the grasses are in full bloom. The rhododendrons in full reddish bloom fill the hearts of the tourists with sheer pleasure.
Yes for your places to visit in Darjeeling lets start from the downtown. The Himalayan zoological park is situated very close to the town at nearly 2kms. The zoo was renamed Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park. It has some rare species the Himalayan bear, the clouded leopard, the Sunderban tiger, the red panda and many other species. The zoo also has a breeding centre attached to it. It has done a good work in the past in the conservation of the red panda. It also has some good varieties of birds too.
The HMI (Himalayan Mountaineering Institute) is located in the zoo premises. It trains the people interested in climbing and offers the basic and advance courses in climbing. It also has a museum attached to it that has put into display the glorious past of the mountain climbers and the other items used during mountain climbing.
Moving from here we reach the Nightingale Park which has some space for rest and recreation for the visitors. The park here sees cultural programmes in the festive months of October and November.
A few minutes walk from here reaches you to the Chowrasta where the chairs are lined along the circumference for the visitors. Round the observatory runs the mall road topped by the Mahakal Mandir which is devoted to the Hindu god Shiva.
The other places to visit are the tiger hill from where the mesmerizing sunrise can be seen early morning on a clear day , hope you get lucky as the skies in the early morning are not so kind except for the months of October to early December. So Darjeeling weather is a point to take care of. The Japanese temple and the war memorial Batasia loop are some places to check out for.
The smiling faces are waiting to welcome every tourist with a warm heart so why waste your free time, come visit the queen of Hills.
