Gangtok - Darjeeling

DARJEELING

Darjeeling is a town in India's West Bengal state, in the Himalayan foothills. Once a summer resort for the British Raj elite, it remains the terminus of the narrow-gauge Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, or “Toy Train,” completed in 1881. It's famed for the distinctive black tea grown on plantations that dot its surrounding slopes. Its backdrop is Mt. Kanchenjunga, among the world’s highest peaks.

At the time of the first British arrival, Darjeeling was known among its Lepcha inhabitants as Dorje-ling, or the "Place of the Thunderbolt. According to the Oxford Concise Dictionary of World Place Names, Darjeeling is derived from the Tibetan Dorje ling or Dorje-glin, meaning "Land of Dorje," i.e. of the thunderbolt, the weapon of the Hindu god Indra

Teesta, the major river of the Darjeeling region, rises at 6,300 metres (20,700 ft) from a glacier in Sikkim, and flows south, at first meeting the Rangpo river and then the Rangeet before exiting the hills and eventually joining the Brahmaputra river in Bangladesh.

SUNRISE ON TIGER HILL

Tiger Hill (2,590 metres (8,500 ft)) is a mountain located in Darjeeling, in the Indian State of West Bengal. It has a panoramic view of Mount Everest and Mount Kanchenjunga together

GANGTOK CITY TOUR

Gangtok is the capital of the mountainous northern Indian state of Sikkim. Established as a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the 1840s, the city became capital of an independent monarchy after British rule ended, but joined India in 1975. Today, it remains a Tibetan Buddhist center and a base for hikers organizing permits and transport for treks through Sikkim’s Himalayan mountain ranges

Gangtok  is a city, municipality, the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Sikkim and also the headquarters of Gangtok District. Gangtok is in the eastern Himalayan range, at an elevation of 1,650 m (5,410 ft). The city's population of 100,000 consists of the three Sikkimese ethnicities the Bhutias, Lepchas, Gorkhalis and also plainsmen from other states of India have settled here. Within the higher peaks of the Himalayas and with a year-round mild temperate climate, Gangtok is at the centre of Sikkim's tourism industry.

Gangtok rose to prominence as a popular Buddhist pilgrimage site after the construction of the Enchey Monastery in 1840. In 1894, the ruling Sikkimese Chogyal, Thutob Namgyal, transferred the capital to Gangtok. In the early 20th century, Gangtok became a major stopover on the trade route between Lhasa in Tibet and cities such as Kolkata 

TSOMGO LAKE EXCURSION

Sikkim is the 23rd state of India. Gangtok, the capita; town of Sikkim is 24 km far from Bagdogra airport and it takes 4 hours drive from there. Tsomgo Lake is 39 km from Gangtok and situated at an elevation of 12,400 ft. This is one km long, 50 ft deep oval shaped Lake with crystal clear water magnetize everyone. A 30 minutes drive to Baba Harbhanjan Singh Memorial is in the 13,000 ft. height from the sea level

There are many interesting places to visit around Gangtok. The city sightseeing to Ganjan Monastery, Ganesh Tok, Tashi View Point, Baktham Water Falls, Lasa Water Falls, Handicraft Center, Flower Show are fabulous. The panoramic view of Gangtok can be absorbed from the small Ganesha temple, located at 6,500 ft.