Love at Second Thought. Review on Darjeeling

''Darjeeling is a very sluggish, boring place which I will never visit in future'', well, these were my thoughts after my first two days in this eastern hill city.

But soon everything changed, the more I stayed there, the more I fell in love with the place. I went there in March 2004. The flight from N.Delhi to Bagdogra was uneventful. From the Bagdogra Airport we took a taxi and reached Darjeeling. Well the hotel was not booked earlier so it took almost 2 hours to find a good hotel. Hotels are (or were) not very good at that time. I came to know that people are not investing as tourist activity has gone down considerably.

Anyway we relaxed for the evening and next morning went on to see a museum and Ganga Mayya Park. A very average park, with a few huts to serve you Momos and other knick knacks.

Then we visited Rock Garden. It is really beautiful and very enjoyable. One likes the walk in that garden. Picturesque.

Next on Agenda was the Central Market. Its a nice cozy place, peaceful and not at all overcrowded like Manali or Shimla markets. You can find lots of variety of tea, handicrafts from Nepal, Sikkim etc..

Next morning we went to Tiger Hill to see the rising sun. Got up at 3:30 am. Tough for my wife, though. Just got glimpse of it as the day was cloudy. But it was an experience.

We visited some other places in the vicinity like Buddhist temples, College (Main Hoon Naa waala). One must see the Zoological park. Its fun and one sees white tiger, pandas etc.. A museum is also nearby.

We stayed there for 5 days and though the initial feeling for the city was not good but frankly whenever I think of it now, I really long to go to Darjeeling again.

Love at Second Thought!!