I recently visited Darjeeling -Kalimpong - Gangtok for my honeymoon and I was really impressed by the place . I had been warned that Darjeeling would be teeming with tourists in summer and might not be the ideal place to go on a honeymoon . But , since I have lived on the Western side of India all my life , I couldnt miss an opportunity to travel eastwards .
I like to travel and believe that more often than not on long trips ’’The journey is the destination’’ . If any of you happen to agree with me at least to some extent , you must travel down 2 roads in your life ... 1) Gangtok - Darjeeling and 2 ) Darjeeling - Mirik Lake . These are 2 of the most amazing drives you can ever go on .
The Gangtok-Darjeeling road snakes along the Teesta river and you can see the river in full flow twisting and turning among the mountains for quite some time during the drive. Gangtok is around 1500 mtrs above sea level and Darjeeling is around 2000 mtrs above sea level. But the road is such that , you first go downhill from Gangtok upto sea level (parallel to the river ) and then climb uphill to Darjeeling . The scenery is simply amazing and has it all . Mountainside villages , wildflowers growing along the way , homes having gardens adorned with the most colourful flowers , beautiful North East women with their wonderful smiles , forests with all sorts of trees and of course the Teesta angrily bubbling alongside you . Make sure you take time and stop by at lots of places to take in the views , frolic in the river .......................... walk among the clouds .
The journey from Darjeeling to Mirik is shorter ...but not less interesting .... Densely populated pine tree forests are seen on both sides of the road for a long time . Make sure you have enough time to stop by and walk among the trees with the love of your life . As you travel on the scenery changes and the dense trees soon give way to tea plantations . The tea gardens spread out on the hills like a carpet will surely make you fall in love with your wife all over again . It’s like you are in a different world altogether ........ I hope I can return there again sometime................................