DARJEELING TOURS

Need a break from the heat and the dust of the plains? Enjoy the pristine air of the hill resort of Darjeeling. Darjeeling in the eastern state of West Bengal offers the cool height of the Himalayas. The nature is at its best. The spectacular sunrise and sunsets are unforgettable sights at Darjeeling India. The hill resort has attracted botanists, ornithologists, trekkers, photographers and holidaymakers alike. Darjeeling is famous for the magnificent mountains of Kanchenjunga, Lhotse, and Makalu.

Darjeeling is one of the most famous hill destination of West Bengal, located 7000ft above sea level. It is a fascinating place, where the tourists can visit the Buddhist monasteries, roam around tea plantations, go for a ride on the chairlift, enjoy shopping in the rich markets or go trekking to high altitudes. The real fun in coming to Darjeeling is on the toy train. This train passes through the Forests, waterfalls, over deep valleys and through the mountains and tunnels.

Toy Train (DHR): By 1878 a railway had been completed from Calcutta (now Kolkata) to Siliguri, almost to the base of the Himalayas, and a tonga service took travellers thence up the hill portion of the journey. But the ascent by tongas soon led to dissatisfaction with this means of transit, and the idea for inception of the laying of a steam tramway along the road from Siliguri to Darjeeling arose.

The engine originally employed was very small even for a two-foot track, and was only capable of drawing a load of about 7 tons. But later on it was improved to the standard type which was able to draw a load of 35 tons up the improved track.The original passenger vehicle was a small four-wheeled trolley with canvas roof and two wooden benches for seats, but some years later bogie railway stock was introduced. New workshops were opened at Tindharia in 1914, and all rolling-stock built in the workshops with the exception of the wheels which are imported.

Darjeeling Tea History: Dr. Campbell, a civil surgeon of the Indian Medical Service, was transferred from Kathmandu to Darjeeling in 1839 as Superintendent of this new territory and of the Sanitarium. His first problem was to attract settlers. In 1841, Dr. Campbell brought China Tea Seeds from Kumeon and planted near his residence in his garden at Beechwood, Darjeeling, 2000 m above sea level. He must have been successful in raising the plant because the government, in 1847, elected to put out tea nurseries in this area.

The experiment was followed by several others, for example Dr. Withcombe, Mr. James Grant, of the Civil Service, and Captain Samler. The plants, by their healthy and vigorous growth, gave much promise of the experiment succeeding. Dr. Hooker planted tea in 1848 at Lebong, a thousand feet below Darjeeling where also the tea plants succeeded admirably.

Commercial tea garden: The first commercial tea gardens were Tukvar, Steinthal and Aloobari tea estates. This was in 1852 and all these plantations used seeds that were raised in the government nurseries. By 1856 the experimental stage had been passed and development was rapid. According to Darjeeling Gazetteer, Alubari Tea Garden was opened by the Kurseong and Darjeeling Tea Company and another on the Lebong spur by the Darjeeling Land Mortgage Bank. Several hundred ha of forest land was cleared, from 750 m elevation above the sea to 1800 m. By 1857 25 or 30 ha was planted , besides six nurseries, in which a ton of seed has been sown during 1857.

In 1859 the Dhutaria garden was started by Dr. Brougham and between 1860 and 1864 four gardens at Ging, Ambutia, Takdah and Phubsering were established by the Darjeeling Tea Company and the gardens at Tukver and Badamtam by the Lebong Tea Company. Other gardens which were started at this early period were those now known as Maksibari, Pandam & Steinthal Tea Estates.