BY
AIR - There are flights from Calcutta to Bagdogra
which is 90 kilometers from south.
BY
RAIL - The nearest railhead is Siliguri. The
Toy train runs from New Jalpaiguri/Siliguri.
BY
ROAD - We would provide you all India tourist
permit vehicles for the local transportations
and also for the intercity drives too.
SPECIAL
FEATURE: JOURNEY BY TOY TRAIN IN DARJEELING
The
narrow gauge railway lines fondly called the 'toy
train' extend to over 4,500 kilometers mostly
in the hilly regions of India. Among these one
of the best known is the 83 kilometers long, 610
mm gauge 'toy' railway spanning the gorgeous terrain
between Siliguri and Darjeeling. Nestled in the
serene Himalayan splendor, the zigzag railway
passing through a variety of foliage, linking
Siliguri in north Bengal with Darjeeling, is a
marvel of miniature rail engineering. The train
girdles along streams and tea gardens on the way
to Sukana, up a spur of the Singalele range from
where the ascent of the line begins. The train
strikes the first spiral or loop followed by the
second in proximity of the 20 kilometer post,
an amazing engineering feat, practically a double
loop, for the rise from Rungtong to Tindharia.
The third loop is about 22 kilometers away and
lends an enchanting peep into the valley below
with the Bhutan range in the east, the Teesta
river and its Tiger island in the south-east.
The sensational point of the fourth spiral, the
Agony Point, is reached outside the Tindharia
station.
The
scenic beauty along the rail line is a thing of
joy forever. From those stalwart sal trees, the
railway track twists in and out of ravines, the
tall cotton trees, the buttressed semul palms,
the giant bamboo all entwined with creepers and
loaded with ferns and moss. There are fig tress,
oak and chestnut trees, the birch, the maple brambles
and orchids, some of them interspersed with walnut
trees and laurels until, in the vicinity of Cheem,
the center of the Buddhist monastery of the Yellow
Sect, there is that glorious glimpse of primroses,
magnolias and rhododendrons. This luxurious vegetation
is topped with sublime landscapes of snowy heights,
more than a dozen peaks standing aloft above 6,000
meters - the renown Kanchenjunga and the mountains
of east Nepal, Sikkim and Tibet.
