Page 303 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - India

WEST BENGAL & SIKKIM  301

of orchids in its Orchid House
are particularly lovely. The town
also has some well-preserved
colonial churches. St Andrew’s
Church, west of Observatory Hill,
was built in 1843, though the
clock tower was added later.
St Columba’s Kirk, near the train
station, was built in 1894 and is
worth a visit for its magnificent
stained-glass windows.
Some of the best-preserved
examples of Raj-era grandeur in
India are Darjeeling’s hotels and
clubs. Just above Observatory Women tea pickers in northern Bengal’s tea gardens, around Darjeeling
Hill is the rattan- and-chintz-
decorated Windamere Hotel. drive to Tiger Hill (approximately century. It was at the head of
Open fires heat the sedate 45 minutes in a jeep). the ancient trade route to Tibet
lounge, where, to the Senchal Lake, 5 km (3 miles) and still has the feel of a frontier
accompaniment of a string west of Tiger Hill, is a town. Its market sells a
quartet, maids in aprons serve lovely mountain lake, mix of the exotic and
sandwiches and Darjeeling tea but tends to be the mundane, from
to visitors and guests. crowded with local fern shoots to plastic
Ghosts of colonial planters tourists. For visitors buckets. Memories of
can be sensed at the Planters’ who come to the Raj are recalled by
Club. Old hunting prints hang Darjeeling during the the charming stone
on the walls, and visitors can plucking season (April cottages and the
sit in front of coal fires while to November), the Mural, Zangdopelri quaint ambience
bearers serve drinks. Happy Valley Tea Fo-Brang Monastery of the Mayfair
Estate, just beyond the Himalayan Hotel
 Bhutia Busty Monastery town, is a pleasant tea garden (see p698), once a family home.
Chowrasta. Open daily. to visit. The Thongsa Monastery is
E Himalayan Mountain eering Kalimpong’s oldest monastery.
Institute  Yiga Choeling Monastery It was built in 1692, and is a brisk
Birch Hill Park, entrance on Jawahar Open daily. Donations welcome. hour’s walk above the town. To
Rd West. Tel (0354) 225 4083. the south of the town, the Zong
Open Mon–Fri. & Extra charges Dog Palri Fo Brang Monastery,
for photography. t Kalimpong blessed by the Dalai Lama in
1976, has some interesting
O Himalayan Zoo Darjeeling district. 51 km (32 miles)
Open Fri–Wed. & E of Darjeeling. * 43,000. @ three-dimensional mandalas.
The town’s many nurseries
Environs Kalimpong was once part of produce a large number of exotic
Those interested in Buddhism Sikkimese and then Bhutanese orchids, gladioli, amaryllis lily and
should visit the Yiga Choeling territory, before it became part cactii. A good one to visit is the
Monastery, 8 km (5 miles) south of British India in the 19th Udai Mani Pradhan Nursery.
of Darjeeling, established in 1875
by the Gelugpa (Yellow Hat) sect.
The monastery has murals of Tenzing Norgay (1914–86)
Buddhist deities and beautiful, if Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary were the first
faded, frescoes in the prayer hall. two men to stand on top of Mount Everest. Tenzing
Ask for permission before entering Norgay was born in Tsa-chu, Nepal, into the Sherpa
the shrine. The 5 m (16 ft) statue community, and later made his home in Darjeeling.
of the Maitreya (Future) Buddha He undertook his first climb as a porter with a
is the highlight at this monastery. British expedition in 1935 and climbed many
Tiger Hill, 11 km (7 miles) south mountain peaks, making at least six attempts
of Darjeeling, offers spectacular on Everest before his successful one with
Hillary in 1953, when he was the sherpa
views of the mighty Everest sirdar (head sherpa). Tenzing won the George
(8,848 m/29,029 ft) and other Medal and later became the head of
peaks in the Eastern Hima layan Darjeeling’s Himalayan Mountaineering
Range, including Makalu Institute. His life highlighted the
(8,475 m/27,805ft) and Janu contributions, earlier seldom
(7,710 m/25,295 ft), as they Statue of Tenzing, Himalayan acknowledged, that sherpas
catch the first rays of the sun. Mountaineering Institute make to Himalayan expeditions.
Early risers can take a pre-dawn

300-301_EW_India.indd 301 26/04/17 11:45 am