Darjeeling, West Bengal, India
Known the world over as the "Queen of the Hills", Darjeeling is as unique as it is diverse. For travellers arriving from the Indian plains, the cool climes of Darjeeling provides welcome relief and delightful experiences around every corner, Situated at an average height of 7000 feet (2130 meters) above sea level, this beautiful town with its colonial charm and contemporary culture shelters in the shadow of Kanchenjunga's snow covered peaks. This magnificent mountain range, whose name means "the Five Treasures of the Snows" in Tibetan on account of its five peaks, is also written as Khangchendzonga and Kanchenjunga.
PRIMARILY KNOWN FOR
* Darjeeling Tea gardens
* Education: Boarding schools
* Gorkhaland - Cultural mix of Gorkhas, Tibetans & Bengalis.
* Cool Hill Station for tourists in summer
* UNESCO identified heritage narrow gauge Himalayan railway.
Darjeeling is at once old and new. From its modest beginnings in 1835 as a hill station and tea distribution center, this now cosmopolitan town offers modern amenities, first class hotels, cinema halls and comprehensive shopping centres. It is also home to some of the India's most famous boarding schools. Yet, just a few miles from the crowded bazaar you can find villagers living a slower agricultural life in touch with the seasons: ploughing hillside terraces by hand, constructing colourful houses on steep cliffs, hollowing out bamboo pipes for irrigation and calling on faith healers in times of distress.