We had the most amazing trip to Sikkim last year. I did expect it to be beautiful, but it was beyond my expectation.

We took a train to NJP and then took the road to Darjeeling. Since this was our first trip to the north east we decided to make the most of it and see as many places as we could. Good idea, yet not so good. We did end up with a bit too much of travel over too short a time. But that did not spoil the overall trip.

Within a shortwhile we left the plains and started climbing upwards. The roads were steep and winding and our driver confident and fast. The view was really awesome. We stopped at Kurseong on the way at a roadside eatery. And there we had our first taste of momos. They were great and we tucked into quite a few. The kids had their first bowl of WiWi noodles.

Our stomachs full we proceeded on towards Darjeeling. Along the way we passed the famous toy train. The train moved at half the speed of our car and it takes about 8 hours from NJP to Darjeeling while the road takes 4 hours!

At around lunch time we reached our destination. We were booked at the Platers club, an old-world club right in the centre of the town. The location was great and the view awesome. After lunch we decided to take a look around the place. We strolled down the main shopping street. The shops were mostly filled with Chinese goods though some did sell local wares like shawls. We were struck by the pretty local women, all dressed up with faes made up standing on the sides selling stuff.

We went towards the chowk where all the locals congregate in the evenings. Our little one sat on a horse and went for a ride. We hung round there for sometime, eating roasted corn and taking in the sights. Suddenly it started to drizzle and everyone made a beeline for the nearest shelter. We were caught without rainwear and went into a shop to buy some.

We then made our way to a local tea shop to buy some of the world famous Darjeeling tea.