The Magic of Darjeeling
General InformationHistory of DarjeelingActivities & ExcursionsSpecial FactsPlaces of InterestThe Suburbs
Darjeeling,, the Queen of the Hills, which at a height of 6,500 ft in the Eastern Himalayas, used to be an R & R (Rest and Recuperation) Centre for the troops during the days of the British Raj. Today it is one of India’s most popular hill stations.
People, from all over the world, visit Darjeeling which is incidentally also famous internationally for its delicately flavored tea. The surrounding hills are carpeted with tea bushes and where the tea estate ends, the hills are covered with tall pines. There is plenty to see and do when in Darjeeling. The local zoo is the world’s only centre to breed Snow Leopards, The Tibetan Wolf and the Red panda in captivity. One can also visit a tea garden to watch and gather some information on the manufacturing process of the world famous Darjeeling Tea. Darjeeling also provides several options white water rafting or kayaking down the swift River Teesta trekking in the Singalila Range to Sandakphu and Phalut or you could to take any of the several dozens of day treks out of town. Details are given below in the text.
The wild life is equally unparalleled evokes an aesthetic ambience and a romantic feeling making you nostalgic.The Flora includes more than three thousand species of flowering plants, over two hundred and fifty varieties of ferns, including tree fern , mosses, algae, fungi, birches, and of course, the prize orchids, wild and cultivated. There are oaks, chestnuts, cherry, maple, birch, and alder.In the upper hill areas are the magnolias, buck-landias,pyrus and conifers such as Webb, Himalayan firs, English yews, Sikkim spruces, larch, weeping tsuga brunoniana and junipers. Rhododendrons and Ivy is common. The fauna includes monkeys, wild cats, tigers, leopards, civets, jackals and foxes, wild dogs, bears, otters, martons, weasels, squirrels porcupines, hares, barking deer, samburs, chitals and the very rare pangolin. Brilliant colored butterflies and birds like flycatchers, long-legged falcons, Hoogson's imperial pigeons, three-toed kingfishers, emerald doves, fairy bluebirds, woodpeckers, rufous piculets, orioles, finches, sunbirds, long-tailed broadbills, emerald cuckoos, besides a large number of seasonal migratory birds are found here. A feast to the eyes.
