The Queen of the Hill and India’s Smallest State

Arriving in Darjeeling on the eve of Diwali meant the winding journey up the valley to the “Queen of the hill” was illuminated by fireworks as soon as the sun had set. Locals found it amusing when we explained that on the same night in England there would also be fireworks and celebrations for a man called Guy Fawkes.

Rooftop breakfast in Darjeeling with Kangchendzonga (3rd highest mountain in the world)
and others in the distance

Many Darjeeling residents proudly support the notion of an independent "Gorkhaland"
meaning a separate state from India that would recognise the local influence
and history of the Gurkhas in the region  

Darjeeling situated in the West Bengal Hills was the summer retreat for the British Raj back when the capital of colonial India was Calcutta. There are still British remnants throughout the town, itself surrounded by bushy green tea estates, which is why Indian’s proudly refer to Darjeeling tea as the equivalent of French champagne.

The town is also well known as it became home to the legendary Nepali Sherpa Tenzing Norgay who conquered Everest with Edmund Hilary. We visited the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute which Tenzing founded and as the centre is set within the grounds of a zoo we went against our usual avoidance of zoos and had a peek at some of the animals. To be honest as zoos go it had an impressive array of animals including tigers, bears, leopards and rare blue sheep (not actually blue).

Tom feeling inspired at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute

An old British church overlooking the town of Darjeeling 

Prayer flags in Darjeeling

After a couple of days sipping tea we continued north to the former kingdom of Sikkim. Entering Sikkim we soon felt a world away from India - the northern state surrounded by Nepal to the west, Tibet to the north and Bhutan to the east, finally joined the Indian Republic in 1975 but as China still refuses to officially recognise Sikkim as part of India the Indian government has been prompted to invest heavily in its smallest state and as a result it benefits from being a tax haven, has a strong local economy and good roads despite the Himalayan terrain. Unfortunately it also boasts the highest rates of alcoholism in the entire country which I noticed early on as I watched a juice stall owner pour an entire bottle of rum into a jug of freshly squeezed orange juice pre-lunch!

Elizabeth enjoying the sun at a temple on a mountain top

A small village called Pelling was our first stop where the views of Khangchendzonga – the third highest mountain in the world - are spectacular. Close to Pelling we visited the ruins of an ancient city and an impressive Buddhist temple overlooking the valley.

The mighty Kangchendzonga - India's highest mountain
and the third highest mountain in the world

Some snaps from the Buddhist temple above Pelling:

From Pelling we travelled to an even smaller village called Yuksom meaning “meeting place of three lamas” as it was the site of the coronation for the first king or chogyal of Sikkim, conducted by three Buddhist lamas. Yuksom also has Sikkim’s oldest Buddhist monastery.

Slightly spooky grounds of the monastery filled with fluttering prayer flags 

We finished our “monastery loop” in a one road town called Tashiding where a very helpful/opportunistic dog guided us up the hill to the monastery

Trying to decipher Buddhist inscriptions

Let the dancing begin! 

Following the exile of the Dalai Lama and other leading Buddhist figures from Tibet, Sikkim is now the official home of the 17th Karmapa but to keep China happy the Indian government are refusing to allow him to take residency in Sikkim. We've heard the Dalai Lama is putting him up for a while!

Leaving Sikkim to head down to Kolkata we spent the night in the Indian holiday town of Namchi – nothing spectacular but by far the most prosperous place we’d visited thus far in India complete with outside aquarium in the town square.