Darjeeling

Over 150 years ago, Darjeeling was established as ‘Health Station’, after it was gifted to the British by the Sikkim ruler.

It grew into one of the most famous hill stations in India. Darjeeling has special delights in store for people with special interest including Nature, photography, trekking, tea, botany, ornithology and the arts.

A Unique Toy Train

By the late 1800s, Darjeeling had gained in importance as a hill station but the only means of transportation of goods to and from the town was by bullock carts using the Hill Cart Road from Siliguri. An agent of the East Bengal Railway, Franklyn Prestage, came up with the plan for a narrow gauge rail link between Siliguri and Darjeeling. Construction started in 1879 and the first train pulled by the very ‘gutsy’ little steam-engine comprising three coaches puffed into Darjeeling on July 4, 1881. The trains, nicknamed ‘Toy Trains’ of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, have been making daily journeys for over a century.

Darjeeling’s Famous Tea

Tea-drinkers all over the world must be constantly blessing the memory of the person who decided around 1840 that the climate of the Darjeeling region was very conducive to the growth of tea. Huged forest areas were cleared and tea planted. Darjeeling Tea had such a premium value in the western markets that it was soon considered to be one of the finest teas in the world.

Note : I have read this articles from a travel magazine