DARJEELING
DARJEELING Known as the ‘Queen of the Hills’, Darjeeling was discovered in 1828 AD by two British army officers, Lloyd and Grant, on a fact finding trip. In 1835 AD, the British formally took possession of the place by purchasing from the Chogyal (king) of Sikkim for an annual stipend of Rupees Three Thousand. In 1840 AD, the first tea plant was planted here by a British gentleman, which eventually gave birth to the best tea plantations of the world. At an altitude of 2185 metres and surrounded by wooded hills and sloping tea plantations with the majestic Mt. Kanchendzonga looming large in the background, clouds play hide and seek with this mystic hill station. The world’s oldest narrow gauge Toy Train, started in 1881 AD, still amaze the visitors with its marvellous feet of engineering. Its journey from New Jalpaiguri begins in the plains and passes through mystic tea plantations, forests of Sal, Cedar and Teak, over viaducts bypassing gushing streams and waterfalls, and climbs thro...