EP 4 - Darjeeling Part 2, Keventers, DHR | Batasia Loop | Ghoom, Noryang kitchen, North Bengal
Namaskar friends! Welcome to Visa2explore! This is your host, Harish Bali. We are in Darjeeling today. Today's day is starting with a view of Mt. Kanchenjunga. The time is 8.45 AM.
We reached here more than an hour ago. Yes, that's about right. Ever since we reached here... ....we've been looking at the view of this mountain peak. I decided to shoot the video later and first enjoy this mountain view because... ...it isn't every day that you get to see a view like this! Today's view, I can say, is the best among the views that we've seen in the past few days.
There's no doubt about it. Location-wise, let me tell you, we have Gangtok on our right. Mount Kanchenjunga is in the front.
Turn to this side, and on our left is Sundakphu. If we look at Mt. Kanchenjunga from Sundakphu... ...it would be a different view because people believe that... ...from Sundakphu, the mountain peak looks as if it is in the form of 'Sleeping Buddha.' That is the form of hill view from there. If we go a little further than Sandakphu, we will come to the Phalut village. Above the village is the Phalut Top. Phalut Top is about 4 KM from the village.
If you stand at Phalut Top, you would be standing at the border of Nepal, Sikkim & West Bengal. Just a little location-wise information. Now, the point is, how far would Mt. Kanchenjunga be from here, in terms of aerial distance? According to a rough estimate, the distance would be about 75-80 KM. I've been asking this question to a lot of people since yesterday. The most common answer is that we are about 75-80 KM from the mountain.
Trekkers trekking upto the base of Mount Kanchenjunga go via Yuksom. Yuksom is a town in Sikkim, therefore, it is located to our right. Earlier, I thought I should include Sundakphu into my itinerary but...
...that wasn't possible as I would have had to keep 3 days separate for that trip. I may plan that trip some other time. Nice! It's been a great start to the day! Now, let's do one thing. There is Mahakal Temple nearby.
Let's go to the temple. Summit Resort! The location is amazing! This property is right next to the place from where we saw that view. Just imagine, you are enjoying the view of Mt. Kanchenjunga from right inside this property. It is only during the November month that you can enjoy such a clear view of the peak. We walked on foot for about 10 minutes from the viewpoint. We're near the Mahakal Temple.
Yesterday, at Chowrasta, I showed you an old hotel, Windamere Hotel. The hotel dates back to the British era, pre-independence time. We've now reached the backside of that hotel. Come, we'll now climb up from here to reach the temple. It is written here that Windamere is a colonial hotel of India.
Upon reaching here, I entered the temple first. I had the darshan inside and now I've come out of the temple. Let me tell you that inside the temple, I had the darshan of deities - Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh! In addition, the temple also has an idol of Lord Buddha. The darshan of Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh are in the form of a 'Ling." In 1765, a Lama built a monastery here. That Lama's name was Dorje Ringzing.
The monastery's name was Dorje Ling. The monastery's name was made up with the Lama's first name and... ...'Ling' in the Tibetan language, means 'place.' So the name means Dorje's place! The Britishers came here in 1765 and, a few years later, came the Gurkhas. The Gurkhas started worshipping Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh here. This is because they believed that this place belonged to the deities.
Ever since then, this temple is visited by both the Hindus as well as Buddhists. The priests who pray here include both Lamas and Hindu priests. It would be safe to assume that this place is sacred for both the Hindus as well as the Buddhists. We must be at least 15 minutes away from the famous Mall Road. Okay then, we've had very good darshan here.
Now, we will be going for our breakfast. A small break! All of you who visited our website to place their orders... I am talking about my website, Spice2nuts.com. ...please share your feedback with me. I have already received feedback from 4-5 buyers but I want that... ...all the buyers should send their feedback to me. You can send me the feedback through email, Instagram or DM.
This will help us improve our venture further. Right now, I am showing you the clove we are selling you on our website. I've told you already that we source our spices from their respective places of origin. The clove you are seeing right now...
...is brought to you from a very authentic source in Kerala. If you focus on its stick and the top part, you will realise that the product is top quality. Now, let's join back the video. Once inside the restaurant, I was exploring the menu. Most of the food items on this menu are non-vegetarian.
One dish I've ordered for myself is Baked Beans in tomato sauce. The choices are limited. The other dish is fish and chips! The fish is Betki.
Betki fish and Baked Beans are here! It is good! They have served fried Betki fish. In the Bengali cuisine, Betki fish is steamed. Wrapped inside a banana leaf.
I had that for dinner last night. We recorded that for the Harish Bali Travels channel. I liked that. When I tried this combination during my Kolkata tour, I found Betki fish to be very tasty. It tastes good! The main thing is that reaching this restaurant requires a lot of effort. There is a queue waiting outside when they open shop at 8 AM.
They serve breakfast items till the end of the day. The menu is fixed. That's how the day goes. Since they mostly serve breakfast items, people prefer to visit during mornings. So, when it opens at 8 AM, people are already lined up outside.
So, you can imagine that... ...this is an iconic eatery. Usually, baked beans taste good with tomato sauce. But somehow, I am not liking its taste with sauce. I've now ordered a cup of Darjeeling tea.
I had ordered a single cup but I think this pot has two cups of tea. Maybe they mistook my order for a single pot instead of a single cup. Darjeeling tea is an orthodox variety of tea. Thus, it isn't usually advised to combine it with milk. For the second flush tea, you can still add milk, but separately. Otherwise, it is the CTC tea that gives a good taste when combined with milk.
That is the normal tea we have in our homes. This is a strong tea! In the past 3-4 days, I've tasted the strong tea quite a few times and... ...I've also tasted the tea with aroma but not that much strength. Somehow, I prefer strong tea. Although, many prefer an aromatic tea with a subtle flavour.
Some people also don't like such a strong tea. After finishing this tea, we'll go to visit the Darjeeling station. If we go walking from here, it will take us approximately 20 minutes to reach the station. It would be better if we walk up to the station. See the bumper-to-bumper traffic of Darjeeling.
One car after another! When there is a traffic jam all of a sudden, the cars take time to move slowly. I think if you've got to go till a distance of 2 to 2.5 KM within Darjeeling,... ...the best way to go is on foot. We've reached the Darjeeling station.
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway! UNESCO World Heritage Site! This railway network was established in 1881. This old photograph looks so good! You may have seen the toy train several times on video. Or its small engine.
But the view that you enjoy watching it with the naked eye... ...is the next level. Here, I learned that the joy ride begins at 9.25 AM. It is available till 3.45 AM, which means,... ...the train leaves at regular intervals. if you want to take a joy ride on a diesel engine train, it would cost you Rs 1000.
Steam engine train ticket is for Rs 1500 per person. That way, the ticket cost is quite steep. At Rs 1500 per ticket, it would cost you Rs 6000 for a group of 4 to take this joy ride. Still, tourists go on this joy ride because it is a heritage experience.
I showed you a view of Kanchenjunga this morning. You will have another clear view of this range from here as well. Looking at this clear mountain view in the morning has made my day.
All these are houses of Darjeeling city, take a look. From this far, the city looks densely populated. We see diesel engines often but steam engines like these are not seen every day. Especially with a toy train! We travelled for about 2 KM from the Darjeeling station.
We've reached the Batasia Loop. There, we'll buy the entry ticket for Rs 50 per person. We'll go into this garden. War Memorial! Batasia Loop! Let me introduce you to Sh. Lop Chand. He has been with us since this morning.
He lives in Kalimpong and is taking us around Darjeeling. Lop Chand Ji works as a tourist guide. Here, you can see a train standing at the Batasia Loop. Yes! What I've gathered from our conversation...
Yes! ...is something like this. Ghum railway station is at a higher altitude. Yes! Darjeeling is at a lower altitude than Ghum. Correct! When the train from Siliguri reaches Ghum,... ....from there, it has to come down to reach Darjeeling. I mean to a lower altitude.
Yes! The engineers working on this network weren't sure about the risks of building a straight track. Correct! They thought the train could topple or could go out of control. Correct! That was the time when they created this Batasia Loop here. Correct! To allow a smooth movement for the train during the descent. Correct! Lop Chand ji tells me that this is a 360-degree loop. So, in a way, it is built like kind of an '8' Correct! Or we can say a half-8 figure.
Correct! The place where we are standing and talking about this loop... ...is right above the loop itself. Correct! Ghum also has a railway museum. It describes how the entire railway system was built. The museum also contains the names of the several places that it was given.
There is also a War Memorial in the centre of this loop. There is also a 'Fallen Gurkha Soldier' statue here. So, this is in the memory of all the Gurkha soldiers who've sacrificed their lives for India.
This is the Roll of Honour for them. At the Batasia Loop, when you see the steam engine coming in with 2-3 bogies behind it... ...is an experience in itself! This sound of the train coming in is just different! After a 10-min train ride, we've reached the Ghum station. As compared to Darjeeling, the Ghum station is 600 feet higher in altitude. This board says that this station is at a height of 7410 feet.
There is one more interesting thing written here. It is the "Highest Heritage Railway Station in the World"! You'll find boards like these installed outside the station. These photographs are quite interesting to look at. Watching such old photographs is a unique feeling in itself! There is information to read as well. Now, let's go and visit the museum nearby.
In the museum, I got to read a lot of information related to this World Heritage Site. There is the story of how this Darjeeling rail network came to be a part of UNESCO Heritage. Now, I am looking at some old photographs here.
"A train negotiating the first reverse siding on its way up." It is going reverse while going up. There are single-line captions given under the old photographs. For instance, this information dates back to 1894, to help you understand what is happening. A series of passenger trolleys being hauled up the mountain during the early days of DHR.
This photograph must've been captured during the early 1900's. Beautiful! In this museum, you'll get to learn in detail about the DHR. Now, let's go to Ghum Monastery in our taxi. After a 10-min ride in our taxi, we reached the monastery and got down from our vehicle. Lop Chand Ji I am so stunned after watching this scene! I see clouds floating in front of my eyes! Is it a matter of chance that this is happening here today? No, no, this is an everyday thing. Really! Actually, in this whole region, in comparison to Darjeeling, Kalimpong, and Mirik cities,...
...Ghum is the place where you'll see the most foggy, misty scenes like these, almost every day! If I shoot in timelapse, clouds would be seen moving at a crazy speed, but we don't need timelapse! What I can see with my naked eye is just magical, God! Can't believe this! I've seen cloud movement in several places but this moment is one-of-its-kind! The monastery we are going to visit, is it very old? Yes, yes, it is called the Yiga Cheoling Monastery. This monastery belongs to the Gelukpa sect of Buddhism. Let's go and see it from the inside. This Ghoom Yiga Choeling Monastery...
...has its founder as Rinpoche Ji! Founder of monastery? Yes, founder of monastery! And these are the Buddhist paintings. It contains a number of our deities. These must be dating back to the 1850's? Yes! All the Buddhist paintings on this wall depict the Gelukpa sect. This is Sakyamuni Buddha and... ...this is Vajra (thunderbolt)! This Vajra or thunderbolt is found everywhere in many paintings in Buddhist monasteries. These books have been brought here from Tibet.
These are holy scriptures! Yes, these are also called 'Bhum' and are used during prayer ceremonies. Do you see these bowls? These are offerings. These bowls are used to make offerings of flowers, rice, water, and many other things. This is the main Maitreya Buddha statue.
Love, Kindness, and Compassion! Beautiful! Yes! Very nice! This monastery has paintings on its right as well as left side walls. Yes! What is the painting made on top of the right wall? He is the patron saint of Buddhism. His name is Guru Padmasambhava. This is his painting? Yes, apart from this painting, this monastery also has a statue of him. Where is it? On the right side. This is Guru Padmasambhava. This one? Yes! He is an extremely powerful and famous Guru! He took Buddhism to Tibet.
Because earlier, there was no Buddhism in Tibet. There was Bon religion in Tibet prior to that. This photograph is of a young Rinpoche of the monastery. He is older now and is studying Buddhism at the University of Mysore.
So, a seat is always kept vacant for him here. This is an old photograph of his. He is older than this today. Alright! Very nice! We had a good visit here. First, let us go and have lunch. Alright! Then we'll go as the day progresses.
Okay! We've just come from the Dekevas Restaurant. They have just 4-5 tables inside. Yes! Out of those, three tables are already occupied. Yes! They aren't going to get up before 45-50 minutes. What should we do? Although there aren't more than 4-5 people waiting outside, we won't get our turn before 4.30 PM.
Exactly, on this side, you can... Should we go to Noreng? You also have the veg restaurant 'Lunnar' here. Lunnar is also a very good veg restaurant. Is it famous? Yes, it is! Okay, this is where we had lunch yesterday. Kunga! There was a lady in Kunga yesterday, who suggested I should go to Noreng.
If I wanted to eat Tibetan food, she was saying. To go to Noreng... Can we ask them to request on our behalf to Noreng to allow us a table there? You will get a table in Noreng.
Will I? But, I only want to tell you that the path to the restaurant is quite steep. I don't have a problem. How long will it take to reach there? Let's go then. From here, it will take just 6-7 minutes. Six minutes won't make a difference.
Let's go, no problem. Let's go. Let's go. This is the steep path that'll take us to the Noreng restaurant. Look at this.
Isn't it great that we got in some exercise before our lunch! This is Noreng Tibetan Kitchen. Here, I've ordered for myself Chicken Shapta. And Tingmo too. What have you ordered? Chicken Keema Noodles! Chicken Keema Noodles! Do you serve only lunch or dinner as well? We serve dinner too. You serve dinner. It is an early dinner.
When do you close the restaurant? 9 PM. 9 o'clock at night. Alright. Yes! What? You should also try. Okay, I should also try it? Yes! This is a good idea as well. Hmm! Do it slowly! Go on! Ohho! (Laughter!) Try it again! No, it would be better if you do it. Let's start from here till the noodles arrive. Here you go!
Thank you! Chicken Shapta! Shapta...Shapta! Chicken Shapta and with it is Tingmo. It is amazing that we saw noodles and Tingmo being prepared from scratch right in front of us! Is this one of the main food items in Tibetan cuisine? Yes, of course! I've seen that you can eat one Tingmo. Yes, of course! Eating two makes it get too heavy! Yes, it feels like having a full meal. Moreover, it is maida (all-purpose flour). Yes, of course! Good preparation! I've noticed one thing.
Yes, sure. Tibetan food... Yes! ...isn't spicy. Yes, it is very less spicy. They use various sauces and spices but not too much of chillies.
I liked it too. Please have some more. Sure, sure, thank you Sir. Oh, thank you! Chicken Keema (minced chicken) over noodles! Yes! Great! Also, it is spicy, but if you want it to be spicier, you can add the Dalle chillis. You can add the Dalle to make it spicier. Thank you Sir! This is interesting.
If you want it spicier, add Dalle! This is Darjeeling's spiciest chilli - Dalle Khursani. You have made it into a sauce! Yes! This chutney goes with momos as well as noodles. You can eat this chutney with any type of momos and tingmo. It's too much! It's too much? Should I reduce it? Let me also taste it with Dalle Khursani too. This is a nice, spicy sauce! It is better to eat it without the sauce. By the way,...
Yes Sir! ...the texture of Chicken Keema Noodles... Yes! ...tells us that it is good in taste. How do you find it? Very good! It has so much freshness in its taste! Yes! It is amazingly fresh! I also noticed that they started preparing the dish from scratch only after our arrival. That is the USP of this place. Yes, Sir! Noodles are good in taste! There is no doubt about it! This chicken korma is also delicious! Overall... ...we can say that there is strength in this preparation. After finishing our food, we would go and visit the Japanese monastery. It is already 4.00 PM. While roaming around, I just came across a T.V. tower.
I see a hostel here. Its name is 'Tara Circle." I went inside to find out about the accommodation and I found out that... ...they have a dormitory facility for which they charge Rs 650 per person. There are two boys originally from Kalimpong.
Basically, they started this hostel here two years ago. The facility looks good to me. I can see that it is comfortable. For Rs 650, you only get lodging here. For food, you can eat at the cafe that they run next to the hostel.
Otherwise, the Mall Road isn't very far from here. If you go walking, it should take you not more than 8-10 minutes. It is good that we were able to see a good hostel in this area. There must be more hostels around but...
...I saw this one while walking around and decided to share it with you. As I was about to leave for the monastery, I met some of my relatives here. So, I told my team members to do one thing. I told them to proceed and then, I would join them again in an hour at the Mall Road. (Prayer Music) My team has just returned from the visit. I asked them and they told me they had a good experience. So, it is better to let them tell us about their experience at the monastery.
After getting down from car and walking up a few steps, the first thing I saw was Mt Kanchenjunga. During this tour, I've already seen this peak from 2-3 different places. But today's view was the most beautiful to look at. When the orange-coloured rays of Sun fell on the peak,...
...made it look so beautiful! I went into the temple a short while ago. I saw monks sitting inside, praying. At 4 PM, they have a prayer ceremony called "Beat the Retreat." I spent 15-20 minutes inside, participating in that ceremony. It felt very good to spend that time inside. I felt very nice and peaceful inside myself.
Inside Peace Pagoda, I had the darshan of Lord Gautam Buddha's four statues in four directions. One of the statues shows him as meditating. Another statue depicts the time of his birth. The third statue shows him giving his first sermon and the fourth statue is that of his Nirvana.
Besides, I also saw some wooden carvings depicting the major events of his life. Otherwise, the scenic view from this place is also amazing! Mainly because this monastery is built atop a hill. We've walked back to the Nehru Road, Chowrasta. Today, I have made up my mind that I want to try the Red Velvet cake. So, I thought it would be better to go to the Glenary's. There, I would try some cakes and, may be, some muffins too.
I liked the system that they use here at Glenary's. Like they have this whole section dedicated to cakes. Whichever cake you want from this section, you pick it up on this tray. You can also pick up a pastry of your choice. You can also ask the staff to help you in picking up the food items.
After paying the bill at the billing counter, you can sit down and enjoy your treat. While I was buying this, I heard a couple of customers say that... ...we have had our cake and now tell us where to make the payment. So, I was highly impressed with that.
By the way, I've got myself a Blueberry Muffin. For Mr. Lop Chand, we've got the Red Velvet Cake. Now the question is where do we sit? See, the restaurant is crowded right now. But we'll find some place to sit. It is okay.
I would call it above average! It has good taste! This Blueberry-topped muffin is delicious! Look at this lovely gesture! Very attentive! Yes, the staff is attentive! They saw me eating in this plate and offered to replace it. I told them it is okay but they refused to give in. They asked me to wait for a minute and then got me this plate to eat in. Nice! However, despite there being so much crowd, they are able to handle things well.
Yes! Pastry's good! Very nice! Its overall taste is good! The usual expectations that you may have of the Red Velvet Cake... ...are fulfilled by this cake. I talked to a few people here and found out... ...that one of the reasons this place is so crowded is that this is an iconic eatery. Everyone wants to visit an iconic eatery and sample the food there.
The second reason is the freshness of food here in whatever you may eat. The third reason is the staff here is active and attentive. We saw a live example of their attention to detail. Very attentive! Isn't it? Yeah, very attentive! The fourth reason is that during the daytime, you get a good view from here.
Please eat! We've already paid the bill. Shall we go out? Thanks! Right now, we are on the Nehru Road. It would hardly be about 200 m from the Chowrasta. I feel that...
...all the crowd on the Mall Road... ....is lesser than the crowd present here. Yes, you are right! Is that right? Yes,, it is! Like, right now, see, there is so much hustle-bustle! And it isn't crowded because it is evening time. It is like this since morning. It is like this the whole day, in fact, with shops on either side of the market. So, even if you don't want to buy anything, you have plenty of opportunities to do window shopping.
Okay then, thank you so much for your time. We'll meet again soon. From here, we're going to Takdah and then to Kalimpong.
After travelling through Lava and Lolegaon,... ...we'll end our journey in Siliguri. Thanks for your time!
2025-01-08 21:00
