Storizen Magazine June 2018 Issue Storizen Magazine June 2018 Issue | Page 47

STORIZEN TRAVEL
PAGE 13
gardens. Soon clouds
take over every scene
and your train is no
more on plains but
inside a jungle and on
a very slow speed
because you can now
in the famous elephant
corridor.
Jalpaiguri Station is
the part of Siliguri town.
Buses, taxis and
shared jeeps to
Darjeeling, Kalimpong
and even Shillong are
easily available from
here. I got down at
station and a shared
jeep for Darjeeling was
waiting for the last few
passengers. I got
inside, got a cramped
seat with zero space to
adjust my legroom.
Soon the jeep started
moving through the tea
gardens of North East
India. In 2 hours I was
standing at the Mall
Road of Darjeeling.
JUNE 2018
An impromptu
trip to Ghoom
Between the time your
train drops you at NJP
station and the time you
reach Darjeeling, you
should be tired enough
to retire and sleep in
your hotel’s bed. But I
wanted to make the best
out of my trip. It was two
in the afternoon and my
hotel staff told me that
the toy train will be
leaving soon. The
weather is perfect for a
trip to Ghoom. I ran
from my hotel, crossed
a couple of intersections
and reached the
stations, lucky for me
that the ticket counter
was not crowded and
the train was still on the
station, just ready to
leave.
The trains leaves the
station and leaves the
busy markets of
Darjeeling behind. The
toy trains are a unique
heritage property and
are under the list of
UNSECO’s list of
protected monuments.
On a slow pace, the
train passes through
many villages between
Darjeeling and Ghoom.
The unique, gorgeous
sights from the empty
pathways and valleys
are worth the slow
speed of the train.
After some 45 minutes,
the train stops at
Ghoom. A small
trisection of train tracks
is where you are left
and train moves further.
Earlier the train used to
go till New Jalpaiguri
but after an earthquake,
the operations stopped.
After spending time in
Ghoom and visiting the
enchanting Ghoom
Monastery, I returned
to
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