Kolkata & North Eastern Delight

Day 01 Kolkata

Arrive Kolkata. You will be met on arrival and transferred to your hotel for two nights

Day 02 Kolkata

Enjoy a sightseeing of the metropolis.
(Including the Victoria Memorial, the Indian Museum and the Jain Temple)
Kolkata is a city of glaring contrasts: a curious blend of the old and the new, partly feudal, partly born out of growing urbanization, partly un-definable. It is a medley of the east and the west, a graft of a European city imposed on the Asian scape that gives Calcutta its bewildering charm, confusion and excitement. Being just about 300 years old, Calcutta hardly has many great historical monuments. Perhaps, the oldest remembered is the site where the Kalighat Temple now stands. Today Calcutta is the largest city in India with a population over 10 million and boasts of India's first ever Metro rail system. It is a city that shocks on first impression but eventually the visitor falls in love with it. The sightseeing of the city includes a visit to the Victoria Memorial, Calcutta's most imposing and monumental dream in marble opened by the Prince of Wales in 1921 and often called the "Taj" of the British Raj, St. Paul's Cathedral and the Indian Museum, the largest in India, with one of the best collections of Indian art.

Day 03 Kolkata – Bagdogra – Kalimpong

Enjoy a sightseeing tour of the city in the morning.(Includes BBD Bagh, Howrah Bridge)
Later transfer to Kolkata airport
Fly from Kolkata to Bagdogra
You will be met on arrival and driven to Kalimpong (about 2 hours drive)
Check in at your hotel for one night

Rest of the day at leisure to explore the small hill town
Kalimpong, a remote hill station, has the beautiful mountain scenery, oak forests and the abundance of flowers, which makes Kalimpong an attractive resort. It has been a meeting point of the once "Three Closed Lands" on the trade route to Tibet, Bhutan and Nepal.

The place of interest in Kalimpong are Nurseries, it excels in producing Orchids, Amaryllis, Roses, Dahlias among others for export. One of the oldest monasteries is the Thongsa Gompa, which is brightly painted. Another monastery, Tharpa Choling houses a library of Tibetan manuscripts and Tankhas. Lepcha Museum, Bag Dhara has an ethnology collection. Rest of the day is at leisure

Day 04 Kkalimpong – Gangtok (120 Kms - (about 4- 5 hours drive)

Drive from Kalimpong to Gangtok (about 4- 5 hours drive)
Check in at your hotel for two nights
Rest of the day is at leisure

Day 05 Gangtok

Enjoy an excursion to the Rumtek monastery followed by a sightseeing of Gangtok.
(Including the Royal Monastery - Tsukla Khang, the Namgyalak Institute of Tibetogy and the Orchid Sanctuary)

Gangtok is the capital of Sikkim, a tiny Himalayan state known for its orchids and flowers and for the heavy influence of Tibetan culture. It is the best base from which to explore Sikkim. Once a sleepy little town and considered "very remote", Gangtok is fast expanding from a busy, bustling town towards the status of a city. However, the bustle of busy market areas and busy thoroughfares contrast sharply with quiet and serene spots -within minutes of each other.

In an around Gangtok are places of special interest, such as the Handicrafts and Handloom Industries, the Research Institute of Tibetology, the Orchid Sanctuary.

The Rumtek Monastery is a structure of great beauty - situated in the one of the lower Valleys. It is Sikkim's largest and most active monastery with a complement of some six hundred monks. The 16th Gwalpa along with his followers took refuge in Sikkim after the Chinese invaded Tibet. On the invitation of Chogyal, the Karmapa settled in Rumtek with the statues, Thangkas and Scriptures, which they had brought with them, and the Lamasery was built. The Research Institute of Tibetology was built in 1958 by the last Chogyal (King) of Sikkim. It has a faculty of eminent scholars, a library with a large collection of documents and rare books on Buddhism and an attached museum with a rare collection of antiques, coins and Tibetan paintings (Thankas). It is world famous for its research activities on the language and culture of Tibet.

Day 06 Gangtok – Pelling Drive from Gangtok to Pelling (about 3- 4 hours)
Check in at your hotel for one night
Visit Pemayangtse Monastery in the afternoon
Standing at a height of 2805m and enclosed on two sides by snow-capped mountains, Pemayangtse is one of Sikkim's oldest and most important monasteries. Founded in 1705, it belongs to the Tantric Nyingmapa sect, which was established in the 8th century. The monastery is a three-storey structure filled with wall paintings and sculpture, and includes a magnificent seven-tiered painted wooden model of paradise and hell, complete with rainbows, angels and the whole panoply of Buddhas and bodhisattvas. The model was built by the late Dungzin Rinpoche over a period of five years.

Day 07 Pelling – Darjeeling

Drive from Pelling to Darjeeling (about 3- 4 hours drive)
Check in at your hotel for one night
Rest of the day is at leisure

Day 08 Darjeeling

Early morning drive to Tiger Hill (approx an hour) to witness the sunrise and view the snowy peaks of Kanchenjunga
Visit Senchal Lake and Ghoom Monastery on your way back to hotel.
With the backdrop of the mighty snow clad Himalayan Peaks; Darjeeling is the most important hill resort in Eastern India. The mighty Kanchenjunga peak overlooks the town from where one can get a clear view of the peak on a sunny day. The world's highest peak – The Mount Everest can also be seen from near the town. Darjeeling is famous for its tea, which is the most expensive tea in the world.

On a clear day Mount Everest with two other peaks of the three sisters are also visible – a Magnificent Sight. Ghoom Monastery – a yellow hat Buddhist Monastery is the most famous in the area. It was built in the year 1875.

Late afternoon visit happy valley tea estate, observatory hill and Chowrasta.
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 conductive to the growth of the tea. Huge forest areas were cleared and tea planted. Chinese experts were called in to teach the art of tea making and thousands of Nepalis were hired to work in the tea gardens. 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 when it came to aroma and delicacy of taste. Not only has tea formed the backbone of the economy in the region, but "Darjeeling" and "excellent tea" have become synonymous. Out of over seventy tea gardens in the area, Happy Valley Tea Estate is the nearest to Darjeeling town and a view of its gardens has been included in the sightseeing tour.

Day 09 Darjeeling

Day is at leisure

Day 10 Darjeeling – New Jalpaiguri – Kolkata

Transfer New Jalpaiguri railway station to board the train Darjeeling Mail to Kolkata
Air-conditioned first class – 1940:0615* hours
Overnight on train
*arriving next morning

Day 11 Arrive Kolkata

Arrive Kolkata at 0615 hours
You will be met on arrival and transferred to your hotel where a day room is booked for you.
Later transfer to Kolkata international airport for your flight back to home