Heritage on Wheels

We were awake and ready to leap out of bed when we heard the call of 'Mountain View' at 5.15 a.m. Being bears we don't have to dress, so we were up on the hotel's sun terrace before our minders, drinking in our first view of Kanchenjunga.

It was very exciting especially as the view changed every few minutes, as it got lighter and the sun moved round the horizon, painting the mountains pink. It wasn't worth going back to bed afterwards, as we had to pack before an earlyish breakfast, so we could leave at 7.30 to walk down to the station,  where we would catch the toy train of the Darjeeling Mountain Railway.

The railway was completed in 1881 and built to exploit the difference in the price of potatoes between Darjeeling and Silguri. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was built with a narrow gauge of just 2 foot to allow it to follow a tightly twisting route through the hills. The raised track now runs along the edge of the only road into Darjeeling, which is very narrow and very busy, making for a fun journey as you mix it with all the traffic.

Four diesel locos handle most of the scheduled services, but there are still some British built steam engines which take tourists along a 10 km stretch of the railway between Darjeeling and Ghum.

We were lucky to be able to travel on a train pulled by one of the characterful blue steam engines - Blue Bear would have loved it, especially the fact that the engines are blue like him. It was a slow journey at a speed of no more than 12km an hour, with numerous stops for cars parked on the line which had to be moved, and similar.

We had one official stop for about 10 minutes at the Batista loop where there are beautiful gardens and a memorial to Gurkha soldiers of the Indian Army. Close by stands a sculpture of one of the soldiers, appearing behind me in my photo ...

At Ghum station we left the train and our jeeps were there waiting for us. We climbed aboard and set off for the village of Dhodrey, the starting point of our trek. How exciting!

Lots of love

George, Yorkie and Gio xxx