Road Route Only Option To Travel Darjeeling To Gangtok

By Author: Rashmiranjan Patil
Total Articles: 261
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Located at an average elevation of 6710 ft in Mahabharat Range or Lesser Himalayas, Darjeeling is popularly known as 'Queen of Hills'. Snow-clad Himalayan ranges tower over this internationally acclaimed tourist destination.

Kanchenjunga, third highest peak in world with an altitude of 28968 ft., can be clearly visible from Tiger Hill here. Mount Everest can also be seen if the sky is clear. Among the tourist attractions in Darjeeling are Padmaja Naidu Himalaya Zoological Park, Lloyds Botanical Garden, tea plantations and the surrounding dense forests which are rich in flora and fauna.

Distance from Darjeeling to Gangtok is about 97 km. Gangtok is located at an altitude of 4740 ft in Shivalik Hills. Gangtok has several monasteries and stupas. The name Gangtok is derived from the Tibetan word for 'hillside’.

Among the popular sightseeing and pilgrim centres in Gangtok are Enchey Monastery, Rumtek Monastery, Tashiding Monastery, Labrang Monastery, Tasuk-la-khang (Palace Monastery), Pemayangtse Monastery, Nathu La Pass, Tsomgo Lake, Ganesh Tok, Hanuman Tok, Deer Park, Fambong La Wildlife Sanctuary, ...
... Kyongnosla Alpine Sanctuary, Himalayan Zoological Park and Jawaharlal Nehru Botanical Garden.

Kanchenjunga, world's third highest peak, is visible from the town. The peak can be seen from Enchey Monastery and Ganesh Tok. These places are situated at a higher altitude.

Neither Darjeeling nor Gangtok has an airport. Both the places also do not have main railheads. There is a mountain train, known as toy train, from Darjeeling to New Jalpaiguri. This railway line does not go to Gangtok. The rail services, however, remain suspended for quite some time now.

So the mode of transport from Darjeeling to Gangtok is limited to road. There is an all-weather national highway (NH 31A) between the two cities. Buses, taxis, Jeeps and Tata Sumos are available in plenty to travel from Darjeeling to Gangtok. Buses charge a rate ranging from Rs.2 to Rs.4 per kilometre depending on the type of vehicle. The travel time between the two cities by bus is about three hours.

Taxis are available in plenty to travel from Darjeeling to Gangtok. They charge a fare ranging from Rs.2000 to Rs.3500 depending on the type of car the travellers hire. The taxis are suitable for the group travellers, families with senior citizens and kids. The taxi cabs take less than three hours to travel from Darjeeling to Gangtok.

Shared taxi, Tata Sumo and Jeep are also available in this route. Since the traffic of passengers between the two cities is high, there is no need for the travellers to wait in the vehicle to fill in capacity and start the vehicle moving. There is also a fixed fare to travel from Darjeeling to Gangtok. The route to Gangtok from Darjeeling passes through Kalimpong, Pagona and Bacheykhoda.

Kolkata to Darjeeling and Shimla to Manali is a very very demanding trip which always takes first preference for the visitors.