Need a break from the sultry summer this weekend? Well, your perfect weekend getaway place will be Darjeeling. It is just 3 hours’ drive from Siliguri and the roadside scenery is pretty as a picture. The hills looked as if someone has carved them out of a stone. With every bend in the road, I saw innumerable wildflowers and pretty houses. It’s as if a child’s painting has all come real. I adored these wild flowers and captured plenty of pictures of them.

We chose a homestay and our lunch was pretty simple, but the amazing taste of the flavors of Darjeeling had us wanting more. And by the time we had finished, we were all hearty and full. Since, it was about 3pm in the afternoon, we decided to hop off to the Mall. Filled with tourists, this place is always full of excitement. There were people selling colourful balloons and those adorable bubble making concoctions. There is something infectious about this place. I was giddy with happiness with all the activity out there.

Right beside the mall, there are two markets; Mall Market and Mahakal Market. There are a huge number of things available and thus both the markets are a colorful treat to the eyes. They also sell really pretty umbrellas, the kind you would never want to use it in the sun or the rain. Whenever I go on a holiday, I always make sure to buy something for my friends. This time I bought some artefacts which my friends simply loved. And well, needless to say, inspite of having an wardrobe overflowing with stuff from all over India, I bought a lot of things for myself too.

The next day, we woke up early morning to watch the sunrise at Tiger Hills. The clouds played a peek-a-boo game but after a while we were able to witness the magical sunrise. The sun shone bright spreading its multicolour hue on the snow-capped Kanchenjunga. Words would fall short if I start describing the beauty of the whole phenomena. Hundreds of people gather to see this magic and I was really feeling lucky to witness it. My digital camera couldn’t do justice to the beauty that I saw with my eyes.

After having breakfast, our next stop was the Peace Pagoda. It is a Buddhist Temple and the name justifies the place. I felt an eerie kind of peace surround me once I was there. The Red Pandas at the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park were adorable and resembled every bit like teddy bears. They were moving too fast so I could hardly get a single decent picture!

Our last stop was the Tea Gardens. I loved to get myself clicked dressed in the traditional attire of the native tea pluckers and pose like them. Having bought some fine Darjeeling Tea, we decided to return to Siliguri the same day.

The enigma of this humble place is truly overpowering. It is full of colour and I realized I would come back time and again just to witness nature’s magic.

The next time you plan a visit to Darjeeling, try a homestay.