North East & Darjeeling Tea Combination

Route: Bagdogra airport to Darjeeling via Kurseong, about 70 km, 3 to 3.5 hours

Your driver meets you at Bagdogra airport. The road leaves the plains at Sukna and climbs through forest to Kurseong, where the first tea gardens cover the slopes. In places the road runs beside the tracks of the toy train.

Darjeeling sits at about 2,050 metres on a ridge facing the Kangchenjunga range. The British developed it as a hill station in the 1830s and 1840s, and tea planting began here in the 1850s. Spend the evening on the Mall and Chowrasta.

Note on permits

No special permit is needed for foreign nationals in Darjeeling. Sikkim needs a free permit, arranged before you travel.

Experience of the Day

• Climb from the plains to the hills

• First tea gardens around Kurseong

• Evening on Chowrasta

Food

Recommended: Glenary's on Nehru Road, a Darjeeling bakery and tearoom since the British era.

Must-Try: A pot of Darjeeling first flush tea with a pastry.

Activities to Do

• Airport pickup and drive

• Evening walk on the Mall

Route: Tiger Hill (about 11 km), Batasia Loop, Ghum, Darjeeling town

Drive up to Tiger Hill in the dark to watch the sunrise. On a clear morning the first light turns Kangchenjunga pink, and on the best days you can see Everest far to the west. Stop at Ghum Monastery on the way back.

Later, take the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway joyride from Darjeeling to Ghum and back, about two hours. The line opened in 1881 and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. The train turns a full circle at the Batasia Loop, with the war memorial in the middle and the mountains behind.

Note on the toy train

Joyride seats sell out in peak season and are booked in advance. Steam or diesel depends on the day. Tiger Hill views depend on the weather; October, November and spring mornings are clearest.

Experience of the Day

• Tiger Hill sunrise

• Ghum Monastery

• Toy train joyride round the Batasia Loop

Food

Recommended: Keventer's on the Mall for a hearty breakfast after Tiger Hill.

Must-Try: Momos and thukpa, the Tibetan-style dumplings and noodle soup of the hills.

Activities to Do

• Sunrise viewpoint

• Monastery visit

• Heritage train ride

Route: A Darjeeling tea estate, then the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, about 30 km in all

Spend the morning on a working tea estate. Walk the slopes with a guide, watch the pluckers at work in season, and follow the leaf through the factory: withering, rolling, oxidation and drying. The estate chosen depends on the day, as factories rest on some days and in winter.

Then sit down for a tasting. First flush, picked in spring, is light and flowery. Second flush, picked in early summer, has the fuller 'muscatel' taste Darjeeling is known for. Autumn flush is softer and darker. Darjeeling tea was the first Indian product to get a Geographical Indication, in 2004, so only tea from the registered estates here can carry the name.

In the afternoon, visit the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, founded in 1954 after the first ascent of Everest, with Tenzing Norgay as its first director of field training.

The Human Story

Most of Darjeeling's pluckers are women from Nepali-speaking families who have worked on the same estates for generations. Many live in estate villages on the slopes, and the estate is school, clinic and employer at once.

Experience of the Day

• Tea estate walk

• Factory tour

• Tea tasting of three flushes

• Himalayan Mountaineering Institute

Food

Recommended: Lunch at a tea estate café, where the estate offers one.

Must-Try: Darjeeling second flush, taken plain with no milk.

Shopping

Loose-leaf tea direct from the estate shop or from Nathmull's on Laden La Road.

Activities to Do

Estate and factory tour

Guided tasting

Museum visit

Optional Nearby Excursions

• Happy Valley Tea Estate, just below the town, if a second estate visit appeals

• Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, next to the Mountaineering Institute, known for red pandas

Route: Darjeeling to Gangtok via the Teesta valley, about 100 km, 4 hours

Drop down through tea gardens to the Teesta river, then follow it upstream into Sikkim. Your permit is checked at the state border. The road climbs again to Gangtok, at about 1,650 metres.

Spend the evening on MG Marg, Gangtok's pedestrian high street.

Note on the Sikkim permit

Every foreign national needs a free Restricted Area Permit for Sikkim. BizareXpedition arranges it before you travel; keep your passport with you on this drive.

Experience of the Day

• Tea slopes on the descent

• Teesta river valley

• Evening on MG Marg

Food

Recommended: Taste of Tibet on MG Marg for momos.

Must-Try: Sha phaley, a fried Tibetan bread stuffed with meat.

Activities to Do

• Scenic drive

• Evening walk

Optional Nearby Excursions

• Temi Tea Garden in South Sikkim, the state's only tea estate, as a longer route on this day (adds about 3 hours)

Route: Rumtek Monastery (about 24 km), Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, Do Drul Chorten

Rumtek Monastery was rebuilt by the 16th Karmapa after 1959 and inaugurated in 1966. Arrive for the morning chanting if you can.

Back in Gangtok, the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology holds manuscripts and thangka paintings, and Do Drul Chorten is ringed by 108 prayer wheels. End at a viewpoint over the town for sunset on the Kangchenjunga range.

Note on Rumtek

Rumtek has armed security at the gate; carry your passport. No photography inside the prayer hall.

Experience of the Day

• Rumtek Monastery

• Namgyal Institute of Tibetology

• Do Drul Chorten

Food

Recommended: A Sikkimese meal in town.

Must-Try: Gundruk soup, made with fermented greens, and sel roti.

Activities to Do

• Monastery visits

• Museum visit

• Sunset viewpoint

Optional Nearby Excursions

• Tsomgo Lake at about 3,750 metres (needs a separate permit and at least two foreign nationals travelling together)

Route: Gangtok to Bagdogra, about 125 km, then fly to Guwahati

Drive back down the Teesta valley to Bagdogra and fly east to Guwahati, on the Brahmaputra. The road between the two is about 550 km, so the flight saves a full day.

If you land in time, take a short evening walk along the river at Uzan Bazaar.

Experience of the Day

• Teesta valley descent

• Flight to Assam

• Evening by the Brahmaputra

Food

Recommended: Paradise, a long-running Guwahati restaurant, for an Assamese thali.

Must-Try: Masor tenga, a light, sour fish curry.

Activities to Do

• Drive and flight

• Riverside walk

Route: Guwahati to Kaziranga (Kohora), about 200 km, 4.5 to 5 hours by road

The road runs east along the Brahmaputra plain. Tea gardens start to appear as you get close to Kaziranga: flat rows of bushes under tall shade trees, a sharp contrast with the steep slopes of Darjeeling.

The afternoon jeep safari starts around 1:30 pm in the Western range at Bagori. This range has the highest density of rhinos in the park. Kaziranga became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, and the 2022 census counted 2,613 greater one-horned rhinos here, about two-thirds of all that live in the wild.

Note on safaris

Jeep safaris run in fixed slots: morning from about 7:00 am and afternoon from about 1:30 pm. The forest department sets routes and slots, and sightings are never guaranteed. This plan uses jeep safaris only.

Experience of the Day

• Drive past Assam tea gardens

• First jeep safari in the Western range

• Evening at the lodge

Food

Recommended: Lunch and dinner at your lodge.

Must-Try: Duck with ash gourd, a traditional Assamese dish, where the lodge kitchen offers it.

Activities to Do

• Western range jeep safari (about 2 hours)

• Walk in the lodge grounds

Route: Central range (Kohora), a tea estate near the park, Eastern range (Agaratoli)

The morning starts in the Central range, where rhinos and wild buffalo come down to the lakes in the early light. Each monsoon the Brahmaputra floods the park and leaves silt that feeds the tall grass they eat.

At midday, walk a tea estate near the park, such as Hathikuli, with the manager or a guide. Assam tea is a different plant variety from Darjeeling's, found growing wild here by Robert Bruce in 1823. The first Assam tea was sold in London in 1839. Taste a strong CTC tea and a finer orthodox leaf side by side.

The afternoon safari goes to the Eastern range at Agaratoli, quieter and full of wetlands where spot-billed pelicans nest.

The Human Story

Many Assam tea workers descend from families brought from central India in the 1800s to work the gardens. Their Jhumur songs and dances are still part of estate festivals.

Experience of the Day

• Dawn safari in the Central range

• Assam tea-garden walk and tasting

• Afternoon safari in the Eastern range

Food

Recommended: Meals at the lodge.

Must-Try: Assam orthodox tea, taken with milk, next to a cup of Darjeeling for comparison.

Shopping

Assam orthodox tea from the estate or a shop near Kohora.

Activities to Do

• Central range jeep safari

• Tea estate visit

• Eastern range jeep safari

Route: Kaziranga to Guwahati airport, about 200 km, 4.5 to 5 hours

Drive back along the Brahmaputra plain to Guwahati airport for your onward flight.

Experience of the Day

• Last views of the tea country

• Airport drop

Food

Recommended: Breakfast at your lodge.

Must-Try: A final cup of Assam tea.

Activities to Do

• Drive to Guwahati

• Onward flight

Optional Nearby Excursions

• Fly out from Jorhat instead, about 95 km from Kaziranga, if your onward flight suits (limited routes)