[romyeo4u]

More photos

St.Pauls Cathedral




















Indian Museum

[romyeo4u]

End of Kolkata.

After an Super duper stint of getting into the cab and running madly to board the train to New Jalpaiguri( Read the first post under Adventures, you will realise), we were relieved after we got into the train, and train started moving, Adios Kolkata which bought us Joy,fun,Adventure,stupid moments

we boarded the train to "New Jalpaiguri"

Siliguri,Kalimpong, Road to Darjeeling and Darjeeling to be continued

[akroy]

So you boarded Darjeeling Mail from Sealdah. Thank God, the express trains leave from 10-15 platforms which are close to where your Taxi fellow will leave you.

Waiting to see the rest.

Abhi

[Ravveendrra]

Hi Romy,

That was a wonderful writeup and the pics are awesome. I read the parts about Gopalpur and Konark with interest as I hope to make it there sometime this year.

Cheers,

[vnabhi]

Lovely pics, Romy. It looks like Cal has changed for the better nowadays. I lived there for six months way back in 1984, and the roads were a lot more crowded and disorganized those days.

[pulsar56]

Nice pictures. Feels like we were also traveling along with you on the trip!
BTW, why is photography prohibited on Howrah bridge?

[Saurabh M]

@Romy: Fantastic pictures. Keep them coming.

Photography is prohibited on the Howrah Bridge for security reasons. This is a rule that applies to all railway stations and other places of national importance.

This law simply does not make sense anymore, with the advent of google maps, mobile phones with cameras, etc.

I was also challenged once by the Railway police inside Howarh Station, for taking pictures. I was taking pics of my family when they challenged me. Though there is a notice on the Howrah Bridge that photography is prohibited, I did not see any such notice at the station.

[romyeo4u]

Thanks a lot folks
@AkRoy:Yep we were on Darjeeling Mail
@Vnabhi:whoa remove 3 yrs from 1984, that's my year of birth.
@Raveendra:Gopalpur is good pitstop, you can enjoy a lot in the beach,and Konark ofcourse for the SUN Temple.

[romyeo4u]

We reached NewJalpaiguri by 8AM, and NJP greeted us by going the whole town on strike. yep there was a bandh in Siliguri, against Darjeeling's call for Gorkhaland. so that left us with no choice apart from dancing to the tunes of cabby drivers rate.

Normally they charge for the whole Sumo to Darjeeling between 1000 to 1200 since it was bandh so they were asking 2000 to 2400, we tried bargaining with no luck , meanwhile couple of my friends went for breakfast, finally got a cab for 1800/- and we left for Queen of Hill Stations:

Our Train Journey:







The Road to Darjeeling:


















































Like New Jalpaiguri welcomed us with bandh, Darjeeling welcomed us by rains.

[romyeo4u]

Before we go to Darjeeling , let me go off track.

During our train journey this is how we entertained ourselves








This is what our cuisine was, during our journey.



























And we celebrated my Friend's wife's B'day in Kolkata

[Saurabh M]

Thats some lovely yummy food!!. Where did you have them?

The road to Darjeeling seems to be in poor state. Looks like you went via Sukna. How did you like the tea gardens on the way?

[pulsar56]

Romyeo, as discussed yesterday, we are waiting for you to continue the travelogue. I am hungry now after those pics.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by pulsar56

Romyeo, as discussed yesterday, we are waiting for you to continue the travelogue. I am hungry now after those pics.

I agree. Lovely pictures and i think one of the best food pictures seen in a long time. I am glad to see some people are out there who also love to take pictures of food during their trips.

Great travelogue and please do continue

[Gautam Misra]

@ Romeo4u:

Great pics. Which camera do you use?

In one of your posts you have described the Buddhist temple en route to Bhubaneshwar from Konark as the "Japanese Peace Pagoda".

I am sorry to say that it is is not the "Japanese peace pagoda".

It is a Buddhist temple built by King Ashoka. It is known as a peace pagoda because after slaying several people in the Kalinga War, King Ashoka regretted the massive killings and never fought a war thereafter!

As far as my knowledge goes, Japan has nothing to do with the Pagoda.

Kindly see if the mistake can be rectified by the mods. Rectification would would further add a "pearl" to a good travelogue.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by Gautam Misra

In one of your posts you have described the Buddhist temple en route to Bhubaneshwar from Konark as the "Japanese Peace Pagoda".

I am sorry to say that it is is not the "Japanese peace pagoda".

It is a Buddhist temple built by King Ashoka. It is known as a peace pagoda because after slaying several people in the Kalinga War, King Ashoka regretted the massive killings and never fought a war thereafter!

As far as my knowledge goes, Japan has nothing to do with the Pagoda.

Gautam, are you sure about this?
Looks very much like the Shanti Stupas that the Japanese got made at various buddhist places in India!
That does not even look like an ancient construction from Ashoka's time.