The little blue train 2

Kolkata - Bagdogra - Darjeeling

Next day we head out to the airport in the local made and infamous Ambassador taxi. It is a hot, dusty and smoky journey.

Inside the Ambassador

Our first destination is a flight to Bagdogra. Bagdogra is a village in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India, which is surrounded by tea gardens and the nearest airport to our final destination.

This time we fly with Jet Airways Konnect on their 737-800 for the 446km flight. Due to strict security, I don't have any photos of the plane. It was a comfortable flight with a Buy On Board meal service.

Once we collected our bags, we go to the taxi counter to book our taxi to Darjeeling. When I see the car I am in shock, as no way this little Suzuki is going to take us up the foothills of the great Himalaya. Shouldn't this be a duty for a 4WD vehicle?

This little car is going to take us up to 6,710ft?

 Tea plantations on both sides of the road greet us. So slowly we begin out ascent, the 70km plus journey would take a good 5 hours!

Lowland Tea growing just outside the airport

You know it's India when there is a cricket game

Beautiful rural India

Heading up there

 The wide lowland road soon becomes a narrow, steep and winding road riddled with holes. The little car is struggling and trying it's best to reach our destination.

Children returning from school

This is Land Rover country

Look at the holes

As me approach the first significant town called Kurseong, the road is shared with railway tracks! So now we have to battle, buses, trucks, motorbikes and trains for right of way. There was a train service from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling but due to major landslides during the monsoon season the previous year, resulted in the tracks being washed away. Until today, full service has yet to be restored. In 2014, only the stretch from New Jalpaiguri to Gayabari has reopened. Full services is not expected until 2015.

The town of Kurseong from a distance

Narrow winding road with trucks and railtracks!

The very preppy school uniform

The Kurseong railway station

When we arrive at the town of Kurseong, I get my first sight of what I had traveled all this way for, the Steam locomotive of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway sitting in the loco shed.

The train the train!

The town of Kurseong seemed to be a very busy market town with shop lining both sides of the main street.

The air got cooler and the vegetation more lush as we climbed higher. The traffic also got more chaotic.

Making full use of every inch of space on the land rover

Tung railway station

Fender bender

Then my next catch is a local service from Kurseong to Darjeeling hauled by a diesel locomotive.

 As we continued our journey we hit a traffic jam in the middle of the town of Ghum. Total chaos as everybody is fighting for right of way. Suddenly amongst the cacophony of car, motorbike, bus and truck horns, I heard a whistle! Yes could it be a whistle of a steam train?

A really up close introduction to the little blue train that I came all this way for. I was squealing like a little girl when I saw that train!

We continued pass town after town. The higher we got, the views were stunning, mist cover mountains, dotted with Buddhist monasteries, lush forest and lower temperature. The people also started to look different, more Nepalese in features.

After 5 long hours we turned a corner and the Darjeeling railway station stood in full view and this meant we have arrived! Welcome to Darjeeling!

 To be continued......