Had a tour of Darjeeling's sights today - there weren't many. Did enjoy the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (created by Tenzing Norgay) and Zoo which has a good collection of animals found in the Himalayan region. Saw red panda, panther, snow leopard, common leopard, black himalayan bear, himalayan wolf, yaks, various himalayan goats & deer and also caught a glimpse of the Bengal tiger, who was playing coy and hiding just inside his cave. Declined going f...

Flew out of Delhi to Bagdogra and arrived half an hour earlier than scheduled - a pleasant surprise. Met by the driver from the Elgin hotels group (who have arranged our tour around Darjeeling, Gantok and Kalimpong) and started climbing the mountains towards Darjeeling. The weather was quite foggy in places but we had good views. Lots of traffic on the road and we had to squeeze past each other at times. Stopped at Kurseong for our first cup of Darjeeling tea a...