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Thursday, 24 February
Meet at Heathrow Terminal 4 at 1745 to check in for Jet Airways flight 9W121 at 20.50 to…
Friday, 25 February
…Delhi, arriving at 1040. After checking into our hotel and freshening up, we visit the National Railway Museum, with an optional visit to local markets. You will be able to see many of the main city sights on our way to and from the NRM.
Saturday, 26 February
After breakfast, our coach takes us to the airport for our Jet Airways flight to Bagdogra, due in at 12.15. We are taken by coach to our hotel, the Cindrella, in Siliguri at the foot of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. There’ll be time in the afternoon to visit the DHR locomotive depot to become acquainted with the world-famous ‘B’ class engines synonymous with the Darjeeling line.
Sunday, 27 February
Our first day at the Cindrella and the chance to get a feel for the area. There’s the colourful bazaar, take a visit to the wildlife reserve or reconnoitre the Darjeeling line and visit the DHR’s locomotive shed at Siliguri. We can also take a look at Silguri Town station, the oldest building in Silguri and currently being prepared as the site for a new railway museum. For dinner, we take our famed dining charter train up from Siliguri to Rangtong – a good three course dinner whilst the ‘B’ class blasts its way up through the forest, then back to the Cindrella by bus.
Monday, 28 February
Today we visit Gorumara National Park and experience a very unusual form of transport. Hand-pulled trolleys have been introduced to take visitors along a section of abandoned metre-gauge railway track that runs through the park. We spend time at the elephant park, where we can ride, feed and bathe the elephants.
Tuesday, 1 March
Our first full charter train! We travel up from Siliguri through the forest into the foothills as far as Tindharia where we visit the DHR’s workshops – this is where the class steam locomotives (and all the rest of the DHR’s stock) are maintained - before returning to Siliguri and our hotel for dinner. There will be ample opportunity for photography – we have a bus available on the parallel road for the photographers, and it’s possible to change between bus and train frequently.
Wednesday, 2 March
Our second charter runs from Tindharia to and fro across the face of the mountain via Mahanadi (steam is rare on this section) before we arrive at Kurseong for lunch. The train then takes us up through the hills to Ghum, down via Batasia, to Darjeeling. We transfer to our hotel, the Windamere, one of the most comfortable in town where afternoon tea is served.
Thursday, 3 March
Our first day in Darjeeling. There is so much to see - the bazaar, the Tibetan Self-help Centre, the shops (don’t miss Das Studios’ historic photos and the Oxford Bookshop), the Mountaineering Institute and of course the views! There is also the steam-hauled school train down to Kurseong and back – another chance for steam on this wonderful line.
Friday, 4 March
If you can stand the early start and the weather is clear, why not watch sunrise over the Himalayas from Tiger Hill. After breakfast, there’s a ride on the Joy Train, steam-hauled back up to Ghum (with a break to photograph the train on Batasia Loop with Mount Kanchenjunga in the background). The DHR museum at Ghum is well worth visiting. In the afternoon, the whole of Darjeeling is at your disposal – catch up on all the places you missed yesterday.
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