Kurseong to Ghoom and Batasia Loop - Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Lava, Lolegaon, Rishop Road Trip - 2

April 25, Ghoom
Night halt : Ghoom

Morning breakfast was complimentary with our stay at the Kurseong Tourist Lodge. We were served puri subzi, bread toast,omlette, sweets, fruits and tea. Checkout time was 12 noon. 

We headed for Darjeeling which took us almost an hour to reach. The next day was the general election day for Darjeeling district and interestingly the otherwise insanely crowded place was pretty empty. The weather was cold and cloudy and no where could one see the glimpses of the mountains.

Incase you are planning to visit Darjeeling in your own car, its good to know that hardly a few hotels have their own parking. So is the case in Ghoom. There is a MLCP paid parking but one has to deposit the car keys.

Luckily we found a homestay in Ghoom who have their own guest parking. I will share the details below.They have three rooms with a common drawing area.We were the only guests that day and hence we had the whole area for ourselves. We took the biggest room which came at 2200 INR. The other two rooms were at 1800 and 2000. Food was homemade and resonably good even though we felt quantity was little less and price was a little high compared to the food we had in the restaurants nearby. However the BEST  thing about this homestay was we could see the heritage Himalayan Mountain Railway from our room window.

After a quick snacking on momos and chicken fry, we went to Batasia Loop. It is a war memorial where the Himalayan Mountain toy-train takes a 10 minutes halt for the joy riders to enjoy the mersmerising views of the Himalayas that Batasia has to offer. entry ticket for adult is 50 INR and for children its free.

April 26, Ghoom to Mirik
Night halt : Mirik

Ankur went walking Ghoom station to take videos. I stayed back in the hotel with the kids. Since it was the election day at Darjeeling, so most of the public places like the famous zoo was closed. We did a quick change in plan. We headed towards Mirik, cruising our way through the picturesque Mirik Road. We will again be back in Darjeeling towards the later part of our trip.