Darjeeling, a Himalayan city is internationally renowned as a tourist destination, along with its tea industry and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Darjeeling is "hill town headquarters" of Darjeeling with a partially autonomous status within the West Bengal. The town is located in the Lesser Himalaya at an average elevation of 6,710 ft. The development of the town dates back to the mid-19th century, when the British set up a sanatorium, a military depot and extensive tea plantation in the region. Tea growers developed distinctive hybrids of black tea and created new fermenting techniques.
Gangtok is the largest town of Sikkim, located in the eastern Himalayan range. The town belongs to different ethnicities such as Indian-Nepalis, Lepchas and Bhutia. Nestled within higher peaks of the Himalaya, Gangtok is at the centre of Sikkim’s tourism industry. Gangtok rose to prominence as a popular Buddhist pilgrimage site after the construction of the Enchey Monastery. After the ruling Sikkimese Chogyal, Thutob Namgyal, transferred the capital to Gangtok, it became a major stopover on the trade route between Lhasa in Tibet and cities such as. After India won its independence, Sikkim chose to remain an independent monarchy, with Gangtok as its capital until 1975, when it became India's twenty-second state capital.
Pelling is a town in West Sikkim, nestled at an altitude of 2,150 m and located at a distance of 10 km from the Geyzing. A regular bus service connects the two towns. However with the influx of tourists, the region is undergoing a metamorphosis. The mighty Himalayas and the Kanchenjanga may be viewed at close quarters from Pelling, which also forms the base from where trekker’s adventurers undertake the strenuous and arduous treks in Sikkim. The land around Pelling is still a virgin territory and is bathed with alpine vegetation, covered with a blanket of snow. Most of the people of Pelling are Buddhists and speak the Sikkimese language while other languages spoken are Nepali, Hindi, and English.
Darjeeling
Darjeeling is a town in India's West Bengal state, in the Himalayan foothills. Darjeeling is famous throughout the world for the tea it grows and the great view of the Kanchenjunga range of mountains that it offers.
