Darjeeling

Darjeeling

The most popular tourist destination in North East India is Darjeeling, the 'Queen of Hills'. Darjeeling attracts travelers with its exquisite scenic beauty at an altitude of 2134 meters. The town is the abode of Lord Shiva and has spectacular views of Kanchenjunga. In the shadow of this snow-capped Himalayan giant lies the town and all its tea plantations. Places of interest in the town include the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, home to the Siberian Tiger, Himalayan Black Bear, Red Panda, Snow Leopard and many other species of animals and birds, and the nearby Snow Leopard Breeding Centre; the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, a training center for Darjeeling's mountaineers, which also hosts the Everest Museum's Natural History Museum with its splendid display of Himalayan wildlife. The area where Darjeeling is located is rich in rainfall and has a wide range of climatic conditions, from tropical to sub-alpine, due to its different altitudes. Valuable timber is produced from local coniferous and oak forests. The area's rural economy is primarily based on black tea production, made possible by the region's climatic conditions, which favor tea cultivation. Tea plantations are cultivated up to an altitude of about 1,800 meters. As a result of the intermingling of various ethnic groups and their evolution from their historical roots, Darjeeling's culture is highly cosmopolitan. Since the middle of the 19th century, tourists have flocked to town, and after an international campaign, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.