Summer of 2009 – Day 4

The fourth day starts and we were greeted in the morning by brilliant sun. We got to see the sunlight after 36 hours! What a pleasant sight in the hills!

But the weather had already played a cruel game. We had planned to visit Darjeeling and adjoining areas today. But the news coming in was not good as the landslides had rendered Darjeeling inaccessible. All roads to Darjeeling were blocked. So were the roads to Kurseong, Mirik and nearby locations.

We decided to take our chance and persisted to Darjeeling. The drive towards Darjeeling from Tinchuley was another breathtaking experience. Tall pine trees planted by British in early 1900s dotted the roadside. Some of these trees went upto more than a 100 feet! It was a mind blowing view. Things seemed pretty smooth until about a few kilometers from JorBungalow, where we encountered the first landslide. It was a big landslide with huge boulders and stone debris piled a couple of feet high on the road completely blocking the way!