Calcutta (2 nights) – Darjeeling (2 nights) – Gangtok (2 nights) – Shillong (2nights) – Calcutta.
It’s ironic, Calcutta, once the capital of British India, doesn’t have a direct air-link with Blighty. In fact, of India’s four primary metros, Calcutta is the only one with no direct air link to Europe. That’s how isolated Calcutta is (it’s closer to Bangkok than it is to Bombay!). The silver lining is that Calcutta isn’t a tourist magnet like, say, Delhi or Bombay although it possesses a number of fine hotels and infrastructure exists for increased tourism.
The most prominent attraction in Calcutta is the Victoria Memorial. The other attractions are, like in any city in India, the local cuisine although Chinese cuisine is also considered ‘local’ what with Calcutta having its very own Chinatown, the oldest and largest in India.
Life moves at a slower pace in Calcutta and the bourgeois here are of a literary disposition. Bengalis consider themselves the intellectuals of India and they regard Calcutta as India’s intellectual heart. Calcutta is where people make time to chat and the city’s charm lies in the verbosity of its people.
Head up to Darjeeling. If you’re not in a hurry, take the toy train from New Jalpaiguri. It’s an 8-9 hour ride, however, so stock up on essentials. Darjeeling itself is more Tibetan and Nepalese than Indian and its main attraction is the view of the Himalayas.
Keep heading north to Gangtok, another mainly Nepalese-Tibetan town but with more monasteries.
End up in Shillong in Meghalaya, and enjoy the clean, bracing air as you explore the falls and lakes. Shillong was known as the ‘Scotland of the East’ by the Brits and its attractions continue to be natural rather than religious.
