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Some changes to our tour dates

NEWSLETTER

April 2008

Website: www.darjeelingtours.co.uk

Tel: 01777 817798

Email: tours@darjeelingtours.co.uk

We’ve had to make a few changes to our tour programme because of other activities going on in the Darjeeling area that clashed with our original dates. Here are the new dates::

• Narrow Gauge Express: 16 November – 2 December 2008
• North India Express: 18 January – 3 February 2009
• Textile Tour: 29 January to 14 February 2009
• Darjeeling at Leisure: 10 - 25 February 2009
• South India: 22 February – 10 March 2009
• Indian Magic: 11 – 27 March 2009

Three new tours!

B Class at Paglajhora on the DHR

We’re delighted to announce three new tours - the first one will appeal to those photographers amongst you. It’s a tour to India in association with the prestigious Royal Photographic Society, accompanied by Graham Whistler FBIPP, FRPS (some of you may know Graham’s excellent DVDs) who will be on hand to give advice and guidance throughout the tour. As well as our signature charters on the DHR and time in Darjeeling, we’ll visit Jaipur (Amber Palace, Observatory, Palace of the Winds), Agra for the Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri, Delhi (with a city tour), Jaldapara wildlife reserve, have a chartered tram ride and a river cruise in Calcutta. Dates: 9 – 25 January 2009. Prices from £2,595 ex-London.

Our second tour is a Readers’ Tour in conjunction with Heritage Railway and Old Glory Magazines. Starting in Bombay, we have a steam charter on the Matheran line followed by a city tour of Bombay (with an alternative visit to see some steam rollers in Gujerat for the enthusiasts). Then there’s a flight to Calcutta and a private tram charter plus visits to some interesting museums. We then travel by train to New Jalpaiguri and our hotel in Siliguri – at the bottom of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. There are three steam charters on the DHR, plus time to explore in Darjeeling before we travel across India to Delhi. Cont’d in next column >>>

To the back of beyond!

As well as a city tour, there’s the National Railway Museum with its interesting exhibits. It’s back on the train for a ride to Agra – with, of course, the Taj Mahal and Red Fort to visit. There are also some interesting narrow gauge systems to explore at Gwalior and Dhaulpur. Or why not visit Fatehpur Sikri or Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary? Dates: 16 February – 4 March 2009 Prices from £2,495 ex-London

Last, but not least, is our Indian Steam Safari – this is another readers’ tour in association with Railnews. Starting in Calcutta we’ll have a tram ride and visit to the Railway Museum near Howrah station before travelling to New Jalpaiguri. There’s a visit to a tea garden followed by a special steam-hauled dining train on the DHR. The next day we’ll take a steam charter on the broad gauge line to Chalsa. We then have two charter trains on the DHR, ending up in Darjeeling where there’s time to enjoy this lovely hill station. From here we travel across India to Delhi where we visit the National Railway Museum. Then it’s off by train to Kalka, where we’ll have a chartered railbus to take us up to the hill station to Shimla, through over 100 tunnels! After a free day in Shimla we travel down to Agra and visit the Taj Mahal and Red Fort. Again there’s the option of exploring the interesting narrow gauge systems at Gwalior and Dhaulpur. Dates: 24 March – 9 April 2009 Prices from £2,495 ex-London.

Fun with elephants

A report from Fuzz on our Tipong and Nepal trip in February. Having arrived in Assam from Calcutta, we stayed in one of the bungalows of the Indian Oil Company at Digboi, and were privileged to be taken to their Golf Club, a real timewarp from the 1930’s, and we also visited their really excellent Oil Museum. Tipong Colliery was well up to standard, with ‘B’ 789 doing the honours on the mainline. We were told that the Bagnall ‘David’ was unfit for duty (David and a small diesel are the only locomotives light enough to work the eastern adit), but, as we were leaving, the diesel broke, and they started firing up David. Murphy’s Law!

The ride up to the Nepal Railway was, to say the least very hard work – the road from Samastipur to Darbhanga was unworthy of the name, with speed down to an uncomfortable crawl over most of it. However, the railway itself was enjoyed by all, despite the lack of a working steam engine, with more passengers sitting on the roof and on freight wagons than inside the coaches! One of the highlights was a superb lunch served inside a pavilion at Khajuri – with beer! The return to Delhi was eventful – a political demonstration in Patna blocked the airport road, and we had the sight of six 4x4s navigating the Patna bazaars – like a remake of ‘The Italian Job’. We just made the flight! The tour closed with a memorable final dinner at one of South India’s best restaurants.

Trouble in Darjeeling

Political tensions in Darjeeling spilled over into a general strike and blockade of most of the DHR for a two week period from 12 February – one of the last trains to arrive in Darjeeling was one of our charters in the afternoon of 11 February. The entire hill section of the line from Sukna to Darjeeling (44 miles out of a total length of 55 miles was paralysed), effectively ceasing all regular operations on the line. The strike was caused by people who live in the Hills agitating for the formation of Gorkhaland, a separate state within India: currently the area is part of West Bengal, the capital of which is Calcutta.

Unsubscribing

An elephant enjoying being bathed by Geraldine Smith!

Whilst we had problems reaching Darjeeling on the Golden Triangle tour in February, we managed to make some good alternative arrangements for the tour group. One of these was a very popular visit to the Gorumara Wildlife Park where everyone enjoyed an elephant ride and some even helped give the elephants a bath – one even said that it was an experience of a lifetime for her!

Go Goa!

We’ve got access to apartments at the Royal Goan Beach Club at the Royal Palms in Benaulim, South Goa at reduced rates for our customers! The Royal Palms is a lovely resort comprising of apartments and villas. The accommodation units have air conditioned bedrooms and consist of studio, one bedroom, two and three bedroom units with a living/dining room, kitchen and patio, just perfect for those who like self-catering and lots of space. The resort is a 10 minute walk from the renowned Goan beaches which stretch as far as the eye can see. Facilities include a 24 hour reception, pool side bar, restaurant, shop, games room, book swap facility, bird watchers hide, beauty and massage facility and gymnasium. Entertainment varies depending on the season, but is available year round.