Darjeeling is located at an elevation of 6,700ft in the Darjeeling Himalayan Hill region on the Darjeeling-Jalapahar range that originates in the south from Ghum. Kanchenjunga, the world’s third-highest peak, 8,598m (28,209ft) high, is the most prominent mountain visible. On clear days Nepal’s Mount Everest 29,035ft (8,850m) high, can be seen. Darjeeling can be reached by the 88km (55m) long Darjeeling Himalayan Railway from New Jalpaiguri, or by National Highway 55 from Siliguri, 77km (48mi) away. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is a 600mm (2ft) narrow-gauge railway that was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999.

The original inhabitants of the Darjeeling Hills were Lepchas or Rongpa (the ravine folks) as they prefer themselves to be known as. Though their origin is obscure, they are decidedly Mongolian in feature. The Khampas, another branch of the Lepchas, are warrior-like and more dashing than their docile cousins. The Khampas are recent immigrants from Tibet. The greater bulk of the people in the Hills are Gorkhas . The forests in and around Darjeeling have delightful flora and fauna. It is a plant lover’s paradise. Four thousand species of flowering plants, three hundred varieties of ferns, including tree fern and countless types of flowerless plants, mosses, algae, fungi, birches, and of course, the prize orchids, wild and cultivated. There are oaks, chestnuts, cherry, maple, birch, alder-all fine and large trees of excellent growth. The fauna is similarly diversified with various animals like monkeys, wild cats, tigers, leopards, civets, jackals and foxes, wild dogs, bears, otters, martons, weasels, squirrels(including the Himalayan flying and Assam giant varieties), porcupines, hares, barking deer,sambhurs, chitals and the very rare pangolin.

Hotel Dreamland helps you to visit the top sight-seeing places in Darjeeling.

• Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) and the amazing Darjeeling Zoo
• Tiger Hill
• Batasia Loop
• Darjeeling Ropeway
• Mall Road & Local Market
• Japanese Temple & Pagoda
• Rock Garden
• Bengal Natural History Museum
• Tibetan Refugee self-help center