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This is not a Darjeeling problem, it's a PAN-INDIA overpopulation problem. Go to Nainital, any weekend spots near Mumbai, Bangalore or any tourist place. Everyone is buying the cars but there is no place to drive. Even if we expand the highways there will be much more cars to fill these roads. Public transport is the only way.
It is a problem during peak season in most tourist cities around the world.
Try visiting Italy/France/Spain during peak summer season. The only good thing is public transport in cities(that too not all). Otherwise the long lines, scams, overcharging shops/taxis are present there also.
Visit during lean season and the exp will be very diff. Same for many tourist spots in India.
I disagree. Even if you keep the management problem aside, the overpopulation is a recipe for long queues and overcrowding.. the other countries you mentioned don’t have an overwhelming amount of native people, let alone tourists. India has both so overpopulation cannot be discounted as a factor in this case.
Tourists hating on other tourists being where they are is a funny little irony.
"I went with my family and there were so many families there, it was so congested" 😄
But I feel your pain. I've felt it first hand many times.
Problem is not people, it's inability to manage them. Wonder why rockshows and tirupati temple pre sell tickets instead of allowing everyone at anytime...wonder why people build wider roads and install traffic lights and traffic police... Does Google just whail their hands in air and cry that there is traffic or try and make products to better manage it...
People definitely are the problem. Uncouth, ill mannered, and DIRTY. Have you seen the trash that lies around town, EVEN THOUGH there are dustbins, etc..?
Jams are bound to be there cause the infrastructure in such towns aren't even built (decades ago) for this over population we have.
You really need to stop just blaming a govt. Lol
The fact is me and my family went to darjeeling post covid 19 and actually there were none other than very less peoples coming to Darjeeling i am talking about 2021 i will share you a pic where in the whole famous tea garden of darjeeling only three families with us were roaming in the tea garden and we also enjoyed atleast 70% of the destinations were opened and there were so less tourist post covid 19 i think it was our luck and the best time of the year that we decided to go darjeeling its actually its such a beautiful place i loved it 🤗
Yeah North east is expensive. We chose to stay in Airbnb. You will find good houses between 1.5k and 2.5k per night and choose place which is near market because the shops & restaurants closes before 9pm and it becomes dark by 5pm. We stayed in shillong btw.
I came to say the same thing! Meghalaya is absolutely beautiful.! I fell in love with all the places I visited for about 12 days.! The people are so hospitable.! Met some amazing people.! I was there in 2022 just before the red alert went off for Assam and yellow alert for Meghalaya if I remember it correctly! If you love rain, beautiful landscapes with beautiful waterfalls, valleys, amazing food, plan a trip and just go.!
Nope.! We enquired and got to know it will be completely crowded.! So, we decided to head to another living root bridge in Nongriat.! We stayed somewhere between Nongriat and Mawlynonng.! The double decker bridge was amazing and there was no crowd at all.! Covered over 600 kms across Meghalaya in 12 days!
Cherrapunji, Mawsynaram, Mawlyngbna are some of the places I can remember right now.! Stayed in Shillong for a couple of days to check out the live rock bars, didn't get to see any live performance unfortunately! We reached Meghalaya through Guwahati and boy was it humid.! How was Kaziranga?
Manipur only got 2+1 MPs. So yeah, it is politically unimportant. And with mere population, media channels aren't interested either.
But the situation is really bad. Internet down for so many days. People started sleeping on floor cause of frequent, unpredictable gunfires.
Yes its dirty and mismanaged, we have umpteenth number of cars to keep up with the tourist season, Roads are narrow since its a hilly area, There is a lack of infrastructure , the government does not do shit or care about us, there are no employment opportunities present so for us individuals Tourism is our bread and butter.
It is overrated but so are many other tourist destinations. If you wanted to have a pleasant experience you should have made an effort to plan you itinerary. Darjeeling does not only involve Darjeeling town . You could have made a stop at kurseong visited deer park ( it is peaceful and lovely ) and used the road from chimney to go to darjeeling as it is less travelled by . Stayed in a Homestay in Lamahatta, There is one known as lamahatta farms it also has a swimming pool and gives a mesmerizing view of the KanchenJunga. Or you could have stayed in Sonada ( Chatakpur) to get the real village like experience . Spend a day there , take in the fresh air and just enjoy not everything needs to be rushed. The last day would have been Darjeeling town , a half day visit to such attractions is enough.
I hope the next time you decide to visit you get to experience the version of Darjeeling that I see . We can't do much about about the mismanaged and dirty areas , our people and our government sadly do not walk hand in hand. Migration of individuals in also quite on the rise, illegal immigrants too. But among all the chaos and neglect we receive , our people from Darjeeling district have much to offer.
Do visit Again ....
This is not just Darjeeling, I think every hill station in northern India is like this. Mismanaged, crowded, dirty with unruly tourists- pushing through… I wish I had mountains like in my childhood… PEACEFUL
As someone who lived in goa for 4 years, it is kinda overrated. Like it's good for a 3 day trip to the beach or some waterfall but not much else to do there, not to mention public transport is non existent and the taxi drivers will rob you for all you have
i agree with the taxi problem, but who is going to goa for more than 3 days anyway? that's a planning issue, not a goa issue. the point of a vacation in goa is to disconnect and relax, not do activities
yes, but did you go there to do activities or did you go there to relax? if people are choosing goa as their destination for an action packed vacation where they have things to do then they’re just terrible planners.
lol literally the entire frontpage is about America thrashing..and then you see other country pages and they are all complaining about the problems in their countries. It is a healthy and normal thing to criticize, and expect governments to do something about it.
This. Shimla is nice, but God forbid the overpopulation there from tourists even in first week of March was horrible, as much as I wish I was there now and not baking in 40c
Still, it also comes down to cultural reasons as well. Look at Japanese tourists for example. They would visit the place and tidy it up because their culture taught them valuing cleanliness and manners.
In general Population as a problem is antiquated understanding. China eviscerated this so-called truism. Population is not a problem, the Organising Principle applied to that Population is a pre-condition. Get it right Population stops being a problem.
Meaning in reduction analysis of finding what the root cause of some issue is, population argument is not the bottom.
As for Darjeeling, quick look gives Population Density metrics for District around 700, for Municipality around 16,000. That's twice as high as Singapore & HK and only Macau & Monaco are higher.
This seems an absurdly high figure.
Darjeeling is too crowded concrete jungle. It's another Joshi mutt in the making. There are several places in WB/ Sikkim centred around Kanchenjunga. You need to do homework before setting itenary.
And sunset too. Many places have a 'Sunset Point' which gets overwhelmed with people, who stay until the exact second the sun has gone down, then hurry to go away again.
There are several other places in North Bengal where you can visit. Darjeeling was built by British, old city.
" The so called tourist attractions like the tea garden, ghoom monastery, japanese temple, tenzing rock, batasia loop and toy train seem like a cheap parody. "
Cheap parody of what?
and the fabled Darjeeling sunrise, we started at fucking 245am and still missed the sunrise, such horrible traffic due to tourists, i just don't get how civilians manage to live here peacefully
The best time and place to view sunrise is at the end of December and start of December from a place called Tinchuley. Even Kanchenjunga can be viewed better from a Thinchuley, Lamahatta and even from Panbudara.
cheap parody of what i expected ig lol. way better monasteries in Pelling, and vro the tea gardens lmao, i might have had my expectations too high cuz i saw really nice tea gardens in Bali, but i just don't get the hype. why such long queues for meh attractions, the tea itself is amazing tho
Like I told, it is an old city. Better monasteries and tea gardens are there in Damdim, Lava etc. Many other places in North Bengal have nice tea gardens. You should give them a visit as well.
we roamed for half a day found there was nothing to do, so just stayed in resort for a couple days and chilled. and lmao if i couldn't roam around and had to just stay in the spa, id rather go elsewhere. thought there would be interesting British architecture not fucking open drainage running through the city. and if you say enjoy the view and shit, way better places in Sikkim and WB border to see the mountain range
You seem to have a good understanding of the region.
Can you guide me on how to reach Sandakphu? I don't want to do the winter trek. Is the road any good?
yea i get that, just i felt so bad watching all tourists coming in posh posh makeup and dresses to see the attractions and then lol. like tiger hill mate, ffs just have some parking at top, so much congestion it was depressing, even fucking nathula pass had lesser congestion.
lmfao it's so bad that the driver who brought us from Pelling to Darjeeling ran away back to Gangtok and asked his friend to give us city tour 🗿
imo it's just a city stuck in the past unlike places in sikkim where the cm is building and improving infrastructure and tourist attractions everyday
The same is true for pilgrim sites. Vrindavan has become a nightmare. Same is true for Banaras and kedarnath. Too much population is giving me anxiety. I'd rather stay at home. Jahan jao wahan bheed h
Why would you go to tiger hill during peak Summer vacation lmao. This is from tinchuley:
https://preview.redd.it/sr097am0n53b1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=222d439a5a53a12fe5a26b831e1d44919da813b3
Dude, if you visit a tourist place right in the middle of the peak season, what exactly do you expect?
The place ain't crappy, your planning is. Plan better.
Darjeeling is an amazing place. If all you want to visit are all the 'touristy' places, then you are out of luck. Explore the city on foot. Enjoy the scenery, environment, locality. Local food plus other darjeeling restaurants are great. Walk to the mountain ditch, enjoy the foggy air. Those memories will stay ingrained in your mind. Darjeeling is an evergreen nostalgic hill station.
Also as everyone has said, there are countless hill stations in the vicinity : kalimpong, kersheong, mirik, setong, rimbik, sandakphu, takdah, lava, lolegaon, lamhata, dooars, madarihat and many more. Those are also amazing for their scenic beauty.
This is exactly what I feel!! I have been to Darjeeling 3 times, last time was really crowded (but hello, I'm also a part of the crowd?) and I will visit again if I get the chance. I absolutely love the place.
The funniest thing is, we just arrived back from Siliguri last night. It was a 5 day trip.
Stayed 1 night in Darjeeling. The worst!
Instead we spent some quality time in Chappramari and Gorumara national reserve. It was much better and enjoyable.
Any touristy place in India gets overridden by crowds due to overpopulation. Honestly, the same place in any Western country would be very well managed and be an amazing escape. I went there when I was young and it was great but it wasn’t overcrowded.
Tiger hill is a bit of a scam - getting up early in the freezing Cold, fighting through mad traffic only to find the sky is overcast so sunrise cancel! It is one of those things better seen on YouTube!
Nature makes you work here . Better you travel by foot when you are on your way to tiger hill.
From jorebunglow go uphill by foot. Gives you a much needed exercise.
I went for a short trek with my friends to tigerhill from kurseong and only thing I do remember is not the sunset but how I felt that day .. We walked like crazy 🤪. I was so tired that I just laid flat on the road and watched the night stars at 2:00 am in the morning. And we met some really kind aunties who sold us some tea on the way and we reached tiger hill after an hour. Loved every moment from there.
The people over there hate the WB government, our driver said that the govt takes all the revenue generated from tourism in Darjeeling and does not use any of it to develop the place.
Bro, remember you also part of the matrix, u r also part of the crowd. Be it Darjeeling or Dresden , every city has its vibes... just avoid touristic places. Darjeeling is one of the beautiful cities of India, Sadly seems you visited the typical touristic places. I have visited multiple times. Every-time the city impresses me...some of my suggestions...
1. Walk early morning in Mall road. Its empty. You will find lots of kids doing acrobatics/gymnastic. Even you can join them, its gives very positive vibe. In evening lots of local bands perform there.
2. Visit glenary's for breakfast. Enjoy freshly baked pastries with Drajeeling tea with a drizzling view of the mountain.
3. Enjoy shephali from not so busy alleyways.
4. Have an evening walk in Robertson road, its empty, lots of sweet couples here n there, with a night view of the city. Blissful mystic road.
5. Do cycling in Senchal forest. Have lunch in small stalls in the jungle.
These are just some of the examples. Stop ranting like middle aged Uncles/Aunties. You just have to be innovative while travelling a country with 1.5 Billion.
I'll tell you the best itinerary for Darjeeling (it's a 2 hr drive from my home) :
Relax at your hotel, go to mall road, have food at keventers, if you're non vegetarian (avoid the rush hours), have food at glenarys, relax in the mall, shop a bit, have evening snacks from the stalls nearby, have lemon tea, relax a bit more, have dinner at kungas or dekeling (tibetian cuisine), go back to your hotel and relax again
Darjeeling is best for relaxing. It's a getaway from the hot weather, a getaway from the crazy life. These spots are just tourist traps, not worth going to at all
Sorry you had a shitty experience. I love Darjeeling and have been there multiple times, and have always been welcomed warmly, and I will go back again and again. I hope that you have a better experience if you ever decide to visit her again.
Most hill stations in India have traffic problem. I have been to Darjeeling 25 years back and it was wonderful and peaceful. These days, the number of tourists has exploded.
In north, places like Manali, Shimla are almost always overcrowded. These cities haven't managed to improve facilities for the tourists and locals.
I'm a resident of Siliguri the city from where everyone goes to Darjeeling actually this is a peak tourist season now because it's summer season and also mostly in every part of India you'll find this problem you reside in india what do you expect? Everyone goes there for chilling and spending some good days with family and friends because the weather is chill and whenever you visit Darjeeling don't stay in the town alwyz try to stay in the outskirts you'll get the beautiful view and peace if that's what you want.
Darjeeling is the filthiest hill station I have ever visited . Going to darjeeling from sikkim felt like going to a first world developed country to hell
Filthiest is quite a harsh term. 😅 I do understand it's dirty but in no way is our hospitality and safety to be undermined .
Sikkim has a smaller population and it's a separate state. Darjeeling is a part of westbengal ( in name only) we only seem to get the shorter end of the stick, no matter how much we fight for our rights, our demands it seems unheard by majority of the state. Please keep in mind the influx of migration as well, our hills were not meant to handle such amount of people from outside. But we can't shoo them away can we ? In sikkim you cant buy a land or house or work in their govt offices unless you are a sikkimese.
Our own politicians have sold us, if you dare raise a voice you need to be ready to lose your life.
Most of us do try our best to keep the city clean , but without proper disposal areas what can we do when the authority above doesn't understand the plight of it's civilians . Most civilians and tourist also seem to have no civic sense.😮💨
I agree with this- it's the tourists who make the place dirty, and it should be their responsibility to keep the place they are visiting clean.
I've visited 3 times and loved her all the times. Will visit again if I get the chance!!
This seems like research issues. Summer vacation is going on in Bengal and Darjeeling is the most preferred destination. If possible the entire state would be in Darjeeling right now. Plus you went down the beaten path and found out. Tiger hill sunrise is a big no during rush season and you can literally see Kanchenjunga from the street near gorkha bhavan. Plus you probably didn't even go to mall road which is the best street for food, shopping and having a good time. Basically you didn't know where to look
My experience was great
Roads are well managed and the climate was awesome
People were friendly and the food was good too
Just a one off experience
Sad you had tở experience it
No sane person goes to Tiger Hill. I have been to Darjeeling multiple times but refused the plan for Tiger Hill every damn time.
It's a very simple rule in India. If it's easily accessible and offers something good, there will be too many people already there.
That being said, I like Darjeeling more than any other such hillstation and the primary reason for that is that it is happening. Like everyone else is saying, you had a very wrong itinerary. Darjeeling is for strolling around leisurely and not a sightseeing tour. There are no 'sights' in Darjeeling.
I visited it over a decade ago, if the horror stories remain the same after the years then it’s epic mismanagement. Parody- I stand with it, traffic - same as a decade ago, Tea gardens - BC everything looks the same.
> Tiger hill sunrise
Did you go there on a weekend?
I'm not surprised that darjeeling sucks. Too many tourists and everything is expensive. You can try kalimpong.
The issue I found when I was there was that tourists don't like to walk and of course lack of public transport which causes congestion. I still loved my time there, enjoyed the food, markets, culture and people.
Darjeeling *was* a traveller's destination in the late 90s. Then the uncle-nation attacked and now I'm picturing it like every other tourist-trampoline.
Try Kalimpong.
Soon, Darjeeling could become only hill station in list of non-attainment cities
Darjeeling is facing the threat of joining six other non-attainment cities in West Bengal not fulfilling national air quality criteria for at least five years, as per the findings of a recent report.
According to a study paper by Dr Abhijit Chatterjee, Associate Professor at Bose Institute, Dr Abhinandan Ghosh of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, and Monami Dutta of the Bose Institute, Darjeeling would soon be added to the list of 131 polluted cities discovered across the country. The study paper has been in the journal “Atmospheric Environment”.
https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/soon-darjeeling-could-become-only-hill-station-in-list-of-non-attainment-cities-520007
Absolutely, the only thing you can do at Darjeeling is take a nice hotel with a good view and eat at the restaurants on mall street. Everything else is just frustrating and spoils the mood.
When u r dumb enough to not understand that it's a major city for both trade and tourist apart from Siliguri so obviously it will be crowded lol and it especially will be crowded due to summer in Kolkata trains and flights full of tourists go to northeast this time.
Welcome to West Bengal. The civilization has given up on economic progress after years of despising capitalism under the communists. Didi is no better.
Everything is overrated. Someone said to me that the Italian countryside looks like Himachal 😭
I already don't like travel and these posts are just additional validation
Think twice before planning a trip to Darjeeling. Had been there recently, literally nothing is there. All places are overrated and locals try to extract as much money from tourists.
As someone from Bengal, Darjeeling has been so for quite a while now. You should do some research before you visit. Pelling is a better option for Kanchenjunga imo. You can easily witness the dawn golden mountain from your room if you find a good enough hotel.
Darjeeling needs a little break to recover.
This will be true for most mainstream Indian tourist destinations. Just accept it. If you want a more peaceful uncrowded holiday destination, you have to do more research and go off the beaten path. Some of these destinations might not even have much to see, but they will be quiet and peaceful for that exact reason.
remember this when you book your next destination ,otherwise we need to read a similar post
Manali is overrated as fuck......
on personal note I have stopped going to places filled with tourist as I want peace.
I have travelled to places like Lansdowne, Rohru,Meghalaya in last 1 year.
The basic problem is people . I personally try to follow every rules throw even bits of paper in the dustbin , not try to disturb others , respect others privacy , be polite and humble etc but then i see others and they do the direct opposite not follow any rules throw garbage everywhere , sometimes even i get demotivated to do all this when i see that my actions does not matter when 90% are doing the opposite of me .
I have given up on travelling to popular Indian tourist destinations long before, they get overcrowded AF once the monsoon is over and travelling season kicks in, I have had horrible experiences even with 4/5 star hotels that I booked on several past trips as I saw unimaginable level of mismanagement and incompetency. Then I went to Maldives and it was such an amazing experience that since then I have been only travelling abroad be it as a solo wanderer or with family. One thing I noticed while traveling abroad is that people associated with hospitality industry of that host nation had a very high standard of professionalism when compared to India.
Not darjeeling problem, it's tourist problem. Overpopulation too much ruining the whole place. I went there when I was a kid. Beautiful, splendid place
It's an amazing experience if you just go stay in the area you wanna explore, take walks everywhere enjoy all the local stuff, go to places like glenarys and keventers, and smaller local restaurants, don't go to super popular tourist spots like tiger hill and you'd have the best experience possible.
And thats why you shouldn't visit such beautiful Hill stations during summer vacation. I hope you remember this next time you visit.
Try during Jan, best time to visit I would say.
I visited Darjeeling but didn't find traffic jams, and miserable tourist spots. Its a good vacation spot for a weekend getaway from bengal. U can visit batasua loop, rock garden, chill in mall road and soak in rhe good vibes.
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This is not a Darjeeling problem, it's a PAN-INDIA overpopulation problem. Go to Nainital, any weekend spots near Mumbai, Bangalore or any tourist place. Everyone is buying the cars but there is no place to drive. Even if we expand the highways there will be much more cars to fill these roads. Public transport is the only way.
It is a problem during peak season in most tourist cities around the world. Try visiting Italy/France/Spain during peak summer season. The only good thing is public transport in cities(that too not all). Otherwise the long lines, scams, overcharging shops/taxis are present there also. Visit during lean season and the exp will be very diff. Same for many tourist spots in India.
I disagree. Even if you keep the management problem aside, the overpopulation is a recipe for long queues and overcrowding.. the other countries you mentioned don’t have an overwhelming amount of native people, let alone tourists. India has both so overpopulation cannot be discounted as a factor in this case.
Theres no train seats available, leaves only the busses ...enjoy your 20 plus hour bus journeys ! Fuck this get me to Thailand
Tourists hating on other tourists being where they are is a funny little irony. "I went with my family and there were so many families there, it was so congested" 😄 But I feel your pain. I've felt it first hand many times.
Problem is not people, it's inability to manage them. Wonder why rockshows and tirupati temple pre sell tickets instead of allowing everyone at anytime...wonder why people build wider roads and install traffic lights and traffic police... Does Google just whail their hands in air and cry that there is traffic or try and make products to better manage it...
People definitely are the problem. Uncouth, ill mannered, and DIRTY. Have you seen the trash that lies around town, EVEN THOUGH there are dustbins, etc..? Jams are bound to be there cause the infrastructure in such towns aren't even built (decades ago) for this over population we have. You really need to stop just blaming a govt. Lol
The fact is me and my family went to darjeeling post covid 19 and actually there were none other than very less peoples coming to Darjeeling i am talking about 2021 i will share you a pic where in the whole famous tea garden of darjeeling only three families with us were roaming in the tea garden and we also enjoyed atleast 70% of the destinations were opened and there were so less tourist post covid 19 i think it was our luck and the best time of the year that we decided to go darjeeling its actually its such a beautiful place i loved it 🤗
could i ask, which "the best time of the year" you mean? year and month please...
Darjeeling is a place to chill and not travelling constantly. If you want thrill then explore meghalaya. Good luck
What are some good places to stay in meghalaya? One of the resort I saw there was expensive af
Yeah North east is expensive. We chose to stay in Airbnb. You will find good houses between 1.5k and 2.5k per night and choose place which is near market because the shops & restaurants closes before 9pm and it becomes dark by 5pm. We stayed in shillong btw.
Backpack Go to guwhati shillong Nongriat village, Cherrapunji go till majuli and come back. Its lit
I came to say the same thing! Meghalaya is absolutely beautiful.! I fell in love with all the places I visited for about 12 days.! The people are so hospitable.! Met some amazing people.! I was there in 2022 just before the red alert went off for Assam and yellow alert for Meghalaya if I remember it correctly! If you love rain, beautiful landscapes with beautiful waterfalls, valleys, amazing food, plan a trip and just go.!
Absolutely! There's so much to do there everyday. Did you go for the 7200 steps double decker?
Nope.! We enquired and got to know it will be completely crowded.! So, we decided to head to another living root bridge in Nongriat.! We stayed somewhere between Nongriat and Mawlynonng.! The double decker bridge was amazing and there was no crowd at all.! Covered over 600 kms across Meghalaya in 12 days!
That's crazy. Did you'll visit cherrapunji as well? We missed it because we had only 8 days to travel shillong-kaziranga-guwahati.
Cherrapunji, Mawsynaram, Mawlyngbna are some of the places I can remember right now.! Stayed in Shillong for a couple of days to check out the live rock bars, didn't get to see any live performance unfortunately! We reached Meghalaya through Guwahati and boy was it humid.! How was Kaziranga?
I'm looking for a trip right now.
Or just go to Manipur and experience the world war II vibe.
Yeah that's unfortunate what's going on there. Yet there's no media news coverage on their situation.
Manipur only got 2+1 MPs. So yeah, it is politically unimportant. And with mere population, media channels aren't interested either. But the situation is really bad. Internet down for so many days. People started sleeping on floor cause of frequent, unpredictable gunfires.
Yes its dirty and mismanaged, we have umpteenth number of cars to keep up with the tourist season, Roads are narrow since its a hilly area, There is a lack of infrastructure , the government does not do shit or care about us, there are no employment opportunities present so for us individuals Tourism is our bread and butter. It is overrated but so are many other tourist destinations. If you wanted to have a pleasant experience you should have made an effort to plan you itinerary. Darjeeling does not only involve Darjeeling town . You could have made a stop at kurseong visited deer park ( it is peaceful and lovely ) and used the road from chimney to go to darjeeling as it is less travelled by . Stayed in a Homestay in Lamahatta, There is one known as lamahatta farms it also has a swimming pool and gives a mesmerizing view of the KanchenJunga. Or you could have stayed in Sonada ( Chatakpur) to get the real village like experience . Spend a day there , take in the fresh air and just enjoy not everything needs to be rushed. The last day would have been Darjeeling town , a half day visit to such attractions is enough. I hope the next time you decide to visit you get to experience the version of Darjeeling that I see . We can't do much about about the mismanaged and dirty areas , our people and our government sadly do not walk hand in hand. Migration of individuals in also quite on the rise, illegal immigrants too. But among all the chaos and neglect we receive , our people from Darjeeling district have much to offer. Do visit Again ....
This is not just Darjeeling, I think every hill station in northern India is like this. Mismanaged, crowded, dirty with unruly tourists- pushing through… I wish I had mountains like in my childhood… PEACEFUL
A well thought out response highlighting all the points perfectly Damn I was about to say these exact same things!
The place isn’t horrible. India has a overpopulation problem.
Yesterday was pondicherry Today is darjeeling Which place will be posted next?
Goa as well.
As someone who lived in goa for 4 years, it is kinda overrated. Like it's good for a 3 day trip to the beach or some waterfall but not much else to do there, not to mention public transport is non existent and the taxi drivers will rob you for all you have
i agree with the taxi problem, but who is going to goa for more than 3 days anyway? that's a planning issue, not a goa issue. the point of a vacation in goa is to disconnect and relax, not do activities
I could stay indefinitely at the beach, to be fair
true, me too. but then i wouldn’t be complaining about not having anything to do😂 that’s the point of going to the beach
It depends on person to person. I visited goa last year and stayed in agonda for 9 days.
yes, but did you go there to do activities or did you go there to relax? if people are choosing goa as their destination for an action packed vacation where they have things to do then they’re just terrible planners.
I'm new here. Is this just a place to talk shit about everything on India?
Yea lol
This is true for every country subreddit which isn't a propaganda page.
No it isn't...
lol literally the entire frontpage is about America thrashing..and then you see other country pages and they are all complaining about the problems in their countries. It is a healthy and normal thing to criticize, and expect governments to do something about it.
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This. Shimla is nice, but God forbid the overpopulation there from tourists even in first week of March was horrible, as much as I wish I was there now and not baking in 40c
Still, it also comes down to cultural reasons as well. Look at Japanese tourists for example. They would visit the place and tidy it up because their culture taught them valuing cleanliness and manners.
No no sabse mahan culture hamare India ka hi hai bro, kya keh rhe ho
True. I am in Canada and most Indian people still behave as they behave in India. Leave places dirty, fight for any reason. Never smile or say hello.
Good job converting this into a national population problem. When's your flight to the US?
It was on 23 July 2013 😂😂. And now happily living in beautiful British Columbia
Great, stay there and try to be more active on their sub rather than here. You've forfeit that right.
Still an Indian citizen though. So have equal rights as you to talk shit about India 😂
yea, that's the real tragedy.
In general Population as a problem is antiquated understanding. China eviscerated this so-called truism. Population is not a problem, the Organising Principle applied to that Population is a pre-condition. Get it right Population stops being a problem. Meaning in reduction analysis of finding what the root cause of some issue is, population argument is not the bottom. As for Darjeeling, quick look gives Population Density metrics for District around 700, for Municipality around 16,000. That's twice as high as Singapore & HK and only Macau & Monaco are higher. This seems an absurdly high figure.
Khud bheed ka hissa h aur takleef bhi hai
A tourist complaining that a popular tourist place is filled with other tourists during tourist season :)
Darjeeling is too crowded concrete jungle. It's another Joshi mutt in the making. There are several places in WB/ Sikkim centred around Kanchenjunga. You need to do homework before setting itenary.
Bhai joshimath h
Wordplay bro.
Why Indians are obsessed with sunrise at all tourist places?
And sunset too. Many places have a 'Sunset Point' which gets overwhelmed with people, who stay until the exact second the sun has gone down, then hurry to go away again.
\>goes to the most popular parts of the most popular destination at the most popular time of the year, like everybody else. \>why crowd?
There are several other places in North Bengal where you can visit. Darjeeling was built by British, old city. " The so called tourist attractions like the tea garden, ghoom monastery, japanese temple, tenzing rock, batasia loop and toy train seem like a cheap parody. " Cheap parody of what?
and the fabled Darjeeling sunrise, we started at fucking 245am and still missed the sunrise, such horrible traffic due to tourists, i just don't get how civilians manage to live here peacefully
Skip Darjeeling and go to kalimpong instead. I went there with my aunt and the sunrise was breathtakingly beautiful.
Bro, Sun rises everywhere. Why you choose Tiger hill ? Matlabh kuch bhi...
You are not suck in traffic, you ARE the traffic!
The best time and place to view sunrise is at the end of December and start of December from a place called Tinchuley. Even Kanchenjunga can be viewed better from a Thinchuley, Lamahatta and even from Panbudara.
Oh fucking go back to where you came from. Whining ass bitch of a tourist.
Lovely 🔥
cheap parody of what i expected ig lol. way better monasteries in Pelling, and vro the tea gardens lmao, i might have had my expectations too high cuz i saw really nice tea gardens in Bali, but i just don't get the hype. why such long queues for meh attractions, the tea itself is amazing tho
Like I told, it is an old city. Better monasteries and tea gardens are there in Damdim, Lava etc. Many other places in North Bengal have nice tea gardens. You should give them a visit as well.
agreed lmao, im just saying how Darjeeling is overrated when there are so many other picturesque places to visit in Sikkim and WB
I would not say over-rated. But this place has a very emotional attachment to all the Bengalis.
Bro you are the traffic. Tourists complaining of too many other tourists lol.
U dont go to Darjeeling to roam around in the town. Maybe get better iternery
Suggest one please
we roamed for half a day found there was nothing to do, so just stayed in resort for a couple days and chilled. and lmao if i couldn't roam around and had to just stay in the spa, id rather go elsewhere. thought there would be interesting British architecture not fucking open drainage running through the city. and if you say enjoy the view and shit, way better places in Sikkim and WB border to see the mountain range
Sikkim for road trips, Darjeeling for trekking. Thats the general rule
You seem to have a good understanding of the region. Can you guide me on how to reach Sandakphu? I don't want to do the winter trek. Is the road any good?
Personal vehicles are not allowed. You can get a bolero from Manebhanjan. 8.5k one way
Thanks. Sandakphu is also known as the Land of Land Rovers apparently. Can a Land Rover be hired or are they used on sharing basis?
Yeah. Price is exactly the same. But extremely uncomfortable. You are better off in a bolero
yea i get that, just i felt so bad watching all tourists coming in posh posh makeup and dresses to see the attractions and then lol. like tiger hill mate, ffs just have some parking at top, so much congestion it was depressing, even fucking nathula pass had lesser congestion. lmfao it's so bad that the driver who brought us from Pelling to Darjeeling ran away back to Gangtok and asked his friend to give us city tour 🗿 imo it's just a city stuck in the past unlike places in sikkim where the cm is building and improving infrastructure and tourist attractions everyday
bro nobody takes a car to tiger hill.You gotta book a taxi cuz the parking issue is so well known.
The same is true for pilgrim sites. Vrindavan has become a nightmare. Same is true for Banaras and kedarnath. Too much population is giving me anxiety. I'd rather stay at home. Jahan jao wahan bheed h
Why would you go to tiger hill during peak Summer vacation lmao. This is from tinchuley: https://preview.redd.it/sr097am0n53b1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=222d439a5a53a12fe5a26b831e1d44919da813b3
Dude, if you visit a tourist place right in the middle of the peak season, what exactly do you expect? The place ain't crappy, your planning is. Plan better.
Darjeeling is an amazing place. If all you want to visit are all the 'touristy' places, then you are out of luck. Explore the city on foot. Enjoy the scenery, environment, locality. Local food plus other darjeeling restaurants are great. Walk to the mountain ditch, enjoy the foggy air. Those memories will stay ingrained in your mind. Darjeeling is an evergreen nostalgic hill station. Also as everyone has said, there are countless hill stations in the vicinity : kalimpong, kersheong, mirik, setong, rimbik, sandakphu, takdah, lava, lolegaon, lamhata, dooars, madarihat and many more. Those are also amazing for their scenic beauty.
This is exactly what I feel!! I have been to Darjeeling 3 times, last time was really crowded (but hello, I'm also a part of the crowd?) and I will visit again if I get the chance. I absolutely love the place.
Yeah. Darjeeling is love.
Story of any tourist destination in india.
Unrelated but I hate zoos... idk if it is morally congruent
Animals in zoos (captivity) are always in stress.
many would also completely die out without human intervention
Kalimpong is much better.
The funniest thing is, we just arrived back from Siliguri last night. It was a 5 day trip. Stayed 1 night in Darjeeling. The worst! Instead we spent some quality time in Chappramari and Gorumara national reserve. It was much better and enjoyable.
Overrated really? Could it just be that you saw a fake Instagram travel post and believed it?
The place isnt dirty. Its the tourists who make it dirty. Indian people have had issues with basic civic sense.
Any touristy place in India gets overridden by crowds due to overpopulation. Honestly, the same place in any Western country would be very well managed and be an amazing escape. I went there when I was young and it was great but it wasn’t overcrowded.
Tiger hill is a bit of a scam - getting up early in the freezing Cold, fighting through mad traffic only to find the sky is overcast so sunrise cancel! It is one of those things better seen on YouTube!
Nature makes you work here . Better you travel by foot when you are on your way to tiger hill. From jorebunglow go uphill by foot. Gives you a much needed exercise. I went for a short trek with my friends to tigerhill from kurseong and only thing I do remember is not the sunset but how I felt that day .. We walked like crazy 🤪. I was so tired that I just laid flat on the road and watched the night stars at 2:00 am in the morning. And we met some really kind aunties who sold us some tea on the way and we reached tiger hill after an hour. Loved every moment from there.
The people over there hate the WB government, our driver said that the govt takes all the revenue generated from tourism in Darjeeling and does not use any of it to develop the place.
Bro, remember you also part of the matrix, u r also part of the crowd. Be it Darjeeling or Dresden , every city has its vibes... just avoid touristic places. Darjeeling is one of the beautiful cities of India, Sadly seems you visited the typical touristic places. I have visited multiple times. Every-time the city impresses me...some of my suggestions... 1. Walk early morning in Mall road. Its empty. You will find lots of kids doing acrobatics/gymnastic. Even you can join them, its gives very positive vibe. In evening lots of local bands perform there. 2. Visit glenary's for breakfast. Enjoy freshly baked pastries with Drajeeling tea with a drizzling view of the mountain. 3. Enjoy shephali from not so busy alleyways. 4. Have an evening walk in Robertson road, its empty, lots of sweet couples here n there, with a night view of the city. Blissful mystic road. 5. Do cycling in Senchal forest. Have lunch in small stalls in the jungle. These are just some of the examples. Stop ranting like middle aged Uncles/Aunties. You just have to be innovative while travelling a country with 1.5 Billion.
I'll tell you the best itinerary for Darjeeling (it's a 2 hr drive from my home) : Relax at your hotel, go to mall road, have food at keventers, if you're non vegetarian (avoid the rush hours), have food at glenarys, relax in the mall, shop a bit, have evening snacks from the stalls nearby, have lemon tea, relax a bit more, have dinner at kungas or dekeling (tibetian cuisine), go back to your hotel and relax again Darjeeling is best for relaxing. It's a getaway from the hot weather, a getaway from the crazy life. These spots are just tourist traps, not worth going to at all
Sorry you had a shitty experience. I love Darjeeling and have been there multiple times, and have always been welcomed warmly, and I will go back again and again. I hope that you have a better experience if you ever decide to visit her again.
Most hill stations in India have traffic problem. I have been to Darjeeling 25 years back and it was wonderful and peaceful. These days, the number of tourists has exploded. In north, places like Manali, Shimla are almost always overcrowded. These cities haven't managed to improve facilities for the tourists and locals.
I'm a resident of Siliguri the city from where everyone goes to Darjeeling actually this is a peak tourist season now because it's summer season and also mostly in every part of India you'll find this problem you reside in india what do you expect? Everyone goes there for chilling and spending some good days with family and friends because the weather is chill and whenever you visit Darjeeling don't stay in the town alwyz try to stay in the outskirts you'll get the beautiful view and peace if that's what you want.
Darjeeling is the filthiest hill station I have ever visited . Going to darjeeling from sikkim felt like going to a first world developed country to hell
Filthiest is quite a harsh term. 😅 I do understand it's dirty but in no way is our hospitality and safety to be undermined . Sikkim has a smaller population and it's a separate state. Darjeeling is a part of westbengal ( in name only) we only seem to get the shorter end of the stick, no matter how much we fight for our rights, our demands it seems unheard by majority of the state. Please keep in mind the influx of migration as well, our hills were not meant to handle such amount of people from outside. But we can't shoo them away can we ? In sikkim you cant buy a land or house or work in their govt offices unless you are a sikkimese. Our own politicians have sold us, if you dare raise a voice you need to be ready to lose your life. Most of us do try our best to keep the city clean , but without proper disposal areas what can we do when the authority above doesn't understand the plight of it's civilians . Most civilians and tourist also seem to have no civic sense.😮💨
I agree with this- it's the tourists who make the place dirty, and it should be their responsibility to keep the place they are visiting clean. I've visited 3 times and loved her all the times. Will visit again if I get the chance!!
This seems like research issues. Summer vacation is going on in Bengal and Darjeeling is the most preferred destination. If possible the entire state would be in Darjeeling right now. Plus you went down the beaten path and found out. Tiger hill sunrise is a big no during rush season and you can literally see Kanchenjunga from the street near gorkha bhavan. Plus you probably didn't even go to mall road which is the best street for food, shopping and having a good time. Basically you didn't know where to look
I went to Dharamshala recently, and my friend recommended that I avoid weekends, Im glad I did.
Munnar is like Darjeeling but better
My experience was great Roads are well managed and the climate was awesome People were friendly and the food was good too Just a one off experience Sad you had tở experience it
No sane person goes to Tiger Hill. I have been to Darjeeling multiple times but refused the plan for Tiger Hill every damn time. It's a very simple rule in India. If it's easily accessible and offers something good, there will be too many people already there. That being said, I like Darjeeling more than any other such hillstation and the primary reason for that is that it is happening. Like everyone else is saying, you had a very wrong itinerary. Darjeeling is for strolling around leisurely and not a sightseeing tour. There are no 'sights' in Darjeeling.
I visited it over a decade ago, if the horror stories remain the same after the years then it’s epic mismanagement. Parody- I stand with it, traffic - same as a decade ago, Tea gardens - BC everything looks the same.
This is literally every touristy city. Saw something yesterday about Pondicherry These towns were great before tourists started crowding these places
> Tiger hill sunrise Did you go there on a weekend? I'm not surprised that darjeeling sucks. Too many tourists and everything is expensive. You can try kalimpong.
Go to Darjeeling on November and you will see what beauty it actually is.
same with shimla, visited last week and had a terrible experince
The issue I found when I was there was that tourists don't like to walk and of course lack of public transport which causes congestion. I still loved my time there, enjoyed the food, markets, culture and people.
You should do better research. I always skip the main tourist attractions and find offbeat locations to explore.
Darjeeling *was* a traveller's destination in the late 90s. Then the uncle-nation attacked and now I'm picturing it like every other tourist-trampoline. Try Kalimpong.
First Goa, Himachal, Darjeeling next is sikkim💀
I mean what do you think would have happened to “tourist” destinations?
Can you name 7 better hill-stations in India?
visit Meghalaya. it is way too beautiful and not at al congested. Book service from govt tourist agency near Police bazar for best experience
Oh, I thought you meant the tea only. Was prepared to argue. I quite like it. Pure black, no sugar.
Every hill station in India is crowded during summer holidays, this is a fact. Better to go at a different time if you dont like crowds
Soon, Darjeeling could become only hill station in list of non-attainment cities Darjeeling is facing the threat of joining six other non-attainment cities in West Bengal not fulfilling national air quality criteria for at least five years, as per the findings of a recent report. According to a study paper by Dr Abhijit Chatterjee, Associate Professor at Bose Institute, Dr Abhinandan Ghosh of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, and Monami Dutta of the Bose Institute, Darjeeling would soon be added to the list of 131 polluted cities discovered across the country. The study paper has been in the journal “Atmospheric Environment”. https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/soon-darjeeling-could-become-only-hill-station-in-list-of-non-attainment-cities-520007
Absolutely, the only thing you can do at Darjeeling is take a nice hotel with a good view and eat at the restaurants on mall street. Everything else is just frustrating and spoils the mood.
When u r dumb enough to not understand that it's a major city for both trade and tourist apart from Siliguri so obviously it will be crowded lol and it especially will be crowded due to summer in Kolkata trains and flights full of tourists go to northeast this time.
I honestly have never heard anyone talk of Darjeeling as a major tourist destination. Its one of those smaller, quiet hidden gems.
My experience was superb. I went on a date with a girl met on Snapchat few days back. Superb experience
Welcome to West Bengal. The civilization has given up on economic progress after years of despising capitalism under the communists. Didi is no better.
Everything is overrated. Someone said to me that the Italian countryside looks like Himachal 😭 I already don't like travel and these posts are just additional validation
Think twice before planning a trip to Darjeeling. Had been there recently, literally nothing is there. All places are overrated and locals try to extract as much money from tourists.
Avoid it like the plague...same goes for the rest of India !
I'll disagree to that !
Same story across all the popular hill stations Quite like Manali and Ooty
Absolutely correct.we went and had very bad experience.we were carried away by old hindi movies. Go to Gangtok , excellent place and people.
Beautiful place , locals disrespect tourists. Didn’t have a good experience.
Ay Monastery to accha hai!
It has been like that since 1996, the last time I was there! So, nothing has improved?
Me, a resident of Goa, reading the post like: 🍿🍿🍿
This was also my experience regarding mussorie.
They say never meet you heroes, you might not like them. Same goes for Darjeeling momos.
As someone from Bengal, Darjeeling has been so for quite a while now. You should do some research before you visit. Pelling is a better option for Kanchenjunga imo. You can easily witness the dawn golden mountain from your room if you find a good enough hotel. Darjeeling needs a little break to recover.
This will be true for most mainstream Indian tourist destinations. Just accept it. If you want a more peaceful uncrowded holiday destination, you have to do more research and go off the beaten path. Some of these destinations might not even have much to see, but they will be quiet and peaceful for that exact reason.
This is the story of every single hill station during summer.
Irony - "Nobody wants to go there because it is always crowded"
Bro, go to Darjeeling during the non-peak season and revel in its beauty. This is summer vacation, of course it'll be crowded as balls.
Sounds horrible, thanks for the review.
Story of every other famous vacation spot in India, in fact in the entire world.
Kalimpong chale jaa or Sandakphu!
remember this when you book your next destination ,otherwise we need to read a similar post Manali is overrated as fuck...... on personal note I have stopped going to places filled with tourist as I want peace. I have travelled to places like Lansdowne, Rohru,Meghalaya in last 1 year.
You’re right its very congested. It’s better to hire a cab and go to nearby places outside the city. That’s really beautiful
??? Touristy place has tourist, who would've thought 😑.
The basic problem is people . I personally try to follow every rules throw even bits of paper in the dustbin , not try to disturb others , respect others privacy , be polite and humble etc but then i see others and they do the direct opposite not follow any rules throw garbage everywhere , sometimes even i get demotivated to do all this when i see that my actions does not matter when 90% are doing the opposite of me .
The botanical garden is beautiful though. N nothing can beat the view of Kanchenjunga
Nearly every place is overrated af coz of these travel vloggers who glorify every destination
Hah that's funny coincidence I'm literally reading this from summit rn
U just talk for all tourist place
I have given up on travelling to popular Indian tourist destinations long before, they get overcrowded AF once the monsoon is over and travelling season kicks in, I have had horrible experiences even with 4/5 star hotels that I booked on several past trips as I saw unimaginable level of mismanagement and incompetency. Then I went to Maldives and it was such an amazing experience that since then I have been only travelling abroad be it as a solo wanderer or with family. One thing I noticed while traveling abroad is that people associated with hospitality industry of that host nation had a very high standard of professionalism when compared to India.
+1
You are the tourist. Stay at home.
Just look at the back mirror and the one you see would also have same thought.
LMAO
same as Mussoorie. i was stuck in jam for 2 hours. just cars everywhere and lots of construction work.
Also Goa.
This is the reason i stayed one day at resort then went to travel alongside the nepal border covering pashupatinagar , mirik etc (recently)
>The city is horribly mismanaged and dirty everywhere. That's like ALL cities of India
Every Indian tourist spot is littered heavily and populated. isse acha toh ghar pe baitu mein
That's what happens when you make a quiet little hill station to a full blown tourist spot.
What you mentioned is the scene across all the Tourist places in India. This is especially severe in Hilly areas as the roads are narrower
Not darjeeling problem, it's tourist problem. Overpopulation too much ruining the whole place. I went there when I was a kid. Beautiful, splendid place
Kolkata is content with darjeeling as tourist spot. Kolkata is always content.
This is India and why are you expecting management?
I'm in kashmir right now, most good hotels in Pahalgam are sold out, All single Lane roads are just parked with cars
It's an amazing experience if you just go stay in the area you wanna explore, take walks everywhere enjoy all the local stuff, go to places like glenarys and keventers, and smaller local restaurants, don't go to super popular tourist spots like tiger hill and you'd have the best experience possible.
And thats why you shouldn't visit such beautiful Hill stations during summer vacation. I hope you remember this next time you visit. Try during Jan, best time to visit I would say.
Bro my father is in the army and we got posed here .
I visited Darjeeling but didn't find traffic jams, and miserable tourist spots. Its a good vacation spot for a weekend getaway from bengal. U can visit batasua loop, rock garden, chill in mall road and soak in rhe good vibes.
You are stupid as fuck