Toy train

When crossing the border from Nepal to India, we were sure, that we will not be so terrified of India anymore, since we had already survived several weeks in a similar environment, but after reaching to the village just across the border, it felt like we had just arrived to India for the first time.

Probably the most difficult factor in India for us was and will always be the overpopulation. Simply too many people on the streets, does not matter if it is a city, town village or countryside. Everything is too concentrate.

We had only 30 rupees left from the time we left India for Nepal 3 weeks back and to our misfortune, there were no money changing facilities neither on the border nor in this Indian village just behind the border. Siliguri, the town we wanted to go to, was about 32 km away from the border and we had not enough money to buy ticket for both of us.
Somehow we were able to buy the other ticket just for a smile :-)

Our first train ride in India was a very special one !














The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, nicknamed the "Toy Train" was built in 1881, as Darjeeling was a major summer hill station. It is a narrow-gauge railway that runs for 88 kilometres from Siliguri to Darjeeling. It is considered as “ Jewel in the crown of Indian Railways.”


The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) connects the plains of West Bengal at New Jalpaiguri (100 m) with the hill station of Darjeeling (2200 m). On the way, it passes the most breathtaking scenery, starting from tropical climate and going through different climate zones to the mountanious landscape, from where on clear days it is possible to even have glimpses of the 3rd highest peak of the World - magnificent Mt. Kanchenjunga (8586 m).


Since 1999 the train has been a World Heritage Site as listed by UNESCO.













unplanned break - train went off the tracks but the problem was solved quickly





















Branko enjoying the ride through the greenery

The toy train is still powered by a steam engine.

The way the train gains altitude is really a brilliant engineering invention.
It makes four acsending loops and four reverses (zigzags) - train goes forward up to the edge of the rock face, then stops and changes tracks and moves backwards, but at the same time forward to a higher level track. So at some point the locomotive is pulling the rest of the train, after changing tracks it is pushing it.

It goes along the road and crosses the car way about hundred times.
The speed of the train is about 10 km/h and thus the road that usually by jeep takes 2-3 hours, takes 8 hours by train. But all these hours are definitely worth it.















crossing the car way














changing the tracks

In Siliguri, where the train started, we first passed through city settlements and slum:















































































A holy man blessing one slum restaurant after another and collecting money for it. Good business !

Later, as we gained altitude, the environment changed and so did the people:

























































When the train made a longer break, we noticed the best model of whole our trip. We made some 20 portraits of her, here are two of them

























hill road traffic notice: " donate blood in blood bank, not on the road"

“It is the most enjoyable day I have spent on earth.”– Mark Twain, after a trip on DHR in 1896