Darjeeling

About 5 kilometres from Darjeeling City, the Ranjeet Passenger Ropeway took us from the crest of a hill down to the tea garden below. It's a very interesting experience - you can get a good view of rolling tea gardens, and quaint pretty cottages on hillsides, as well as the clouds that gather against the sides of the mountains.

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The place looked as though it was originally a home, which had been converted into a hotel. The entrance hallway and lobby had a homely and inviting look. The hotel has its own dining hall, so we didn't have to worry about going out in the cold Darjeeling weather for dinner. (Pineridge Hotel, where we stayed the first 2 days of our trip, had neither a restaurant nor a dining hall. That's the reason we shifted to Alice Villa.)

We stayed in Alice Villa for 3 days and nights, and will definitely recommend it to any friends going to Darjeeling.

When we reached there late in the evening, tired, dusty, sore (after sitting in the toy train for 10 hours), the hotel was a real disappointment.

At 9 in the evening, there was no hot water in the geyser. The rooms were enormous and rather cold. The heating was definitely inadequate. My first impression of the place was that of a haunted house!

Fortunately, it didn't look so bad in the morning. We awoke to a beautiful panoramic view of the city and the mountains beyond - visible very clearly through our window.

There was a quaint little fireplace in one corner and the room didn't seem all that bad, with the morning sunlight streaming into it through the single large window.

But on the 2nd day, the lack of proper heating irritated us and we shifted to Alice Villa.

Situated on one of the roads leading downhill from the Chowrasta, it offers a variety of different menus to suit every taste.

On the ground floor, it has an excellent bakery and a breakfast parlour. The breakfast room faces north and if you get there early enough, you can see the snow-covered peak of Mount Kanchenjunga from the windows.

The first floor has the restaurant, which offers local cuisine, as well as continental, South Indian and Chinese.

The food was good. The bakery was great.

Glenary's also has an internet cafe in front of the bakery counter, so you can check your mail, too, while you're there.