We took a 3-hour bus ride to Patna where we caught an overnight train to New Jaipur in West Bengel. New Jaipur is the transfer point to the world-famous UNESCO toy train up the hill to Dajeeling—the Queen of Hill Stations as their motto goes. I unfortunately didn’t book a ticket in advance which I should have. If we had caught the train it would have been an 8 hour ride with switchbacks and zigzags up the hill. The total cost for the ticket was 120 Rupees (or $3)…so yah, it’s better to book the ticket than to miss this once in a lifetime opportunity. The second option for travel up to Dajeeling is via suicide car/bus ride up the winding road with signs along the way that read “donate blood in blood bank, not on this road”. It can be done in 2 hours.
Dajeeling is a beautiful mountain town (about 4x better than Matheran) overlooking the Himalayans. Unfortunately though, during monsoon season the area remained relatively foggy with low visibility…but I saw pictures of what it’s suppose to look like on a clear day and the views were spectacular. Even on a foggy day though, the uniquely designed hillside town and small village-like atmosphere is well worth a visit.