Ghum hill station

Ghum is a small town 8 kms from Darjeeling. On your way to Darjeeling, as you keep on riding uphill, suddenly you will come across a sleepy and misty small town of Ghum. At 7407 feet or 2258 meter, this is the highest point of your journey as the remaining 8 kms is a downhill drive.

The location of Ghum on top of crisscrossing mountain ridges, makes in a very important town. Its location also makes it a very rainy, misty and wind-swept place. The ridge to the left from Ghum goes towards hill stations of Mirik, Sukiapokhri and Maneybhanjang. The Peshok road, another important road connecting Darjeeling with Kalimpong and Sikkim hills, goes to the right from Ghum. Although the point of junction is known as Jorebungalow, for all practical purpose, Ghum and Jorebungalow are part of the same small town. The hills rising ahead from Ghum to its North is that of Katapahar and Jalapahar; Darjeeling being just a continuation of the same. Whereas the hills to the south of Ghum is the Senchal hill the highest point of which is known as the Tiger hill.

Ghum has a Railway Station under Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR). Standing at a height of 7407 ft above sea level the small Toy-Train station is the highest Rail station in India. Ghum is also an important centre for orange and cardamom trade.

Most tourists visit Ghum and its surrounding area as part of the early morning three point tour. The tour start before sunrise and tourists are taken to Tiger Hill for a view of the early morning sun reflecting on Kanchenjunga range. While returning, tourists have a stopover at the old Buddhist Monaster, commonly known as the Ghum Monastery, which displays many colourful frescoes on its walls and houses a massive image of Buddha and a large number of Tibetan Manuscripts.

The third point of stoppage for the tourist is Batasia Loop situated on a flat top overlooking the majestic Kunchenjungha ranges near the Ghum station. It is an immensely popular tourist spot with great view of Darjeeling town and the Himalayan range. There is war memorial at the centre of the Loop. The entire area is decorated with beautiful gardens. The famous joy ride on Heritage toy train makes a complete circle here through the gardens.

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