So why do I need a prelude for an upcoming trip?
I've realized that whenever I plan to take a vacation where I have a few months in advance to plan I get into extensive planning mode like I am sure a lot of my fellow travelers do as well. I am the kind of traveler who prefers planning to randomness like a lot of people seem to be able to do so. So I decided to share my experience on how I planned my journey before writing about the actual event.
For me a trip to be taken 3 months in advance means doing plethora of research since I rarely travel a place a second time (unless it is either for business or other unavoidable personal trips). So the trip has to be inch perfect in every sense for me.
Trip to Darjeeling and Gangtok
So the North East of India it is for the first time! This was one part of the country that I've long wanted to visit but never got an opportunity thus far. After months of say no to a vacation we finally decided to take a break. Since our boy is still very young we decided not to go to higher altitudes and stick to areas which were still more pleasant.
Flight tickets
First thing on the agenda was picking up flight tickets. Planning so much in advance gave me the option to choose flights with the most convenient time of arrival. We had to ensure that we land in Bagdogra (* nearest airport to either Darjeeling or Gangtok) no later than 4 PM to ensure we get a taxi to travel up to Darjeeling. Since it is a two and a half hour journey from the airport to Darjeeling, we wanted to avoid travelling too much in the dark. Post that started the multiple site comparisons to find the flights we wanted with the best deals.
Hotels or Home-stays?
Right from the time we did our trip to Europe we were addicted to Airbnb and other sites which offered home-stays which we felt were great for budget travelers. I managed to book all my four apartments in a similar way and managed to save costs on expensive hotels. Since then I am the designated person in the group whose choice of accommodations is considered good value for money.
Booking a place to stay in Darjeeling was a week long affair as I went through Tripadvisor for all shortlisted accommodations for reviews. I first check for highly rated place and then go through the pictures of the property. It is important for me to have a clean looking room and well maintained washrooms. These are my highest priority. Views from the accommodation takes a close second preference depending on whether I am travelling to a city or an exotic location. I then check out the rankings sections to read all negative comments.
While people may mark a place as bad or inadequate for their personal reasons, I tend to read them to understand that if I encounter those same situation would I be able to manage or not. If I can then I overlook those negative points and move on to the next one. That's my way of booking places to stay.
Modes of transport
There will be a lot of travel involved in this trip since we will be hopping to three places during our week long stay (Kalimpong is an unwanted stop for a single night due to lack of vacancy at our hotel for the third night). Plus there will be additional travel involved for visiting places of interest. So a major portion of our travel budget would go towards road travel. So identifying means of transport available and ball park figure of the cost involved was the next phase.
Places to visit
Since we have a week still left before we travel we haven't finished this part of the trip so far. But our tentative itinerary is as follows:
Darjeeling
- Batasia Loop - sans the Toy Train
- Japanese Peace Pagoda
- Tea Garden
- Zoological Park
- Tiger Hill
Kalimpong
- Deolo Hill
- Zong Dhog Monastery
Gangtok
- Nathula Pass
- Tsomgo Lake
- Ganesh and Hanuman Tok
- Ranka Monastery
So off we go to the North-East and take a well deserved break. I will post the journal of the entire trip once it is over.
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Picture Source - Google images