Kalimpong

Unlike Darjeeling, Kalimpong was never a centre for the tea industry nor was it adopted as a hillside holiday resort. Instead this town has its history rooted in the days of cross-Himalayan trade with Tibet. Echoes of its history as a meeting point of traders and travellers from both sides of the great mountains can still be felt today.

A strategic point in both military and economic terms, it was seized by British India from Bhutan in 1865. From the earliest days of its imperial administration it was decided to reserve almost all of the forest land surrounding the small town and to this day the wooded slopes are a carefully conserved environment sheltering countless varieties of flora and fauna.

At a lower altitude than Darjeeling and with much less rainfall, Kalimpong has a different climate, one which has proved particularly suited to flower-growing. Indeed, the Kalimpong plant nurseries are famous throughout the world, while the hillsides in springtime are a vibrant testament to the rich natural environment of orchids and rhododendrons.