Siliguri: the gateway to the eastern Himalayas

A strategic crossroads between Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, Siliguri remains the mandatory starting point to reach Darjeeling and Sikkim.

Shared taxis and local trains remain the most common way to continue toward the mountains.

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a UNESCO World Heritage site known as the 'Toy Train', departs from Siliguri itself to climb towards the tea plantations of the Himalayas.

A few steps away, the Salugara Monastery, a Tibetan Buddhist temple with a large golden stupa, reflects the Himalayan cultural influence of the region.

Heading towards the river you visit the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, a nature reserve where wild elephants and leopards live at the foot of the Himalayan mountains.

As evening approaches, the Hong Kong Market in the city centre sells Tibetan, Nepalese and Chinese products along busy streets until late evening.

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, built in 1881 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, remains one of the few narrow-gauge mountain railways still fully operational in the world.

Siliguri, thanks to its position in the narrow corridor between Nepal and Bangladesh known as the 'chicken's neck', remains militarily and commercially strategic for all of northeastern India, the only land passage connecting it to the rest of the country.