Ghum, 2,225 m
Ghum sits on the saddle just above Darjeeling, at 2,225 m (7,300 ft). It holds two high points: a monastery built around a Buddha of the future, and the highest station on the railway.
Photo: Abhinav Das
Yiga Choeling
The monastery was begun in 1850 by Sokpo Sherab Gyatso, a Mongolian astrologer and monk. We usually stop on the way down from a Tiger Hill dawn, at about 06:30, while the town below is still waking.
Photo: Arnab Dhar / Pexels
The main hall
The main hall holds a Maitreya Buddha 15 feet high: the Buddha of the age still to come. Butter lamps burn in rows before him, and the air smells of juniper and wax.
Photo: Yogendra S31 / Pexels
Inside
Keep the altar on your right and turn the prayer wheels as you pass. If the monks are at prayer, we sit at the back in our coats and wait. Ask before you photograph a monk or the altar.
Photo: Arjis Kundu / Pexels
Tashi delek
Blessings and good luck: the Tibetan greeting you will hear at Ghum and the other gompas. At Losar, the Tibetan new year in February or early March, new prayer flags go up and families carry khadas to the monasteries.
Photo: Krishnendu Biswas / Pexels
Ghum station
Ghum station stands at 2,258 m (7,410 ft), the top of the line. Its museum on the first floor opens at 10:00, and Baby Sivok, the oldest engine on the railway, waits in the yard.
Photo: kabita Darlami
Fitting it in
Ghum lies on the road to Tiger Hill and on the railway into town, so it fits around a dawn or a train ride. Tell us which morning you want, and we will pair Ghum with it.
Photo: Soumyojit Sinha / Pexels