Dawn walk to the Kangchenjunga viewpoint

Ask your homestay the night before for the path and the sunrise time, and set out about 30 minutes before it, with a torch. The climb from the road takes 15–20 minutes on a forest trail that can be slippery when damp. At the top the trees open out to the north, and on a clear day the Kangchenjunga range lies across the horizon, with the Darjeeling ridge and its houses in the foreground.

The light reaches the highest snow first, then slides down the range. Expect a handful of other visitors at most, usually homestay guests and a few photographers. There is no ticket and no shop, so bring tea from your host in a flask. October and November have the clearest skies, December and January are clear but very cold, and from February the view comes and goes with haze.

After sunrise, walk down slowly and listen for birds in the trees. Mist often sweeps up from the valleys by mid-morning, turning the forest grey and quiet, which is worth seeing in its own right. If clouds hide the mountains, do not pay for a Tiger Hill trip the same morning; the cloud is usually the same there. Try again the next day instead.