If you happen to be in Darjeeling and are in the mood to see a pretty green space with little or no human presence, you should head to the Shrubbery Nightingale Park. Located at about 2km (25 minute walk) from the Darjeeling Mall, a visit to this park is a good way to start your day. Although you will find neither shrubbery nor nightingales here, you will find enough beauty to soothe your eyes.
We reached the park at around 9 am, and it was supposed to be open by then. However, we found a young couple waiting at the bottom of the steep ramp that leads up to the park. From there, the gate appeared locked. We confirmed with the young couple and it turned out that the employees who unlock the gates and run the ticket window hadn't yet arrived. We decided to wait too. About 10 minutes later we saw a woman accompanied by a pretty little girl heading towards us. Something told us that she was the person we were waiting for. Sure enough, she soon unlocked the gate, opened the ticket counter, and appeared at the window. We were extra lucky because her little daughter sold us the tickets.
We were really curious about the park, especially because until now we thought that we were going to see nightingales here. Once inside, we immediately noticed the silence. There surely was no nightingale song to be heard here. However there were other things to make up for this.
Well manicured lush green lawns with tall trees, glass houses with slanting roofs sitting among them painted a rather pretty picture. This was a huge space and we followed a paved path around the park. One side of the park overlooked a supposedly beautiful valley, but it was clouded when we got there, so the valley was more or less invisible.
Somewhere at the center of the part was this greenhouse full of vibrant petunias and pansies of all possible colors. This was the perfect place for a picture! However, we headed out soon, as we still had a lot of ground to cover. Quite literally.
We noticed many couples entering the park and then disappearing somewhere towards the valley. At one point we thought of checking that area out, but then dropped the idea, as we didn't want to disturb them. They were staying out of our way, so we decided to stay out of their ways too. I do hope one of those couples reads this blog post and posts a "thank you". :)
This building once used to be a restaurant that served snacks and tea. It was closed when we visited Darjeeling but there are talks of reopening it. At that time, it was only being used for special functions and ceremonies.
The park was peaceful and pretty, but we needed to move on. We had a long day ahead. As we walked out we saw many people entering the park. It looked like a popular place with local people as well. It must be nice to have such a beautiful and peaceful place so close by. If I was them, I would go there often too. Still wish there were a few nightingales around though.
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