The haunted house of Darjeeling

by Noyonika Ray (India)

I didn't expect to find India

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My dad bought a flat in a big complex innthe Darjeeling district. The reason isn't complex enough. He wanted to stay there so that he could get to travel all the hills. And I believe I've got the traveller genes from him. We drove our way up the beautiful bendings of the Darjeeling hill , feeding our sight with a picturesque scene of rivers flowing by , the hilly houses , colourful and bright , the local people drudging along and walking all the way in their feets , carrying heavy baskets of clothes , food or tea leaves to the local market , or their little shops . Once or twice you'll stop by a little shop selling steamed momos or hot pakoras to delight our tongues. Then after 2 hours , you'll reach the Ghum station , the people waiting in the station , as the toy train will arrive . I missed the opportunity, but never mind, sometimes next maybe I'll finally take a tour around the hill on a toy train. The driver bid us farewell on the footsteps of the Darjeeling Mall. We dragged our luggage up in search of a hotel to stay in . The very first one that came to my sight was of the times of The Raj, you can tell by the sight of it . Antique building, rooms quite clean, was the Pineridge Hotel . I had no idea as to why some visitors were clicking pictures in front of it . I ignored . It was 8 pm , when we locked our rooms and decided to walk down the passage that was closed all the time , leading to a restaurant. I heard footsteps in the attic room, as I was about to walk down the passage. I alarmed everyone, but nobody seemed to pay heed to me , anyway. However, dad was skeptic , and he decided to look into the room , when I pulled him out of there . To be very honest, the services of the hotel were very poor. There weren't any staffs after 10 pm . The rooms were damp and cold. There wasn't any room heater . Darjeeling's temperature dropped to 4°C. I was talking to my friend and mentioned him about this place that looked haunted to me . He said that if I have interest in such places , I should visit the Pineridge hotel. And I was taken aback . I shocked him by saying that guess what , I'm just there. And I couldn't hold it back anymore . I searched Google and read all the reviews and was taken aback . There were rooms that were still shut and had the name of some British official. We stayed for 3 days and moved back to our place in Darjeeling. It was one hell of an experience. However , that was not the only hotel where I spent sleepless nights. But experience is experience . Nothing beats that.