Travelling from Darjeeling to Sikkim? On one crazy adventure, I ditched the bus and taxi, and hiked across the border through tea estates, forests and remote villages instead! We impulsively decided to venture into the remote north-eastern Himalayas of India. At an organic tea farm an hour’s ride from Darjeeling, sipped the finest hand-rolled tea. Drank the local thomba brewed from fermented millets on chilly nights. Got a first hand perspective on the separatist Gorkhaland movement. And reminisced with the hill folk about the times gone by. Then we hiked in the mountains, through dense forests, past charming hill villages, along tea estates that dotted the landscape, barefoot across the Rangeet River… to cross the border into Sikkim! Behold, a visual journey of hiking from Darjeeling to Sikkim: STARTING THE WALK ALONG THE TEA ESTATES OF DARJEELING organized by my hosts at Tathgata Farm. Carpets of green stretched into the horizon, as far as the eyes could see. FOLLOWING TEA PLUCKERS AS THEY START THEIR DAY  plucking the finest tea in India with their nimble fingers. PASSING BY CHARMING HILL VILLAGES ON THE HIKE FROM …