March 28-31, 2010
We started our journey to West Bengal with a 6 hour Toy Train starting from the plains of Siliguri to the mountains of Darjeeling. This is what we imagined: A cute old fashioned and colorful train (similar to the movie Darjeeling Express) with stunning views of the Kanchenjunga Range (3rd largest mountain in the world)…..but this was the reality: Old fashioned small gauge train with seats that would only lay back and not sit straight, socked in fog with no views except for glowing spots of burning grasses, a train repeatedly passed by bicycles and old men, antique equipment that broke down three times and a three hours late arrival into a pitch black city (Darjeeling has major infrastructure issues and the electricity (and water) goes out often). Oh well, like we always say – India is an adventure. We did however, go though some great villages and met some wonderful people while awaiting train repairs.
We do love Darjeeling!!!! Very mountainous and much cleaner than any other city we’ve seen in India. We are more than a mile up which puts us above the pollution level and provides a welcomed cool relief from hot India temperatures. The first two days were like living in a cloud (nothing new for me ha ha) completely fogged in, but by the third day we had warm sunshine and fantastic mountain views. Needless to say we’ve been drinking lots of tea and enjoying (some say suffering) the steep hillside climbs throughout the city and visits to Buddhist monasteries. We are hanging out in an old fashioned colonial hotel left over from the British days (they left a four inch spider in our room) and it comes complete with high tea, quaint sitting rooms and a bar perfect for sipping a cup of tea or guzzling a beer.
We will have been here a total of six days then head out to Kalimpong for five. We are approaching our last week and absolutely can’t believe we are that close to going home. Our flight back is scheduled for the 8th of April after a couple nights in Delhi.
Laurie
.jpg)
.jpg)
Dear Tea-totalers in Darjeeling, That shot of you in your prissy tea room with bent pinky is a hoot, very British. But don't they hate the British? Climbing the tea mountains looks nice, but don't get used to it. Such exotic tea is quite expensive back here in DC...stick with bags. We've had perfect weather this past week for the Cherry Blossom Festival. JU and I ran around the Tidal Basin on Wed to check them out, beautiful but too many touristi, really jammed. Ask Janice how I almost had to fish her out of the Tidal Basin after she slapped a little Japanese kid right in the face with her flayling fingers...like I said too many touristi. It's been in the high 70s all week, flowers are blooming, as are trees, and pollen, oh well. We held Springtime for your arrival, so hurry up before it turns to Summer. Ciao
ReplyDelete