DARJEELING
After saying good bye to Alison M and Roberto we had a few days in Delhi, of which more subsequently, and spent some time planning the rest of our trip. We got as far as next destination and “plan A” or “plan B” – the plans differed by which national park in the south we should visit and what else to build around that. Our next destination, Darjeeling, involved our first internal flight – all very easy, and included a view of Everest – and a taxi ride of some two and a half hours climbing from the hot and steamy plains to the settlement east of the Himalayas at just over 2,000m. It was a colourful ride, with steep hairpin bends, changing vegetation and close encounters with the historic steam railway track
Alison M and I were in Darjeeling in June 1985 and remember being enchanted: largely wooden buildings and also a good smattering of Victorian style architecture from its days as a hill station, friendly people of Nepalese/Tibetan extraction, clean cool air, emerald green tea plantations and holidaying Indians escaping the pre-monsoon oppressive heat of the northern plains, the women dressed in colourful saris with knitted woolly cardigans over them, eating ice creams and promenading between the view points. Our disappointment was that, pre-monsoon the not so distant Himalayas were resolutely cloud covered and we never got even a peak of Kanchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world and second highest in India. Would Andy and I be luckier?
We arrived at dusk and were underwhelmed by our heritage hotel – shabby and cold. The lounge open fire of the website had been replaced with an electric one and all doors where open to the street, presumably to appear welcoming and obviously open, but the temperature was a chilly eight centigrade, a shock to our systems after more than five weeks of high 20s. My impromptu purchase of thermals at the M&S outlet at Delhi airport (!) proved very justified. We explored a little in the dark and had supper at a Sri Lanka institution: Glenarry’s, food more Chinese/Tibetan than Indian. It had an open fire and a local singer with a playlist from the seventies, served hot whisky/rum toddies and was buzzy
The next morning dawned cloudy and cold. We walked the high ridges of the town on one side of the valley, marveling at the women hefting huge quantities of bricks and other building materials. I wanted to find the view point I remembered so well from ‘85 (just in case) but it was not obvious and the town appears much expanded with many block and concrete buildings and traffic choked, with hefty four wheel drives. We visited the Happy Valley tea plantation on the other side of the valley, walking alongside the women pickers (where are all the men?) and sampled tea at the estate and then drank and bought tea at a little cafe at its gates, run by an eccentric women who beckoned us in, made tea with great ceremony and sold us tea but then would not let us take photographs and asked us not to talk of her in the town and told us if we were asked by anyone as we left if we had bought tea to say we had not. Our inevitable conclusion – we had purchased stolen goods!
We walked back through the town, fume ridden, traffic choked and noisy with blaring horns. There is an enormous market and we wonder who buys it all – so much perishable foodstuff and so much more stuff of every description. My purchase was a woolly hat, Andy’s some roasted nuts
We headed to the railway station and bought tickets for a trip to Ghum and back the following day, inspecting the carriages and rail-sleeping dogs
After a supper of Tibetan momo (a type of dumpling – delicious) and noodles our first day left us a little disappointed. The town makes you work hard to uncover its charms and the people, though friendly are not warm and appear very self contained, and there is little willingness to engage, although the upside of that is that there is no hassle – to buy, have a selfie . . .
The next day again dawned cloudy and was, unsurprisingly, cold. We headed to the railway station and again admired the locomotives and carriages. The journey was a hoot. By local standards the tickets are expensive so it seems only used by tourists. It rattled along its narrow gauge blasting cars, people, dogs off its track and belching soot. A stop at the Batasia Loop to admire the engineering skill that created it was in a lovely garden. Then off again to Ghum and the railway museum. The big views constrained because of cloud but it was a great experience
Love this picture of the boys shaking the soot out of their hair
An afternoon drinking and buying tea, more momo and noodles for dinner
Our last full day again dawned cloudy and cold. We walked the high ridge and along The Mall and the sun broke through and as we rounded a bend, there it was, almost looking like cloud in a blue sky but definitely Kanchenjunga. The atmosphere of the town changed completely, or perhaps it was just our perception, but it made perfect sense being in Darjeeling!
We walked in sunshine under blue skies to a park and garden with great views. To a casual observer these mountains may look like clouds but they really are Himalayas!
After falling into conversation with a local guide who, although disappointed to learn we have a flight booked south tomorrow and he could not take us on a five day Himalayas trek, recommended we visit the zoo which is doing great conservation work. Well it had not been on our to do list but it was a glorious day to be outside so we went and loved it. Beautiful location, filled with excited local families, all the specimens looked extremely happy and unstressed and were obligingly outside and visible, beautiful cats big and small, wolves looking just like my sister Becky’s dog, great bears, adorable red panda . . . .
Our final morning dawned blue skied and crystal clear, there was even a great mountain view from our shabby hotel dining room!
A taxi back down the mountain with great views all the way and the temperature steadily rising. All in all a good and worthwhile trip and I am soooo glad we saw Kanchenjunga!
Until next time, namaste
ALISON