Retreat to the Himalayas

Bhutia Busty Gompa, a Buddhist monastery where we were shown around by a gentle and pleasant monk. It is also home to the original copy of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The book acts as a guide for the dead during the state that intervenes death and the next rebirth. It is a very sacred book for Tibetans.
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Wow, arriving in Darjeeling was like arriving in a country other than India! Not surprising considering the population is mostly Nepalese and Tibetan and in addition we went from 90 plus weather to maybe 60-70!

The 75km(about 47 miles)drive from Siliguri to Darjeeling takes over 3 hours because the road in the mountains is really, just barely there and in addition very narrow. Visibility tends to be pretty low as it was quite foggy, needless to say I was a nervous wreck by the end of the drive.

Prayer wheels at the entry of the Tibetan refugee center. You are supposed to recite a prayer and turn each wheel as you go past.
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Darjeeling, most of you are familiar with their world famous Darjeeling tea, is an awesome hill station town with views of five of the worlds' highest mountain peaks (including Mt. Everest!) on a clear day. Unfortunately for us the four days spent there were shrouded in fog.

The town is quite small with a population less than 100,000 and best of all NO COWS!!! I can't tell you how glad we were to not see any of these really dumb beasts, either that or they are so convinced in their own sacredness that they become oblivious to any sort of incoming traffic. Everyone stops for the cow!

In the Tibetan Refugee Center there was a museum of the fate and suffering of the Tibetan people. I liked this writing of the Dalai Lama.
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One thing that was really cool is the actual layout of the town. Because it is built unto a mountain side, the streets are narrow and most of the town runs along the edge of the mountains and so you constantly get this gorgeous mountain views.  Walking there though is no easy task as you are never in a straight line for long. Our calves were quite sore after a day walking up and down hills.

There is a strong Buddhist element in town, probably owing to the Tibetans and Nepalese, and so the town is peppered with Buddhist monasteries.

Tibetan women spinning yarn in one of the multitude of workshops at the center.
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We paid a visit to the Himalayan zoo which is the home to red pandas, snow leopards, Bengal tigers and Himalayan bears to name a few.

Right next to the zoo is the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute where climbing enthusiasts can pick up skills necessary to survive Mt. Everest and the likes. We actually have several such friends who would probably deeply fall in love with this place.

All in all, we had a wonderful time here and the break from 'India' allowed us to leave India in a much more positive mood. The people were in particular very pleasant and were always smiling at you whenever eye contact was made. There was also a markedly increased number of women just working. In many other parts of India that we saw, women working in the service sector were almost nonexistent.

Room-full of balls of yarn(wool??)...
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Oh and I forgot to mention, the Tibetan cuisine is DELISH!! They are particularly famous for 'momos', which is a type of dumpling and comes stuffed with meats or veggies. I definitely had my fill of them....thank goodness for uphill walks!