Mountains & tea

Yuri, Marie & Joelle
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We (me, Marie, Joelle, Yuri, Tim & Miriam) arrived into New Jalpaiguri station at around noon. From there we had to get a jeep up to Darjeeling, which would be another 3 & 1/2 hours. Since it was the religious festival going on jeeps seemed to be short in supply. Afer trying to negotiate with numerous drivers we had to get a taxi to Siliguri and try to get a jeep there by using the pre-paid booth available. Luckily soon after we arrived at Siliguri a jeep was due to leave in 10 minutes or so and was charging a reasonable rate. So we all got in and off we went with 5 others. A jeep has a capacity of 10 (2 up fron, 4 in the middle & 4 at the back). We were cosy in the back. Miriam & Tim sat in the front. It was warm in Silguri so we had all the windows open. About 1/2 way up we had a break for the loo and food/drink. I had a cuppa. I hadn't eaten all day, but wasn't hungry. Off we set off again. The roads were becoming more windier and higher now, so often I was scared to look, as the drop at the sides was often a long way down. We had to shut the windows now as it was much cooler. The weather was more like England, cold, but it was nice to be up in the mountains after putting up with the heat of the plains for 6 weeks or so. We finally arrived at Darjeeling train station and were left to make our way to the hotel. We got a taxi as the 4 of us girls were staying in the same place and good job we did as the walk up with our bags would have been painful, we were high up!

the clocktower
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We checked in. Our room didn't have any hot water for the showers, but Marie & Joelle let us use theirs. The hot water only came on between 4.30pm - 6pm as water is scarce in Darjeeling so we have to use it carefully. Compared to the plains of India, Darjeeling was really cold, like the UK. I'm glad I had my fleece & woollen socks to wear. I didn't have a hat. scarf or gloves, but would have gladly worn them if I had. So we all had our showers and went to have dinner in the hotel's restaurant. We were all really hungry as we hadn't eaten a proper meal all day, only bananas, crips, tea & water. We all enjoyed our dinner, I had fish n chips. The fish was spicy, but lovely. We all even had dessert, yummy and some nice darjeeling tea of course. We went to bed soon after dinner. I wrapped myself up in the duvet and had a blanket on top as I was soo cold, but I slept well.

the view
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The next morning was a beautiful sunny, but cold day. We went to the rooftop to have a look at the view to see if we could make out mountain Khangchendzonga - India's highest peak & the worlds 3rd highest mountain. Unfortunately it was cloudy over the peaks.  After breakfast we decided to wander round to explore Darjeeling. I also needed to book my train ticket to Kolkata, Yuri needed money and we all wanted to get some more info about sightseeing. After getting the money and my train ticket sorted we decided to go find the Botonical Gardens. As it was Sunday the tea plantation was closed and a lot seemed to be closed anyway as a festival was going on (Dussehra). So many celebrations were going on. We had a rough map of how to get tothe gardens but we must have taken a wrong turn somewhere as we seemed to be walking for ages and we kept going further and further down into the valley. En route we found a nice waterfall and stopped to takes pics of it and the valleys. It was so high up and so green. The scenery was just amazing. It was nice to be out in fresh mountain air.

mountains
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We eventuall found the gardens, but we realised we had taken the long oute round. We wandered through and had a look at the plants and flowers and then sat down on a bench to rest, after all the walking we'd just done! Since the walking was mainly downhill, it wasn't too bad, the tough part was yet to come as we would have to walk uphill for ages now. Anyway luckily going up we managed to find shortcuts (steps) so it was ok in the end. We ended up in the main part of the town near the local temple where the celebrations were going on. As we were walking past, some women accosted me and put a red bindi on my head and fed me indian sweets shouting Happy Dussehra. I took a picture of us all. They tried to do the same to the others, but they were having none of it.

a waterfall
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We walked through the markets and browsed. The touts seemed much more laid back here than we've been used to dealing with in other tourist places. We went to get some tea in one of the tea shops and Joelle bought some tea to take home with her. She ended up buying loads. Soon after we had some lunch and headed back to the hotel to have a rest and showers. The walk up took us 30 minutes as part of it was up a steep hill. We decided we would eat out in town instead of at the hotel that evening.

a waterfall
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So a few hours later, all wrapped up we ventured back into town, but most of the restaurants were closed due to the festival. Luckliy (not for me) we found a cafe that had free tables and settled in there. Because we had lunch late, we weren't overly hungry and we all decided to have toasted sandwiches. I explained to the waiter in hindi how we all wanted our sandwiches toasted and asked him if he understood what I meant. He nodded yes and off he went. Anyway he got the girls order correct, but messed mine up even though I'd requested something similar. I couldn't eat what he brought me as it was just totally wrong and he couldn't make me another one as they had run out of bread. So I just said I don't want anything then. I wasn't rude and didn't shout, I just accepted it. When the bill came he still tried to charge me for it. I refused to pay for my sandwich. He was om with it in the end, but accepted it reluctantly. Afterwards we went to get some tea. I didn't want to eat anything, just wanted some tea. Thank goodness the tea was lovely. We then walked back to the hotel and called it a night.

Nepali children
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The next morning we were up so early it was still dark (3.30am) We had to leave the hotel at 4am and walk into town so we could catch a jeep that would drive us to Tiger Hill. From there we were hoping to catch the view of Khangchendzonga. The drive took about an hour so the sun would be rising by the time we got there. Unfortunately the sun didn't come out at all, it was very cloudy and foggy. We couldn't see anything at all. We stood out in the cold for an hour hoping for some change, but it didn't happen. We had to resign and head back into town. It was such a shame.

celebrating Dussehra
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We went to get breakfast back at the hotel and then decided to try and get a ride on the toy train. It's a real steam train and called a toy train as it is tiny, with only 2 carriages and chugs along slowly throughout the hills of Darjeeling. We took some pics. We couldn't get a ticket so we went to visit the tea plantations. It was also quite a walk there, but I made sure we had some directions before setting off, as we didn't want to take another wrong turn. The tea factory was closed due to the festival but we walked amongst the tea and took pictures. Aso on site was a little shop. The owners took us in and gave us some tea that we paid for. They invited us into their home, so the 4 of us played cards whilst sipping our tea. It was great fun. After an hour or so we headed back into town and went to the markets. Yuri & Joelle both bought shawls.

Darjeeling tea
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We then had some lunch and went to find the Tibetan Refuge Self Help Centre. It's a place for orphans, the elderly, schollchildren and has craft workshops. We wanted to look at the handicrafts. All proceeds are plowed back into the centre to help the people. We walked again for what seemed like ages and kept going down into the valleys again but a different route to that of the other day. Whenever we saw a person we would stop to ask if we were going the right way. I think we did get close to it, but it looked closed and we assumed because of the festival it wasn't open. Ah well, we chose to come to Darjeeling at the wrong time it seems. Anyway we were tired from the walking and Yuri took it upon herself to find us shortcuts, unfortunately there were no stais involved, only mud pathways and trees. The 1st one wasn't too bad, but the 2nd one could have been fatal to myself and Joelle and we struggled slightly and got stung by nettles. It was quite steep, good job I didn't slip. I kept holding onto the trrees for support. After that I said to Yuri no more shortcuts unless they're genuine. It was ok after that, but poor Joelle came out in a rash from the nettle stings. We took a taxi back to the hotel, as we had done plenty of walkig and we were going to come back to town for dinner at the thai restaurant. It was open that evening, thank god!

the train station
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So a couple of hours later after showers we headed off to the restaurant. I haven't been drinking since I came to India, but I gave into some brandy that evening cos of the cold. It went down well. The girls had cocktails. The food was delicious. I had fish and the girls had chicken. And we all had some tea afterwards. It was my 1st thai meal in India and much appreciated. There's only so much roti & curry you can eat! We all had a good natter as well as 3 of us were leaving the following day. Yuri was staying on an extra night and would then join me in Kolkata. The other girls were off to Nepal.

a woman carrying her shopping in a basket
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The next morning we all had a lie in (much deserved), went for breakfast and checked out. Myself, Joelle & Marie headed into town to get a jeep to take us to Siliguri (3 hour drive), where they would get another jeep to Nepal and I would head off to NJP train station. I had most of the day as my train was at 6.30pm. At Siliguri I went to find an internet cafe, spent a couple of hours in there, had some dinner and went to get my train.