Stunning Tiger Hill

Tourists from near and far gather, waiting for the sun to make an appearance.

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Spending the night in a depressingly cold Darjeeling guesthouse made it all the easier to get up and leave before 4:30am.

Wrapped up in several layers, hats, scarves, gloves and boots, we drove from Darjeeling through gloomy Ghoom to Tiger Hill, 2500m up above Darjeeling (2100m).

As we walked from the car up to the viewpoint, frost beside the road, I happened to turn around and look behind me. I can't remember what I said, or exactly what noise came from my mouth, but it was sheer raw exhileration, along the lines of 'Oh my god, look behind you!' Emerging in the dim dawn light were the Himalayas. We raced to the top of the hill to the viewpoint as if they would disappear if we didn't hurry, and there we joined the throngs of local and international tourists waiting to watch the sun rise and add its extra touch to the beautiful mountains.

The sun appears in the East....

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We didn't have to wait too ling before the sun emerged agains the orange morning sky.  Then the magic began.  Starting with the distant Everest, its neighbours Lhotse and Makalu, and then the closer Kanchenjunga range, the sun gave all the white mountains a beautiful pink pastel glow.  It was amazingly beautiful in a way that I cannot explain in words, and than cannot be conveyed even in the photographs. The sheer exhileration of the beauty, the scale and our first good sighting of the mountains was breathtaking.  We couldn't stop smiling all day, all week, all month - I think I'm still thrilled by it four weeks on!