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We arrived into New jailpuguri train station 8 hours later than expected. We are sick of indian trains. Got a jeep taxi to take us from this low lying city to the mountain city of Darjeeling situated 80 km along and 2 km up. As we approached the base of the mountains, we encountered a large police presence and discovered that someone had just been killed there by a wild elephant. As we went up, the temperature went down. The views were amazing and the gradient very steep. Upon arriving in Darjeeling we were freezing and we have swapped our air conditioned rooms for a room with hot water bottles.
Perhaps one of the first things we noticed here is that despite the population being classed as Indian, they look totally different. They speak a different language, speak good english, have manners and lack the detestable habits of those we had previously been subjected to. They are basically Nepalese. Despite being in the same country, we felt we had crossed a border. The locals are campaigning for an Independent state "Gorkhaland". The area was originally Nepal owned, the British took it away and basically made it part of India. The locals want it back for themselves and who could blame them. We saw a big protest going on in support of this and had been warned that strikes were quite likely.
The start of our stay involved us being confined to our hotel. It would appear we don't have guts of steel. It was going to happen eventually, I'm amazed we lasted out 5 weeks, perhaps setting an India record. Yes, we got the squits.
After recovering (and feeling much lighter) we spent the remaining week exploring the area. Went to the local zoo, had a tour of a local tea factory, had a ride on a steam train, went to the mountaineering museum and found a very english pub. With the cold weather, the presence of pubs and a noticeable reduction in Indian customs we should probably have just had a holiday in England (not Birmingham).
One of the highlights of the week was a 22km walk to Tiger Hill, at an altitude of 2590 metres. You can sometimes see Mount Everest from here, but the main views are of Mount Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world. The weather was not on our side and we saw some lovely....clouds. You would only see Mount Everest if it was less than 20 metres in front of you. We felt a bit cheated that week, as we never got to see the "breathtaking" views that Darjeeling boasts.
We did however get to partake in the Holi day Festival of colours celebrations. When I say partake I mean we got to have kids cover us in coloured powder and then be pointed at and laughed at. Though we did feel grateful to be accepted into their festivities and it was nice to see them all so happy and excited.
We didn't get to do lots of hiking as we'd originally hoped as you need to hire jeeps and guides for 4 days and we werent that organised. We spoke to a French guy who did the trek and it sounded amazing, with great views of Everest etc. Bit gutted we didnt do the trek, having heard this. We will have to seriously look into doing a good trek elsewhere, perhaps the Inca trail trek in Peru. But it was nice to relax in a cooler and quieter place. Our ear drums definitely had time to recover from their ordeal in Delhi and Varanasi. As our last destination in India, it was nice to unwind and regain our sanity before heading to Bangkok.
Our 6 weeks in India has been like a rollercoaster ride. We are glad we came here as it really has to be experienced to be believed. It is a very diverse country and deep underneath the chaos it is glowing with historical and cultural beauty. It is the craziest country we have EVER visited. I.N.D.I.A = "I'd Never Do It Again"
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Carl So glad you got the squirts eventually! You wouldn't have had the full Indian experience had you not! I.N.D.I.A. Oh yes you will!!!