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Darjeeling to Kalimpong
24th - 29th Darjeeling
Had a lovely few days in Darjeeling - up high in the hills with views accross to Kanchenjunga (3rd highest mountain in the world) feels like a different country up here - very Tibetan influence - so everyone looks different and there is less of the hassle you get from street sellers, rickshaw and taxi drivers you get in the other parts of India i have been too. Staying at Dekeling - lovely hotel run by a really friendly Tibetan couple who couldnt be more helpful and informative.
Had a 4am trip (yes i was up at 3.30am shock horror!) to head up to Tiger Hill to watch the sun rise (with about a million other Indian and western tourists! - all pushing for the best view - well the Indians were anyway!!) hundreds of jeeps every morning head up here packing the tourists in to see the views. Pretty stunning and as the sun rose over the hill the clouds lifted and we got the most amazing view of the mountains - including the tip of Everest in the distance that was soo cool! I left the jeep and walked back down the mountain to Darjeeling (about 8km - all downhill so easy) - through villages and the toy train tracks (himalayan railway - highest mountain railway on the world) literally crosses and follows the road. I was going to take the toy train up the mountain to Darjeeling from the planes (takes about 7 hours (3 in jeep) but due to lots of land slides here its only doing short trips - all booked out.
Darjeeling was busy as festival time - and many Indian familes head up to the hills for holidays as cooler here.. Had some lovely walks.. around the area ... went to a tea plantation 'Happy Valley Tea Estate' - what a great name - got to see where they grow, process and pack the tea - all pretty much done by hand - and apparently this tea is sold to Harrods!! The tea here is so lovely - so had to spend many an afternoon sampling different types of tea - naturally... even had tea at a tiny little cafe - this lovely lady's home - who was very knowledgeable about tea and showed me how to make 5 second tea! Looking at her comments book - i think she makes it a million times a year - she seemed happy though - well she would be libving by happy valley ey!!
Darjeeling is very hilly so keepng me fit (or knackered - one of the 2!) although when you see men carrying really heavy loads (hundreds of brick, cement and big gas bottles on their backs) up these hills - you dont complain! The town is built into the hill and its amazing how some of the houses - that all seem to be built on top of each other actually survive the monsoons.
Also visited a Tibetan Refuge centre - long walk down the hills (beautiful views and peaceful) meandering through little settlements of houses. The centre is where many Tibetans live and make beautiful textiles, shoes, jewellery, wooden furniture, craft items etec and they are happy for you to watch them work with manual weaving, spinnng, dyeing, sewing etc - very interesting and peaceful place. Hard going on the way back up! All good for me - getting into training for our Nepal trek!
Even though Darjeeling is a busy town - because it is surrounded by hills and mountanins it is a very peaceful place to be - and everyone is so lovely..
So the plan next was to head into Sikkim (you have to get a permit which is a very funny - very Indian process) - you go to 1 office - where there are many offical type people in this old fashioned room and get a form to fill in which they check - then you hike (abouty 45 mins) accross town to another office - just as official where you get your passport stamped - why could they not just have 1 office? because its India and they are making work for people (and its free!) You sometimes feel here that you are back in 1940/50s England - very weird and nice.
So with my permit planned to travel by shared jeep (another fun and crazy way to travel - they pack you into these things - so you have to buy more than one seat or you are literally (no joke) sitting on top of people)
- The next time someone in a YV audience complains about having to move up tell em to travel by jeep (or bus) in India!
However as it was festival time - too many people travelling not enough jeeps - so after waiting about 5 hours (some of that at the smelly, polluted, dirty, noisy bus/jeep stand) and i hadnt gone anywhere i decided that maybe i needed to change my plans. So booked a jeep (only had to wait an hour half for) to Kalimpong - 50km east of Darjeeling - 3 hour jeep ride - as you are travelling on pretty rough and steep mountan roads - and this trip takes you down the valley to come back up - fab journey travelling through little villages, lush valleys of tea and paddy fields.
29th - 8th Oct
Staying at Holumba, Kalimpong - a beautiful orchid nursery and homestay - small cottages set in a hill surrounded by trees, orchids, plants, wildlife - even turkeys wandering around!
So peaceful here and the family are lovely so decided to extend my stay and have been here just over a week. A great place to meet people as they have a dinng room and reading area where everyone (including the family) meets up for meals during the day and eve - been really nice for me as havent met that many westerners since getting to India and even though i dont mind eating alone - its nice to have people to chat too.
I have had some lovely walks here, there is an array of wildlife and great hikes up hills to see Monasteries, temples, view points and paper factories. Have been learning a bit about Buddhism and local politics and history - everyone seems to have something to say here! Met some very interesting people some doing some great charity work - from working with people who are suffering with Aids and people on drug rehabiltation programmes to a vet working with a local charity to help street animals and local farmers animals (and there are thousands of them - mainly dogs here) to people teaching in Kolkatta - so really interesting..
It has been lovely to have a base and time to chill out and listen to the rain and be part of the power cuts! and get to know the family - I feel very lucky
Off tmro in a shared jeep (booked 2 seats!) to the Nepal border and then i fly to Kathmandu to meet Jen for our mountain trek around the Annapurnas - very excited to see Jen - cant wait.
Hope all good with everyone back at home.. keep the news flowing.. sending love from India x
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