Darjeeling- home of tea and momos :)

We are now in Darjeeling, in the hills of West Bengal. I think the town is something like 2200m from sea level, which is higher than Mt Koziosko (can't spell!)- Australia just can't do mountains like India can! This place is amazing, the town is basically built on the side of the mountain, and the views are just amazing :) Only problem is, mountains are cold! (yep, anothe brilliant comment by lauren!) We have been rugged up every since we got here, but have been able to pick up some very attractive tibetan hats (check out the photos!) to keep us toasty.
Darjeeling is like another country entirely from the rest of india- for a start there are no cows on the road- very very different to everywhere else! As it is so close to the border of Nepal, and is a main centre for tibetan refugees, the people look really different to in the south. There are so many beautiful people up here, their smiles are just amazing! and, due to this mix of cultures, the food is amazing also- we are in love with tibetan momos at the moment :)
We arrived here about lunch time on the 12th, and spent the afternoon at the Tibetan Refugee and Self-help centre, which is an great facility set up to assist refugees with accommodation, food and work. They have a workshop on site, so of course, maddy and i had to go shopping! well, its for a good cause :) They have a little museum there with statistics about the chinese invasion of tibet- really really scary stuff. there are actually more chinese nationals living in tibet now than there are tibetans, and they have all sorts of restrictions on work, religion, everything. They are not even allowed to have any photos of the dalai lama in the country.
The next morning we arose at 4am to drive out to tiger hill, which is about 45 minutes from here, for sunrise. This mountain observatory overlooks the Himalayas, including Mt Everest and Kanchenjunga peaks. We were so so lucky- had perfect weather and had an amazing view across the mountains. They are just spectacular, changing colour every minute as the sun rises.
We spent yesterday afternoon at the Darjeeling Zoo, which is a steep site filled with tigers (yep, finally got to see one!), leopards, red pandas, bears etc. We also had a look around the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, which was established by Tenzing Norgay. The site is also where he was cremated. The museum at the institute detailed the different everest attempts, and i must say i think all those people must be slightly crazy! But what an achievement if you could do it.
Today the boys have gone white water rafting, but i have decided to give the icy cold water a miss, as i have a bit of a cold. I'm sure they are having a great time, if they still have all their fingers and toes :)
Leaving for Delhi tomorrow night to Jays wedding, which will be great :)
Talk soon, love you all
xxxx

ps. just realised this internet connection is not going to be up to photos, so will put some up next time ;)

---

---