From Kolkata to Darjeeling :)

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Hello
Sorry its been a while since we last updated our blog. We have now left Familia after a great couple of weeks there. It is in a rural area 1.5hrs from Kolkata and its really nice not to be in the madness of the city for a while! There are lovely grounds and we visited the school and the old folks home up the road - we were made to feel welcome everywhere we went. Spending Easter Sunday there was really great, there was a bonfire outside and the children put on a show before we painted some eggs and had a feast of watermelons and easterbuns before more curry! The kids were so friendly and we had a great time playing with them - card games went down a treat and so did all the friendship bracelet making we did. It would be great to go back again sometime to see how they are all getting on - maybe in the winter though 40 degrees is pretty warm when the power cuts out!

Since we left Familia we spent a day in Kolkata with Izzy's dad John and our new travel buddy Olivia who is with us for a few weeks of our trip. We had a look around the Victoria memorial, a lovely old building with nice gardens to sit in and watch the sun go down. We treated ourselves to a buffet lunch at a posh hotel in the middle of the city, it was great food and a nice break from the heat in the air conditioning! After organising our flight to Goa and catching up with email we went to say bye to Vi, the owner of The Fairlawn Hotel we were staying in. She treated us to Gin and Tonics in her apartment before we headed off to catch our train, she is such a legend!

The overnight train was a little less comfortable than the ones we encountered in Thailand but not too bad a journey. We were delayed 3 hours in the end making our 10 hour journey into a 13 hour one! After this we had to book a train ticket for our onward journey to Varanasi - its not the easiest thing in the world to do but we succeeded in the end! We met up with a couple of Canadians and shared a jeep for the 3 hour drive up into the mountains to Darjeeling. Its amazing to leave the flat plains of India and wind your way up and up and up into the hills - the views were beautiful (until the cloud further up!) and we passed the Toy Train on the way.

We found a decent enough guesthouse in Darjeeling for 100 rupees a night each - bargain, even if it is a little drafty and there is no running hot water....it comes in buckets for 10 rupees which is good enough for a wash! We have been looking through the markets and curio shops which are full of some amazing things and some amazing junk too, we may have given in to the odd bit of jewelery though. The people up here are so friendly and we have been met with many smiles and we were invited into a small shop for a cup of tea by one friendly chap.

We have been fairly busy here and visited the Japanese Peace Pagoda, had a joy ride on the Toy Train, visited the Happy Valley Tea Estate, a 5am trip to Tiger Hill to watch the sunrise (no show from the Himalayas unfortunately though) as well as the Zoo+ Himalayan Mountaineering Institute and some lovely gardens on the top of the hill for a cultural performance! We are heading south again today to Varanasi and will be sad to leave the cool of the hills for the heat again, but hopefully we will cope somehow!

Just off for breakfast at an amazing little cafe called Sonams Kitchen, its small and nicely done with a huge range of books to browse while you eat the amazing food they cook up. Yesterday we had homemade hashbrowns, tomatoes and fried eggs with some cheese - enough to fill us up until tea time! Its a great place, maybe we can fit it in our pockets and take it with us....

Thats all for now will try and put some pictures up at somepoint so you can see how beautiful it is here.
Lots of Love
Katie and Izzy

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Comments

[Jeanniemac]

Vivid picture
Wow. What an amazing, evocative picture you paint of your travels. It sounds wonderful. The Indian tourist board should pay you a commision as it definitely makes me want to visit! Hope the rest of the journey is as good. Jean xxx