Playing in the Clouds

---

Molested In A Jeep!

We arrived sleepy and clueless in New Jaiglupuri. We hadn't booked a driver to pick us up but we had heard that it was easy to find a share jeep to Darjeeling. Darjeeling is a windy uphill 3.5 hr drive away. The first guy to approach us offered 200rp per person. A complete bargain compared to the 2500rp wanted by the hotel for the same trip with a private driver.



We accepted and he led us to the back of the car park to a waiting jeep. We threw our bags on and decided to go to the toilet. The jeep doesn't leave until its full and the guy promised us we would wait only "10 minutes". Taylor was a little nervous about leaving our bags there but I reassured her they'd be fine and we went off in search of a toilet. The toilet cost 2rp to use and it was so gross. We took turns and while Taylor went I got us some steaming hot chai and snacks. We then headed back to our jeep. As we got hearer to the jeep we replied it wasn't there.. A slight panic for 3 seconds ensued until we spotted it nearby! I would never have lived that down with Taylor had our bags gone missing.



The jeep still had no takers so we demanded we get another jeep. An argument between all the drivers began and we then loaded our bags to another jeep. There were 2 in the front seat, 2 in the middle seat and we scored the back row. The ride started and all our senses were on high alert. There were people and cars everywhere and cows just standing/laying in the middle of the road! We chatted a little with the couple in the middle seats. They were a well-to-do older couple from Mumbai also heading to Darjeeling for a small holiday. The lady then asked me how many "seats" we had paid for. It was then I remembered reading that you should "buy" the three seats if you didn't want others squashed in with you. I was feeling lucky as we hadn't paid the extra as the Mumbai couple had, yet had the whole back seat to ourselves.....





Unfortunately this didn't last too long, as about 15 minutes later, we pulled to the side of the road and picked up two indian guys who promptly planted themselves in between Taylor and I so we now had 4 of us squashed into 3 seats. I had my bag balanced on my lap and was squashed between the window and one of the guys. Not more than 5 minutes later I suddenly felt a hand on my leg. It took me a couple of seconds to register but when I did I lifted my bag from my lap to see the hand of this guy scurrying back to his own lap. I was stunned!





I'd heard all about this type of stuff happening and Taylor had it happen the day score, but it still doesn't prepare you for the moment! I thought I'd be the type to confront someone sf make a big deal but when it came down to the crunch I hesitated and questioned myself! I knew I hadn't imagined it, but I still felt powerless and unable to 'make a scene'. I simply wedged my bag between us so he couldn't access my leg again, turned away and kept one eye on him for the rest of the trip. The longer I sat there thinking about it the angrier I became... At him for even thinking he could, and at myself for being so weak and powerless! By the time I worked up the courage to blast him, I knew it was too late... That the moment had passed! I made a vow to myself that next time, I will make a big scene and shame the man who dares, but hopefully there isn't a next time as it was seriously yuck!





We arrived in Darjeeling at about lunch time and could feel the drop in temperature. We were up in the clouds and were disappointed to see that the weather was so bad that all the beautiful pictures we had seen of Darjeeling was not the Darjeeling we had been served up by the weather Gods!





Darjeeling is a hill station in the far north east corner of India, near the border of Nepal. It is famous for it tea production and has a backdrop of the Himalayan mountains. From Darjeeling you can normally see Khangchendzonga (the third highest mountain) and on a really good day you are also able to catch a glimpse of Mt Everest! Prior to coming I had all these wonderful visions of snow peaked mountains and being able to say I've seen Everest, but unfortunately the reality was the complete opposite!





We stayed at a wonderful little cosy hotel named the Shangrila-la Regency and we had a mountain view from our big window (well we had a view of white clouds, but had the weather been right, we could have woken to views of the Himilaya's!). The hotel was literally a 3 minute walk from where the jeep dropped us off and by the time we arrived, Taylor wasn't feeling well. We jumped into our cosy beds, ordered some room service and kicked back relaxing for the afternoon.



We decided to venture out and see what Darjeeling had to offer. We stopped in at Glenarys for tea and cake before trying to find a restaurant for dinner. We didn't realize that Darjeeling shuts extremely early so struggled to find anything open. We wound up at a small dodgy looking cafe (think it was called Franks Cafe) where we ordered some extremely average food. Afterward we walked back to the hotel. We jumped into our cosy beds and apart from the gang of dogs that barked and howled under our window all night, we slept pretty content snuggled under big thick blankets.



The next morning we slept in before ordering breakfast in bed ... About lunchtime we finally made it out of our cosy room and had lunch at Food Steps. Another average meal! We then decided to Happy Valley Tea Farm to check it out. We decided to navigate our own way there and we eventually found our way.. When we got there, a guy approached us and told us that the tea estate was closed for renovations! Lol only us! He said he could show us around still so we stepped over and under all the construction and men to see a half renovated factory. The man was lovely and at the end we weren't sure if we should tip him but he didn't ask for one so being stingy backpackers we didn't lol We started the long walk back up the mountain to Darjeeling township, and I was struggling. I had come down with a cold and so the cold combined with the high altitude and the uphill walk had me feeling every day of my almost 40 years!



We ended up going to a small tea room and did a tea tasting. You could choose from the 200rp tasting or better teas for 300rp. We went for the more expensive tasting! It was only $6 after all! We sat down overlooking valley views next to a coal fire and tasted 2 white teas, 1 green tea and 3 black teas. They were all awesome and served in wine glasses! Very classy! After we finished our tasting, we ordered a last tea to try and then bought up! I bought $50 worth of different teas!



We wandered around after our tea tasting and wound up eating dinner at The Park Restaurant. This was recommended by the guy that was running Nathmulls Tea Rooms and wow, was he spot on.. it was our best meal of the trip! The chicken tikka just melted in your mouth. I also ordered a hot toddy to try warm my insides up and it was soooooo good. The Park was a strange little restaurant... it had heavy metal playing on the televisions and the owner was an Indian old rocker from way back complete with a long bobbed haircut and clothes to match.



Another early night was had, curled up in our cosy warm beds... The following morning we got moving before lunchtime (a miracle) and headed off on another walk. This time we were heading to the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute. It was the one place that Taylor really wanted to see while in Darjeeling. We walked down and could not believe our eyes when we got there and saw a big CLOSED sign... Seriously... the sign said "CLOSED THURSDAYS" .... We could not believe that the one and only day we had to visit was a Thursday! Taylor was devastated and I felt bad, as she had suggested after the tea estate the previous day of going there and I had said, "No lets go tomorrow".... Whoops!

Mum and Suzanne Stop Reading Now

Devastated, we started the long walk back up the hill.... we decided to try get a lift and ended up hitchhiking up the hill with some guy who worked for the Electricity company... At first we thought he was a Police officer as he had a sign on the front of his vehicle that said "Emergency Response", but halfway up the hill we got some broken English from him that he fixed electricity! lol

OK Mum and Suzanne start reading again

Once back in town, alive, I went to find a toilet while Taylor checked out the local book store. It is another thing we have in common our love of books! I went to a small restaurant and asked if I could borrow their toilet... they pointed me down some stairs.. I went down into a dungeon like area and eventually found the filthiest toilet ever in a small corner of the basement... I was so busting that I decided to brave it and go. The toilet looked as though it hadn't been flushed in years and after I had gone and I was still gagging, I went to open the toilet door and had a panic attack. The lock was dodgy and the door wouldn't open... I was in a panic, my heart pumping really fast, realising Taylor had no idea where I was and I was dry heaving while trying to open the damn door. I wondered how long it would take for someone to find me! I then remembered I had my phone and so grabbed it to try call Taylor, praying she had hers on and not on silent, while still trying to open the door with my free hand.... all of a sudden the lock moved and I was free.... I have never felt such relief in my life, and my heart was still going a million miles an hour when I got back to the book store! lol



After browsing the book store for awhile, we went to have tea at Golden Tips Tea Room. The tea and the service was average and we wished we had gone back to the attentive staff and wine glasses of Nathmulls. For lunch we went to the recommended restaurant Kunga for Momos and Tibetan soup. It was nice, but I was a little off Momo's after eating a chicken Momo at our hotel on the first day that was a little questionable in texture/taste.



We wandered around town a bit more and found a little dessert shop. We bought a variety of little desserts and decided to curl up in our beds for the afternoon again... lol I think Kolkata really wore us out with all the walking tours we did! We went back to the hotel and ate our little desserts in bed and ordered a pot of Darjeeling Tea from room service! Tough life I know! We dragged ourselves out of bed to walk the 300 metres to The Park Restaurant for another super awesome meal including the Hot Toddy, before heading back to the hotel..The next morning we had an early morning taxi planned for the 3 hour trip to the airport, it was time to leave the land of the clouds and head to Varanasi.... the Spiritual Home of India...



In summary, Darjeeling was wonderful, a quaint little Hill Station near the Nepalese border. There is normally a tour you can do at sunrise, where you head to Tiger Hill to watch the sun rise over the mountains including Khangchendzonga and Everest. We didn't do this tour as it was so cloudy that we couldn't be guaranteed a view that morning (and we were far too cold to risk it). We are told that had we visited in about 3 weeks time, the weather would have been clear and sunny.... Oh well, it was still beautiful and means that we will just have to come back another time to catch the famous views we missed this time around.





See you in Varanasi!

Reet and Taylor xx

---