Blogs from Darjeeling, West Bengal, India, Asia - page 10

Laitan nyt tahan tekstin,jonka kirjoittelin toissa paivana. Silloin blogini ei toiminut. Darjeelingia mainostetaan paljolti luontokohteena, sellaisen kuvan saa postikorteista ja esitteista, joiden kuvat ovat taynna lumihuippuisia vuoria ja vehreita metsia. Meille tuo kaupunki oli kuitenkin pienoinen pettymys! Vuoria sai turhan tiirailla paksun pilviverhon,tai olisiko olut sasteverho,lavitse ja puita ei nakynyt keskikaupungila kuin hotelien pihoissa isoissa ruukuissa. Darjeeling oli aika urbaani kaupunki: sielta loytyi "Big bazaar" ostoskeskus ja meidan hotellimme vieressa oli Benettonin vaateliike. Myos autojen maara kertoi kaupunkimaisuudesta, isoa maasturia ja jeeppia kulki tiiviissa letkassa paakatuja. Mistaan luonnonrauhasta siella ei ollut tietoakaan, kun sai koko ajan kuunnella torvien toitotusta. Se oli sen verran laajalle levittaytynyt kaupunki, ettei siella ihan heti paassyt ... read more

Hello From India.... Im not sure where I left off... Our arrival in India was rough, to stay the least. For the second time, my first day in India made me cry. We flew from Kunming to Kolkata on Sunday night (our flights were given to us, we didn't have the choice of what time to arrive). Arriving to Kolkata at midnight is a really bad idea as a tourist, so don't anyone try it. We visited three different hotels in the middle of the night. The place I had planned for us to stay in, which according to lonely planet offered a "home away from home atmosphere", was in actuality a hotel that resembled a jail/brothel. We climbed up 3 flights of stairs with our backpacks in the 100 degree heat and were presented with ... read more

So I'm heading back to Kalkota (Calcutta) buy an english language paper at the station and read the general strike is over in Darjeeling ... so a quick consult of the timetables, 2 hrs in the ticket office and my plans are changed again as I head to the hills via the Darjeeling mail again. No travel problems this time, just more personal issues ... The change of temperature (it was literally freezing in Darjeeling and the previous days prawn curry caught up with me and I find myself sitting in bed with a hot water bottle with a stinking cold and a well worn route to the toilet! After feeling sorry for myself for a day I crawl out into the clouds which sadly never lifted and went exploring on the steam trains, the Tensing ... read more

I walked into school on Monday and the place was looking bright and fresh already. The money that I handed over thanks to Ken has been put to work and the classrooms walls are now pink and the ceilings pale grey. The workmen then proceeded to paint the window and door framed a dark brown and the smell was dreadful. So, after break the entire school took off just a little further down the hill to the botanical gardens. Luckily it was a lovely day and the children had fun running races and playing circle games. They still have a lot to do, but I am amazed at what can be done for so little money. As you will have seen from the photos, the school is very basic with very few resources and the children ... read more

A trip to the Zoo Darjeeling is a strange place, so beautiful as you approach it but once you are in the mist of it you become lost in quite dark little streets and alley ways with very few views. There are many sets of steep steps connecting one street to another in a kind of exhausting short cut. Always the dilemma, do I take the steps and will I make it to the top, or do I go the long way, winding left and right up the face of this bloody mountain. Am I sounding a little over Darjeeling? I think a change is in the wind! As you will have already gathered, in Darjeeling you can’t walk anywhere without either going up or going downhill and the trip to the zoo was a downward ... read more