Blogs from Mirik, West Bengal, India, Asia

Just before i begin this blog id like to fix a mistake in the last blog that i became aware of. As i said previous to last blog sorry for the mistakes but there are 5 million not 50 million people living with aids in india. I would like to thank everyone who has been reading and enjoying the blogs and commenting, keep em coming guys. Before i get to all the stuff about the mountains the day before we flew north we visited a community in kolkata called L'arche which is french for the arc. L'arche dealt with the mentally disabled of Kolkata who would most probably be left to die on the street as for many families owning a disabled child would be a financial drain. Larche was a beautiful place with a very ... read more

We've abandoned the sea and sun and arrived in Darjeeling where supposedly Novembers clear skies and warm temperatures make it the perfect time to visit. Yet, the skies are quite misty and it's damn cold. But besides the weather, like a Canadian autumn, it's quite nice here. We've come to Darjeeling for adventure and adventure we found. We embarked on the Singalila Ridge Trek: 96km through the mountains. All on foot, all on our own. Day One: Blissfully Oblivious Early in the morning we caught a ride to the town of Manebhanjang, 26 km away from Darjeeling. This was the starting point for our trip and on our first day we planned to travel 11 km uphill and then 9 km down hill. We huffed and puffed along a stone road walking along ridges and passing ... read more

Hello, again. Arrived in Kalimpong, from Darjeeling, the day before yesterday. Spent the first night at the Kalimpong Park Hotel. This had had a great write up in my gude book, and I'm sure it's lovely under normal circumstances, but appears to be undergoing a major refurbishment at the moment, which meant noise and workmen everywhere, and I spent most of my time sneezing, because of the dust. So moved yesterday to the Silver Oaks hotel, which is a fairly classy joint down the road (and a little nearer to the town, which is an added bonus, as it's all uphill to get back!). The first afternoon in Kalimpong, I just spent mooching around the town, and getting orientated. Yesterday, being Saturday, there was a market. Again, according to the guide book, the markets are generally ... read more

OK, this is the whole story in a nutshell. After some interesting cups of tea and lively conversation, "James" spent five hundred dollars on carpets said to be from Kashmir that, in other carpet makers opinion's, cost about six dollars each. That was the nutshell version. What follows now is the full version. AND ENDS UP THE CARPETS ARE FANTASTIC IN THE BEDROOM in the cottage, just like the old fellow predicted, and feel silky and soft to the toes and feet. So here goes the rest of the story. So we were in this hotel called "The Taj". All the hotels on the Carolyn Myss tour seemed to called the Taj. I had just had the worst meal of my life in India and I told the front desk so. Or maybe only think ... read more