Day 27 - 34 Kolkata & Darjeeling

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We arrived in Kolkata around 10:30 at night after having flown from Banglore. We spent three days exploring the city, including the nightlife, Indian Museum, Victoria Memorial, and the famous Maidon Park. We found Kolkata to be our favorite of the three major cities (Delhi & Mumbai being the other two). The city seemed relaxed in comparison and the people seemed friendlier. From Kolkata, we took at train to a small city near Darjeeling, where we then hired a share jeep (10 or more people in a jeep meant to fit 6 comfortably) and rode 3 more hours up the mountains to Darjeeling. If I were a reasonable man, a man of forethought, I would have taken pictures of the breathtaking views traveling up the mountains, as well as the wonderful views of India's largest mountain range from our hotel balconey the first day we arrived; however, I failed to do this believing that I would have ample time for pictures in the days that followed. Unfortunately, clouds hampered this effort. Most days that we were in Darjeeling the clouds would rise deep from the valley below us and obscure our view - even to the point that at times while Brian and I were sitting on our balcony the clouds would be so thick in front of us that we couldn't see 10 feet. It was as if we were sitting in the clouds. We shared a dorm room with two girls - one from Korea and one from Portugal - who were traveling the world. We met them on the train from Kolkata. Together, we visited Monasteries, tea plantations, temples, and local restaraunts. In my opinion, Darjeeling is the best place we have been so far. The city is rather small and seemed very welcoming, but the views, even with the clouds, were amazing. From Darjeeling, we took a share jeep to a hub town 3.5 hours away, then got on another share jeep for 1 more hour to the Nepali border where we took a bus for 18 or so hours to Kathmandu where we are currently.

Again, for some reason, the labels of our pictures do not, in many cases, match the pictures themselves. We're not sure how to fix this, so this is the best we can do...

Finally, to Matt Mockerman, if you're out there: Godspeed to Moldova my friend. Don't forget about Istanbul!

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Comments

[cl]

You're an ashram
One thing you can say about Indian museums: They've got some old stuff ....one "on the positive side" argument to your lament on not taking Darjeeling pics on a clear day: your pictures of the city/mountains/clouds are some of the coolest photos I have ever seen. Seriously great stuff (I'm no art critic, but I can assure you I've looked at thousands of pictures in my lifetime)....eat you heart out, Ansel Adams!

[Potter]

"tea"
Great pictures. It has been a lot of fun following you on your journey. I hope you didn't spend too much time relaxing at the "tea" plantation. They sure have different names for things there.