Off into the hills

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We left Darjeeling yesterday, after about five days of being there, and we are now in Gangtok, which is the capital of Sikkim.

Darjeeling was a beatiful place to stay and relax. The weather didn't really cooperate with us very much - there was LOTS of fog - but there were a few clear days and even in the fog the views over the hills and tea plantations were fantastic.

On our way to visit a tea plantation, we were lucky enough (or so we thought) to happen upon a nice young local girl who wanted to chat and show us the way to the tea plantation. After about half an hour of walking we thought we had gone a bit far, and asked if the turn of to the plantation was to much farther. Our friend simply said that she had no clue, pointed us to a police officer and continued on her way home. A little bit confused, we got directions and found the place.

It was a bit foggy that day, but the women who were picking tea didn't seem to be bothered. Although the main factory was closed, we took a look around and saw the place where they dry the tea, and got a tasting/demonstration from a lady who owned a little store there. The whole place smelled absolutely amazing.

A fair amount of our time was spent hanging out with some people we met in our guest house. There were two other Canadians there, a Brit and an Australian guy. Most nights (because of the rain) we spent our time playing Monopoly, poker or Scrabble.

One of the mornings we all woke up around 3:30 am and caught a share jeep to Tiger hill, which is a popular view point from which you can see Everest and Khangchendzonga, which is the highest mountain in India (and 3rd highest in the world). Unfortunately it was too foggy to see either until about 5 minutes after we left, so the locals decided to line us all up and take pictures of us with their baby/new husband or wife. At one point we had a bit of a line up...I don't think they get very many Western visitors, as we seemed to be just as much of a spectacle and attraction to the Bengali tourists as the mountains were. So Heidi and Naomi, another Canadian girl, are in about 50 random people's vacation pictures. But they're fine with it. Really.

The day before we left we caught a taxi up the hill (its a BIG hill) to the Tibetan Refugee Self Help Center. Here Tibetan refugees make hand make carpets, sweaters, paintings, furniture and religious items for sale in their show room. With the proceeds they run an orphanage, an old age home and generally help the refugees maintain their culture and way of life.

The food in Darjeeling was another bit bonus. You can get anything from high tea at a posh hotel to samosas and chow mein on the street corner. Tibetan food is also very popular, and we certainly had our fair share of momo's (Tibetan dumplings) and Bhagthuk (Tibetan noodle soup).

Gangtok isn't nearly as wet as Darjeeling and the views are much better - although the mountains are still just out of reach behind the clouds. We visited the Institute of Tibetology this morning, and rode a cable car up to a view point. We will most likely spend one more day here and then head off to Pelling (also in Sikkim) for a few days.

Sadly, we have to come home in about two weeks, but we are looking forward to seeing everyone. Hope you are all having a good summer.

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Photos

Off to work
Women off to pick tea.

Lunch Break
A group of pickers chowing down after a hard morning of working the hills.

Movie stars
Heidi, Naomi, Joel, and Emmanuel at their photo shoot with the locals (Tiger Hill)

In the Clouds
Daybreak from the top of our guest house

Street Meat
Cooking up some amazing Reshmi Kebabs

View from the cable car
Looking over the hills of Sikkim

Comments

[Anthony Ruta]

WOW...................................
looking at the pictures (particularly from the cable car and the guest house)............there's not much more I have to say. Well.......actually there is....look forward to seeing both of you soon. Love, Dad