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Published: October 15th 2009
So almost all over being sick. Almost. Yesterday, I went out for my prescribed (by the doctor) lunch of Plain rice and plain Dahl at the Lunar Hotel, which has stunning views. Everywhere in Darjeeling has an amazing view. It was the first clear day so far. Beautiful. I saw some Westerners at the next table and I said hello. Their names were Rob and Hannah and they were from Bristol, England. They were taking a year to travel. Lovely. They said they'd been thinking of going to Tiger Hill the next morning and I said I'd been thinking the same. We agreed to go together.
Tiger Hill is a very popular lookout point for the major mountain here, Kanchenjunga, which the German, Herbert, left several days ago to trek around. Everyone goes to Tiger Hill to watch the sun rise. So at 3:30 AM today, we packed into a jeep to go there. It was a half hour drive, ALL switchbacks with TONS of potholes. I always get carsick, so I asked to sit in the front. I also took a gravol. Didn't help. We had to stop so that I could upchuck my gravol (because after my very restricted diet over the past 3 days, that's about all that was in me). It was awful. I was nauseous even afterwards. When we got to the top, it was still very dark and there were about 300 people there, jostling for views. I found a good spot and waited for the light. The view was amazing. Your classic lovely streaky pink and yellow sunrise with blue clouds, then when the sun peeked up behind the mountain range, everyone cheered. It was wonderful and made me smile so much to hear them. then the sun began casting its rays on Kanchenjunga and everyone started snapping photos. Oh, I forgot, there were Nepali men and women pushing through the crowds selling postcards or coffee in giant thermoses...even CDs. I was unsure what those were for: bring home a video recording of the sunrise so your family can see? That seems as weird as selling key chains for the event:Sunrise key chains! very weird. Or maybe they were audio CDs and you could listen to the sunrise...not sure. When the mountain was illuminated, it was gorgeous. Very classic snowy-tipped Himalayan scene. I could even see the tip of Everest in the background. It was a 360 degree view of mountain range and below that, misty rolling hills and deep valleys. It was also FUCKING FREEZING, but that didn't really matter. I also had to use all of my concentration not to throw up again on the way down, but that didn't really matter either.
Today, I'm still feeling rather weak, but I talked with Graeme online and then took a long walk. I looked in this local fair trade show which had beautiful things and then attempted to find the Tibetan refugee centre (they invite travelers to look around and to shop in their little store. I couldn't find it, but I did have a delicious banana pancake (part of my longed for transition back to real food) and ginger tea while chatting with a woman from Israel who is in the process of becoming a lawyer and the lovely Indian-American medic that I met yesterday. Her boyfriend is a travel agent and might help me plan my train tickets for the 17th. I think I'm going to stop in Varanasi before meeting my friend Jo in Delhi.
On my long walk this afternoon, I ended up going along this gorgeous road which got quiet quite quickly (wow 3 Q's in a row) and I was walking with forest on one side and the enormous valley full of rolling hills with the Himalayan snow-capped peaks on the other. While on this road, I saw monkeys! About 30 of them decided to hang out on the path, babies too. Very cute, but I knew to keep my distance, they can be pretty vicious apparently. I did get a photo of a momma and baby eating flowers from a garden though.
Last night was one of the best things I've done so far. At about 6:30 PM, it was dark by then, I wrapped myself in a blanket and went to stand on the roof of my hotel to look out at the stars and the valley. It was amazing. You can see thousands of stars, even the milky way. I think I saw Orion's belt, too. I stood at the railing and just gazed out at the enormous valley with twinkling lights scattered through it, watching car lights across the valley brighten then disappear as they drove. I watched the Tibetan prayer flags flap in the wind and listened to the sound of them. I also heard dogs in the valley howling and barking, the wind, a few cars, and the Hindu temple next to my hotel was playing chanting music. It was amazing.
So, that's the update, more or less. So much happens in a day. Tomorrow is my birthday and I think I'm going to try to take a Tibetan cooking class and maybe get my eyebrows threaded. I have to celebrate somehow. the thing that I will miss the most I know is having people around me to celebrate with. The girls from today have tentatively agreed to have tea with me...I wish I had something certain, though. People to celebrate with. Oh well. : )
Today's food cravings: Muesli/Granola with raisins in it with soy milk also salad like we have at home in Vancouver (romaine, cheddar cheese, maybe celery, apple,boiled egg chopped up in it, maybe green onion (but I would eat around that), sweet peppers, maybe sunflower seeds...maybe with Jamaica mistake dressing or Green Goddess. Dag, I want that. I'm still on dry toast here (although I am cheating a bit)). Present craving: corn kernels from a can.
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Leenie
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Emy
Sounds Beautiful...wish I was able to give you a hug and a kiss for your Birthday!