The one with the tea, trains and mountains of Darjeeling!

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This entry will start with the details of our first Indian train journey experience... Varanasi to NJP (somewhere outside Darjeeling.... West Bengal!) After a auto-rickshaw journey to the station we hurried to find what platform we needed with 10 mins to spare. No one seemed to know what platform we needed, nor did they know what train we were after. We managed to find the ticket office where 4/5 men sat about answering phones (simultaneously) and chatting in a relaxed style amongst themselves. We stood eagerly behind, our ticket in our hands, one eye on them the other on the clock watching our departure time creep closer. We need not of panicked... our train, in true Indian style, was delayed by half hour! They told us that if we sat in the waiting room they would inform us of the platform number..... an hour later it came in and we boarded. We'd decided for our first overnight journey to pay the extra and go top class which was 2AC (2nd class, air con) You get your own bunk, sheets, a meal (supposedly) and it's clean... I had images of the train in the film 'Darjeeling Limited', oh how I was wrong! The carriage still crowded, the 'compartments' separated by curtains, two bunks either side and two bunks at the end, opposite the walkway. Rubbish still accumulated on the floor, which would later be swept to the end by a small 'untouchable' boy, who later asked for a tip of 1 rupee (74 rupees to a pound) and the stodge of rice they gave us for meals, that we'd assumed included in the price, was actually quite expensive! We got to our two bunks to find a man in each, one actually wrapped up in the sheets- sleeping! So we turfed them out as politely as we could muster and settled onto our bunks, which no longer had sheets! The two of us sat for most of the day on Anna's lower bunk, the train left the station at 1pm... it was meant to leave 11.40am! The gentleman opposite thankfully was very friendly and sorted us out with clean pillows and sheets (no blankets) and spoke to us at intervals in his best English. He was quite a funny little man, and made the pair of us cry with silent laughter when purchasing a battery powered massaging hairbrush from a seller that walked past (one of many, selling all sorts of random things), the look of somewhat uncertain enjoyment on his face as this man massaged his comb-over was brilliant! He also gave us information on Chenna that passed by. A man walked along with a basket on his front filled with lot's of different edible bits and spices - Chenna, which we sampled- spiced fried chick peas (yummy). So we sat happily on the lower bunk, playing cards, reading, eating... until we stopped at one station and a load of people came on board who seemed to just try their luck with sitting wherever they could... one man chose our bed, we didn't know whether it was rude to ask him to move and so quietly put up with it. Until, that is, he would not stop staring at us... we asked him several times and yet he seemed to find it more amusing! We did not! And so made a make shift curtain with anna's bedding and created a den... he laughed as he left! Apart from this annoyance, which you don't expect when you pay so much for a ticket and your own bed, the journey was fine.... I managed a few hours sleep but the coldness and the fear of sleeping through our stop kept me awake for most of the night.

We arrived at NJP station around 7am and made our way to the ticket reservation office to book future train tickets to save money and time, we had to wait an hour for it to open. I could barely keep my eyes open and so Anna left me to guard the bags whilst she queued to get in the building... which turned out pointless as when the gate opened the men just charged into the office pushing others out the way! Eventually Anna had hold of the tickets and we jumped on a cycle rickshaw to take us into the neighboring village of Siliguri where we were literally flagged down in our rickshaw by a Jeep telling us he'd take us up to Darjeeling! Jeep's, it would seem, the only real mode of transport up due to the road inevitably being a dirt track! So before we could even think about our plan of action our bags were placed on top of the Jeep and we were sat in it, as it crawled along the road, the driver shouting 'Darjeeling! Darjeeling!' to anyone who looked remotely like they might want to go somewhere. Half an hour later the Jeep was filled (so we thought), Anna and I moved to the back (boot seats) and we were off, on the way picking up more and more people.... in the end the front bench of seats held 4 grown men, the driver having to go between the legs of another to change gear, the middle row of seats holding another 4 grown men and with Anna and I in the back squished alongside 3 men. My bum barely sat on the chair, my torso squidged against the middle seats! Comfy! the ride itself was 2 hours of bumpy hell... when you haven't slept, you're grubby and squashed - a bouncy jeep ride is never favorable. But we made it, and spent our first night adding more and more layers as we had our first meal in Darjeeling and settled into a questionable hotel!

Our first week here was pretty tame in comparison to Varanasi, for several reasons; 1. Darjeeling is a quiet haven in comparison, the main road being the only one congested with traffic and people. The rest of the town a quiet bustling of locals, stalls, tourists and dogs. The place itself is beautiful, very quaint with prominent signs of where the British made their mark- the people themselves a lot wealthier than most in Varanasi, my generation clearly westernised with the latest mobile phones, fashion and hairstyles. Only the elder generation don the familiar attire which is more similar to that of the Nepalese. 2. Anna and I have both been ill, again! Anna spent most of last week in a bubble of phlegm as she battled a cold, I on the other hand suffered the usual issues of an overly sensitive gut... one extreme to the other ending in a bout of sickness on friday and a day of sleeping saturday! Touch wood we're both over it now. I don't think I was built for Indian cuisine, but I'm sure going to keep trying!

Activities wise, last week we ventured on our first day to the very posh Elgin hotel for Hi-tea.... where we sat in the very English influenced gardens on the veranda and were served by a man in the traditional white tailored suit and turban... unfortunately Hi-tea was a little out of our price range so we settled on a pot of Darjeeling tea and a few biscuits! We sat reading our books as the sun went down - beautiful. That afternoon was also the first sighting of my little pup... now I have seen many a stray dogs since leaving New Zealand, and 90% of them look worse for wear... injuries old and new, fleas that cause them to scratch their skin raw, malnutrition and bones that protrude from all sorts of places! It's a horrible sight, and for me a it strangely upsets me a great deal more than seeing humans on the street (something I'm having trouble understanding) but a sight that you do learn to walk past and guiltily block out. However, for some reason this pup caught my eye and drew me in... it must of been a mere few months old, so skinny it merged into the tarmac... i won't go into great detail but it was very upsetting to see especially as it took great joy in being stroked. I walked away on Monday with tears in my eyes. Tuesday whilst Anna was on the internet I wandered back up to the same spot and saw the pup laying there again in more of a state than the day before. I couldn't walk past again, and so sat with it considering my options. Thankfully, as if by fate, a Canadian crouched next to me saying "it breaks your heart doesn't it!" and told me about a poster he had seen offering free veterinary treatment to any injured or ill animal... I needed no persuasion in phoning! So i sat with the bundle of bones in my lap for an hour until they arrived... a long and upsetting hour that included the little thing vomiting (thankfully on the floor!) and nestling it's little head into my tummy. I then had to be put through the upset of watching them place the pup into the back of the cold metal jeep- no basket, no blanket, the poor thing quivered with fright. I spent the entire evening upset and guilt stricken that I had done the wrong thing… that perhaps she was happy living out her numbered days in the sun, perhaps they weren’t numbered at all! Two days later I phoned the Vet’s and joyfully heard the news that she was on the road to recovery, that she had in fact had a viral infection that meant she couldn’t keep food or water down and so was in fact dying. I didn’t ask what was to happen to her next, in fear of having an extra companion on our travels. I know I cannot save every stray or injured animal I see, and normally I’m very realistic about the situation, but something about this Pup made me stop and do something about it… and even if it’s just one dog that’s helped, it’s still one less that’s suffering!

After my Mother Theresa phase I returned to exploring the town we were in! Thursday we ventured to the botanical gardens and stopped to smell the variety of flowers and marvel at the colours. We got a little lost on the way and what should have been a quick walk to the gate turned into a long half hour walk through and up the streets of Darjeeling, a side we would not have normally seen. Friday we started the day at a Tibetan photography exhibition in town, showing the struggle to regain their land from China, the work they have down, the protests that have been carried out all over the world... we left feeling quite shocked that they are still not much closer to getting back what is rightfully theirs, it was an insight to the tibetan history that was quite moving. Afterwards we walked along to the Zoological park which sits outside of the town on the hill - the zoo small in comparison to what I’m use too, being spoilt at home with the delights of Marwell and Longleat, but was a good standard in how they looked after the place. We took in the tigers, leopards and monkeys all with great delight; we wandered around the half attempt of a museum about Everest (the objects on show merely labeled 'Old' 'Medieval'... I think someone needs to show them the definition of Medieval)…. All the while made to feel a little un-comfy about the stares we were getting, at times we seemed to be of more interest than the great tiger the other side of the cage! Bizarre! Unfortunately for me my stomach made itself known whilst at the zoo and so made my way back to the hotel to sleep for the afternoon, meeting Anna a little later for dinner… a yummy dinner of masala dosa, which I got to see again later that nigth back at the hotel. Too much detail?

So Saturday I rested, and rested well… giving my digestive system time to sort itself out . It seemed to cooperate for dinner, where I had a yummy platter of sizzling vegetables. The meal was delicious and the restaurant really enjoyable too, unfortunately for us an American lad took it upon himself to invite himself to our table to drink his beer… so we politely sat eating and listening to him talk of his life in Miami, his model/music producer friends, his yoga journey and how monks often have dinner at his house…. Oh and that he use to like to streak a lot! When he started mimicking our ‘British’ accents we finished up, made our excuses and ran…laughing all the way to the hotel!

Sunday we woke and made our way to the little train station at the bottom of town where we sat in the sun, playing with a couple of very healthy looking puppies, being forced into photographs for Indian families (“And these are the two white girls waiting for the train”) whilst we waited to board the Toy Train for the joy ride! A small steam engine that takes you along the small Himalayan highway and back… it was beautiful, sat in a little choo choo train, the noise bouncing off the buildings, steam and coal floating down in a fuzzy shower, Darjeeling passing the window giving an insight into the local’s daily lives, children stood waving and fascinated at the vehicle, others stuffing their fingers in their ears as yet again they have to go through the deafening passing of the train, full of tourists! The train meandered it’s way up to Ghum hill, where we stepped off to have a brief look around the Toy trains museum - the train and railway now a national heritage sight. The train took us back down to Darjeeling, the snowy mountains in the distance and the sun shining.

I awoke with a shock to the alarm Monday morning at 6.30am, the shock being to the noise and need of an alarm especially as we seem to naturally wake at 6am most mornings! But in case we didn’t, and a good job too, we set the alarm to get us up and ready for our Darjeeling trek! After a jeep ride to the small town of Manabhan yang, we signed in with our passport details, and set off up the mountain along the ridgeway that separates Nepal and India. The path went up, and when I say up I mean UP! After the weekend of illness I had my legs immediately grumbled and informed me of their lack of energy. 12km of continuous upward walking! The walk, even though challenging, was as always beautiful, even with a cloudy sky and cold breeze it was inspiring, stopping off at the stupas and Gompas on the way. Towards the top we stopped at a little ‘café’ I say café… it was in fact a small clay house/hut that the brewer of the tea lived in with her young family. Sat inside out of the wind I felt like I’d gone back in time, it reminded me of the various huts at the Iron Age centre in Cranborne. Buildings that you look in awe, amazed that people USE to live in them, the realization that people STILL live in such buildings is mind blowing, how do they cope? And yet they clearly prove that they cope remarkably well, everything they need inside the little clay walls, the heat warming the air from the little fire. Begrudgingly I got back to my feet and followed Anna’s quick step to the top, Tunglu, where we would spend the night! We arrived by 1pm, well ahead of what we’d planned and so checked into the one little guesthouse and spent the afternoon trying to keep warm with tea and the various blankets and quilts they supplied! Dinner involved us huddled in the little kitchen hut, where one lady solely cooked a Indian inspired feast for us over her clay stove. Various tin pots filled with Dahl, potatoes and such bubbling away over the flames, letting off the spiced fragrance into the air. The meal was delicious, one of the best so far… made more delicious by the fact we were so hungry, so cold and that we watched this lady cook it all from scratch. After our tummies filled, we retired to bed (at 7.30pm) and buried ourselves under a number of quilts. The Indian family (a dozen of them, who had been driven up to the top as the walk too challenging) obviously not tired out insisted on shouting to each other next door, keeping the pair of us awake… banging on the wall and telling them to ‘BE QUIET” didn’t seem to work, it actually took Anna, who angrily got out of her warm bed at 11.30pm, to knock on their door… they wouldn’t open, but kept it down afterwards… that was until the snoring started up! I was thankful for the alarm to give me reason to be awake at 5.30am, where we went outside and watched the sunrise over the glistening mountain range. I don’t think either of us will ever get bored of such a sight, it was perfect!

As we walked back to the guesthouse, the lady who’d cooked us our dinner strode past with took buckets filled with fresh milk, straight from her Cow’s udder… it sat frothing and inviting, ready to be made into big bowls of tasty fresh porridge for our breakfast. Delicious and just what we needed for the walk back down the mountain. The sun out in full glory and giving a brighter and new life to the sights we saw on the way up, and me more energized to appreciate it all - the whitewashed gompa’s, the constant flow of Tibetan prayer flags, the flowers and the huts. Picture perfect! We returned back to Darjeeling in time for lunch and spent the rest of the day reveling in the sights we saw as tiredness crept in by bedtime.

Wednesday was always going to be a different kind of day, as it was Anna's boyfriends birthday back home... so after a few tears we got together a small picnic and returned to the beauty of the Botanical gardens where we sat and ate treats from the bakery, toasting Eddie with our fruit juice, listening to music, reading books and generally taking in the world walk by us as we chatted. It was a lovely and relaxing way to spend a day that could of been quite a blue one for Anna. A group of teenagers also brought some laughter to our day as we watched them walk through the gardens, there must of been about 50 of them, and they all took it in turns to pose on the grassy bank for photos! It was quite a surreal experience - the whole group would stop and then individuals would try out the latest 'model' pose that they'd been practicing for their friends to take photos - pose's that looked exactly like that of the underwear models you see cheesily posed with their arms flexed! Lads were lying down, arms behind their heads, on their sides with their legs seductively placed, their shades down, hair spiked.... it lasted for about 30 mins and then they moved on to the next location. We struggled to stifle our giggles. We were then greeted by three small children, the 9 year old speaking brilliant English and asking us all sorts of questions about where were from, our families, our names, school. It really was remarkable. We slowly made our way back once the sun started setting and then spruced ourselves up and went our for dinner and beer, again to toast Eddie on his birthday and to congratulate Anna for getting through the day... without too many tears!

Thursday we tried to lie in, but our body clocks go off with the sunrise these days and so we lay in bed reading for several hours... both reveling in the fact we could! We then made our way to The Happy Valley tea Estate where we had a short tour around the small factory and watched the tea being made. The first two rooms were empty, being the wrong time of day to see the tea being dried on long boards. But were told that the leaves were picked and then placed on the long boards where cold air at first was blown under them to dry, and then followed by hot air. We went downstairs where we saw and smelt the first of the tea going through thr next process- fermenting! It's put through several machine to press, filter and then left on raised marble platforms to ferment. Once it has been left for several hours it is scooped up and taken through to the next room where it is sorted into grades and filtered before being packaged up and sent off to all the numerous buyers - Harrods included! Anna patiently listened to our guide and got the low down of the full process - I was more content on watching it happen, even without the commentary. It was such a lovely natural sight to see, people busying around these tea leaves making sure that they were of a certain quality, the colours of the teas also fascinated me - seeing them all next to each other piled on the floor made such a contrast, the smell overwhelmingly nice. Women sat in one corner hand sifting leaves that didn;t make the grade for the high grade, but could be made into tea bags, men worked large vibrating machines that sifted the greater quantities of leaves... everyone had their place and contently went on with their work. The number of people there was a great deal less than I had imagined, probably as it was off season but only a mere dozen or so people were hard at work. Unfortunately we didn't get to see any ladies actually picking leaves, so we just had to imagine that bit. We spent the lunchtime sitting in the sun reading before heading down to the Tibetan refuge centre - we were greeted by several smiling faces all hard at work doing up the magnificent building behind them. A large square building painted with every colour of the rainbow, the most intricate patterns to bring the building, windows and walls to life. Inside the bottom a room that acted as a shrine to their Dalai Lama and Gods. We stepped in, taking our shoes off and stood amazed at the detail of the hand painted statues, walls, ceilings and such - a master piece of a room. We slowly made our way back up to hotel, after discovery a short cut which missed out the three large steep hills we'd been puffing our way the past two weeks. We both in disbelief that we'd only just discovered it now, two days before we left... someone was obviously telling us we needed the exercise of the hills! We spent the evening at a brilliant little french themed restaurant, eating one of the best pizza's we've ever had- everything fresh and made before our eyes! We went to bed full and happy!

Which brings me to today - Friday, we leave Darjeeling tomorrow, begrudgingly on another jeep back down to Siliguri where we will spend the evening before getting a train on Sunday to Calcutta - the second biggest city in India. We've decided to treat ourselves this evening with a slightly more luxurious hotel room, in another hotel... with a TV! Our hotel was more of a glorified hostel but without the facilities - the beds were like sleeping on a plank, the hot water by bucket and the guy who was running the show clueless in management... we could only have hot water when he wasn't busy, him being busy seemed to consist of him singing very loudly and disappearing from the hotel. The walls also paper thin and so the joining rooms seem to join us with their own conversation every night.... so after two weeks we felt we deserved an upgrade for the night! The Tv... I know it sounds silly when traveling, but when everything shuts down by 9pm and its super cold outside - one night snuggled in watching a film seems like the greatest luxury in the world!

Darjeeling has been a beautiful place and one that served us both well when we were feeling ill. Although I think both of us are ready for a change and a new adventure now… Calcutta here we come!
Love to everyone at home! Hope the winter season isn’t proving too chilly and gloomy already!

Lessons Learnt:
You can’t save every stray, but by helping just one, you can make a difference.
To try and understanding the prying eyes and not let it offend or upset.
A little luxury here and there can make all the difference!

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