Darjeeling

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It is not drizzling and as freezing today, so i find that i am in better
spirits. Plus i didn't spend half of the night up with body aches and
fever, also good.
We drove into darjeeling via shared jeep. We somehow managed to get the
front seat which was great for avoiding car nausea on the way up, but bad
because i was in the middle and the driver kept nailing me in the thigh with
the gear shift. The road up was steep and windy, but it was paved, which is
quite a step up from tibet. All along the way were signs bearing warnings
to go slow....but in much more clever terms. Just to name a few:

"Hurry Burry spoils the Curry" "Don't mix drive and drink" "Don't race
towards eternity" and things of that nature.

The lonely planet said it would only be a 2 1/2 hour drive from Siliguri,
but the whole venture ended up taking closer to 6. Our butts were sore and
are nerves were a little shot by the time we actually got into town. But we
somehow managed to find an affordable room with a nice view of the
mountains. The hot water comes in buckets though, which makes showering a
cold and not so pleasant endeavor. Our first day here was a little
depressing. We were in a cloud. It had poured down rain the night before,
which was a nice change of sound (better than car horns). But the whole
town was wet and dripping with moisture and it made it feel even colder.
It's not really THAT cold, only 57 degrees, but with the rain and the damp,
and the fact we've come from 90 degree weather makes us both a bit chilled
to the bone. The other bummer about being in the cloud is that you can't
really see the surrounding mountains, which is kinda the draw to coming up
here.

It's funny too, that this place is very similar to Tibet.....and a bit
ironic considering we were there just months ago. On a good day you can see
Everest from here, and in different directions border Nepal, Bhutan, and
Tibet. We're very close to all of those places. We've had a few glimpses
when the clouds break of the surrounding hillsides, and it is absolutely
stunning. It is so green and the rise and drop of the peaks is really
dramatic......very very pretty. The people here look more Tibetan than
Indian, which almost makes it feel like we're not in india anymore....and
i'm ok with that.
Last night the festival of Diwali started. We tried to do some research
on what Diwali actually is celebrating but all we could gather is that it is
a festival of lights and there's some Hindu mythology attached. But the
whole town was in a rather festive mood. Fireworks were being shot off
everywhere, which was pretty but also a little frightening. It makes me
nervous to walk down a narrow street where a little kid is manning a
cylindrical firework and haphazardly pointing it in various
directions......but what can you do? The fireworks went on until probably
10 or so and then stopped until a few rogue festive locals decided to set
more off in the silent town.....made for interesting sleep.
Today it is not raining, which is wonderful. The sun is actually shining
through and the clouds look as though they've broken a bit. I'm not sure
what our plan is, but expect some pictures shortly. I think all that is on
our agenda is hovering over a hot cup of tea and trying to keep our bones
warm.

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Photos

diwali fireworks
(no we're not being attacked)