March 31-April 4 A five hour jeep ride from Siliguri and we arrive in the famous hill station of Darjeeling and out of the heat of the lowlands. Darjeeling is beautiful, I think. At least pictures of Darjeeling and the Himalayas to the north look beautiful, but the persistent cloud cover and smoky haze limit our visibility to just the immediate valley. What a difference Darjeeling is! No bicycles, rickshaws, or cows on the streets, all due to the fact that the city is perched on a steep, narrow ridge; with houses and streets perched at the most precarious angles on the steep hillsides. Share jeeps prevail. Remnants of what once was a huge pine forest still populate the city, and the streets are crowded with Bengalis, Nepalis, Tibetans, Hindus, and Muslims. The Bengalis love sweets,
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