tea for two

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day 82-ish

On arrival in Darjeeling (by jeep in the misty night) our sights were set on a good cup of tea. So far we have had just chai (v sweet milky tea, drank in shot-sized quantities) in place of a cuppa.

First though, we thought we'd better learn a bit about what they grow around here. You can see tea growing on the hills for miles. We trotted off to Happy Valley Tea Plantation, where we learnt that the finest tea one can buy is called Super Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe Number One. Explanation (as we understood it from our enthusiastic, but not so comprehensible guide):
Super Fine - it's the best
Tippy - the tip of the shoot, rather than the leaves is used
Golden - the colour of the tea brewed
Flowery - flowers of the tea plant included in the manufacturing process
Orange Pekoe - name of the plant
Number One - first harvest ("flush") of the year (March - May)

We gratefully reclined in a very English sofa in a very English hotel, reminiscent of the buildings found in the Lake District and aptly named the 'Windermere'. Tea, biscuits and cakes were served with an Indian twist - potato pokoda - interesting. Soph relished the delicate light brew that Darjeeling tea produces. Dan was a little disappointed, claimed he preferred PG Tips and hit the next chai shop we saw.

Last big mountain vista was of Kanchendzonga (on the border of Eastern Nepal) at sunrise. In the distance was the massive peak of Everest, which got Dan very excited about (he's been reading nowt else but mountaineering books).

We spent the rest of the time relishing the views over lush green hillsides, and the cold dank weather before we hit southern India; mose-ing around the markets; and watching Indians on holiday (there were reminders here and there of English sea side resorts, including a lot of tat for sale) and coping with the weather.

We left Darjeeling well refreshed but apprehensive of the journey ahead. We'd had to lower our standards to Sleeper class (there was no room in 3AC) and we'd heard rumours of cockroaches and interesting travelling companions in such carriages...

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Photos

toy train station with darjeeling and mountains behind
we never made it onto the toy train as the tracks ran alongside the road and the ride took 6hrs vs jeep's 3hrs

kanchendzonga at dawn
you guys may be sick of mountain photos - but we're not. they're beautiful

everest
being the biggest girl on the horizon, everest (saranath/chomolonga) was the first peak to catch the morning's rays

Comments

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Darjeeling
Stayed at the Windermere? seems expensive. Though great view on the second floor of the open air lounge. And the everest? Boy, were you lucky! My Tiger Hill at 5am was overcasted. Too much fog, not even the peak of the 3rd highest mountain thingie. Good photos!