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Published: December 14th 2009
Glenary's
One of our many cups of tea at our favourite cafeAfter a mammoth 24 hour journey of bumps and little sleep on bus and then jeep we arrived in the beautiful hill station of Darjeeling. The windy, slow ascent meant we were going to stay here for a while whether we liked it or not. Sitting at 2000m above sea level its hillside remoteness and mountainous beauty was a heady combination and a nice continuation from Nepal. Our Hotel was, predictably, at the top of the town and even our previous trekking experience didn’t help much as we lugged our heavy backpacks up. It was all worth it though as Hotel Aliment was a great spot with a big library, friendly owner and great views.
Darjeeling was an India we hadn’t experienced yet. It was relaxed, the people weren’t out to get your money and it was cold. The hats and gloves we had accumulated in Nepal were put to use once again as we wrapped up each day to walk down into town. In Darjeeling its all about the tea. There’s no chai in these parts only super fine tippy, golden flowery, orange pekoe leaves plucked straight from the green hills, as the darjeelites would say.
We enjoyed
Lewi pouring the tea
Look at all the cakes! tea and cakes (lots of them for Hannah) at the Darjeeling institution that is Glenary’s where you order tea, choose your cakes and sit back in the wicker chairs to enjoy the views of the Himalayas. After a few days of tea and cakes we decided it was time to see how it was all done, so a trip to Happy Valley Tea Estate entailed. A sea of hillside green awaited us as we were shown around the factory and saw the women, of all ages, as they plucked the leaves. The leaves are sorted into the good stuff, which is dried, and the dust that just lies on the floor, which they bag to use in cheap tea bags. It’s big business out here and this particular tea estate has a deal with Harrods for their tea.
Tea tasting was next and we tried different types of black, green and white tea gaining a particular liking for the second flush black teas. People all over the town spoke so knowledgeably of tea and just showing a hint of interest at a shop would lead to tea tasting and in depth analysis of the different flavours.
Another point
Chess
look at the concentration of interest in the ever amazing Darjeeling was Tiger Hill, a 2600m peak reached by jeep to see the sunrise over Mount Kachendunga, the third highest mountain in the world. It was a beautiful sight, despite yet another early wake up, and the changing colours on the mountains made the jostling with hordes of tourists and Japanese tripods worth it. However the attitude of some Indian tourists to the need to have the best view made sunrise into more of a tourist show than a sight of natural beauty. We declined the jeep ride back down and decided to wait for the crowds to disperse before we enjoyed a more peaceful walk back. The next day indeed showed us that tourist hype is sometimes not all its cracked up to be as we saw a more amazing sunset from our rooftop. We sat, with a cold Kingfisher, as clouds consumed us creating an eerie, yet spectacular setting over Darjeeling. Then as the sun lowered, the light pierced the clouds and set over the mountains creating the deepest reds, oranges and purples in the early evening sky. A quite special moment.
It wasn’t all tea and cakes in however, Darjeeling
mystical clouds
the view at sunset from our rooftop is also home to the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute showing Everest attempts and equipment used. It was crazy to see the meagre amount of clothing that was worn in the first attempts after we had been so cold at half the height of Everest in all our gear. There was a big memorial to Tenzing Norgay, the first man to summit Everest, who lived in Darjeeling and now rests atop the highest point in town.
There were a few more days of more tea, cakes, chess and reading, punctuated by the daily power cut that usually hit just as we’d almost finished the blog. Typical!
Darjeeling was a beautiful place that felt interesting and homely at the same time, we even went to the cinema. It was worth the long journey to get there and our new found knowledge of tea will stay with us. The message is just don’t drink tea bags people….buy the strainer and savour the flavour!
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Dad
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Orange pekoe
Really enjoying reading your Blogs! The detail makes it all so much more real. Also a great journal for you to re-visit when you're as old as me! Had some orange Pekoe the other day from Sainsburys - I agree - top stuff.