Teg- Darjeeling was amazing. As soon as we arrived we knew we had screwed up by only allowing ourselves to stay for 4 nights. As we’ve learned over the last few weeks, we have to book train tickets at least a week in advance to insure we get on it, otherwise, we watch ourselves crawl up the waitlist, hoping we get bumped into being a confirmed traveler – never a sure bet. But anyways, we already had booked our train to Bodh Gaya so our time in Darjeeling was restricted.
We arrived around noon after a bumpy ride along the narrow roads up the hillsides of West Bengal. After settling into our extremely cute hotel (where we had to climb over 100 steps to get to our room!), we wandered up the streets checking out all the little stalls towards Chowrasta, a square at the top of the town. I must admit, it was hard to resist many of the beautiful woollens that were being sold all over the place, especially because the weather was much cooler than all our previous days in India. I don’t think I’ve seen Mike in such an excited shopping mood! hahaha!
Day 2 hit the spot. We trekked over to the Himalayan Zoological Park and found what days in the Sunderbans could not provide us. Tigers! Because the whole town is set on a hill side, so is the zoo. So for the most part, we were either looking down the hill into some fenced off animal enclosures or looking up into them. The two huge tiger areas were, unfortunately ones that we had to look up at. At first, this really sucked because we could barely see them; they were just to high up on the hill and amongst the trees and bush.
Somehow, I don’t know how, as I was standing there anticipating the teegs ;) to spring down closer to all of us onlookers, a man in a suit came up to me and asked me how I was liking the tiger experience. I said it was alright, I had barely seen them and that I was hoping to maybe climb up the huge fence a bit to get a better look (all jokingly of course…haha). Without even responding to me, he turned the other way higher up the path and called someone. Within seconds another man showed up who hurried me over to the ‘no entry gate’. I just knew, this was gunna be good. At this point Mike was super close to me, but he was off in day-dreamland staring at wolves. I called him over and soon enough there we were, on the staff side where stairs followed the tiger fence all the way along right to the top. It was amazing. Nothing like being eye-to-eye with a tiger!
After the zoo we spent some brief time in the Himalayan and Everest Museums, and then we made our way even further from Darjeeling to the Tibetan Refugee Help Centre. The walk was definitely further than we had thought it would be and we had to climb up the hillside through a tea plantation to get to the entrance. It was all well worth it though! I ended up getting a Tibetan woollen sweater there that would soon become a daily wear!
The next few days in Darjeeling were wonderful. The town is very beautiful and also very peaceful. On top of it all, we truly stayed in the best hotel in town. Dekeling is a family run hotel, and they easily made our stay that much more enjoyable. Can’t complain about having had the top corner room (still under our budget) that overlooked most of the town! The family was extremely friendly, Madame (the mom) especially seeked to satisfy the needs of everyone staying there. On our last morning she wore a Canadian pin and handed us over beautiful white peace scarves. Such a nice women!
Mike – Darjeeling was such a refreshing escape after being in the hot hot heat of India for the past month and a half. The mountain air was fresh and cool at all hours of the day (usually between 0 C and 9 C). This required a change of wardrobe, and a regular influx of steaming Darjeeling tea. There was also Tibetan fare aplenty, which as we came to discover, is really quite good!
Darjeeling is quite the trekkers Mecca. There’s a bounty of great treks, and isolated Gompa’s to visit; four days just was not enough to sufficiently cover Darjeeling and the surrounding area. We met a lot of really nice people through the hotel we stayed at. Throughout the entire lodge, the only room that was heated was the common eating area, so most people tended to congregate there. A lot of people were either going to or coming from Sikkim; it’s definitely going on my list for next time… We also talked to an elderly couple from Britain who had gone to Nagaland, which borders Myanmar, and their experience there was something out of a Gary Jennings novel – singing Eunuchs, royal Hermaphrodites, former head hunters; totally out-of-this-world. Four days just wasn’t enough.
After the Zoo/Tiger experience and Tibetan Refugee Center we were pretty zonked, which worked in our favour because we planned to wake up at 4:00am the next morning to drive to TIger Hill to catch the sunset (and, fingers crossed, a view of Mount Everest).
It was tough to wake up, only to stand in the cold with hundreds of anxious people awaiting the sunrise. When you’re jostling for space amidst throngs and throngs of people, each trying desperately to take a picture of every second of the sunrise, it’s hard to imagine how such a place can maintain it’s appeal. It’s almost as if the rare sight of Everest on a clear day has as much pull as spotting a tiger in the Sunderbans. Yet, unlike the Sunderbans, Tiger Hill did not disappoint.
True, the cloud cover didn’t permit an Everest sighting, but the view was nonetheless spectacular. Tiger Hill was an island amongst the turbulent ocean of clouds, we hovered for thirty minutes as the clouds slowly rose to block the view of the eastward skyline, only to fall again at the most opportune moment. When the sun finally broke the horizon, the crowd started cheering, the pilgrims started praying, and it was overall, a great moment.
We chose to trek back the eighteen kilometres into Darjeeling, rather than share a taxi. From the viewpoint on the top of the hill, we took a trail back down, which took us along a ridgeline. The rising mist from the morning sun provided a very serene backdrop to the hike, and we were absolutely alone on the trail.
When we reached the bottom, Teg was feeling quite hungry and decided she’d trek ahead in order to make it back for breakfast, while I decided I’d check out the various Gompa’s along the way. The monasteries were quite colourful, and unlike the Hindu temples of the South, they were also quite inviting. At one in particular, probably the largest Buddhist Tibetan monastery in the area, I sat in on the service. I couldn’t understand what the head guy was saying, but after each verse there followed a sequence of “Om” chants, loud beatings of the ten-foot bass drum, and a high pitch rattle of a cymbal-esque instrument, which sounded kind of like the hiss of a rattlesnake. This continued for the next fifteen minutes I was in there: “Oooooooooom… BOOM BOOM. Rattle Rattle.” It was loud and I could see how it would be powerful for those involved. Afterwards, they served free chai.
I went to a few other monasteries on the way back, they were less aesthetically beautiful, but their location was practically cut into the side of the mountain which made it much more peaceful. There were many monks in quiet meditation. Tibetan monasteries are very colourful and tend to be surrounded with large prayer wheels, which is quite in contrast to the quiet simplicity characterized by the Japanese style of Buddhism. It’s very cool how proud and happy they are to have foreigners interested in their places of worship. I never felt like I was intruding on anything, nor did I feel unwelcome.
Overall, I’d say from our experience in Darjeeling, in the face of years of conflict and displacement, the people were very friendly, welcoming, and warm. It’s hard to distinguish between the North eastern Indians, the Gorkha people, and the Tibetan exiles, but all-together, they were some of the most genuinely friendly people we’ve encountered in India. We were never badgered to buy anything, pressured to get into rickshaws, or in danger of being scammed. They were very approachable, yet kept a respectful distance, more typical of the West. We were welcomed without any strings attached, it was awesome.
Darjeeling sounds awesome!
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