I Love Darjeeling

After taking another purgatorial train ride from Mughal Sarai station in Varanasi and then a bone-jarring, beautiful jeep ride from the plains up into the mountains, I'm here. And I can breathe FOR REAL. It's amazing how much we take clean air for granted. Even the most polluted days in Seattle can't compare to the cleanest day in Delhi or Agra.

The train station at Mughal Sarai is more than just a bit dodgy. I was fortunate enough to stand next to a lovely group of elderly Finnish people, as the staring was really getting under my nerves for the first time on this trip. At one point I put my pack on the ground and sat on it, and a guy with a cart selling newspapers and books decided to move his conveyance right next to me so that he could stare down my shirt. This is when I found the lovely Finns. The train ride this time was fine as I wasn't on the top bunk, but again, the guy in the bunk next to me kept leaning over and stared at me, mostly my chest, for the better part of three hours. He leaned forward to stare even more-- ! -- but I told him to bugger off and put my blanket over me. He looked quite embarrassed at that point and didn't look at me again. Good gad.

At the New Jalpaiguri train station I met up with a nice Aussie guy named Jared who was also going to Darjeeling, so we shared a jeep ride with about eight other people. It was an interesting three or four hours up winding hills with breathtaking views. There were a couple of people yakking on the side of the road here and there, and two people in our jeep had to spew as well. I'm glad I have a very strong stomach. That and the terrifying jeep rides in Kashmir more than prepared me for this (one and a half lanes AND it's paved? EASY! ha).

The Darjeeling hills are stunning and except for a few tropical plants here and there it reminds me a lot of home. Jared and I walked to the Tibetan Refugee Self-Help Center, which was a bit of a hike up and down, and stopped at a beautiful Buddhist monastery on the way there. We were the only ones there and the caretaker was lovely and extremely helpful.

The city of Darjeeling itself is really cool, it's built on a very steep hillside so everything goes up up up or down down down. My hotel room has a pretty view of the valley facing west. There isn't any heat (I'm getting used to that) and the hot water comes in buckets upon request, but things are CHEAP here. I picked up a great Nepali-type wool hat with fleece lining for Rs. 90 (about $1.50). I'll have to be careful otherwise I'll need to start using the extra duffel bag to cover my backpack for souvenirs! The people here are wonderfully... distant. No one pushes anything in your face here, I'm not stared at, it's great. As much as I loved India, the constant staring and pushiness does tend to wear on you after a while. I had some lovely chow mein and momos for lunch, which is a nice change from palak paneer, daal and chapatis.

Tomorrow I'm going to get up early to see the sunrise on Kangchendzonga, the third highest mountain in the world and altogether not very far from here. After that a bit of wandering around, trying NOT to shop and then deciding where to go next... I'll head to Sikkim, but I don't know which part yet. Maybe I'll study my guide book and see what strikes my fancy. From the north side of the ridge, the 41-meter-high statue of Padma Sambhavra at Samdrupste is visible, so maybe I'll head there. Either way it's going to be another couple of hours on a jeep, hopefully not so crowded this time. I had to sit in the back facing sidways on the drive up here and my neck is aching a bit.

I'm a bit abashed to admit that I tried to call British Airways to change my ticket to stay here a couple more days, but my ticket is absolutely unchangeable. I can't even pay a fee, it just cannot be done. The guy on the phone said "I'm very sorry madam, but this was a special fare and that was the rule for this ticket. There were also flexible tickets available." To which I replied that yes, I knew about the "flexible" ticket, but it cost $3500 more, which is absolutely ridiculous. He agreed but he still couldn't do anything about it. Oh well, three days in London won't be too bad, but I really do wish I could spend it here (and it's cheaper).