The journey to Darjeeling is worth recording. From Ludhiana The
Couplands and Helen took the fast train to Delhi and then had our first
flight on one of India’s budget airlines (not bad) and spent a night in
Siliguru. From there we took the ‘toy train’ to Darjeeling, normally a six hour trip on the narrow gauge railway.
This gave us the best opportunity to sample the stunning scenery, but
towards the end our steam train started to run into serious problems.
We ended up being delayed by over two hours – not only that but Rish
and his Mum were not feeling well at all!
Darjeeling itself was very different: Freezing cold everywhere (India
has yet to embrace central heating) and a mix of oriental and Indian
influences. We checked out the peace pagoda, zoo (good) and Mountaineering Institute, which had connections to Tenzing Norgay, the local hero.
You can’t mention Darjeeling without tea and we stopped at the tea
fields, though it wasn’t plucking season. Helen had her photo taken
with a little boy (called Rishi!) and girl – intrigued by the white
lady. Went to bed early sapped by the cold and not feeling up to eating
anything.
Darjeeling, the rest of our stay - 26th to 29th Jan
Contending with cold and illness we didn’t over-exert ourselves in
Darjeeling, although we got up very early and drove to Tiger Hill for
the view of the sunrise.
There were conflicting opinions as to whether we could see Mt Everest,
between Helen (female intuition) and a guide (who had actually climbed
on Everest). We’ll never know who was right.
In our days here we sampled the colonial lifestyle with tea at the
Windimere Hotel, shopped for hand-made goods and walked around the
local attractions such as the natural history museum (ugly) and the
combined monastery / temple (beautiful). We also visited the Tibetan Refugee Centre and found out about the panchen lama.
The Darjeeling experience improved when Amit and Monika arrived and we
joined them in their hotel, the Viceroy, which did have heating of
sorts. There staff treated us very well (when we went out for dinner
they would leave hot water bottles in our beds). One of the staff had
been to England on a rugby tour.
We found the locals laid-back and friendly. Wherever we drove somebody
would jump on the back of the jeep for a free ride. On Republic day our
jeep was frequently stopped by children stretching rope across the road
and then asking for money – all very good natured.
