Monday
Arrived at NJP train station in the morning, but thought it was Siliguri. I asked some Indians on the train and happened to meet up with two other travelers, Stacey from Houston! and Kristyna from Winnipeg, Canada, who were in the same compartment as the people I asked. They were getting off at NJP thinking that they could get the toy train to Darjeeling. They let me tag along because I thought they might know something I didn't. I had read in the guidebook that it's not possible to do the toy train from NJP, you have to go farther up the mountain to Kurseong. This turned out to still be true so instead, we went by jeep to Darjeeling.
Sweetest girls. They didn't have a place booked so they came along with me to the hotel I had booked and bunked in with me since they didn't have any other rooms available at the hotel. It was fine because the bed was king size so it fit all three of us.
We went for high tea at Windermere hotel, a classic hotel leftover from the British era. The tea was incredible and it came with scones and biscuits and cake. It was quite well done in a fancy room.
Very hazy here So the lookout point is not so good. Can't see the mountains in the distance at all. After, we did some shopping at the chowrasta (that's what they call the town square) and the girls booked a trek for the following day to the Himalayas. It was really a fun day spent with them. I'm so glad to have bumped into them.
Tuesday
I'm on a self guided day tour today of the area highlights. Which basically means the agent hired me a car and driver and gave me a list of places I should visit. I visit them while the driver waits. It's not weird at all?!
1. Japanese peace pagoda.
Beautiful building with four gold plated Buddha in varying positions. A prayer ceremony was in session and they allow tourists to participate by giving them a fan drum and a stick. You sit on the floor and join in the drumming for as long as you please. It was very soothing. And the carvings around the temple in sandstone of different stories of Buddha's life were incredibly beautiful.
2. Dali monastery
This was opened about 20 years ago by the current Dali Lama. The buildings are situated on a hillside overlooking a huge valley below. I don't think this sort of real estate is all that hard to come by in this area, but the view is still impressive, even with the haze. It's just a huge valley.
This is an operating school for boys sort of like a Catholic school I suppose but in the Buddhist religion. It's also a local temple and there are 10 or so older parishioners hanging around the grounds with their prayer beads. Its noon on a Tuesday so you wouldn't expect many other people. The inner temple was unfortunately not open but I'm sure it's as grand and colorful and peaceful as the outside.
3. Main Drag
We drive through the Darjeeling bazaar and past the motor and bus stand. There must have been a mile long cars parked on the roadside, and they are all back to back Jeeps. Amazing! And packed so tightly there's no way any of them could get unparked.
Lots of kids in school uniforms today. Very formal English education sort of uniforms. Lots of different schools. Apparently Darjeeling has some really good colleges too. And the population speaks English well. Perhaps due to the free conversational English program here, according to my travel agent.
4. Himalayan zoo
A zoo in the hills situated in the native vegetation of this part of the world. One of only two places this untouched vegetation can still be found. They had monkeys, pheasants, deer, a black bear and two tigers. It was well done.
On the way out, I bought a mix from a street vendor. There were nuts and spices to choose from. I ordered almonds, raisins and cardamom seeds. They pack it in a little cone of newspaper. It was very tasty and left my mouth clean. It will be a good snack to have on the road.
5. Tea garden
I thought this would be a restaurant where you sit in the garden and sample tea. Instead, it's a huge open field with tea plants as far as you can see. Another great view, probably hindered because of the haze, but cool none the less. Then you can buy a package of tea from one of 25 vendors. I opted to wait and buy some later.
6. Tibetan refugee center
This place was opened in 1959 when this area experienced a huge wave of refugees after the Chinese invaded Tibet. It seemed quite rundown, but was apparently still functioning. It was designed to receive the refugees. Provide them necessities and, especially for orphaned children, to provide them with the love and guidance they need to overcome the loss of their parents and their home country. It still seems to operate as a support for the elderly community.
It had a great photo museum telling the story of the center and the current state of the struggle to free Tibet. It reminded me of the story of native Americans. Country invaded, land taken over, systematic disassembly of their culture amidst atrocities that no one speaks of because the population doesn't have a mouthpiece. But all happening right now, not in the distant past. Really, really sad. They are lucky to have an inspirational leader like the Dalai Lama to bolster them, but still so sad.
The bright spot was the weaving center where men and women still weave beautiful rugs by hand, made to order and, I imagine, incredibly expensive. But to watch the process was so incredible. I didn't take many pictures because it didn't seem appropriate but it was so cool to watch how they tie the knots and cut the needles out and pull another color in. I wish I had taken a video of that.
7. Happy valley tea estate
A working tea plantation. Unfortunately, they haven't started picking tea for the season yet. They did give me a tour though. They showed the machines and explained the process of drying, pressing and sorting the leaves. It was very interesting. Turns out high grade tea is a lot like wine. It's effected by the soil, climate, location, slope, and only finally at the end is it effected by the processing of the leaves. I bought a package of first flush from last year. Hopefully, I will be impressed. I'm sending it home as a souvenir so I won't know for awhile.
In the evening, I went to a little Tibetan cafe called Kunga. I had mo mos and a spring roll. Mo mos are what Tibetans call dumplings and you can get them steamed or fried. I had the veg dumplings, steamed. They had yummy garlic and onion and a bit of carrot inside with a bit of salt. Wonderful. The spring roll was fried, like a Chinese egg roll, but was the size of a 12 inch sub! OMG! They had cooked the cabbage, carrots, and scallions in a soy sauce before packing them into the shell and frying it. Yummy!
They also had four sauces on the table: a green sauce, something spicy and pickled, a red sauce, like ketchup, a brown sauce, spicy thinned out molasses, and a hot red pepper sauce. I especially liked the molasses sauce with the dumplings and the spring roll.
Wednesday
Today is a free day where I get to sleep in, and do laundry and shop for a few things and maybe send some stuff home in the mail. I finally got a really good night's sleep!
I wandered around town. Checked out a combo Buddhist Hindu temple above the town square. There were four different shrines and quite a few parishioners participating in the prayers. A couple was carrying their baby to each shrine and having the monk do a blessing. And there were a billion colored flags blowing in the wind that gave a wonderful peaceful effect. It was a nice spot to spend a few moments.
Some general notes about this area:
The people look markedly different from other parts of India. Many have more of the slanted narrow eyes of the Chinese but the dark skin of the Indians. Some look obviously Mongol, while others have softer features which seem to be from Nepal or Tibetan background. They're generally very friendly here and seem to be better at English than what I've experienced so far. There is a lot less staring and a lot more smiling here.
These people are accustomed to tourists but the majority of tourists, say 95 percent hail from India itself. I had many requests from Indians to have my picture taken with them, but they were always from other parts of India, not from Darjeeling. Along with the cool temperatures, this friendly attitude was really welcome and refreshing.
The school kids are absolutely adorable in their various uniforms. It's obvious that school is important to these people. Women appear to be much more equal in this culture. There were at least as many female vendors at hawker stalls as men.
They love soccer and nearly every vehicle has a sticker on it showing what team they support- Real Madrid, Chelsea, etc.
The girls walk around arm in arm, or hold hands everywhere. Sometimes the boys hang their arm over the other's shoulder. It's very sweet and certainly shows a level of camaraderie in a different way from our culture.
Overall Darjeeling was amazing. And will probably be my favorite part of India. And even though I didn't see the amazing mountain because of the haze, I don't feel like I missed anything.
