The Himalayas
Well, I've gone from 30m below sea level off Havelock Island to 2200m above here in Darjeeling!
Spent a few days in Kolkata (Calcutta) to watch the Champion's League final (Arsenal lost, but at least we kept Thierry Henry from moving to Barcelona!). Had a few nice meals there in a nice restaurant called Mocambo, where I ate Devilled Crab for starters and Chateaubriand steak (perfectly done, medium-rare!). The steak was huge, probably 400g, and cost only 150 rupees (2 quid!). Went back a second time the next day!
Kolkata is a pretty cool city, not as upmarket as Bangalore, probably more like Mumbai (Bombay) than any other city I've been to. Robert (the divemaster from Havelock) and I also went down College Street, famous for the endless number of book stalls selling mainly educational books (since it's right by the University of Calcutta). Apparently rumour has it you can find virtually any book amongst it's thousands of stalls and shops! The area is also famous for the cafes, where scholars, artists, philosophers and authors gather to discuss and debate, trying to solve all the world's problems over a cup of chai or 'cawffee'. After browsing the stalls for a while, we took some time out to shelter from the searing sun in the famous Indian Coffee House, set inside a former coffee warehouse. The setting is pretty amazing, with waiters rushing around sporting frilly hats and white uniforms, a mesh of swirling fans above bordered by balconies that overlook the main seating area. Loud conversations and words of retaliation from debates echo from table to table. It's quite amazing! Loved the scene.
3 days after arriving in Kolkata, Rob and I took an overnight train to Siliguri, the access town to Darjeeling, the world famous tea plantation town which was originally a hill station for the British. I'll tell you, I had THE most pant staining ride of my life taking a jeep the 3 hour, 80km journey up to Darjeeling from Siliguri. The terrain changes abruptly from flat land to majestic hills at the foot of the Himalayan mountain range. The narrow twisting roads rarely have any sort of barrier to prevent you from plummeting the steep inclines. Our driver must have been doing about 70km/h up the road, round blind corners, literally inches from the edge of a steep drop! I lost count of the number of times we swerved at the last minute to avoid an oncoming truck or jeep, putting the wheels right on the edge of the steep drop! My knuckles were white from holding on to the grip bar at the back of the jeep! And it got even worse when he decided to take a 'short-cut' off the tarmac road up an incredibly steep gravel driveway to save 10 minutes! I really thought we were going to slip off and roll the 1000m back down to Siliguri! I was sorely tempted to manufacture a diaper made from toilet paper to prevent any brown staining incidents... It certainly seems in India that the more dangerous the road, the more dangerous you have to drive.
Following the long winding road up to Darjeeling is a very narrow gauge railtrack which leads the 'toy train' up the mountains. We spotted it in Kurseong, 5km from Darjeeling. It's still driven by an old steam engine, pulling it up the steep roadside, terminating in Darjeeling.
Darjeeling isn't really what I expected. I knew it was touristy, but I never imagined it to be so built up. It's virtually a city, straddling both sides of a long, steep narrow ridge, it's buildings perched precariously on the hillside, tumbling from the top of the ridge to several hundred meters below. I'm staying at the Long Island resort, one of apparently 500 hotels here, right at the top of the ridge with fantastic views overlooking Bhutan some 40km away to the east. On the other side of the ridge, where the town center is, you can see Nepal less than 20km to the west. It's amazing up here, nestled among the clouds in India being able to see two countries either side! It's kind of dreamy sometimes when the clouds come in and wash up and over the hills. You can't really see the tea plantations below the town due to all the buildings in the way which is a shame. I wanted to visit the Happy Valley Tea Estate today, but it's closed on Mondays, and tomorrow I'm leaving. It's pretty cold here, a nice respite from the 40 degree heat I've been enduring the last 2 months! During the day it hovers around 14 degrees, and drops to around 4 degrees at night. For the first time since I was in Rajasthan in the desert, I've had to wear a jumper and jacket!
Visited the zoo here yesterday which was quite fun, seeing some animals I have never seen before, like a snow leopard, red pandas and some beautiful pheasants. I was thinking about trekking from here, but have made the executive decision to spend some extra time in India and head north into Sikkim, a restricted area, a region disputed between India and China, with some spectacular scenery. Getting the permit today was quite fun. Rob and I had to walk down to the bottom of Darjeeling to get a letter from the District Magistrates office, which we then had to take all the way back up to the top of the town for it to be stamped by the Foreigner's Registration office, then take it all the way back down the steep moutainside to the District Magistrate's office for final consideration. Oh, and then we had to walk all the way back up into town again. I think it's some kind of test to make sure you're worthy of all the climbing and descending before you're allowed into Sikkim! So now I have a 15 days pass for Sikkim, and will head there tomorrow, to a small town called Pelling. From there, I'll set out on a trek, where I'll finally get to lay eyes on Kanchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world at 8,586m (Everest being the tallest at 8,850m, K2 comes in second at 8,611m. For comparison, Mont Blanc in Europe is only 4,810m!!).
I don't know if I like Darjeeling or not. I think I don't. I think that's why I've made the decision to head into Sikkim. I wanted to go trekking from here, but there are just so many people here, and the treks from Darjeeling don't really afford you the amazing views of the Himalayas as in Sikkim. The people are nice and friendly here though. You can really see the difference here, the people are mainly Nepalese or Bhutanese, rather than Indian. It feels like you're in Nepal! I guess that kind of makes up for missing out on Nepal! The food here is also quite different, I've even had dim sum and soup noodles for lunch!
I doubt they have internet cafes up in the mountains (I wouldn't want to bet on it though, they are everywhere!). So next time you'll hear from me is when I return to Darjeeling perhaps in a week's time! Hopefully I'll have some gorgeous photos of the Kanchenjunga mountain range and some buddhist monasteries!
Spent a few days in Kolkata (Calcutta) to watch the Champion's League final (Arsenal lost, but at least we kept Thierry Henry from moving to Barcelona!). Had a few nice meals there in a nice restaurant called Mocambo, where I ate Devilled Crab for starters and Chateaubriand steak (perfectly done, medium-rare!). The steak was huge, probably 400g, and cost only 150 rupees (2 quid!). Went back a second time the next day!
Kolkata is a pretty cool city, not as upmarket as Bangalore, probably more like Mumbai (Bombay) than any other city I've been to. Robert (the divemaster from Havelock) and I also went down College Street, famous for the endless number of book stalls selling mainly educational books (since it's right by the University of Calcutta). Apparently rumour has it you can find virtually any book amongst it's thousands of stalls and shops! The area is also famous for the cafes, where scholars, artists, philosophers and authors gather to discuss and debate, trying to solve all the world's problems over a cup of chai or 'cawffee'. After browsing the stalls for a while, we took some time out to shelter from the searing sun in the famous Indian Coffee House, set inside a former coffee warehouse. The setting is pretty amazing, with waiters rushing around sporting frilly hats and white uniforms, a mesh of swirling fans above bordered by balconies that overlook the main seating area. Loud conversations and words of retaliation from debates echo from table to table. It's quite amazing! Loved the scene.
3 days after arriving in Kolkata, Rob and I took an overnight train to Siliguri, the access town to Darjeeling, the world famous tea plantation town which was originally a hill station for the British. I'll tell you, I had THE most pant staining ride of my life taking a jeep the 3 hour, 80km journey up to Darjeeling from Siliguri. The terrain changes abruptly from flat land to majestic hills at the foot of the Himalayan mountain range. The narrow twisting roads rarely have any sort of barrier to prevent you from plummeting the steep inclines. Our driver must have been doing about 70km/h up the road, round blind corners, literally inches from the edge of a steep drop! I lost count of the number of times we swerved at the last minute to avoid an oncoming truck or jeep, putting the wheels right on the edge of the steep drop! My knuckles were white from holding on to the grip bar at the back of the jeep! And it got even worse when he decided to take a 'short-cut' off the tarmac road up an incredibly steep gravel driveway to save 10 minutes! I really thought we were going to slip off and roll the 1000m back down to Siliguri! I was sorely tempted to manufacture a diaper made from toilet paper to prevent any brown staining incidents... It certainly seems in India that the more dangerous the road, the more dangerous you have to drive.
Following the long winding road up to Darjeeling is a very narrow gauge railtrack which leads the 'toy train' up the mountains. We spotted it in Kurseong, 5km from Darjeeling. It's still driven by an old steam engine, pulling it up the steep roadside, terminating in Darjeeling.
Darjeeling isn't really what I expected. I knew it was touristy, but I never imagined it to be so built up. It's virtually a city, straddling both sides of a long, steep narrow ridge, it's buildings perched precariously on the hillside, tumbling from the top of the ridge to several hundred meters below. I'm staying at the Long Island resort, one of apparently 500 hotels here, right at the top of the ridge with fantastic views overlooking Bhutan some 40km away to the east. On the other side of the ridge, where the town center is, you can see Nepal less than 20km to the west. It's amazing up here, nestled among the clouds in India being able to see two countries either side! It's kind of dreamy sometimes when the clouds come in and wash up and over the hills. You can't really see the tea plantations below the town due to all the buildings in the way which is a shame. I wanted to visit the Happy Valley Tea Estate today, but it's closed on Mondays, and tomorrow I'm leaving. It's pretty cold here, a nice respite from the 40 degree heat I've been enduring the last 2 months! During the day it hovers around 14 degrees, and drops to around 4 degrees at night. For the first time since I was in Rajasthan in the desert, I've had to wear a jumper and jacket!
Visited the zoo here yesterday which was quite fun, seeing some animals I have never seen before, like a snow leopard, red pandas and some beautiful pheasants. I was thinking about trekking from here, but have made the executive decision to spend some extra time in India and head north into Sikkim, a restricted area, a region disputed between India and China, with some spectacular scenery. Getting the permit today was quite fun. Rob and I had to walk down to the bottom of Darjeeling to get a letter from the District Magistrates office, which we then had to take all the way back up to the top of the town for it to be stamped by the Foreigner's Registration office, then take it all the way back down the steep moutainside to the District Magistrate's office for final consideration. Oh, and then we had to walk all the way back up into town again. I think it's some kind of test to make sure you're worthy of all the climbing and descending before you're allowed into Sikkim! So now I have a 15 days pass for Sikkim, and will head there tomorrow, to a small town called Pelling. From there, I'll set out on a trek, where I'll finally get to lay eyes on Kanchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world at 8,586m (Everest being the tallest at 8,850m, K2 comes in second at 8,611m. For comparison, Mont Blanc in Europe is only 4,810m!!).
I don't know if I like Darjeeling or not. I think I don't. I think that's why I've made the decision to head into Sikkim. I wanted to go trekking from here, but there are just so many people here, and the treks from Darjeeling don't really afford you the amazing views of the Himalayas as in Sikkim. The people are nice and friendly here though. You can really see the difference here, the people are mainly Nepalese or Bhutanese, rather than Indian. It feels like you're in Nepal! I guess that kind of makes up for missing out on Nepal! The food here is also quite different, I've even had dim sum and soup noodles for lunch!
I doubt they have internet cafes up in the mountains (I wouldn't want to bet on it though, they are everywhere!). So next time you'll hear from me is when I return to Darjeeling perhaps in a week's time! Hopefully I'll have some gorgeous photos of the Kanchenjunga mountain range and some buddhist monasteries!
posted by Dominic Giles | 12:24 PM
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