DAY 25 : INDIA : Darjeeling

Weather : clear, windy, showers, 14o

 

Today is our last day in Darjeeling.

 

 

We opened the curtains this morning to this amazing view of Kanchenjunga - the view we all hoped for yesterday when we visited Tiger Hill (at 4.30 am!)

 

 

A postcard with the mountains more clearly defined as we actually saw them. Some of the hotels advertise Kanchenjunga Facing Rooms. A fabulous surprise for us!

 

 

We met Dawa, our ever-faithful guide, in town for a walking tour. Our first stop, at my suggestion, was a Tibetan curio shop where the owner preceded to show us all his fascinating jewellery. This was a large piece with 3 inserts of different Hindu gods all with inlaid turquoise, red coral, rubies, sapphires and other precious stones. Exquisitely fine work.

 

Then we walked up the Mall, a pedestrian walkway that circumvents the hill. There are only a few signs of British Raj India, as I mentioned before, but this Oxford bookshop has a long history in the town. This is the part of the Mall known as the Chowk, or meeting place, for young lovers and the elderly.

 

 

St Andrew's, an Anglican church with Nepali and English congregations is situated near the Mall. It was built in 1847. Unfortunately it was closed as I would have loved to see the influence of the 2 congregations.

 

 

 

 

We walked along the path, with spectacular views of tea plantations below..and met a few unexpected personalities along the way.

 

 

 

Hotel Windamere (sic) is also a reminder of the past. It was originally a guesthouse but was converted into a hotel in 1939.

 

 

It has attractive gardens and sunny areas to enjoy the views.

 

 

It is now owned by a wealthy Tibetan tea plantation owner but the interiors have been kept in British Raj style.

 

 

We were interested in all the photos and memorabilia and even found an original poem and photo of Rupert Brooke (1913), who had spent some,maybe inspirational, time at the guesthouse.

 

 

Our next request was a tea tasting. Many of the tea plantations have stores to promote their products. We tried 9 teas from Golden Tips. We bought some green tea and an infuser for our trek.

 

 

There is a Shiva temple near the railway station - very colourful in contrast to the sooty station and the makeshift housing nearby. Although Hindu, it has the appearance of a Tibetan temple. Dawa said that in Nepal many of the temples will be decorated like this as well.

 

 

 

We saw a flurry of monks in bright saffron walking into Glenary's, sheltering from a sudden shower.

 

 

Glenary's cafe downstairs also has some British memorabilia.

 

 

Their bakery section was the only seller of Easter eggs - not a big seller in this now Buddhist/ Hindu population. India celebrated Good Friday as a holiday yesterday but there is no overt signs of a Christian presence as in the Buddhist and Hindu communities, except for several Christian boarding schools. Dawa, a Buddhist, has never been inside a Christian church. We had to explain the significance of Easter eggs when we gave them to him. I know that this is true of many of us and Mark and I have had a very multi-faith holiday, so we are in a privileged position.

 

 

We had organised the hotel car to collect us at 3. An essential service for this hotel as it is situated high above the town. The fog has rolled in and we are suffering another (daily) blackout, but as everyone says "This is India" - anything can happen.

We are packed and ready for an early start tomorrow morning to fly to Kathmandu. We have recovered from our initial trek and are optimistic that we'll be able to 'Climb every mountain and ford every stream' or else "Another one bites the dust" will be our theme song but I'm hoping for the former.

 

M&M

mm_smith@bigpond.net.au


PS After a month of Packed to the Rafters re-runs we are happy to report that Ben is finally over Mel's death. We are now following Masterchef - Hindi-style.
We've had no email access so apologies to family and friends.