Darjeeling, India

Darjeeling is probably almost paradise when the weather is right. Sadly I was not there at the right time of year so I missed out. Still, however, it was stunning. I left Kolkata sans Joyce, who would remain in Kolkata for a few more days awaiting the arrival of her American travel mate, Alex, then they would meet me in Darjeeling, and then we would go from there. Until then, I was on my own.

I was couch surfing again in Darjeeling but this CS was different. The owner of a hotel gave me a room for 100INR (about US$2.20) a night. He did this when it was low season (see above paragraph) and rooms were difficult to fill. It was a good deal for me though the room was less than perfect.

One of the main sights in Darjeeling is a ascent up Tiger Hill to see the sunrise. Given the weather, however, this proved not worthwhile and despite almost a week spent in Darjeeling, I never bothered to go to there. (This happened with such frequency [everyday] that I termed it Tiger Hill Fail, or THF.) Just about all of every day was spent wandering around. The main area of Darjeeling is loud and busy but just a few minutes outside of these places it is tranquil. Darjeeling is a mountain town so I would often just start walking and when faced with a fork in the road, taking the path that went upward. The higher the altitude, the quieter, the more crisp the air, the better the views. Getting back down was not always easy but always worked out.

After a few days Joyce and Alex arrived from Kolkata. They were surfing at the same place and, similarly to what I had done over the past few days, we went walking around. Naturally we sampled some world famous Darjeeling tea (sometimes I wish I had a palate to appreciate the difference between an exquisite Darjeeling tea and Lipton) and each bought some as gifts. It is good tea but it all tastes about the same to me, though I did greatly appreciate not having milk in my tea for the first time in India.

After another morning with a THF, we headed off in a bumpy jeep ride to Sikkim.