Darjeeling

Darjeeling 8/11

Its 3.45am, the alarm buzzes, why oh why did we all sit up playing cards and drinking beer till 11.45? At 4.00am we have to meet the taxi to go to Tiger Hill. to watch the sunrise.

Last night, we decided to eat in at the hotel, we, is myself, Raj and Olmer, (the two Kiwis) during the meal we were chatting furiously and invited the guy at the next table to join us, Kye is a German Ecologist travelling around the area.. He is good company and one beer leads to another,  We end up in our 300 rupee a night bedroom playing cards and drinking more beer till nearly midnight I teach them to play the card game "Cheat"..

This morning we join a trek of 4WD cars heading off up the to Tiger Hill. Its pitch black, the stars are unrecognisable, I can see Orions belt over in the west. The Southern Cross is no where to be seen.Finally we reach the bluff  and grab a suitable spot where we shiver for an hour before the first glimmer burst on the horizon. Like a prelude to a symphony, clouds on the horizon are illuminated pink/cerise by the sun somewhere over Sikkim. A radiant aura lights up the sky, the converging rays indicate where the sun will break through.. In the distance a Buddhist monk chants a song, carried by the chilled wind up the valley.
Just before the sun finally breaks through the surrounding clouds turn to pink before they dissolve in the glare of the emerging sun, a fluorescent pink. People cheer at its bursting through the thin clouds.

In the distance, the huge Kachengunga and assoscisted peaks blush pink in the sun's rays, as the mountains seem to rise above the cloud line. Its the best view of the trip so far. No wonder the buddhists like being in the area, it must make ones tasks easier to determine.