Darjeeling 8th November

Travelled up overnight from Kolkota in 2nd class air/con sleeper, met some very interesting Indian travellers coming back from the Andaman Islands. We talk a lot about life, the Doctor and his wife used to live and work in Bury St Edmunds.

Arrived at the train's destination Siliguri, I now had to find a Jeep to take me up to Darjeeling, up the Himalayan foothills. This is a 4 hour trip about 50 miles up torteous twisting hairpins and precipices, just as well the view astonishing it takes your mind off the potential of falling over the edge. I end up sharing a jeep with the two Kiwis from the last hotel I stayed in.

Its  a brilliant day, the mountains loom very large over us as the Jeep scrambles up and down the valleys and inclines. The roads are in the same state as the previously described pavements of Kolkota. Acres and acres of bushes with yellow flowers like large daisies, cling to the road edge. At this height you can see for miles, villages start appearing, the red and green painted houses precariously balance on outcrops, 3000ms up. The faces of the locals have change from the those of the flat, rice growing lands to the oval eyed Budha like faces of the mountain people.

We arrive exhausted, but are rejuvinated by Darjeeling the climate is much cooler, it is a fabulous place to be, breathtaking is the word, and out of breath is our condition as we climb 1:3 paths to the hotel.
The Hotel Aliment has a bar and a great cafe, the view from the roof overlooks three tree lined mountain valleys. I order Tibetan bread and peanut butter for a snack with sweet lass what arrives is an oven baked bread is the size and shape of a blown up whoopee cushion with a large dollop of peanut butter. WE the Kiwis and I (Raj and Ulma) are sharing a three bed bedroom all for 300 rupees a night thats 100 each, or one pound fifty. We go for a stroll and find a bar with full size snooker tables, we return to the Hotel for a few beers and an excellant meal as we have to be up the next morning at 3.30 to catch a jeep to go to Tiger Hill, to view the sunrise over the Himalayan mountian peaks, ..........................we play cards till midnight.