Darjeeling Round Two

After our trek through the Singalila ridge we had planned to head to the tiny state of Sikkim just north of West Bengal. By the time we made the 4 hour trip back to Darjeeling after our trek we were both hit with a major case of travelers’ fatigue. After much debate we decided before going to sleep that we were going to stay in Darjeeling instead of travelling up to Sikkim for 4 days. The thought of 2 more travel days through the rough roads of the Himalayas was too much for us, besides since we only had one day in Darjeeling before heading on our trek there was still lots to see.

The day after our trek we slept in a bit and then had to transfer hotels from Andy’s Guesthouse, lonely planet’s top rated accommodation in Darjeeling,  back to Hotel Tranquility where we had stayed before, who had a room for us for the next 4 nights. Personally I much prefer hotel tranquility and it’s 100 rupees cheaper anyway. We settled in and then headed to Glengary’s, a café, bakery, sports bar and fine dining restaurant all rolled into 1 place over 3 floors, to grab some breakfast. Since they had eggs, real coffee in a sea of tea and toast with peanut butter this became our morning routine for the rest of our stay.  For the rest of the day we took it easy and caught up on things like laundry, emails, calls, etc. and saved the sight-seeing for other days.

The next day after our usual breakfast at Glengary’s we headed out in search of the Tibetan Refugee self-help center which was supposed to be a short walk outside of the city centre.  After over an hour walk, covering a good 6km we finally caught sight of it on top of a hill….. more hills just what we needed after our trek, but we made the climb and it was worth the trip. 

The center was setup in 1959 when thousands of refugees followed the Dali lama to flee Chinese occupied Tibet. The centre houses the elderly, orphans and many others who still are not able to return to their homeland. The refugees at the centre make handicrafts such as textiles, paintings, leather work, wood carvings, etc, which they sell in a showroom on site. They are extremely friendly and you can just wander around the center watching them work, which we did for a few hours. Before leaving we made a few purchases in the showroom since the proceeds go directly back to the refugees.  

Tibetan Refugee at work

View through the window

Painting hand made cards

two generations working the textiles

Amazing elderly man who was knitting

When we finished at the center we walked down the hill to the main road determined to get a ride back into town instead of walking back another hour in these hilly roads.  After a few minutes of standing on the side of the road hoping some sort of taxi would arrive (there are very few in Darjeeling and no auto rickshaws because of the crazy hills) a really nice elderly man and his friend who were driving stopped and offered a ride back into town.  After asking him how much he would want he said “don’t be ridiculous, you come in as my guest”. We happily jumped in and he chatted us up in broken English all the way back giving us some great tips on what to see. 

Once we finally got back to the city we grabbed a late lunch of momos and then headed to the hotel to relax. After late afternoon nap we headed down to a local spot called Joey’s pub to catch up some other travelers we had met for a drink. Joey’s is owned and run by this amazing local man who still plays in a Beatles tribute band. Unfortunately he didn’t have any gigs planned while we are in town.  After a beer for me and a few whiskeys’ for Jonny we called it a night.

The next morning we followed the same routine – breakfast at Glengary’s and then strolled around town before heading to the train station hoping to get tickets for the afternoon Toy train Joy ride. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, affectionately known as the toy train, opened in 1881 and it one of the only stream engine trains left in the world.  After a quick chat with the station manager we were able to get our hands on two tickets for the 2 hour ride from Darjeeling to Ghum – just 14km. Yes, you read that right, other than a 30min stop in Ghum, it takes 2 hours to go 14km. The tracks themselves are only 2ft wide and the train chugs along through town blowing its piercing whistle pretty much the whole way. The toy train was actually named a Unesco Heritage site in 1999. The ride itself offers some amazing views from the hills of Darjeeling.

Waiting in the toy train station

Riding the 36 seater train

The steam engine car

Rain and clouds rolling in as we leave Ghum station

You used to be able to take the train on an 8 hour journey from Darjeeling to Siliguria, a total of 90km, but that part of the track is currently closed due to a landslide. I overheard someone working at the station say the landslide was 3 years ago……. Guess they are in no hurry to re-open.  After the train ride the rain arrived so we went back to the hotel to relax a bit and then headed out for another dinner of veggie momos  (dumpling like treat from Nepal)…..really cannot get enough of those things!

The next day was our last in Darjeeling so we decided to take it easy, visit some of our favorite restaurants, picked up some new books and did some packing before hitting the hay early before our 4am wake-up call to get down to the train station for our 22 hour ride back to Delhi….. let the 3 days of transit begin!!

OOO_Talia and Jonny

Our Quest for the Himalayas

❶

Good Morning Darjeeling! Just a hop, skip and a jump from where last we left, Bangalore … well kinda.

Hop │ 6AM flight to Kolkata (3AM wakeup call)

Skip │ 5HR layover at a brutal airport, too far from the city centre to see anything

Jump │ A 4HR, 80km (how ridiculous is that), windy, mountain road, 1 flat tire and 1 car sick girlfriend

AND WE’RE THERE! Finally

To kick it off in Darjeeling we opted for another 3AM wakeup call to get to Tiger Hill for sunrise. Tiger Hill is known for its epic view of one of the major Himalayan mountain chains, it is our attempt to get a glimpse of these sought after warlocks – Everest, Kangchenjunga among other massive Himalayan peaks.

At 3:30am we found another pair of random travelers and split the cost of a shared taxi to our destination. Tiger Hill is a massive tourist trap to catch a sight of the Himalayas, but has a beauty sunrise, and generally is just a complete gong show.

Just as the warning cautioned us (thanks for rubbing it in our faces Lonely Planet and the departures episode of Darjeeling), the fog won and hid all but one peak…… Kangchenjunga. The beautiful sunrise made up for it along with all the loss of potential sleep hours. Like we have said for the last 4.5 months…..we’ll sleep in a year.

Watching the sun breakthrough the morning clouds

Snowy peaks coming through the clouds

Being blinded by the morning sunlight

❷

I guess you could sum up our quest for the Himalayas with one word…. FOG. With our limited time allotted for Darjeeling and this part of Northern India, the final leg of our India experience, we had to be strategic about our experience with the Himalayas, which look-outs to venture to, which trails to take, etc. All weighed up against where the least tourists (both Indian and Foreign) would be.

Since it is high-season for this area (as it is a million degrees everywhere in India except here where it is a welcome 15 degrees or so), we had some tough decisions to make. We started with the tourist trap on Tiger Hill, a known tourist-mad spot but worth if you get clear skies. We Didn’t! But the sunrise was epic and worth the wakeup call. That said… we didn’t really feast our eyes on all the Himalayas had to offer so we still had some work to do.

Next priority - Trekking. The best way to get a glimpse is by heading north and walking right below them along the Nepal/India border. So that is what we did, we found a travel company and got ourselves sorted for 3 nights and 4 days of mountain trekking along the Singalila Ridge to actually get to see these bad boys. The Singalila Ridge is a 3 (or more if you like) day trek through Nepalese and West Bengal mountain villages, tea plantations, farms, monasteries, etc. It’s here where we will have the ultimate view (so we thought), as along the way the views are meant to be epic.

Entering the first monastary 

Great views from the Gumpa (monastery)

Prayer wheels

Monk at work at the monastary

Prayer flags about a village

Jonny in India and Talia in Nepal

Day 1: Maneybhanjang to Tonglu ~14KM – beautiful trekking countryside, monasteries, tea huts, etc…..but FOG and so no mountain views.

Day 2: Tonglu to Kalpokhri lake ~15km – Quaint villages, many cows, more beautiful countryside…….but FOG and so no mountain views.

Day 3: Kalpokhri lake to Sandakphu (the summit of our trek) - ~ 7KM More quaint villages, a severe uphill hike…….but FOG and so no epic mountain views

We might have been missed some epic mountain views and had fog instead, but one thing that we weren’t missing out on was amazing Nepalese mountain village hospitality.  Unlike our trek in Peru where we camped each night, along this trek we stayed in tiny trekking villages, usually with just 2-4 huts run by a handful of families – these towns literally had like 20 people living in them.

You need to imagine these people and places. These families lived in tiny wooden huts way up in the mountains, no such thing as isolation in these places and it was getting down to about 5 degrees at night…..in the SUMMER. They have no heat; they have to keep warm by a handful of seats over hot coals even when it is the dead of winter (seats which they gave to us each night). They have no stove (or any appliances for that matter), only a fire to cook all their meals over. The next villages were hours away hiking and the nearest “town” where they might get supplies would be at least a day’s walk. They have electricity for a maximum of 2-3 hours a day MAYBE, run off a little generator and they have probably never had the joy of a HOT shower ever in their lives. But even with all this the moment we would walk into the village they were offering us hot tea, they cooked us endless hot meals, they offered us Roxy each night (a homemade liquor that tastes kind like sake) and they always offered us all the extra blankets they had. We could not have been more blown away by how these families lived, or how much hospitality they offered us. Even if we never get to see a snowy mountain peak poke through the clouds, meeting these people and spending time with them was amazing.

Tumling Village  

Adorable village boy

Typical kitchen in these homes

Jonny keeping warm by the coals

Enjoying some home made Roxy

Needless to say however after 3 days trekking in my mind I changed the lyrics to Garth Brooks’ famous song to “The thunder fog rolls” (SING IT CS). Have you ever walked through a glass of milk (or at least feel like you are)? We have….. for 3 days straight. Regardless, the fog did seem to provide a really interesting haze and vibe along the walk, through the villages and monasteries.…… and after a few long days and a 6hr walk up a massively disturbing steep hill (it was certainly no Dead Woman’s Pass – see Inca Trail blog), we arrived at the ridge.. LITTERED IN FOG…

When will it end… please… just let this fog frig off.

That’s when it hit us…. One major miss. To get what you want from Mother Nature, you need to party and dance. Case in point – when Native people want rain they do a rain dance…..logic would seem then that we need to DANCE.

So… On night 3 in Sandakphu open goes the Sikkim Fireball Brandy. Open goes whatever the guides and local family were drinking – looked like lethal whiskey/moonshine, so it was ok in my books… And out comes the Nepalese folk/trekking songs. It started off innocent enough, guides singing us some traditional songs and teach us some dances, before you know it a full on dance party had begun. You know what goes great with Nepalese folk songs and drunken trekkers?  

KITCHEN JAM SESSIONS & EPIC LAVA DANCE PARTIES

Sorry Josh/Tash/Arianne/Milosh/Lisa/Main/Wesleigh/Curruso/Racists glasses….

It just happened, before we knew, it pots and pans were being used as instruments and trekkers and locals alike were dancing on chairs… ….But I think it will bring our future sessions a new layer of intrigue, a new sound perhaps.

Throughout the evening one of more senior guides along with the man of the particular hut that we were staying in that night, would break into a very genuine and heartfelt speech about how they all viewed us as guests, not tourists.  With very kind words he expressed how grateful they were that we choose to travel around this part of India as it helped them keep their families going and kept their kids in school. It was actually a very reassuring thing to hear because often along our travels we have wondered if those involved in the tourist industry enjoy being there or if it is simply their only way to make money.

Nepalese dance party getting started

Breaking out the pans for the kitchen band

Jonny with some of our new friends

Just before heading off to bed one of the guides also left us with some parting Buddhist words (I think some of the booze may have made him more confident to speak in English).

“… If your heart is clean than the world is clean. Even if your body is clean if your heart is not than it doesn’t matter. It doesn't matter that my face is Nepali and yours Aryan, we are all the same. If we are cut we all bleed, and our blood is all red”

They were pretty profound words for goodnight, especially given the wild dance party that had just wound down, but they were touching none the less and left us going to bed in positive spirits – these are the kind of moments that really make our trip.

And what do you know … 4am of day 4 was the clearest AM yet with a view of the famous mountain chain…… Not to mention a pretty epic sunrise.

Sunrise from Sandakphu

Snowy peaks of the Himalayas in the morning

This Indiana Jones-like chase for the Himalayas has reminded me of one thing. Ready for it? To have your mind blown? When you can’t find what you’re looking for…

STOP LOOKING! Let fate bring it to you……..and when in doubt…. LAVA!!!!

OOO_Jonny and Tals