Of Tigers and Teas

Waking up to another cloudy day in Darjeeling Aaron and I headed out onto the streets looking for a ride to Tiger Hill, however it turned out the share taxis were all out to fleece us from quite a chunk of money - Rs600 for a forty minute round trip, when we had paid Rs1000 for the three-and-a-half hour drive from New Jalpaiguri! Not wanting to miss out on visiting Tiger Hill, famed for its Himalayan vistas (when the clouds are kind enough to part), we opted for a share taxi down to Ghoom for the rather realistic sum of Rs15 (€0.20!), from where we had an 8km trek up to the top of Tiger hill (or so Lonely Planet warned us).

Welcome to Tiger Hill

In Ghoom one finds the end of the Darjeeling Toy Train. The tracks beyond Ghoom have been damaged by a land slide, so the train does a quick shuffle between Darj and Ghoom a few times a day. Other than the toy train station there isn't much to be seen in Ghoom, so we set off following our map and with the occasional pointer from friendly locals to find Tiger Hill and begin our trek to the 2590m summit. The rain clouds did dampen our spirits, but we were hoping that our sacrifice would be paid off by some good karma and a break in the clouds. On good days Tiger Hill offers a 250km view of Himalayan mountains (Darjeeling is about 20km from the border with Nepal), including Mount Everest and Mount Kanchendjonga (the third highest peak in the world). The hill was pretty steep, but at least we had a paved road to walk on, with fields and forests on both sides. I doubt we would have made it up the hill if we had been following a dirt track - the rain was coming down by the bucketful about an hour into our trek.

Off the beaten track - just for the photo!

Some three or four kilometers into our trek we came across a Hindu temple called Sincheal Singh Devi Dam where we stopped for a rest and shelter from the rain. The main entrance of the temple had a long line of brass bells leading to a shrine; Hindu devotees were ringing each bell on the way into and out of the shrine. The pealing of the bells together with the pattering of the rain made this a great place to stop for a rest - it felt like we were in a scene right out of a movie.
We were under the impression that we still had another three or four kilometers to get to the top of the hill, so when we saw a little Maruti toaster van we flagged it down for a ride to the top. We were quite surprised when about 500m and two corners into our ride the van pulled up into a parking lot at the top of Tiger hill! So much for Lonely Planet being always correct! It turns out that the hike from Ghoom to Tiger hill is just over 5km. A friendly Ghurka kept us company while we waited in vain for the clouds to open up. Sky, as we was called, talked about a range of subjects from music to football, and from politics to religion. The clouds did relent somewhat, but only far enough for us to get a tantalizing view of Darjeeling and the surrounding tea estates, but the Himalayan peaks were still obscured by clouds.

Tarzan the monkey

A forest of Prayer Flags

Back in Dajreeling we visited the temple at Observatory Hill. In 1828 a couple of meandering British officers came across the abandoned Dorje Ling monastery and thought that the location would be great for a new Hill Station from which to police the troubled hills. Observatory Hill is where the Dorje Ling monastery was once located. Nowadays it houses a cave shrine to Mahakala, a Buddhist god and one of the many forms of the Hindu god Shiva. The summit is home to many shrines and devotional bells, as well as a veritable forest of prayer flags that provide a playground for the local troupe of macaques. The younger monkeys seemed to take particular pleasure in playing Tarzan with the prayer flag chords.

Inter species dialogue

The local (very friendly) strays also wanted a bit of the attention - in fact a group of three or four strays followed us all round the temple and had a bit of fun chasing some monkeys around.

Happy Valley Tea
On our last full day in Darjeeling we headed down through the town and many narrow alleys towards the Happy Valley Tea estate - the highest and oldest tea estate in Darjeeling; a place that supplies the finest teas to Harrods amongst others. We paid Rs20 to a guide who took us on a whirlwind tour through the factory - not the most interesting of places I've ever visited, partly because there was no work going on, partly because the guide kept rushing through his explanations of the tea process.
Once we'd done the obligatory factory tour we approached an old lady asking for a cup of chai - BIG MISTAKE! The lady politely pointed out that "we don't drink Chai in Darjeeling, we drink TEA" and invited us in for a cuppa and a talk about the tea harvesting process.

Super fine tippy golden flowery orange pick one

Sitting in her living room, surrounded by crocheted cushion covers and stuffed animals, we were presented with four bowls of crushed tea leaves and asked to identify which one was the PREMIUM Darjeeling tea.
It turns out that Aaron knows his teas quite well and promptly recognised the "Super Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pick One" - I kid you not, that is the name of the tea variety! It is so called because it is super fine, made with the top two leaves (tips) of the tea bush, has a golden colour, and a flowery, orange smell; and of course is the number one pick of Darjeeling tea. According to our host this tea sells for £26 a pop from Harrods, but Aaron, with his expert nose, would not only be able to purchase the tea at wholesale price,  he would also get a bonus for recognising the tea correctly!
Some interesting facts about tea:

• Green Tea, White Tea and Black Tea all come from the same bush - the difference is the season in which the leaves are picked
• Darjeeling tea is made with the top two leaves of each stem
• Common tea is a blend of the lower leaves from the bush
• India's favourite drink, Chai, is made from the powder that falls to the bottom of drying troughs in the tea production process - it is drunk with sweetened milk to cover the bitter taste

With our newfound knowledge of tea we set off into the tea fields for an afternoon of sun worshipping and general relaxation - the clouds were being very obliging today, coming and going intermittently, making for a very pleasant day to spend surrounded by the verdant expanses of Darjeeling's tea estates. In the afternoon we met a wizened, mute man who explained (or so we think) how he planted several fields around us. Our friendly guide showed us down to where the ladies of Darjeeling were picking tea (the fields we were in were not being worked on) so we got a few excellent photos of the ladies at work (while a man holding a colourful umbrella observed their progress).

Our time in Darjeeling was coming to a close, and we still hadn't caught a glimpse of the mighty Himalayas...




Kanchendzonga in all it's might

On our last morning in Darjeeling I stirred at about 4:30am. Something strange was happening outside - through foggy eyes I could make out bright sunshine. After a few seconds my groggy head registered what the sunlight meant. I jumped out of bed and ran to the roof of the guest house. Oh. My. Ganesh! It was the most beautiful, clear morning, and in the distance, poking its way through the clouds, was the mighty Himalayan Kanchendzonga. A mad dash back downstairs, camera round the neck, and a quick rattle of Aaron's bed, and before you know it I was back upstairs clicking away - I had no idea how long the break in the clouds would last, and I wanted to make the most of it.

Mt Kanchendzonga, India's highest peak at 8586m

Aaron finally stirred out of bed and made his way up to the roof - he wasn't really sure why I had shaken him out of his sleep, he said something about thinking the house was on fire, but when he did make it up to the top he was glad he'd woken up! We had about forty-five minutes of unobstructed views of the mountain, and even had a monkey join us in enjoying the view. We're not quite sure what the monkey was doing up so early - it didn't take the biscuits that Aaron offered it, and was nodding off every now and then. Still, it made for a nice scene and some good photos!

For more photos of Darjeeling visit my Picasa Web Albums. If you're on google+ add me to your circles (stevofarrugia at gmail)

I (heart) Darjeeling

Yes, indeed, I do love Darjeeling! Stepping off the train at New Jalpaiguri we could immediately tell we had reached somewhere special: the stifling heat of Kolkata (where we had a 6 hour stopover between trains) was gone, replaced by cooler weather and heavy rain clouds threatening to cool us off even further. It felt like we had been transported to a different country overnight - the faces on the street were looking decidedly more eastern than the ones we had seen in the previous three weeks; the dress was different, even the manners (still plenty of beggars around though).

Rainwater doubles as
toothbrushing water

Getting there
Unfortunately (or maybe not?) in 2010 the Toy Train line (a narrow gauge railway) suffered a land slide, so we had to take a three hour taxi ride up the hills rather than a six or seven hour train. Our trusty Tata ferried us through New Jalpaiguri without any hassle, however before we began our ascent into the clouds the taxi driver asked for half the fair so he could fill up the tank! Up, up and away, we made our way through thick green forest, and up steep winding roads into the clouds.

A break in the clouds allowed us
a glimpse of how high we were going

Somewhere in the grey haze we came across a collapsed road, so the taxi had to detour through a backroad of rough gravel; meaning Aaron, myself and the other passenger had to get out of the taxi and walk for a few minutes. At the top of the hill some Gurkhas who were working on maintaining the gravel road demanded a 100Rs toll from the taxi driver, but he managed to haggle it down to 50. Its nice to see the locals attempting to fleece the locals for a change!

Above the Clouds (almost)
Our taxi dropped us off into a rainy, grey Darjeeling. and guide book in hand we set off seeking some affordable, warm accommodation. A visit to a couple of recommended hostels led us to realise that the whole of the section on Darjeeling in the guide book is completely off - the prices printed were much lower than what we were asked for (and our visit was in the low season). Anyway, I digress... after about half an hour of walking through the streets and meeting more friendly inhabitants of Gorkhaland we finally found an agreeable place - Andy's Guest House, run by the charming Mrs. Gurung. Hot water, carpeted floors, and a viewing terrace on the roof for Rs500 a night - a bit on the pricey side, but the hot showers alone were worth the extra Rs100 over the closest competitors!

We set off into the haze to get our bearings of Darjeeling and find some meaty treats: since Darjeeling is predominantly Buddhist there are a variety of meats for sale, including beef and pork - two delicacies that we hadn't encountered at all in our Indian travels! My first impressions of Darjeeling were of being in a different country - the locals offer friendly smiles, but there is hardly any begging, and the "hello, how are you?'s" were so few and far between that they were negligible. There wasn't even any staring or taking of mobile phone pictures!

Fried pork momos

Our first culinary foray into Tibetan food was an encounter with Momos - delicious Tibetan dumplings, either fried or steamed, stuffed with pork, chicken or vegetables and served with a spicy sauce. Perfect backpacker food: proteins, carbohydrates, warmth and a price to suit every budget!

Darjeeling: Not for bicycles!
On a cloudy day in Darjeeling Aaron and I approached one of the many travel shops in Darjeeling and attempted to rent a Royal Enfield to explore the Himalayan foothills. Unfortunately Indian vehicle rental isn't as lax as it is in the rest of Asia - or maybe it was just this shop - the only way we could rent the bike was with an international driving permit, something that neither Aaron nor I had applied for going on my previous travel experiences.
Not wanting to miss out on what the Himalaya have to offer Aaron and I foolishly rented a couple of wonky mountain bikes. Our reasoning was that Darjeeling, being the highest town (besides Tiger Hill) in the region, would be above the attractions we intended to visit. We'd simply roll downhill to the attractions, explore, then start pedaling slowly uphill. Whenever our aching muscles gave up on us we could simply flag down one of the many 4x4 taxis that ply the Himalayan hills and catch a ride back up to Darjeeling.
Silly silly silly reasoning that was! We spent 45 minutes pedaling UPHILL from Darjeeling towards our first stop. Giggling locals were walking past us, literally barreling towards the temple we intended to visit, while Aaron and I toiled with our bikes. Mine even had the added bonus of the rear tyre rubbing against the breaks once a revolution. Exhausted, winded, with knees on fire, we realised that the hills had beaten us; so, tail tucked firmly between our legs, we set off back downhill towards the demon who had rented us the bicycles to get rid of the infernal contraptions.
Our hour of pedaling hell led us to the conclusion that foot power is the way to see the Himalaya (since we couldn't have the 400cc propulsion of a Royal Enfield), and we settled in for a relaxed afternoon watching the clouds fly by in the heart of Darjeeling.

Check in later to find out about the rest of our adventures in Darjeeling! In the meantime you can see some excellent photos of Darjeeling in my Picasa Web albums.