Day One: Tuesday, 11 December
After closing out the semester at Royal Thimphu College and celebrating on Monday with an all-day meeting followed by a dinner, Emily and I left for a holiday excursion to Darjeeling on Tuesday morning.
Darjeeling is just to the west of Bhutan – for those of you that need a South Asian geography refresher – and is a fairly inexpensive destination from Bhutan itself. We could have gone overland, plunging south to Phuentsholing on the Indo-Bhutan border and then across the Assamese plain and then back up into the West Bengal hills. That would have taken at least 12 hours to accomplish. Instead, we took a Druk Air flight from Paro to the Bagdogra airport in Siliguri that lasted in total about 20 minutes. In the end, we definitely paid more to fly than to take buses and trains and taxis, but we saved a whole lot of hassle and almost a whole day of travelling.
Here is a map of the area so you can orientate yourself.
We flew into Bagdogra Airport around noon and immediately it was much more humid and warm than Bhutan. All around was a thick haze which did not allow visibility beyond the edges of the airport field. After collecting our bags, we bought a pre-paid taxi voucher at the taxi office and proceeded outside to find our taxi. On our voucher it warned that we should only get into the taxi with the number printed on our voucher itself. Of course, this being India, several drivers tried to entice us into their taxis and the taxi driver of the taxi number on our voucher tried to get us into a nicer car that was owned by his "brother" (clearly not related). Emily was better at sorting through these scams and "where's the catch?" scenarios and insisted we get into the taxi with the number printed on our voucher. The driver reluctantly agreed, and off we went on the three-hour ride up to Darjeeling.
Both Emily and I had forgotten – or at least blocked out of our memory – how crazy India is. The streets of Siliguri were jam-packed with all matter of vehicles, people, animals, construction, etc. The route from Bagdogra to Darjeeling is really only about 70 kilometers (43 miles), but it takes three hours! This should give you an indication of the craziness of the roads and the road conditions. For some unknown reason, roads in India (and in Bhutan) are built to only be about 1.5 lanes wide and necessitates a constant negotiation between vehicles and pedestrians. Almost always, this negotiation requires excessive honking of horns so that almost everywhere with cars in India becomes a cacophony. Also, noxious fumes and particulates from tar, coal, dust, unattended burning trash piles, open sewers, and car and truck exhaust float in the air everywhere you go, filling your nose and giving you a headache and a cough.
So let me just say this about India: I love Indian food, Indian music, Indian culture, Indian people, India's fascinating and ancient history; but India itself is nuts and I don't love being in India.
Anyway, as we ascended up to Darjeeling, several changes were occurring. First, the weather was getting colder and darker, as the haze of the West Bengal hills overcame the road and blanketed the environs. Second, the makeup and character of the people changed from the decidedly Bengali characteristics of Siliguri to a people and culture much more influenced by Tibet, Nepal and Sikkim. Buddhism is strong in this part of India, given its location sandwiched between Bhutan to the East, Nepal to the West, and Sikkim (a former Buddhist kingdom) to the North. The prevalence of Buddhist prayer flags and the characteristics and features of the people made me feel like we were back in Bhutan – albeit a much noisier, diverse, and chaotic Bhutan.
The history of the region is fascinating, and while I was in Darjeeling I was reading Kiran Desi's novel The Inheritance of Loss, set in the 1980s when the Gorkhaland independence movement was at its peak. (I'm still reading the book, and I would highly recommend it.) In short, the Gorkhas are a large Nepalese ethnic group that form a majority of the population in the area around Darjeeling. The Gorkha's annexed the area around Darjeeling from Sikkim in the late 18th century, and then fought and lost a war with the British in the 19th century, conceding land back to the Kingdom of Sikkim, that eventually became part of India. Bhutan also had part of the area, particularly Kalimpong, from 1700 until 1864 when they lost a war with the British (known as the Duar or Dooar War) and were forced to cede parts of Assam, Sikkim, and Bengal back to the British. During the 1980s, after Indira Gandhi's government had carved up the India states and not left the Gorkhas a state of their own (i.e. 'Gorkhaland'), a political and militarized movement began in Darjeeling and there were many strikes and terrorist activities. From the looks of it, the Gorkhaland movement Darjeeling is still going strong, with a majority of shops and businesses stating 'Gorkhaland' above the doors and windows and the Gorkhaland flag being flown openly all over town. As an example, check out the picture below, near a petrol station...
After closing out the semester at Royal Thimphu College and celebrating on Monday with an all-day meeting followed by a dinner, Emily and I left for a holiday excursion to Darjeeling on Tuesday morning.
Darjeeling is just to the west of Bhutan – for those of you that need a South Asian geography refresher – and is a fairly inexpensive destination from Bhutan itself. We could have gone overland, plunging south to Phuentsholing on the Indo-Bhutan border and then across the Assamese plain and then back up into the West Bengal hills. That would have taken at least 12 hours to accomplish. Instead, we took a Druk Air flight from Paro to the Bagdogra airport in Siliguri that lasted in total about 20 minutes. In the end, we definitely paid more to fly than to take buses and trains and taxis, but we saved a whole lot of hassle and almost a whole day of travelling.
Here is a map of the area so you can orientate yourself.
We flew into Bagdogra Airport around noon and immediately it was much more humid and warm than Bhutan. All around was a thick haze which did not allow visibility beyond the edges of the airport field. After collecting our bags, we bought a pre-paid taxi voucher at the taxi office and proceeded outside to find our taxi. On our voucher it warned that we should only get into the taxi with the number printed on our voucher itself. Of course, this being India, several drivers tried to entice us into their taxis and the taxi driver of the taxi number on our voucher tried to get us into a nicer car that was owned by his "brother" (clearly not related). Emily was better at sorting through these scams and "where's the catch?" scenarios and insisted we get into the taxi with the number printed on our voucher. The driver reluctantly agreed, and off we went on the three-hour ride up to Darjeeling.
Both Emily and I had forgotten – or at least blocked out of our memory – how crazy India is. The streets of Siliguri were jam-packed with all matter of vehicles, people, animals, construction, etc. The route from Bagdogra to Darjeeling is really only about 70 kilometers (43 miles), but it takes three hours! This should give you an indication of the craziness of the roads and the road conditions. For some unknown reason, roads in India (and in Bhutan) are built to only be about 1.5 lanes wide and necessitates a constant negotiation between vehicles and pedestrians. Almost always, this negotiation requires excessive honking of horns so that almost everywhere with cars in India becomes a cacophony. Also, noxious fumes and particulates from tar, coal, dust, unattended burning trash piles, open sewers, and car and truck exhaust float in the air everywhere you go, filling your nose and giving you a headache and a cough.
So let me just say this about India: I love Indian food, Indian music, Indian culture, Indian people, India's fascinating and ancient history; but India itself is nuts and I don't love being in India.
Anyway, as we ascended up to Darjeeling, several changes were occurring. First, the weather was getting colder and darker, as the haze of the West Bengal hills overcame the road and blanketed the environs. Second, the makeup and character of the people changed from the decidedly Bengali characteristics of Siliguri to a people and culture much more influenced by Tibet, Nepal and Sikkim. Buddhism is strong in this part of India, given its location sandwiched between Bhutan to the East, Nepal to the West, and Sikkim (a former Buddhist kingdom) to the North. The prevalence of Buddhist prayer flags and the characteristics and features of the people made me feel like we were back in Bhutan – albeit a much noisier, diverse, and chaotic Bhutan.
The history of the region is fascinating, and while I was in Darjeeling I was reading Kiran Desi's novel The Inheritance of Loss, set in the 1980s when the Gorkhaland independence movement was at its peak. (I'm still reading the book, and I would highly recommend it.) In short, the Gorkhas are a large Nepalese ethnic group that form a majority of the population in the area around Darjeeling. The Gorkha's annexed the area around Darjeeling from Sikkim in the late 18th century, and then fought and lost a war with the British in the 19th century, conceding land back to the Kingdom of Sikkim, that eventually became part of India. Bhutan also had part of the area, particularly Kalimpong, from 1700 until 1864 when they lost a war with the British (known as the Duar or Dooar War) and were forced to cede parts of Assam, Sikkim, and Bengal back to the British. During the 1980s, after Indira Gandhi's government had carved up the India states and not left the Gorkhas a state of their own (i.e. 'Gorkhaland'), a political and militarized movement began in Darjeeling and there were many strikes and terrorist activities. From the looks of it, the Gorkhaland movement Darjeeling is still going strong, with a majority of shops and businesses stating 'Gorkhaland' above the doors and windows and the Gorkhaland flag being flown openly all over town. As an example, check out the picture below, near a petrol station...
Our taxi driver, after three hours of arduous travel and upon arrival in Darjeeling, unceremoniously dropped us off on a random street and bluntly told us, "Hotel up there. Five minutes." In fact, it wasn't "up there" and tired, hungry, and lost we wandered the winding and steep streets of Darjeeling's neighborhoods trying to find the Dekeling Resort. After an hour of searching, and asking, we found our hotel up a very steep driveway. The owners were very nice, although provided very little information (which is typical in this part of the world), and the resort was decent enough. The resort is a recently renovated Victorian-era mansion, but neither Emily nor I would call it 'luxurious' as it was described on the website. Our plan was to spend two nights at the Dekeling Resort outside of downtown, and then three nights at the Dekeling Hotel right in the middle of downtown. The Dekeling Hotel had a good location, and decently priced for the budget traveller (not really that nice, but adequate). Both Emily and I agree that the Resort wasn't really that worth it for the price, although fireplaces in the room were a bonus since it is quite cold in Darjeeling this time of year.
Hungry and exhausted, we were brought tea and biscuits when we arrived at the Dekeling Resort. We hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, so we were starving and welcomed the little bit of food and drink. We ordered dinner – which had to be brought up from the Hotel downtown – and, cold and hungry, napped until dinner. They made a fire in the fireplace, which helped heat the place up, but Indians still use coal in their fireplaces and it gives off a terrible smell that the Euro-North American world has long since forgotten about.
Day Two: Wednesday, 12 December
Having gotten a full-night's sleep, we were rested for our first day in Darjeeling. Alas, it was still hazy or foggy – depending on how you choose to describe it – and we couldn't see Kanchenjunga, the third-tallest mountain in the world and hangs above Darjeeling. Here's the view from our room at the Dekeling Resort:
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| Notice how Darjeeling clings to the edges of the hills. Almost everything there is vertical. |
After breakfast at the resort, we walked into town, becoming just another pair of pedestrians amongst the road craziness.
Darjeeling has a nice stretch above Hill Cart Rd. (the main thoroughfare) that is off-limits to cars, including a large town square and lots of shops – including many tea shops.
(Browsing the Oxford Book & Stationary shop. One thing we found interesting was the entire series of Lonely Planet guides – which we use all the time – edited and written entirely "...for the Indian traveller.")
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| Large statue of the Hindu God Saraswati outside a Hindu Temple. |
In the late morning, Emily and I went to the Darjeeling Zoo and the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, which are located all in the same complex. The zoo is supposedly one of the best in India (haven't seen any others to compare) and features many of the animals found in the Himalayan region including blue sheep, yaks, leopards, tigers, interesting birds, monkeys, and red pandas. Here are a few we saw:
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| Himalayan blue sheep. |
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| Tibetan Yaks (different than Bhutanese yaks). |
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| Himalayan wolf. |
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| Red panda. |
The zoo was interesting – as far as zoos go – but the real highlight for me was the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI). The famous sherpa and mountaineer Tenzing Norgay – the first person to set foot on the top of Mt. Everest alongside Sir Edmund Hillary – resided for many years in Darjeeling and founded HMI. At HMI there is an entire school devoted to Himalayan mountaineering and one can learn and train before setting forth to conquer the big peaks. There is also a museum devoted to the many famous Everest ascents (or tragic non-ascents like Sir George Mallory's in the 1920s). Having been raised by a father that is an avid 'armchair mountaineer', I myself am also interested in these men and women and the stories from the mountains. There was lots of old gear from various expeditions, which was neat to see and imagine trying to climb to the roof of the world using some of the extremely out-dated equipment. Viewing the wool and metal and canvas items, it's amazing some even made it at all!
Back on the road from the zoo/HMI, we stopped at a little tea and momo shack called Hot Stimulating Cafe (no joke), which was a wonderful and odd little building adorned on the inside with Bob Marley posters. It had begun to rain by this time, so it was a good place to warm ourselves with hot tea and hot momos.
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| Delicious momos and a very spicy sauce! |
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| The proprietors of the Hot Stimulating Cafe sat and talked with us, all the while making momos. |
When the brief rain let up and we had our fill of tea and momos, we walked back to the main square and browsed the shops for awhile. Eventually, we ended up at Glenary's Bakery and Cafe – a well-known and excellent place for baked goods, coffee, tea, food, and meeting other travellers.
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| All decked out for Christmas! |
After more tea and snacks at Glenary's, we were ready to call it a day and made it back to the resort just as the late afternoon light was fading. We ate dinner at the resort and then relaxed by the fireplace.
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