Gorkhaland – Part Three

Day Five: Saturday, 15 December 

As fast as Kanchenjunga shows itself, it is swiftly replaced by another grey day ...

On our last full day in Darjeeling, we had breakfast at Glenary's and then decided to walk to Happy Valley Tea Estate, which is about 2 km outside of town. The walk took us down onto Hill Cart Road and we slammed into the frenetic pandemonium of the main bazaar in Darjeeling. 

Descending into the streets.

This picture cannot even begin to capture the craziness of the main bazaar, but it was my only opening.

We finally broke free of that and made it to the steep and rocky path that peeled away from the road and descended into the verdant tea fields. It was a welcome relief from the roads. 

The main building for the Happy Valley Tea Estate.

Hills full of tea bushes.

When we arrived at the Happy Valley gate, a man came out to meet us and took us around the factory. December is not picking or processing season, so there was no activity inside, but it was still interesting to see how leaves are sorted, dried, rolled, fermented, and sifted according to different tea grades and styles. Our tour guide didn't really speak English, but we got the gist of what he was saying. Besides what is sold onsite, the Happy Valley estate sells its tea exclusively at the famous Harrod's of London. After the tour we did a tea tasting and purchased some boxes.

Making our way back up from the estate, we found a street that wound its way up from the main road and avoided the traffic. We walked up the steep hill and stopped for lunch at a local favorite called Hasty Tasty that makes good dosas and good thali. Because of table and chair shortages, we ended up at a table with a nice Indian family that lived in Darjeeling but spoke limited English. We had a short and awkward conversation, and the rest of the time kind of smiled at each other. 

After lunch, we walked up to the Buddhist temple atop Observatory Hill near downtown for which Darjeeling was named (it was the site of the Dorjee Ling monastery). Far from the subdued and calming nature of Bhutan's temples, this one was pretty hectic and featured many grifters on the grounds looking to "bless" you for tips. 

A disarray of colors and prayer flags.

Apparently prayer flags make great fun for monkeys.

After the temple, we walked down some very steep and winding streets to the Tibetan Refugee Center. This is a place for the refugees that offers services and provides them a place to practice traditional arts and industry. There were different buildings for wood carving, weaving, painting, etc. There was also a photo exhibition about Tibet and the diaspora after the Chinese invasion. It was interesting, although a pretty long walk down and back (about an hour). 

The road down to the Refugee Center. 

After a long day of walking, we were pretty beat and ended up at Glenary's one last time for tea and desserts. After stopping back at the hotel for a short rest, we had dinner at Kunga's downstairs from the hotel. Kunga's is a Tibetan place that serves good Tibetan noodle soups (e.g. Thenthuk). 

Day Six: Sunday, 16 December

We begrudgingly woke up at 5:30am to catch a taxi for a three hour ride back to Bagdogra airport. That early in the morning, the drive back was much smoother as there weren't yet the numbers of cars and people on the road to make it crazy. 

The Druk Air plane took off in the warm haze and when it peaked above the clouds, we were treated to a magnificent view of Mt. Everest and Kanchenjunga and, eventually, Jomolhari – Bhutan's sacred mountain. Just as quickly as we graced the tops of the clouds, we descended into the valleys of Bhutan. When I made this landing in July, the mountains were flush with the green of monsoon rains and the rice paddies shown like jewels on the hillsides. Now Bhutan is quite brown and yellow, having exhausted the moisture from the past rains and waiting for the Spring and Summer to burst forth again with color. 

Emily and I both agree that Darjeeling was interesting to visit, but we were happy to be 'home' in Bhutan. India is a place that doesn't make any sense to me, and it is my personality to make sense out of things. It's funny how Bhutan has come to make sense in my mind, even if there still is a lot of cognitive dissonance. Coming back from Darjeeling, Bhutan was home to me and perhaps it is when you leave a place and return that you can truly come to appreciate it.