Gorkhaland – Part Two

Day Three: Thursday, 13 December

After breakfast, we walked about a kilometer down the road from the resort to the Japanese Peace Pagoda. This temple complex was constructed by the Nipponzan-Myōhōji Buddhist Order of Japan and they have built similar pagodas all around the world.

Approaching the Peace Pagoda was far from a peaceful experience, as a whole bunch of tourist jeeps tried to cram themselves up and down the dirt road leading to the pagoda, all the while honking at each other without abandon. There were lots of Indian tourists crowding the pagoda itself, but it was very nicely built and peaceful in its own architecture.

The top of the pagoda. 

'Teaching Buddha'

One of many such panels around the pagoda.
This one tells the story of Buddha receiving a gift of mangoes. 

'Meditation Buddha'

One of the cooler experiences of our trip to Darjeeling, after walking around the pagoda we entered the adjacent meditation room where a monk was beating a large drum and chanting. He invited us in to sit and gestured that we should take the small drums laying on the floor and join him. We did just that, and soon other people were entering and taking up drums. Eventually, over a dozen people were seated on the floor and drumming in rhythm as the monk chanted. Just as the drumming began with a single drummer and crescendoed into a room-full, the meditation ended by a slow decrescendo as people left the room slowly. Emily and I were the first to enter and the last to leave, so we were able to receive the full effect of complete strangers entering into meditation together and then exiting the room one by one. The monk blessed us as we left, all the while beating his large drum in a steady and unwavering rhythm.

We only planned on staying at the Dekeling Resort for two nights, so after returning from the Pagoda we packed up our things and took them to the Dekeling Hotel downtown. Up many flights of stairs, the Dekeling Hotel is perched right above a busy roundabout called Clock Tower Square. It's a nice place considering some of the alternatives, but it's pretty bare-bones. There were no heaters in the rooms, but they did provide us with hot water bottles at night in which to tuck into our beds. (Emily can attest to the effectiveness, having enthusiastically picked up the practice here in Bhutan.) On one of the levels was a very nice bukari stove which was a popular sitting area among the guests and allowed everyone to interact and meet each other.

After depositing our things in our room, we made our way once again through the shops up to the main plaza. We stopped for a tea sampling at Golden Tips, which is a very large international distributor of Darjeeling tea. 

Tea tasting at Golden Tips. 

Check out that view! Just kidding – still just a monochromatic blanket of haze. 

One must be proper about these things. 

For lunch we ate at the Frank Ross Cafe, which serves up a good South Indian dosa but also features an eclectic menu of nachos, enchiladas, pizza, and sorts of menagerie.

After lunch we went down to the train station to purchase tickets for the "Toy Train," which is a famous railway in that it is one of the highest in the world and runs on a two-foot wide track that goes right down Hill Cart Road. The entire railway was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. Typical to India, the queueing for the train tickets was mostly chaos and most people just went up to the window ignoring the line. Eventually, we were able to purchase tickets for the next day, so more to come on the train in a bit...

On our way back up to Darjeeling center, we stopped at a newish mall called Rink Mall which had a movie theater, fashion shops, and a large store called "Big Bazaar" which featured almost everything you could ever need – from clothes to groceries – kind of like a Walmart or Target. We ended up practically going grocery shopping, getting items we couldn't find in Bhutan (mostly spices and different flavors of chips) and Emily found a few Indian shirts that she liked. 

Oh, I also forgot to mention that this mall had a Domino's Pizza! Very weird. 

In the late afternoon we went to one of the fancy hotels – the Windamere – for an English high tea. When we went to the front desk to inquire about the tea, they escorted us to a classic British parlor room with a large roaring fireplace and we sat with an Australian couple on a grand world tour and a German man that was travelling around India doing drawings and illustrations for a book. It was amazingly quiet in this parlor room, so the only good way to break the awkwardness was to talk to each other. They served us tea with scones, sandwiches, and various desserts. It was very nice, although both Emily and I agreed that it couldn't beat our English high tea at the Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton, Canada.

The flowers at the Windamere.

Enjoying my tea and scones, all tickety-boo. 

Since we were on holiday we were, of course, on the progressive meal plan and went out for a drink and more snacks at the Shangri-La Restaurant in the late-late afternoon. Emily was loving the Christmas decorations there: 

Emily with a star on top. 

After the drinks and snacks, then we went out for a very nice Indian dinner at Lunar, situated directly below our hotel. By the time that was all over, we were positively stuffed!

Day Four: Friday, 14 December 

We awoke this morning to the mighty Kanchenjunga, floating above Darjeeling like a palace of clouds...

The view from our hotel room window.

The view from our hotel window looking across Darjeeling.

The view from our hotel window looking straight down. Indian road caos! 

Walking to Sonam's Kitchen. 

A monkey perches on the edge of a food stall roof,
hoping to snatch a tasty breakfast.

We had breakfast at Sonam's Kitchen, a great little hole-in-the-wall that serves up eggs and pancakes with real coffee. (The Lonely Planet guide aptly described Sonam's as "an oasis of good coffee in a tea-loving town.") Because there are only three or four tables in the entire place, we sat with a bunch of tourists from the States and two from Sweden. That is pretty much the norm in Darjeeling: forced integration and interaction with world travelers. Not that there's anything wrong with that... It is an interesting contrast to Bhutan, where tourist restrictions mean that the calibre of tourist we receive are usually older and wealthier. The kinds of chilip tourists that are in abundance in India are exactly the kinds of tourists that Bhutan wants to do without: young backpacking hippies with small budgets looking for an "experience" (see also: Nepal). Unfortunately for Bhutan (or maybe fortunately), wealthy tourism means that the tourist get a completely skewed picture of the "real" Bhutan as they are put up in five-star resorts, whisked around the country by tour companies, and never really forced to confront the problems faced by the country at the moment. It's a facade, which is exactly how Bhutan wants it. In India, it's almost the opposite, as lots of tourists want to see the grime and grit, the negotiations of daily living that one must do to survive in a country of over one billion. 

Anyway, I digress...

After breakfast we went down to the train station and boarded the Toy Train on a "Joy Ride" ticket that does a loop to the station of Ghum and back again, with the whole trip taking about two hours. Many of the other trains that are part of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railroad system are diesel powered, but this "joy ride" train uses the old coal and steam powered engine that dates back over 100 years. Emily and I were right in the front of the front car, which meant a lot of coal smoke and loud train whistling. It was still an interesting experience and I got a lot of good pictures of street scenes – which I guess makes me guilty of being that kind of Indian tourist since I am also interested in how people live their lives in different places around the world. The train tracks are right on Hill Cart Road, and the train ends up going within inches of shops on one side and cars on the other. It was definitely an experience! 

The view from the train station of Kanchenjunga and Darjeeling. 

Making our way along the road. 

A roadside Hindu temple for the god Ganesh. 

Children play on the tracks. 

Badminton is a very popular game to play in the streets. 

Binoculars help to get a better view of Kanchenjunga.

Stopping at Batastia Loop. 

An engineer perches on top of the engine,
monitoring the steam and coal in one of my favorite pictures from this trip.

After we returned to Darjeeling, we went for lunch at Glenary's, did more shopping, drank more tea, and ate more food. This time we went back to Glenary's for a drink and then went to Shangri-La for a delicious tandoori dinner. 

Emily's hot toddy. 

A pint of Kingfisher at Glenary's.