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.