Though the option of going to Tiger Hill at 4 a.m. to view the sunrise was available to us, we decided against it due to the bad visibility and cloudy skies that had been prevalent for the last few days, which would, in all likeliness preclude actually seeing the sun appearing over the horizon. More importantly, the biting cold at that unearthly hour, together with the further climb to Tiger Hill, while compared with the cozy comfort of our blankets, were major factors that influenced our decision.
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| Fuel for the Morning |
We finally awoke at 6 a.m. to a welcome cup of steaming tea made by our hosts. This got me out of bed and on asking, I was provided a bucket of hot water. Once freshened up, Sergei and I left for the day's exploration of the city, bidding farewell to Kazu and Kenji who were heading back to Siliguri and from there on to Kolkata. Having heard about the Glenary's breakfast, we decided to give it a shot. Armed with a fried egg, bacon and sausages in my tummy, I felt ready to take on the world.
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| The Chowrasta |
We left Glenarys and via the Chowrasta, made our way down the hill to the Zoo. Foreigners' tickets being ridiculously expensive, Sergei sneaked himself into the zoo with a Rs. 40 ticket, claiming he was Manipuri. With Manipur alone having several tribes and dialects, the hapless lady at the entrance did not dare question the authenticity of his claim.
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| Yak on the Loose |
We saw some interesting species' of Himalayan fauna including various kinds of pheasants and fowl strutting their wares, black faced langurs eating lice off each other's heads, a few slimy snakes, several types of deer, a jackal, leopards and finally the majestic king of them all, the Royal Bengal Tiger. Sergei asked me if the tiger would weigh a hundred kilograms.
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| Robin, where's Batman ?? |
I replied that its two front legs alone would probably weigh that much, and that if the tiger had heard his shocking estimate, it would have loved to use those same front paws to displace his head. The mighty beast would probably have weighed over 300 kilograms. Sergei could barely believe this figure. The exit to the zoo had a couple of interesting shops selling guide books and post cards. I bought myself a guide book on West Bengal and Sikkim and a few postcards to send to people back home.
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| Himalayan Mountaineering Institute |
While Sergei wanted to lazily walk around town, I felt like going around and seeing as many places as I could since I had a 15 day lid on my holiday and he didn't. I took a share-taxi to the marketplace where I wrote postcards to Mama, Sham and Pia. As I finished writing them, the post office shut its counter for lunch. I was about to curse my luck when I remembered the stamps that I carried in my wallet just for eventualities like this. There happened to be exactly three, so I used them and posted the postcards, foresight facilitating convenience.
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| Suspended over Lush Tea Gardens |
From here I took another share-taxi to the Ropeway as it was the first place to close at 2:30 p.m. Though there was a long queue, I was the only one travelling alone, so before long I was ushered to the front to be the sixth and final member of a cable car, along with a five member family. The ride down was a beautiful experience. Though I had seen tea gardens before, floating ethereally over them was something completely novel and captivating. Everybody had their cameras out, capturing the majestic panorama of the lush green expanses of tea plantations, spotted with women plucking tea leaves, umbrellas perched on their heads, the majestic Himalayas looming in the background. The nineteen minute journey down alone was worth every one of the 150 rupees that the ticket cost.
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| Wai Wai Noodles - Memories of School |
Once we reached the bottom, we disembarked and were allowed to wander around for a while before re-boarding for the upward journey. There was a tea factory close by open for visitors but I decided to skip that since I had already seen processing of tea before. Hungry, I chose to have a lunch of Wai Wai noodles instead, bringing back fond memories of Lawrence School.
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| Quaint Bridgeling |
Once done with lunch, I joined the queue for boarding the cable car up. Once again I was ushered to the front to complete an incomplete carload. I discovered from one of my co-passengers that while I was relishing my Wai Wai memories of school, the electricity had failed for a few minutes, causing the cable cars to be suspended in mid-air until they switched on the generator and resumed operation. The journey up was not nearly as exciting or enthusiastic as the one down. Everybody had clicked plenty of photographs on the way down, and so were sitting quietly and actually admiring the breathtaking views without the ulterior aim of capturing it for their lenses and Facebook albums.
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| Rock Climbing at Tenzing Rock |
Arriving at the top, I disembarked and made my way back down the other side of the hill to the main road. A ten minute walk brought me to the Tenzing Rock where some locals were giving tourists a chance at rock climbing for a nominal charge of Rs. 50. Never having tried it before, I decided to give it a go. Though I did see a couple of people before me struggle to make it up the rock, all the rope climbing I had done in Academy made it a cake walk. Coming down was a trifle more difficult though, and required some amount of technique as it was difficult to place my feet in the correct crevices without looking.
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| St. Joseph's School, Darjeeling |
Happy with my first attempt rock climbing, I made my way out, deciding against buying four Darjeeling tea packets for Rs. 100 from a persistent and pretty tea vendor, so as to keep the weight of my rucksack to a minimum for the treks to come. I knew I would pay the price for every extra ounce many times over, throughout the rest of my journey. Taking another share-jeep, I made my way back to the city centre.
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| Batasia Loop - In Memorium |
Another thirty minute taxi ride in the opposite direction brought me to the Batasia Loop. The loop was initially built to lessen the gradient experienced by the toy train as it chugged up the stretch from Ghum to Darjeeling. Later, a very picturesque park and memorial statue were erected within the loop in memory of soldiers who had given up their lives during various operations.
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| Choo Choo Train |
The end result was a beautiful park with two spiralling levels of railway around it. As I was about to leave, I heard the whistle of the steam engine as the toy train rounded the curve of the hillside. A five minute wait brought the train into the loop where it stopped. It was fascinating seeing the two coal handlers standing on the coal cart and shoveling coal into the engine, a likely scene from two centuries ago. The passengers alighted and spent some time stretching their legs and clicking photographs with the steam engine, statue and park.
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| Sombre Tone |
Ten minutes later the engine whistled loud and long, indication for the passengers to re-board. As the train started and chugged its way out of the loop, the mist came in, waves and waves of it slowly enveloping the park and the loop in its clutches. The statue of the dagger and the Gurkha soldier saluting in Shlok Shast looked almost ominous with swirls of mist enveloping it and everything around.
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| Tinker Belle's Cottage |
Taking a share-cab, I made my way back to the main market. From here, I walked up to the Chowrasia and onto the Mall Road. After wandering a bit, I finally found the entrance gate to the Mahakal Dham or Observatory, the only sacred place in the world where Hindu and Buddhist priests sit and pray side by side. The climb up the hill to the temple was steep and on the way I passed the loveliest of cottages, straight out of a fairy tale book and, believe it or not, named Tinkerbelle's Cottage.
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| Colourful Flags for Good Luck |
I made my way to the top and was greeted by thousands of colourful 'good omen' Buddhist flags adorning the temple. It really was a sight to behold and as it was getting dark, I made a mental note to make one more trip here the next morning to truly appreciate the kaleidoscope of colours, time permitting.
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| Afternoon Recharge |
With that I had completed my planned activities for the day, so I ambled down the road, stopping in shops on the way back. The assortment of clothes and shoes of every kind was mind boggling and would have been a shoppers' delight. In spite of all my weight trepidation, I ended up buying a sleeveless sweater as the chill in the air was really beginning to bite, Stopping at a restaurant for dinner, Fried Rice and Chicken Manchurian were ordered and devoured, reward for the toils of the day.
I then made my way back to the home stay. Though I knew I had to document the day's events before sleeping to prevent fuzzing of details the next day, I was exhausted and dozed off for half an hour, pen in hand. Fortunately though, I woke up and forced myself to finish writing before crashing for the night.
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