Darjeeling & Sikkim

After the heat of Calcutta we were surprised to see that Dublin would probably have had better weather than in Darjeeling - we were greeted with 14 degrees and rain! Darjeeling is at the northern tip of West Bengal in the foothills of the Himalayas (altitude - 2100 meters). It was a fine escape from the 40+ degrees in Calcutta. We got a great place to stay for around 2euro a night overlooking the mountains. The biggest difference about Darjeeling (apart from the weather) to the rest of India is the people... The people up here are a mix of Nepalese, Burmese and Tibetan. This made for a more relaxed atmosphere compared to the rest of India, I'm guessing because they're all Buddhists and chilled out (unlike the Indians/Hindus).

Our days were mostly spend eating Tibetan soup, running from the rain or when it was clear, gazing at the snow peaked Himalayas with the 3rd highest mountain in the world in front of us! It was nice to see the Tibetan community who have fled from China over the last half century. They have a refugee center where the refugees work producing crafts and clothes to sell in the market. It was nice to see a small sustainable community like this. It also introduced us to the hardship the Tibetans face in Tibet and got to see many pictures of the bloodshed that took place there in March. It was incredible how gentle the Tibetans were (especially compared to the Indian population who are, on the most part, unwelcoming and very aggressive!). It has really encouraged me to think about a trip to Nepal and Tibet in the near future, which, I think would be amazing!

After a week of lazing in Darjeeling, we got an extra permit and went further north to Sikkim. This region is disputed between China and India, however, India has pumped a considerable amount of money into the area to try build up confidence in the locals about the Indian government. The scenery was amazing. We were in the middle of all the mountains that we could see from Darjeeling. However, the weather was crappy and it ending up raining most of the time we spent there. A real pity because all the activities up there are outdoor orientated and we didn't have the gear to even attempt do anything. Again, it was a brief introduction and would love to come back to this area to do some proper trekking etc in the mountains.

We had booked a 31 hour train journey from Sikkim back to Delhi (which I was in no means looking forward to - it's all about the experience blah blah...yea right!). Unfortunately, the morning of the train Emma was feeling poorly (blaming the chocolate cake she had) so we, disappointedly, canceled the train and booked a 2 hour flight the following day! Strangely, Emma was feeling grand just after I booked the flight... so suspect cake??? Suspect Emma's endurance!!

It was great to be back in Delhi (never thought I would ever say that) but it was familiar and we knew how much things cost and where we were going. One of the most annoying things traveling is reaching a new town, not knowing where to go and not knowing how much things cost - having been to Delhi a number of times by this stage, we were sorted!

Accommodation prices had gone up (how - I dunno, it is low season now) but we ended up finding a brand new place which was amazing. One of the best finds the whole trip! We ended up spending a week in Delhi, shopping, sight-seeing, eating (even a sneaky veggie burger from a well known fast food chain) and generally chilling out. A good time had by all!

As time is pressing on, we decided to make a dash to the Taj Mahal.... To be continued....

Calcutta -Volunteering

We're finished our 10days working for the Missionaries of Charity - Mother Theresa's order. Overall thoughts on the expereince is that they do good work for the poor - provide food and shelter (and medical threatment - I will get back to this point), but in my opinion their best work is with the kids. They have two kids homes, one for orphans (which the sisters arrange adoption for around the world) and one for mentally/physically challenged kids. It was this one that Emma volunteered at and they do some very good work and raising kids that would otherwise be on the street fending for themselves.

I volunteered at their hospital, basically two large wards which bed 80 men (they have a similar one for women but only women can volunteer there). They are provided shelter, food and medical attention. The hospital is made of up some mentally and physically disabled men and lots of amputees and other people who have severely damaged limbs by getting knocked down crossing the hectic Indian roads. 99% of the men are otherwise homeless. With a little persistance on my part, I got to work in the dispensary, bandaging and cleaning the wounds. I found this all very interesting and good expereince for an aspiring doctor like myself.

However, there was some issues about the place I did not like. In a country that has the second largest HIV/AIDS problem in the world, they do not test each patient for HIV/AIDS or Hepatitis. Yet, they share razor blades and medical equipment such as scalpols. Not confirmed, but I am pretty sure there are cases of TB in the hospital, but, all the men sleep in the same ward (TB infected individuals with non infected individuals). Doesn't take a genius to realize the problems with this!! Their approach to HIV/AIDS is non-existant (not suprising since it is the catholic church we're talking about) which also annoys me.

Some of the long-term medical staff I worked with (when I say medical staff, they're more paramedics/nurses than anything, yet they are performing procedures that they are in no position to perform) I found very irritating. They were always disrespectful to patients, be it hiting them or verbally abusing them and patients were scared of them. It was no way to threat vulnerable people who, on the most part, have been abused most of their lives. All very irritating!!

I honestly feel, if they had a long-term plan, and what I mean by that, not relying on short -term volunteers like myself to run the place, but strive towards something a bit more sustainable, they could provide much superior threatment. A qualified doctor, physio and nurse could perform so much good work in this hospital. From my experience, recent graduates from these professions all want to volunteer overseas for a period (mostly for a year). I really feel that the order should tap into this, advertise and try attract more long-term medical volunteers. I truely think there are people out there who would come for a year. Secondly, I really believe that they should have adult health education classes at the hospital - ie on Hygene, Sexual transmitted diseases etc etc.

Thats enough of a waffle on my experience. Emma had a totally different experience from me, as i said, she worked in one of the childrens homes and I couldn't critisize it at all, the sisters are doing some great work there (I spent an afternoon there helping out). I will get Emma to post something on her experience...

Calcutta is a great city, one of my favourite places I have been to. It is more relaxed than most Indian cities and has a totally different vibe to it than say Delhi. I honestly feel if I had a proper job (ie doctor or something in health) and a proper place to live I could really live here. If you want it, you can get all your western comforts and yet live somewhere as mad and hectic as Calcutta. We've spent two weeks here now and we're booked to leave for the himilayas tomorrow. Neither of us really want to leave, we've settled into a routine which is nice as when your travelling from place to place, there is no real routine in your day. With only 5weeks left of this trip, we need to press on....

Some pics of Calcutta soon.