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....
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....
posted by Mark Sherlock at
11:19 a.m.
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