Hotel Tourist Inn Siliguri

... petit et aujourd’hui ce n’est pas en vain que nous portons nos livres dans le sac avec nous.

Un peu plus tard, le bus ralentit. Non pas pour faire monter d’autres passagers, non ! Un prêtre s’approche du devant du bus... prononce une bénédiction pour le bus et le chauffeur qui reçoit son « Chita » (le point rouge des Hindous sur le front) de la main du Sadhu (prêtre). Le ...

... saying, "I preach the gospel of Jesus Christ." It put us to shame!

They took us to Sikkim, a state of India with special status because they are a separate people ethnically and originally a part of Nepal. We had to get a permit to travel there, which was really a formality, but foreigners can only go in for 2 weeks and only 4 times a year. We visited a group of believers in one of their homes and Jim preached to them by translation ...

... den geist geht.

So war ich zb bei einem wasserfall, bin den berg dann auf der suche nach einer hoehle hinaufgekraxelt.

Nur das da nach ner weile kein weg mehr war. Zurueck war zu gefaehrlich, also immer weiter nach oben..hatte mich allerdings in der entfernung verschaetzt...nach 3 std war ich immer noch nicht auf dem pfad den ich2 tage vorher genutzt hatte.

Und dann fing es an zu regnen. Das Geheimnis ...

... the loo I found one sat in my seat when i got back!! and one time plonked on my day rucksack most annoying...i did tell her 'excuse me, my sunglasses are in there!!! get off please and dont sit on it again!!' it was well covered by blankets etc for security!! and Mike was keeping an eye but was far too nice to say anything to her...unlike me!!! lol, and probably just as well he was watching as early one morning when i couldnt sleep i had a chai and left the 5 rupee ...

... my life. As we drove I thought about what I would say in this blog entry if I made it to Darjeeling, but I don't think I have the creative capacity to put my fear into words. Needless to say that any other time in my life I have said that I am frightened or terrified it was a lie. A total lie. The road is vertical, winding, slippery and travels along the edge of a sheer drop. When we reach Kurseong I cry in relief. I cna't believe I am still alive. It is ...

... to stay put for several days more as he is not able to travel. It's not like in the US where you just jump in the car and go... here it will be a very bumpy ride down a mountain that will take 3 hours by jeep and then a 10 hour train ride to get us back to Calcutta. However, if I've got to be stuck anywhere, this is a great place to be. Well, just had a brief conversation with the gentleman who runs this cafe ...

... both of us realized that we never verified that simple fact. Panic struck. We went around the station showing people our tickets. To our pleasant surprise, we found out we were at the wrong station. We ran as fast as we could to the nearest taxi and off we went to the next train station. I don't think that the two train stations could have been any further away from each other. It was also rush hour in Mumbai, so the taxi would sometimes stop and just shut off its engine. It took ...

... since we arrived and another is scheduled for today. On one late afternoon, we joined the scarlet red robed monk-led procession up, down and around the hills of Darjeeling with hundreds of other residents of Tibetan ancestry as they waved Tibetan flags, shouted "Free Tibet", "Stop the Genocide", etc., sang traditional Tibetan songs and recited a prayer written by the Dalai Lama. It is very unfortunate that young Tibetans in Lhasa (Tibet) may have resorted to ...

... considered a hopeful dream. After seeing sunrise from the hill we went on to see a monastery that had been built in the 1800's. It was nothing special. Then we went to a Tibetan refugee camp. At this place in exchange for food, education, and shelter, the Tibetan refugees make wool rugs, the big thick area rug kind. It was kind of cool to see how they were made. After that we went to a tea plantation. Apparently Darjeeling tea is kind of famous. At least other people in the States ...