Darjeeling

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Trip Start Feb 11, 2008 Previous
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  Darjeeling, India
Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Well I had a boys own experience in Darjeeling with a run in with terrorists.
I arrived in Darjeeling fairly late in the arvo and had to get local cab to guest house. Just another rip off but hey it is India. I booked into Andys guest house. What a god awful place it is. It is clean, but it is freezing, with no heating anywhere. There are no facilities at all, you cant even get coffee and no food so you have to go out for it. I walked about 20 min and couldn't find food so go some manderines at Chowrasta. Internet cafe down the road had internet "no problem" but when I said it wouldnt log on he said "no server" I gave him a mouth full and left. Andys gets a huge writeup in lonely planet and the only reason I can think of is payment cos I think it is crap and there are better options available.
It was just early enough to head to the Planters club which was open for the first time in 2 weeks. You pay 50Rp to become a temporary member for the day and come in to enjoy this "old boys club" from the british raj era. I had high tea on the verandah of the Planters club in Darjeeling..........eiw HOW POSH. They thought I was a heathen when I put in 3 spoons of sugar but I had to make it drinkable.
As good as it all sounds there was going to be another indefinite strike starting tomorrow and I needed to get out cos Ive had enough of the cold at this God awful guest house. During the strike no traffic moves. They cant get supplies and the lodges run out of food and ALL the shops are closed. There is nothing to do.

Planters club

Next morning I went to the Police station cos they escort convoys when a strike is on. The deputy commisioner asked why I didnt leave yesterday and when I said I arrived yesterday he went off and said I was stupid. I said the police in Siliguri said it was OK. He went off a bit more and then said no escorts today. Well I gave him a mouthful, I hope he understood all the names I called him, and stomped off and said " fu#& you I'll walk". I started to walk then realised it was a 3 hr jeep ride and with my pack I couldnt walk that far. So I hung around. I had to get enough people so we could get a jeep and demand escort so I started trying to get everyone I could. A Japanese guy and a local guy were first then I found 2 Polish girls and an American guy and another local. That made 7 of us so I went and saw a woman who had turned up at the Police station in camo gear and the cops had saluted her. Turns out she is 2nd in charge of Darjeeling traffic Police and she said she could not help me. We had a free and frank discussion about her responsibility to protect us etc and she said if I could get permission from the Gorkha's she would do something. Who said swearing doesnt help.
So we set off to find the terrorists  errr I mean political party.  The Gorkha's have been involved in political assasinations and bombings in the past but now they claim to be non violent. They want to have an independant state within India and not be part of West Bengal.We had a hell of a job finding them, "go up there" "not here go up there" "go over there", eventually we were escorted down some dark back lane to some shady looking characters who said they would have a look for us.

Letter from terrorists err activists

I told them a pack of lies about train tickets and we needed to go etc and they said wait for the council to decide. I pointed out their leader in a televised interview yesterday said they would not involve or inconvieneince tourists. We waited for the council to decide. After about 2 hr the secretary came out with what appeared to be our letter and an altercation broke out. Some tryhard came up and had words with the secretary and punched him in the face. A fight broke out and they dissapeared with our letter. We waited again. There seemed to be small groups of people coming and going all the time and to me they were all full of their own importance. While waiting another fight broke out and a woman took to someone with a stick. They seem to be a bunch of thugs who all want to be boss and will never get what they want until they get it together. The cops came patroling through brandishing 303s and stood there for a while, I think to protect the tourists. We did not need protection. The Gorkha's were too busy fighting amongst themselves to fight with us. At no time did I feel threatened at all even considering where we were and what was happening around me. Eventually, after about 3 1/2 hr they gave us the letter and provided a car....at triple the normal rate and we were allowed to leave. On the trip down to Siliguri we were stopped about 6 times and had to produce the letter to get past. At one point the military stopped us and sent us a different way cos they were in a "conflict with rebels". The new way took us down through a Cardamon plantation and the Ghorkha heartland.
When we reached Siliguri The 2 Polish girls, the American and I decided to jump on the overnight train to Kolkata. We managed to book tickets, it was a bit of a mission, then find food and find our train on time. We had sleeper car so our names were listed on the carriage with our seat number. I got upper berth, which is sought after, and hated it. Will swap next time. After 3 days on the road we arrived in Kolkata and headed for Sudder st the packpacker heartland. We had Breakie where I met a couple of women from Perth right next to me. Im staying at Ashok Guest house.... Bit of a dive but OK. Will update again in a few days.
PS I uploaded heaps of pics of Bhutan today in a marathon effort by me.

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letter	Terrorist errr activist	thats my name	The Polish girls on the train

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