Desain Holiday and trip to Darjeeling
Trip Start
Sep 12, 1978
1
9
18
Trip End
May 1981
Darjeeling, West Bengal,
India
Friday, October 20, 1978
During this time our PC training groups split into twos and threes accompanied by our Nepali language and culture teachers and went off to various parts of the country. I went with three of my instructors to Darjeeling which is in West Bengal state. It was a hill station under the British Raj and there is still a noticeable English influence there.
It is in the far North very near the border with China and in sight of Mount Kanchenjunga, the world's third highest. We went by jeep before dawn to Tiger Hill to watch the slowly light up the tip and then the rest of that majestic peak. Memorable. No camera. No pictures unfortunately.
We made the entire journey by assorted local buses. From Khatmandu South into the Terai, a part of the Gangetic plain. Then East crossing into India and spending a torrid night in Siliguri. Early next morning after a breakfast at street vendors stalls, off to Kalimpong where Indra's uncle lived. We were serenaded far into the night by local school boys.
Also visited a local cheese making business started by an elderly Belgian Catholic priest. Bought some of his delicious cheese and gave it to our hosts.
Then off to Darjeeling. First day torrential rains. The dilapidated Oberoi Hotel was leaking like a sieve. Next day bright and clear. To Tiger Hill for sunrise.
I stayed behind while my Nepali instructors left. I visited a tea estate where the famous Darjeeling tea is grown. Then listened for a time to the strange sounds but delightful performance of a Tibetan opera in their refugee camp there. The entire opera takes a full day to perform I was told. The Tibetans seem to be invariably cheerful.
I ran out of Indian currency. Had only Nepali rupees which were not legally convertible and a couple of USA twenty dollar bills. But some drunk in an American bar had amused himself by burning cigarette holes where the zeros were printed. I went to several bank managers but when each saw the damaged currency they waved me away. I wound up with no choice but to exchange Nepali rupees on the black market at about half their legal exchange rate.
There was the famous narrow gauge 'toy train' from Darjeeling to Siliguri but I opted for the bus which took about three hours vice the train's seven.
I rejoined the Nepalis and some other PC mates in Dharan. spent a night in Biratnagar then returned to our training site in Thahakel in the Khatmandu Valley. Very enjoyable and broadening trip.
