May 20, 2003, Darjeeling, India
After another overnight train-ride we arrived in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) early May from Puri. Welcome to one of India's most populated cities, complete with extreme heat, crowds and "un-cleanliness"! Getting off our comfy A/C coach with all our bags, we entered a sea of other passengers moving towards the exits; boarded a taxi that took us on a tour of the city's hotels in the wee hours of the morning. Checked into one, but checked out right away after Mommy saw the room. Ended up staying at the spotless Peerless Hotel with central air (a most appreciated feature for the days to come). Quite a bit above our budget, but the other alternatives were just not good enough for our family. We relaxed a bit before we went for a tour on foot of the neighbourhood. Not for long: it was just too hot for me and way too crowded, both in the streets and on the sidewalks. Sooo many people.... Therefore, I spent much of the next couple of days in the hotel room: nice soft bed, clean toilet, TV with cartoons and a wonderful temperature! Papa would often stay with me (and do schoolwork together...) while Mommy would be internetting next door. We did have some outings, usually taking metered taxis (non-a/c Ambassadors).
We went to see the Sisters of Charity Centre, where Mother Teresa used to be based and was buried, as well as a nearby orphanage, and made donations at each place. We had our clothes laundered by a dobi walla in a very narrow and smelly alley and Papa had his backpack sewn up (remember Mickey's friend in Madras) by the bag-maker next-door. Oh, and Mommy had shoes made (6 pairs...!!) by a Chinese cobbler. We had some nice food here too (according to the folks): north Indian, non-veg. or Punjabi food, as well as some very fresh and nice Indian sweets. One lunch was taken in a homey place with only 3 tables, where they served a typical West-Bengal thali. Things got a bit better after a downpour one afternoon as it was remarkably cool. We would have loved to stay longer to take in more of the sites the city has to offer and to get a better feel for the ambiance. But because of the climate we decided to cut it short and leave for the Himalayas asap. Papa again got 2 sleeper berths without any difficulty and we headed back to Howra station one early evening. Of course we got stuck in traffic and had to make a dash from the taxi stand to our platform with all our bags (+ shoes!), through the now familiar sea of people. We just made it.... to find out that our train was delayed a few hours.... So we took refuge near a police post where the officers either carried a century old gun or a bamboo cane ("they don't break as much"). Needless to say we and our luggage were safe! But I was glad to eventually board our train. As usual it took some time to get organized, putting our luggage in overbags and under the berths. Then we got to bed and fell asleep till the next morning when we arrived in Siligury, the gateway to the eastern Himalayas.
There we took an auto-rickshaw to the bus station from where we took a shared-jeep taxi to Darjeeling, paying for 4 seats to have more room. We passed a whole bunch of tea plantations and army bases before starting to climb into the foothills. It was a very steep road, past small villages and over breathtaking ridges. Towards the end of the 4-hour trip we caught up with the 2-feet gauge Darjeeling toy train that follows the road and crosses it many times. When we arrived at our destination and went through the routine of finding a place to stay, the folks immediately felt as if they were back in Nepal: the people (the porters, the Tibetan ladies), their language ("Namaste!"), the Tibetan shops, the narrow streets, the mountain views, etc. etc. Mommy came back exhausted from the many steep climbs, but happy to have found THE place for us to spent Papa's birthday: the New Elgin Hotel, a renovated Maharaja's residence, complete with open-fire in the room. Not cheap, but then we still had the GE "extravaganza fund" to spend. So we went for their full-board option and met for high tea in the garden. Of course we had noticed the extremely pleasant temperature since we had reached a certain altitude earlier in the day. But now towards the end of the day it was actually getting chilly with fog coming in. But can you imagine us sipping the most famous Darjeeling tea, in fine English China, lounging in a pretty garden full of flowers being served by a waiter in traditional costume�? Later it was time for the buffet dinner, consisting of various tasty Indian veg. and non-veg. dishes. The other guests were mostly well-off Indian families from Calcutta. I had a chance to meet their kids and had a great time playing with them, running around their rooms and the common areas of the hotel. They were curious about me and asked me all sorts of questions about Canada, my parents and our trip. The folks got to talk with a couple living in the US who recommended not staying too long in the area because of the relatively poor weather conditions, particularly in Sikkim. They suggested that we go to the western Himalayas where the scenery would be more dramatic and where there would be much better chances to see snow-capped peaks. It�s true that we had yet to see Kanchenjunga (the world�s third highest peak), which normally is quite visible from Darjeeling.
