Day 02 - Darjeeling

The night was cold and weary from travel, but the day dawned at 4.30 and we didnt feel it was early! We got a shock when we saw the clock and realised it was so early. Darjeeling is in the eastern part of India and so the sun rises earler. and to add to that it is a hill station and it is summer now. so sunlight is longer and comes earlier than usual!

We got up, got ready and left after breakfast. That was in the wooden floored dining room in the hotel which has a beautiful old fireplace. sadly it is no longer used. By the way the hotel had wooden flooring in all the rooms and the false ceiling is also of wood. the real ceiling on top is of shingles.

First was the Japanese Peace Pagoda and the meditation center.. A calm old place with a wooden staircase and paintings of bamboo in brush and ink, hanging on the walls in the upper rooms. Surprisingly there are no grills in the windows. If you lean out far enough, you can fall to your death. It was quite scary for my mom, who has a fear of heights (acrophobia)


The Japanese Inscription


Brush and Ink sketches in the typical Japanese style.


The entrance to the meditation center, with a picture and statue of the founder.


The pagoda itself.

Next we moved on to the waterfalls. down into the valley amidst the tea gardens and rocks, and had three cups of the most beautiful tea I have ever had in my life! Then we came back up again and we bought the same tea for friends and family, some three kilograms of it for about a thousand rupees. divided by five people paying, it didnt cost much..

My brother as usual got carried away and tried to so some stunts standing in the flowing water from the waterfalls and promptly fell into it. Came out dripping wet in ice cold water and downed some three cups of tea at the roadside shop.

Then we roamed around the Indira Gandhi zoo, which didnt have much, tried to see the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute which was closed and came back to the hotel. Then we went out walking into the market street in the late evening. My grandmother had locked her bag and lost the key. We broke the lock and went looking for a new one. We found that and also some warm woolen knitted caps, and a wonderful knife that is carried traditionally by the gorkhas.. It is called a kukri..


The way to the waterfalls where my brother fell into the water trying some stunts, standing in the ice cold water.



My brother dripping wet from head to toe and the driver of the jeep drinking tea


The mist-cloud shrouded tea gardens from the hut where they were selling the tea, which we got.

Then back to the hotel, dinner and bed.. We had to leave early next morning to Gangtok in Sikkim!