Greetings Readers,
Thinking with envy about where you are likely to be sitting reading this at the moment - perhaps in the warm office over a coffee break, or at home in a comfy chair with a glass of wine....
Spare a thought for me in a cold, damp, misty, flea-infested hotel....
Oh dear indeed.
On the up side, I have been hugely entertained over dinner both last night and tonight. Last night I was with a young couple from Newcastle, who were off travelling the world and not due back in the UK until December, and tonight - another young couple, both coming to the end of their PhD's in Geology at Zurich University, having been over here for a wedding in Kolkata.
On the downside - it is freezing cold, there is no heating in the hotel rooms (I've just been given my hot water bottle from reception for the night) and hot water is scarce (two morning's I've washed and shaved in cold water), being kept awake at night by barking dogs and the proverbial beeping car horns.
The big sell about Darjeeling is it's location with stupendous views of the Himalayas.
Hmmm.
Two days of mist and haze since I've been here, have meant I've seen nothing - including getting up at 4am (having been awake since 3am anyway from the cacophony of dogs barking) to take a trip to Tiger Hill along with a thousand other tourists to watch the sunrise and turn the Himalayas all peachy.
We got there, saw the sun come up and saw Katchenjunga for all of 2 seconds through the mist. Not quite so peachy!
So today - after travelling up Tiger Hill, I visited a Buddhist monastery, which was not at all what i expected ( and not in a good way), a Tibetan refugee centre, the local zoo and then a tea plantation.
I did make a detour to the Windamere hotel for afternoon tea. It could have been afternoon tea in any large victorian house in the Uk, especially in the Lakes - a little strange experiencing it here. And it has to be said that the Darjeeling tea was superb - and not a tea stain left on the white china!
Assuming tomorrow will be another hazy / misty day, I'm ready to leave.
It's a bit like being up in the lake district, without a car in the pouring rain for three days.
Hey ho.
I did spend time this evening upgrading and editing some pictures of my trip. Following this blog are 10 of the best.
Enjoy.
So looking forward to getting back to Kolkata and civilisation!
See you soon.
xx
Thinking with envy about where you are likely to be sitting reading this at the moment - perhaps in the warm office over a coffee break, or at home in a comfy chair with a glass of wine....
Spare a thought for me in a cold, damp, misty, flea-infested hotel....
Oh dear indeed.
On the up side, I have been hugely entertained over dinner both last night and tonight. Last night I was with a young couple from Newcastle, who were off travelling the world and not due back in the UK until December, and tonight - another young couple, both coming to the end of their PhD's in Geology at Zurich University, having been over here for a wedding in Kolkata.
On the downside - it is freezing cold, there is no heating in the hotel rooms (I've just been given my hot water bottle from reception for the night) and hot water is scarce (two morning's I've washed and shaved in cold water), being kept awake at night by barking dogs and the proverbial beeping car horns.
The big sell about Darjeeling is it's location with stupendous views of the Himalayas.
Hmmm.
Two days of mist and haze since I've been here, have meant I've seen nothing - including getting up at 4am (having been awake since 3am anyway from the cacophony of dogs barking) to take a trip to Tiger Hill along with a thousand other tourists to watch the sunrise and turn the Himalayas all peachy.
We got there, saw the sun come up and saw Katchenjunga for all of 2 seconds through the mist. Not quite so peachy!
So today - after travelling up Tiger Hill, I visited a Buddhist monastery, which was not at all what i expected ( and not in a good way), a Tibetan refugee centre, the local zoo and then a tea plantation.
I did make a detour to the Windamere hotel for afternoon tea. It could have been afternoon tea in any large victorian house in the Uk, especially in the Lakes - a little strange experiencing it here. And it has to be said that the Darjeeling tea was superb - and not a tea stain left on the white china!
Assuming tomorrow will be another hazy / misty day, I'm ready to leave.
It's a bit like being up in the lake district, without a car in the pouring rain for three days.
Hey ho.
I did spend time this evening upgrading and editing some pictures of my trip. Following this blog are 10 of the best.
Enjoy.
So looking forward to getting back to Kolkata and civilisation!
See you soon.
xx
Katchenjunga at dawn - the third highest mountain in the world.
Can you see what I see?
Nepalese tourists in their national dress having a good time at Darjeeling zoo
The Royal Bengal Tiger
What it's all about - the Tea Plantations
No comments:
Post a Comment