June 11 was my last morning in Darjeeling and when I awoke between 4 and 4:30 I peaked out the window and could see that the sky north was relatively clear. I managed to stay awake for about half an hour as the sky became lighter, but could not make out Kanchenjunga or any of the other snowy peaks. I went back to sleep and when I got up about 7:30 clouds covered everything. However, a little bit after 8 I looked out my window and could see snowy peaks to the north. I went up to the roof of my hotel and could see Kanchenjunga as well as the double snowy peaks (called the Kabra peaks, I think) to its left. Clouds eventually obscured them again, but about 8:30 I walked to the viewpoint north of Chowrasta and Kanchenjunga, surrounded by clouds, was again visible. The sun was out and I spent about an hour at that viewpoint and another, with Kanchenjunga usually visible, though all the other peaks were hidden by the clouds. The sun felt warm. Besides watching Kanchenjunga come and go, I watched Tibetan women in traditional clothes and lots of other people out for a walk, and several macaques, including a mother and baby, walking along and sitting on a fern adorned branch of a tree. Finally, Kanchenjunga seemed to disappear for good and I went to breakfast.
Soon after noon I left on a share jeep heading to Mirik, about 25 or 30 miles to the southwest. From Darjeeling we traveled to Ghoom and then took a road that first headed east and then south. We hit fog as soon as we left Ghoom and were enveloped by it for a good while while traveling at about 7500 feet elevation. Then we started making a steep descent and got below the clouds on a curving road through a beautiful dark forest. The tall trees were growing very close together, with almost no undergrowth except for ferns, quite a beautiful forest. I think the trees are Japanese cedars. One of my guidebooks mentions them in the area. Further down the sun came out and we started passing tea estates, with whole hillsides and several conical hills carpeted with tea. We passed through a few little villages, too, and had great views east across the deep valley below to the ridge that leads to Darjeeling from Siliguri. I could clearly see the town of Kurseong.
Shortly after 2 we arrived at Mirik, at about 5500 feet elevation and with about 10,000 people. I checked into a little hotel, had lunch, and then walked up to a big red and yellow monastery on a hill 200 plus feet above town. The monastery, built in 2000 (a monk told me), belongs to the Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism, with photos of the Dalai Lama and the 17th Kagyupa (the one recognized by the Dalai Lama) on colorful thrones in the big main hall. About 80 monks were sitting in the hall in four rows of about 20 monks each and chanting. In the courtyard in front of the main hall their sandals were all lined up in a long row. I'd never seen that before. I listened until they finished, maybe a half hour or more after I got there. Besides horns, drums, clarinets and even conch shells, occasionally the chants were accompanied by hand clapping and even the snapping of fingers. Very beatnik. There were also a few periods of complete silence, with a soft bell ending the silent meditation. I listened and walked around a bit. After they finished I walked to the front to see the altars. The giant Buddha statue in the center held a big offering bowl, filled with packaged cookies and other packaged snacks.
I talked with a monk from Phodong in Sikkim until they closed up the multi-story main hall. On the wall of the porch of the main hall is a wheel of life mural, as in many other monasteries, but this one includes a car, a couple of bicycles, a jogger, and soldiers with rifles, along with the usual scenes of the pleasures of heaven and the torments of hell. After looking around I sat in the sun on a bench in the courtyard and watched the monks for a while as they did chores. I walked around the area a bit and then walked back the way I had come. There is a lake, or rather a reservoir, right in town and I walked along the banks for a short distance until it became too dark. The sun had been out pretty much until sunset.
The next day, too, was sunny and warm, though there were always clouds in the sky, especially to the north. After breakfast I walked around the lake on a trail, a distance of a little over two miles. Japanese cedars stood along parts of the shore and there were good views of the monastery on its hill above the lake. About 2:30 I took a share jeep about three miles back the way I had come the day before and from there walked back to Mirik, passing hills covered with tea along the way. Besides the beautiful tea covered hills and a few stands of Japanese cedars, there were great views across the valley to the ridge leading to Darjeeling. I could again see Kurseong and easily make out the road to Darjeeling, along which the toy train also passes. I enjoyed the slow walk back, with lots of stops to enjoy the views. Eventually, school got out and there were lots of friendly uniformed school children on the road. At one point I saw about 4 guys spraying the tea plants, with pesticide, I suppose. I walked by the tea processing plant about the time the women pickers were getting off work and saw dozens of them walking home with their empty baskets on their backs. I eventually got back to town and correctly guessed what side street led down to the lake, finishing my walk back to my hotel on the lakeside path and getting back about 6.
The next day was also sunny and warm. I had stayed up late the night before finishing The Mayor of Casterbridge, which I had first read maybe 25 years ago, and didn't get out to breakfast until about 8:30. On the way I noticed the sky was completely clear, so about 9 after breakfast I headed up the hill towards the monastery to see if I could see Kanchenjunga and its ridge. Kanchenjunga and its ridge were almost cloudless. The views were great. Kanchenjunga and the two Kabra peaks to the left were visible as was the pyramidal Siniolchu peak to the right. By far the clearest day I have had in almost a month and a half in the Himalayas and it happens on my last day in the Himalayas.
I enjoyed the views and walked to several places along the hill to see if I could get a better view. Clouds began to cluster around the snow covered peaks, but Kanchenjunga and the two Kabra peaks remained visible. After more than an hour I walked to the monastery. The main hall was closed, so I walked to a chorten faced with marble and with a big prayer wheel inside. A couple of elderly Tibetan women in traditional dress were circumambulating the chorten and occasionally entering it to revolve the big prayer wheel. I found a spot to sit nearby in the shade with a good view of Kanchenjunga. Soon a bunch of teenage and younger monks came down to the chorten, tucked their red robes into their shorts, and began a raucous game of soccer with a little yellow ball, maybe three inches in diameter. They were quite good, and apparently oblivious to the danger they posed of knocking over the two Tibetan woman, who soon moved elsewhere. They were fun to watch. Kanchenjunga kept getting cloudier, but was still visible, but I had to leave about 11:30 to check out of my hotel at 12.
In mid afternoon I left Mirik by share jeep, heading down to Siliguri. I was in the far back, but had good views of the green clad hills as we descended on a twisting road to the plains, passing farms and forests and extensive tea estates. Under sunny skies there were good views down to the valley below, which separates the hills where Mirik is located and the ridge to the east leading towards Darjeeling. I could see Kurseong and the road towards Darjeeling on the ridge across the valley. It became much hotter as we descended, taking a little less than an hour to reach the valley floor, at maybe 1000 feet elevation. We crossed the river coming down the valley and headed over the now gently sloping plains to Siliguri, which we reached about an hour and a half after leaving Mirik.
Siliguri was sunny and hot. I had a late lunch/early dinner and read a newspaper, which reported that temperatures the day before had been 9 degrees (5 degrees centigrade) higher than average the day before, with a high of about 99. About 6 I took a cycle rickshaw to the train station in New Jalpaiguri, just south of Siliguri. The cities are contiguous and the almost one hour ride was an interesting at twilight through busy streets and markets.
The train station was hot and humid with a big crowd waiting for the train I was to take to Calcutta. Just before 8 the Darjeeling Mail entered the station and I boarded for the overnight 350 mile trip to Calcutta, with only four scheduled stops on the way. I had been able to book an air conditioned 3AC carriage rather than an non air conditioned sleeper, but it was hot inside as we waited for the train to leave, which it did shortly after 8. Once the train got going the air conditioning functioned fine and the carriage was very comfortable. The six of us who were to sleep in two tiers of three opposite each other sat on the lower bunks until about 10, when we pulled down the middle bunks. We each were provided with two clean sheets, a pillow and a blanket. You rarely get two sheets (usually just one, a bottom sheet) in Indian budget hotels. I was very comfortable, though it took me a while to fall asleep. Before going to bed I noticed a plain clothes guy with a conspicuous holstered pistol. That afternoon, as I read in a newspaper the next day, a train in neighboring Bihar state had been stopped and held up by about 100 masked Maoist Naxalite guerrillas, who killed three, including a train guard, before being driven off by the trains' four remaining guards.
The train was scheduled to arrive the next morning at 6, but in fact arrived shortly after 7. The morning was rainy and I stayed in my bunk until just before arrival. The rain was coming down very heavily at the station, so I waited until it was more of a drizzle and then took an auto rickshaw to the hotel where I have stayed the last few times I have been in Calcutta. Calcutta was cloudy all day, but there was no more rain. I had breakfast and then read newspapers in the hotel lobby. The afternoon I spent in an internet cafe and then an air conditioned bookstore.
The next morning was sunny until a big rainstorm hit about 10. I again read newspapers in the hotel lobby before lunch. In the early afternoon I walked towards the city center to look around, and in particular to see the renovation of the Great Eastern Hotel, opened in 1840, renovated in Art Deco style in the 1930's, and then fallen into decrepitude in the late 20th century (though Queen Elizabeth had stayed there in the early 1960's). It is supposed to reopen in November, but from the looks of things the opening could be well after after. It was too hot and humid to continued further downtown, so I returned to the air conditioned Oxford Bookstore and spent the rest of the afternoon there. At dinner the man sitting next to me struck up a conversation. It turned out he was a lawyer, an advocate, as they are known in India. He told me he handles all sorts of cases, except tax cases and very serious crimes like rape and murder, and that he goes to Delhi about twice a month for appeals. He invited me to stop by his office and come to court with him, which I had to decline since I was flying to Bangkok the next day. That would have been interesting. He gave me his card and said to contact him the next time I was in Calcutta.
Soon after noon I left on a share jeep heading to Mirik, about 25 or 30 miles to the southwest. From Darjeeling we traveled to Ghoom and then took a road that first headed east and then south. We hit fog as soon as we left Ghoom and were enveloped by it for a good while while traveling at about 7500 feet elevation. Then we started making a steep descent and got below the clouds on a curving road through a beautiful dark forest. The tall trees were growing very close together, with almost no undergrowth except for ferns, quite a beautiful forest. I think the trees are Japanese cedars. One of my guidebooks mentions them in the area. Further down the sun came out and we started passing tea estates, with whole hillsides and several conical hills carpeted with tea. We passed through a few little villages, too, and had great views east across the deep valley below to the ridge that leads to Darjeeling from Siliguri. I could clearly see the town of Kurseong.
Shortly after 2 we arrived at Mirik, at about 5500 feet elevation and with about 10,000 people. I checked into a little hotel, had lunch, and then walked up to a big red and yellow monastery on a hill 200 plus feet above town. The monastery, built in 2000 (a monk told me), belongs to the Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism, with photos of the Dalai Lama and the 17th Kagyupa (the one recognized by the Dalai Lama) on colorful thrones in the big main hall. About 80 monks were sitting in the hall in four rows of about 20 monks each and chanting. In the courtyard in front of the main hall their sandals were all lined up in a long row. I'd never seen that before. I listened until they finished, maybe a half hour or more after I got there. Besides horns, drums, clarinets and even conch shells, occasionally the chants were accompanied by hand clapping and even the snapping of fingers. Very beatnik. There were also a few periods of complete silence, with a soft bell ending the silent meditation. I listened and walked around a bit. After they finished I walked to the front to see the altars. The giant Buddha statue in the center held a big offering bowl, filled with packaged cookies and other packaged snacks.
I talked with a monk from Phodong in Sikkim until they closed up the multi-story main hall. On the wall of the porch of the main hall is a wheel of life mural, as in many other monasteries, but this one includes a car, a couple of bicycles, a jogger, and soldiers with rifles, along with the usual scenes of the pleasures of heaven and the torments of hell. After looking around I sat in the sun on a bench in the courtyard and watched the monks for a while as they did chores. I walked around the area a bit and then walked back the way I had come. There is a lake, or rather a reservoir, right in town and I walked along the banks for a short distance until it became too dark. The sun had been out pretty much until sunset.
The next day, too, was sunny and warm, though there were always clouds in the sky, especially to the north. After breakfast I walked around the lake on a trail, a distance of a little over two miles. Japanese cedars stood along parts of the shore and there were good views of the monastery on its hill above the lake. About 2:30 I took a share jeep about three miles back the way I had come the day before and from there walked back to Mirik, passing hills covered with tea along the way. Besides the beautiful tea covered hills and a few stands of Japanese cedars, there were great views across the valley to the ridge leading to Darjeeling. I could again see Kurseong and easily make out the road to Darjeeling, along which the toy train also passes. I enjoyed the slow walk back, with lots of stops to enjoy the views. Eventually, school got out and there were lots of friendly uniformed school children on the road. At one point I saw about 4 guys spraying the tea plants, with pesticide, I suppose. I walked by the tea processing plant about the time the women pickers were getting off work and saw dozens of them walking home with their empty baskets on their backs. I eventually got back to town and correctly guessed what side street led down to the lake, finishing my walk back to my hotel on the lakeside path and getting back about 6.
The next day was also sunny and warm. I had stayed up late the night before finishing The Mayor of Casterbridge, which I had first read maybe 25 years ago, and didn't get out to breakfast until about 8:30. On the way I noticed the sky was completely clear, so about 9 after breakfast I headed up the hill towards the monastery to see if I could see Kanchenjunga and its ridge. Kanchenjunga and its ridge were almost cloudless. The views were great. Kanchenjunga and the two Kabra peaks to the left were visible as was the pyramidal Siniolchu peak to the right. By far the clearest day I have had in almost a month and a half in the Himalayas and it happens on my last day in the Himalayas.
I enjoyed the views and walked to several places along the hill to see if I could get a better view. Clouds began to cluster around the snow covered peaks, but Kanchenjunga and the two Kabra peaks remained visible. After more than an hour I walked to the monastery. The main hall was closed, so I walked to a chorten faced with marble and with a big prayer wheel inside. A couple of elderly Tibetan women in traditional dress were circumambulating the chorten and occasionally entering it to revolve the big prayer wheel. I found a spot to sit nearby in the shade with a good view of Kanchenjunga. Soon a bunch of teenage and younger monks came down to the chorten, tucked their red robes into their shorts, and began a raucous game of soccer with a little yellow ball, maybe three inches in diameter. They were quite good, and apparently oblivious to the danger they posed of knocking over the two Tibetan woman, who soon moved elsewhere. They were fun to watch. Kanchenjunga kept getting cloudier, but was still visible, but I had to leave about 11:30 to check out of my hotel at 12.
In mid afternoon I left Mirik by share jeep, heading down to Siliguri. I was in the far back, but had good views of the green clad hills as we descended on a twisting road to the plains, passing farms and forests and extensive tea estates. Under sunny skies there were good views down to the valley below, which separates the hills where Mirik is located and the ridge to the east leading towards Darjeeling. I could see Kurseong and the road towards Darjeeling on the ridge across the valley. It became much hotter as we descended, taking a little less than an hour to reach the valley floor, at maybe 1000 feet elevation. We crossed the river coming down the valley and headed over the now gently sloping plains to Siliguri, which we reached about an hour and a half after leaving Mirik.
Siliguri was sunny and hot. I had a late lunch/early dinner and read a newspaper, which reported that temperatures the day before had been 9 degrees (5 degrees centigrade) higher than average the day before, with a high of about 99. About 6 I took a cycle rickshaw to the train station in New Jalpaiguri, just south of Siliguri. The cities are contiguous and the almost one hour ride was an interesting at twilight through busy streets and markets.
The train station was hot and humid with a big crowd waiting for the train I was to take to Calcutta. Just before 8 the Darjeeling Mail entered the station and I boarded for the overnight 350 mile trip to Calcutta, with only four scheduled stops on the way. I had been able to book an air conditioned 3AC carriage rather than an non air conditioned sleeper, but it was hot inside as we waited for the train to leave, which it did shortly after 8. Once the train got going the air conditioning functioned fine and the carriage was very comfortable. The six of us who were to sleep in two tiers of three opposite each other sat on the lower bunks until about 10, when we pulled down the middle bunks. We each were provided with two clean sheets, a pillow and a blanket. You rarely get two sheets (usually just one, a bottom sheet) in Indian budget hotels. I was very comfortable, though it took me a while to fall asleep. Before going to bed I noticed a plain clothes guy with a conspicuous holstered pistol. That afternoon, as I read in a newspaper the next day, a train in neighboring Bihar state had been stopped and held up by about 100 masked Maoist Naxalite guerrillas, who killed three, including a train guard, before being driven off by the trains' four remaining guards.
The train was scheduled to arrive the next morning at 6, but in fact arrived shortly after 7. The morning was rainy and I stayed in my bunk until just before arrival. The rain was coming down very heavily at the station, so I waited until it was more of a drizzle and then took an auto rickshaw to the hotel where I have stayed the last few times I have been in Calcutta. Calcutta was cloudy all day, but there was no more rain. I had breakfast and then read newspapers in the hotel lobby. The afternoon I spent in an internet cafe and then an air conditioned bookstore.
The next morning was sunny until a big rainstorm hit about 10. I again read newspapers in the hotel lobby before lunch. In the early afternoon I walked towards the city center to look around, and in particular to see the renovation of the Great Eastern Hotel, opened in 1840, renovated in Art Deco style in the 1930's, and then fallen into decrepitude in the late 20th century (though Queen Elizabeth had stayed there in the early 1960's). It is supposed to reopen in November, but from the looks of things the opening could be well after after. It was too hot and humid to continued further downtown, so I returned to the air conditioned Oxford Bookstore and spent the rest of the afternoon there. At dinner the man sitting next to me struck up a conversation. It turned out he was a lawyer, an advocate, as they are known in India. He told me he handles all sorts of cases, except tax cases and very serious crimes like rape and murder, and that he goes to Delhi about twice a month for appeals. He invited me to stop by his office and come to court with him, which I had to decline since I was flying to Bangkok the next day. That would have been interesting. He gave me his card and said to contact him the next time I was in Calcutta.
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