Sunrise from Tiger Hill

Part of a 2 week holiday back blip starting here on October 14th...

Confirmation that this isn't going to be a holiday to relax. Apart from the stress of the trains (by this point we were definitely querying the sense of deciding to travel round the country in this way, something which would come back to haunt us in a HUGE way later on in the trip, trust me, there are rants coming in blips to pass) there were a fair number of early rises planned during the trip.

This one was 4am, to get to the top of Tiger Hill, to catch the sunrise as it lit up the Himalayan Ridge. We were told that anyone who comes to Darjeeling and just sees the old colonial stuff before going home will almost certainly have to return because they haven't seen the best of Darjeeling. I can only agree.

It was odd because the Indian visitors were watching for the sun itself, and reacted to its appearance with a collective gasp and, I swear, there was almost a round of applause. The international visitors, on the other hand, were watching the mountains, which promised to light up pink and orange as the sun reached them. And even though it only happened partially it was impressive.

The one thing about such an early rise it is left us loads of time to wander round again, from Ghoom Monastery, to the zoo to see Langour Monkeys (which felt odd because they can be found in north India in the wild) and Red Pandas (this particular zoo having the world's most successful breeding, and re-wilding, program in the world). I'm still not sure how I feel about zoos though, it has to be said...

Wanders continued to the Tibetan Refugee Self-Help Centre, which gives refugees the chance to earn a living creating traditional crafts, and most impressively handloom carpets (and yes, we did have to buy one, not because of any hard sell - Darjeeling is the only place in India we came across which didn't indulge in this - but because they were frankly superb, and ridiculously priced... Got to wait 6 months for it to be made though!).

Most surreal moment of the trip, though, also goes to Darjeeling. We were staying at the Windamere Hotel, a wonderful relic of the colonial days, which has tried to retain certain traditions. It does mean that dinner is generally disappointing, with local cooks trying to create British dishes, but being much more successful with the Indian course. The one tradition, however, that is a joy to experience is afternoon tea. Served in a chintzy front room, reminiscent of your 80 year old aunt Maud's living room, before a roaring fire, we indulged in tea, biscuits, cake and scones (with jam and clotted cream).

It put a smile on our faces for the rest of the night...