Land of the Champagne of Teas

Well here we are finally- beautiful Darjeeling. The closest airport to here (and in fact to anywhere in the nearby state of Sikkim) is Bagdogra, and even then it’s a 3.5 hour drive to our hotel. We had frantically tried to get in touch with the travel agent to try and make sure the room is booked, and well, that a driver would be there to take us to the hotel. We are packed for a wedding, and so are not very nimble.

At least for now (on the drive), there is no rain, and the drive up to Darjeeling is simply spectacular. Those fear-mongering weather forecasts seemed for a moment to have been all lies. Well, until you got into Darjeeling itself- that’s where the cloud covers decided to rest for the coming couple of days. Go a couple of hundred meters lower and you were back staring at heavenly sights.

 

We got to the hotel, unpacked, freshened up, and hit the town. With nary a view to enjoy, we walked around the town, decided to check out the more upscale hotel there (for future reference), and hit a tea “café” to sample some tea. Then the rains started, and did not stop till the moment we left Darjeeling.

The next morning, Ghada and I were scrambling for the contingency plan. We had discussed this eventuality at great length. Are we heading to Gangtok? Are we going to Sandakphu and then hike up to Phalut? We’d be another 1000m or so higher. Would there still be clouds, or would we have left them behind? The hotel staff don’t seem to know much better than “well if it’s raining here, it must be raining there”. Ghada dragged us to a Sikkim tourism website, where the staff can make more helpful suggestions.

This is where Pelling was brought up. Here we would find the most ancient Buddhist monasteries in India. It is also more nature and less urban. Pelling it would be.

I had hoped that we would get a glimpse of Kanchanjonga before we left. But there was no luck to be had in Darjeeling. Perhaps Pelling would afford us an opportunity to rectify this injustice.

The next day in Darjeeling, Ghada and I braved the rains and walked around the town once again. We had hoped to see at least a few of the sites- the zoo, the Tibetan refugee centre, some tea estates, more tea tasting so we can make more informed purchasing choices. But between the Tourist office, having to get special permits to allow us to enter into Sikkim, the bad weather, the fact that it was Thursday and half the places were closed, we managed to walk down to “Happy Valley” tea estate which advertises itself as supplier to Harrods. It is the only estate which is within a reasonable walking distance from the hotel.

Indian say that Kerala is “God’s country”. I haven’t been there, and so I cannot confirm the veracity of this statement. Being here in Darjeeling, and driving around the mountains, I am hardpressed to believe there is something that can surpass this area in beauty. The lush greenery, the steep slopes, the massive mountains, everything is in such a grand scale.

On the drive up to Darjeeling

Darjeeling Tea Estate

Darjeeling, the town. View from the hotel. Best view all stay

The streets of Darjeeling

Ghada smelling a tea flower

Darjeeling during the Monsoon

'Happy Valley' tea estate

Below the cloud cover, we get the spectacular views once again

The mountain roads

... what to do? 

In the end, it made no sense whatsoever to make the trip up to Tiger Hill, Ghoom or the toy train. The weather was non-permitting... but we did come back with lots of tea!