A week ago we took an overnight train from Varanasi to a very different India. Evergreen hills, cool breezes and Central Asian faces. Our first stop was Kurseong, a sweet tea-growing town at about 5,000 feet, where we stayed at a cozy, wood-paneled government tourist lodge that reminded us of a 1960s-kitschy ski chalet. We spent a fantastic day visiting an organic, biodynamic tea estate and the government tea research institute, which you can read about in David's latest post. I even got to pick a bit of tea myself, as you can see! We had a wonderful time wandering without the guidance of Lonely Planet -- Kurseong only gets a quarter-page in the guidebook, enough to say how to get there and info on two accommodation options. (It's amazing how hard it is to put down the book and strike out on our own when we know there's information to be had, so it was a welcome change to not have the info!)
From Kurseong, we took the toy train of the Darjeeling Himalyan Railway, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. This little train slowly winds and loops its way up the hills to Darjeeling on two-foot-wide track; the views were beautiful, and the tiny towns and stations that we passed had me squirming with the cuteness of it all. We rolled into Darjeeling (30 kilometers and four hours later!) to find clouds and fog obscuring the mountain views that are one of the main attractions. It was one of my first big disappointments of this trip, knowing that if the skies were clear I'd see a see a snowy Himalayan range, including Mt. Everest.
Nevertheless, I've really enjoyed the past few days, soaking in the British Raj-era ambiance of this hilltop town, known as the Queen of the Hill Stations. From the late 1800s till Indian independence in 1946, this town was a popular retreat for Brits in Calcutta seeking to escape the heat of the plains, and that legacy is seen in the Victorian architecture: grand stone buildings, peaked tin roofs and gingerbreading everywhere... David and I took high tea -- complete with cucumber sandwiches, jam cake and shortbread -- in the coal fire-warmed sitting room of one the swanky hotels. Very sweet! We've also splurged on our hotel: we're paying $27 a night at the Darjeeling Belleview Hotel for a gorgeous suite, complete with sitting room and wood-burning stove. (We typically pay $10 or less for a night!)
Today, Darjeeling is a popular getaway for middle-class Indian families. After spending time in rural areas and in cities where we've been around poorer folks, it's been interesting to see this segment of the population. Moms and dads strolling and socializing, kids running and screaming, teenagers cruising. They stand out like sore thumbs, as most of them are wearing brightly colored ski caps that say "DARJEELING," which are sold by streetside vendors for all the visitors who come here unprepared for the 40-degree nights. It reminds me of the tourists who come to San Francisco in July, not knowing that it's one of our chilliest months, and must buy baggy sweatshirts emblazoned with "SAN FRANCISCO"!
And then the local population is so different from what we've seen in the plains. Many people are of Nepali and Tibetan origin, and their traditional styles of dress are different from the Hindus to the south. And the younger kids are really hip dressers; I get the impression they watch a lot of MTV. This is a big contrast to the kids in Varanasi, for example, who we mainly saw wearing garishly patterned disco shirts and pants hiked up to their waists.
I also noticed more religious diversity here. One day I walked up to the top of Observatory Hill, where there's a joint Hindu-Buddhist temple. As I watched monkeys swinging from the multitude of colorful Buddhist prayer flags fluttering above the Shiva temple, I heard a distant loudspeaker from the town mosque announcing the Muslim call to prayer. When I came back down the hill, I found a big crowd in the town square gathered a round a troupe of funkily dressed 20-something youths who turned out to be a Norwegian Christian mission group performing the parable of the prodigal son! There are quite a few Christian churches, ranging from Catholic to Full Gospel; I'm actually hearing Christian pop music right now, as the owners of this Internet cafe are Christian. No synagogues that I'm aware of, but David did some representin' yesterday as we strolled around town on our Shabbat morning walk.
We're leaving today for a three-day trek in Sikkim, and after that we diverge from our previously scheduled plans and head to the Andaman Islands, which are a two-hour flight from Calcutta, for a week! I've heard they're still in need of an economic boost since the tsunami in December 2004, and we're happy to oblige.
So I'm getting to this post a little late, but you'll be thrilled to know that I'm enjoying a cup of tea while reading it!
Posted by: Charles | April 05, 2006 at 09:29 AM