April 26th The Zoo and Toy Train

From out of the window

Darjeeling from a distance

The Steam engine starting off

Hard labour on the streets of Darjeeling

The Toy Train is a narrow gauge railroad built in 1880. It cut the time to reach Darjeeling from 4 days to 12 hours. The train is still in operation between Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri about 80 km away. We took a small joy ride to Ghoom, 10km down the line. There is a small museum about the railway and then we returned. The train shares the right of way with a road and crosses the road on several occasions. The track is within 1 meter of doors and shops. At one point I could have easily grabbed a bag of chips from a roadside stand. Being on a mountainside the views are impressive but the photography is poor due to poles and wires everywhere. The train stopped for photos on the Bautista loop for 10 mins. This is where the train does a loop around to gain height. The train is UNESCO heritage site and certified Guinness book of records for the oldest working steam engine.

April 25 Tea Estate and Monasteries

The main Alter

We had a driver for the day and we toured around Darjeeling. We visited 2 monasteries and a tea estate. The Yiga Choeling is 150 years old and in need of restoration. This is the first monastery to allow photography inside and I gladly paid the $2 fee to use my camera. It was a nice compromise since I wanted to make a donation anyhow. When we arrived a monk opened the doors for us, sat and played on his iPhone while Joan and I took pictures then locked up when we left

The second Monastery posted signs saying 'no photography inside'. So I put my lens cap on and went in. I was inside for 10 minutes and during that time every adult that came in took out their cell phone and snapped pictures or selfies. Then 1 of the monks inside took out his cellphone and snapped a few pictures. I joined the crowd except I used my tripod. Joan said I got so dirty looks but I dumped $4 in the donation box and reckon I paid my way

The main Building

Two of five Buddhas

Tea fields near Darjeeling

In the afternoon we visited a tea estate We got a very good tour, the guide spoke only English but it was a group of 20 and we could barely hear her. But during the tea tasting she explained further and now we are tea experts. It's all in the processing. After the tour we wandered through the tea fields. For the second night in a row we ate supper from the street vendors. Their food is delicious and cheap. A filling meal for the 2 of us is $2. So far, so good!     

April 24th Drive from Pelling to Darjeeling

The drive to Darjeeling was lon and tough. Upon checkout I learned that my breakfast and dinner were includedd in the price of the room. The bad news was the hotel didn't take Mastercard and the only ATM in town hadn't worked for 3 days. In the end an employee from the hotel drove 25 km with us so I could use an ATM in Grazing the provincial capital. Grazing has more than 1 ATM and it took 3 ATM's before we found a working one. The hotel employee got the money and made his way back to Pelling, 

The driver was a bit of a cowboy and he lost his side mirror in the first 10 km when he nicked a passing truck. On these narrow roads any passing is treacherous. In the last 25 km he lost all his antifreeze. After 2 more stops for water another commercial driver told him to use real antifreeze and add more than 1 l. of water at a time. After that we limped into Darjeeling at 16:30. Between looking for a working ATM, crossing a provincial border, and overheating 3 times – we turned a 5 hr trip into a 7.5 hour trip.

Darjeeling in in the mountains and has narrow roads like Sikkem so driving in the city is an adventure. Often cars cannot make the u-turns required for the switchbacks. They stop, bach up and do the turn in 2 sections.

April 23rd Buddha Walk

Pelling Buddha walk

Mother and Child

One of the great attractions of Pelling is the 50 ft high Buddha Statue. It sits on top of the hill 2 km outside of town. This is purely a tourist attraction so we joined the throngs, paid our money and walked up the 178 steps. The statue and park are all new so the painting is all fresh and the landscaping is still going on. We walked the 3 km back to our hotel.

In the afternoon I walked through the lanes behind the main road. Again the first person I met, a ten year old girl, asked me where I was going. I answered and then I asked if I could take her picture. She ran into her house and then came out and invited me in. I accepted and entered. There were 3 women and 2 babies and a puppy inside. The dog bit me, but the toddler played nicely with me. I accepted a cup of tea and we made small talk – very small since only the 10 year old spoke English. I found out that they owned 2 cows. I owned none. After tea they let me photograph and then I left.

April 22nd Khechepen Lake

We arranged a tour through the countryside today. We visited a small falls and a holy lake. The small falls were small.. The lake was interesting. The entrance fee was 10 for the locals, 50 for Indian tourists, and 100 for foreign tourists. The lake was surprisingly small and almost impossible to see due to the prayer flags. I tried to find a good spot where I could photograph but it was difficult. The path to the lake led to a covered wharf into the lake and we were required to remove all shoes. The lake must be really holy The crowd at the end of the wharf was large so I joined in to get a look at the lake. The crowd was having a great time throwing food to the hundreds of large carp having a feeding frenzy. The lake wasn't all that holy.

Rimbi Falls

Prayer Flags in the rain

Pamayannngste in the fog

In the afternoon we went to the Pemayanste monastery for the second time. The day was rainy and foggy and I wanted a picture of a Sikkim temple in the mists. The weather co-operated so Joan sat on a bench out of the rain white I tried taking pictures in the mist. I took my time and several Indian tourists approached me to tell me what a patient wife I had. Joan must have told everyone she met what a slow photographer I was.

April 21st Pemayangste Monastery

Pemayanste Monastery

Girl Guide

Today we visited the oldest monastery in Sikkim. It was about 3km all uphill so we cheated and took a local taxi (but we did walk down). Sikkimese temples are similar in style with elaborate paint jobs on the windows and doors. Unfortunately photography inside is not allowed. Too bad since the walls have some great paint jobs.

This monastery was in full operation with many young monks heading to classes. We chatted with an old monk just outside the temple and he told us he had attended a conference in Vancouver. After visiting and photographing the outside we walked back down the hilltop. We stopped at a bakery shop after just 1 km and we met again the old monk. He helps run the bakery shop as vocational training. After chatting for 15 minutes he offered us a free house for 1 year if Joan would teach languages and I would do computer support. I declined because they don't get much snow in winter.

In the afternoon we tried to walk through the countryside. We quickly found a “village” that didn't seem to have any streets. A local asked us where we were going and I tried to tell her we wanted to walk through the village. I thought she said there were too many dogs, and then she called out her 10 year old daughter to guide us through the village. The girl ran off but Joan and I couldn't keep up so she would run back to encourage us and then run ahead again. Sure enough she ordered the dogs to go away and lead us through the village and back to the main road.