What a crazy week! Lots happened around the world that will affect my trip.
First off, the Darjeeling region has encountered a strike. The union there, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), has stopped shipping tea. They want increased wages for employees and other increased benefits. Checkpoints are being set up in Siliguri to be sure that tea doesn’t get smuggled out to auction centers. Tea is big business in this region of India. Right now is the time the first flush typically starts. I leave for my trip in one month, so hopefully the strike will be resolved way before then. Otherwise there will be a lot of wasted tea leaves for me to drink.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-03-05/kolkata/28658903_1_darjeeling-tea-association-tea-industry-tea-producers
Also there was a 5.8 earthquake in southwestern China in the Yunnan province near the border of Myanmar on 3/10/11. This is the region I will be visiting. The quake killed 25 and injured over 250 people. The large amount of damage was due to the shallow depth of the earthquake. But a big part of the problem was that strict building codes required for construction in seismic areas were not followed.
The following day, the earthquake and subsequent tsunami happened in Japan. What is going on in this world?
On a more positive note, I finally booked my air travel within India and China and got a relatively good price. I still need to book my train travel from Kolkata to Darjeeling. I am hoping my hotel in Delhi will do this for me.
Also a friend in San Francisco has a high school friend that lives near Delhi. I have been emailing her this week and hopefully we will get to meet up on my way to the Taj Mahal.
Things are starting to come together, but I still have to do more planning for Yunnan.
No comments:
Post a Comment