Final days in India

I was meeting a tea contact at the Apeejay Group at 10. I decided to wear some clothes I purchased here--kulta and scarf. I may as well wear them while I am in India. Maybe I will get less stares as I walk around the streets.

The Apeejay Group is right across the street from the hotel. They are the third largest tea producer in Assam. Bobby had written in his calendar that he was to meet with me tomorrow. I had written today. I told him that it's not a problem, I can come back tomorrow. He said, while you are here, let's find out more about each other. He had some assam tea brought in for me.

He told me he had done just about every job at the tea plantation and worked his way up. Currently he is the managing director of the tea business. He had just come back from a conference in the UK so today was not a good day to meet.

I told him I have been working in finance and accounting for 25 years, but I am still trying to find a place for myself in the tea industry. I told him that I do tea tastings for small groups of people. I like talking about the history and allowing people to drink several teas at a time so they can compare them. I also told him I have been educating myself myself about tea since the early 1990's, reading books on tea, drinking as many different types of tea as possible, and going to tea tastings because there was no other way to learn. In the states you can't just go to the local tea plantation. I had also gotten certified as a Tea Specialist at the Specialty Institute in NY in my spare time.

We would meet tomorrow and he said I could ask him any questions I wanted about the tea business. He is quite a nice man and I liked him immediately. I would look forward to our conversation tomorrow.

I walked back to the hotel. Then I walked to the BBD area, this time further than I had walked previously. I saw some new buildings including the Writer's Building. I also saw the 1866 post office with its white dome and the St. Andrews Church with its spires. I also wanted to get to the Hooghly river banks. They have some ghats there. Even though I went there in the afternoon, there were people bathing in the water. Typically it is crowded in the mornings and evenings. There are also ferries coming and leaving from the banks. To my left was the Vidyasagar Setu suspension bridge. To my right was the Howrah Bridge which has cantilevers. This bridge is over 60 years old and one of the busiest in the world. Photos are strictly prohibited. I walked around the Millennium Park in between the two bridges and snuck in a few photos as well as a snack.

On my way over there I walked by a section of town that had a lot of tea sellers. There were many people in line to buy tea too. Each store was selling huge crates of tea and you could smell the tea as you walked down the street. Each crate was marked fannings, ctc, darjeeling dust, etc. describing what kind of tea was inside.

I also found a section of town nearby that had men lined up on the sidewalks with their typewriters. There was a chair next to each one of them. I guess if you needed a letter written to someone and either couldn't write or needed it professionally done, this is where you come.

As it was around lunchtime, there were more than the usual amount of food vendors in this area as well. I noticed there were tables set up outside and instead of just standing around eating, people were sitting down. This section of town must cater to the work crowd. It was near several large banks.

I found the tourist bureau by mistake, on the way back from the river banks. I walked in to see what the line was like. The whole 10 minutes I was there, the line didn't move at all. There were around 20 people in front of me. I was looking to get a permit for the Marble Palace. It is free but you still need to get a permit to get in. Even though it was wonderfully air conditioned inside the office, I left. There was no point in spending the rest of my day here. They might not even call my number. Walking back to the hotel was torture since it was around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. As soon as I got back to the hotel, I took another shower and had some hot tea with the a/c on full blast. I think if you venture outside in the afternoon, this must be the protocol.

I wanted to check out this tea house in the Elgin Street area called the Camelia tea bar. I did a google map and it should have been very straight forward once I got on Sarat Bose Road. It was a 30 minute walk. This was a very busy street as I found out. When it went under the overpass, the name changed. So I tried both ways and couldn't figure it out. I popped into the Chrome Hotel. The women there said I was going the right way but I should take a taxi. At this point it sounded good. Plus she knew the tea place and could explain to the driver where it was.

This place turned out to be a dud. It was near the college and on a 2nd story roof deck of a hotel. Everyone was smoking hooka. But all the tea was flavored, so instead I opted for a Chocolate milkshake to cool off. It was probably about 90-95 degrees out. When I was getting ready to leave, I checked my maps for a restaurant nearby that had Bengali food. After asking about three people and actually finding it, it was closed on Monday.

I find the police booths in Kolkata are very helpful. They are on all the busy roads. Sometimes the police are hanging out chatting and other times they are directing traffic. They are the only ones I can rely on to speak English. They helped me get a taxi and explained to the driver where I was going. I tried one more failed attempt to get to a Bengali restaurant. This place was a 10 minute walk from the hotel. Turns out it had closed for good.

Ok, I ended up at the hotel for dinner. I went to the Saffron Restaurant. They had their regular menu and a special menu of Indian/Arabic food. They had a special chef on staff for this. I tried the kingfish with a spicy lime chili pepper sauce. Then I got rice and mung daal with naan. The food was really tasty--both spicy and flavorful.

On Tuesday, I got up around 7 and went for my last hot Indian breakfast. At the hotel it comes with rice, veggies, vada which is a tiny quarter sized puffed and fried bread. There is idly and porridge that I have not tried. There is always chana masala. If you want the batura, you have to ask them to make it especially for you. I asked twice. There is an omelet station, fruit, cheese, breakfast cereal, croissants, and some other items.

I went over to Apeejay Group just before 10. Bobby walked me through the tea process for assam tea. He said they break down each estate into 7 sections because there are 7 days in a week. Each day they pick from a different section. Each estate has a manager and 3 assistant managers. There are about 2000 employees on each plantation. Approximately 10% of the tea is processed the orthodox method and the rest is the ctc method.

Obviously they want the most production from each tract of land. They are always checking yields. When the yield gets below a certain %, they re-plant the field. Some plants are over 100 years old--some are Chinese and some Assam. Whenever they plant new clones, it takes 7 years before they can be plucked. There are always new clones coming out in the market that are more resilient. They try to determine the best clone for the soil and terroir.

They always try to keep the labor costs down by being more efficient. They try to improve the quality because they will sell their tea for higher prices at the auctions. Some of their tea is sold to private companies via contract and the rest is sold at auctions. They track each section of land through the entire process. They don't do any tea blending. That takes place at the company that buys the tea.

I also asked about pesticides. Their estates are not organic but biodynamic and fair trade. There is a minimal residue allowed for pesticides. If they exceed it they can't ship to Europe and Japan which are huge markets. Also there are certain banned chemicals that can never be used. Typically April, May, and June are the months when pesticides are applied.

The auction in Kolkata is every Monday and Tuesday. There are also auctions going on in other cities such as Siliguri. The auctions take place through the entire year because tea production does as well. It sounds like you have to be a registered buyer to purchase at the auction. Typically you would have done your research in advance such as looking at the tea leaves, sampling the tea, etc. On the day of the auction, you would just be bidding on the lots you wanted, by the various producers, depending on the price you wanted to pay.

I asked other questions too, and I wish I would have remembered everything. While I was there, I tried the masala chai tea with sugar and milk. This was the Typhoo brand that is sold in grocery stores. It sounds like this part of their company is headquartered in the UK.

Bobby said it was too bad I didn't have more time in India. He said it would be worthwhile for me to come to the plantations in Assam. Should I come back to India, he said we could definitely schedule some time there. Today was a whirlwind of information, but keeps adding to my tea education!

So I left there and finished packing. Then I took a short nap. I think the heat is sapping my energy here. Maybe I wasn't drinking enough water. I checked out of the hotel around two. By the time I determined where I was going and what I was doing, it was around 2:30. I could have gone to the Indian Museum. But instead decided on the Kali temple. Supposedly this is how Kolkata got its name.

This was a short walk to the metro station and then only four stops. The metro was way more modern than I thought it would be. It only cost 4 rupees. I got off and I was very near the street where the temple was. It is always is hard for me to find places unless there is a sign. I didn't see one. Maybe it was obvious to everyone but me where this temple a was. I was sweating a lot now. I followed a family as they seemed to have a guide. There are a lot of souvenir shops as you approach the temple. Then everyone wants to watch your shoes for you. You have to take them off if you want to go inside the temple. I bought some strung flowers (they were red) to give at the alter. Eventually I took off my shoes. You can't take pictures inside the temple. The temple's floor is marble, but it was by no means clean and was slightly wet.

The person in front of me gave 100 rupees, so he got the royal treatment. I only gave 10 plus the flowers and barely got a red mark on my forehead. I couldn't wait to get my shoes back on. This is a very famous pilgrimage site.

So I walked around a little bit afterwards. I went to the ghat where people are washing in the river. The garbage was piled so high I had to leave. I had heard that Mother Theresa used to feed many of the poor people around here. I walked by her famous center called Nirmal Hridy which offers a little dignity to the destitute and dying. I had wanted to check out her mission but it was open on random days and times and I couldn't coordinate it.

I was really sweating a lot. The metro actually cooled me off some. I found a place I wanted to go for dinner near the hotel. Even though it was around 5, I figured I would eat and have a cold beer since I was so thirsty.

The place was there, but didn't open until 7. Instead I went to Trinca's. They had cold, cold beer. I said I needed some time to look at the menu but asked if they could please bring the beer now. They also brought me some salty snacks. Again, the first thing I asked for was not available. So I settled on rice, chana masala, and tandoori naan. I had another beer. It was so cold.

I met a couple that was sitting across from me. They were from the US and Germany. They were about a year out of college. They had been here for about three months traveling around India. Their favorite spot was Goa. They also had some friends in Punjab and stayed with them. They liked staying with a family, but they felt a little stifled since they were constantly together and couldn't take off on their own. They couldn't wait to get out of Kolkata. They were leaving in two days. They were thinking about going to the Kali Temple tomorrow but after talking to me, I'm not sure they will still go. I told them my feet were still disgusting feeling and I had already checked out of my hotel. The woman was so funny. She made me take her phone number so that if I wanted I could wash my feet at their hotel. They were a little frustrated here in Kolkata. They had gone to the Botanical Gardens at noon and were not allowed to bring a plastic water bottle inside. It was a "plastic-free" zone. So they obliged. But then they saw an Indian family with two plastic water bottles having a picnic. They asked them why they were allowed to bring the water in. They said it's just because we are Indian.

I went afterwards to the Cha Bar above the bookstore. I got a Makaibari tea and some cookies. They had a big lecture going on upstairs. There must have been 30-40 people listening. I wasn't enamored with this place because they only give you one pot of tea and you can't keep re-steeping the leaves. But they do have a fantastic selection of teas and snacks and let you hang around forever.

Around 9, I got my bags together and got a taxi to the airport. I met two really nice women from India. They were currently living about two hours away from Hanzhou, China. One of the women and her brother owned an import/export store and the other woman was married to her brother. Our plane was a red eye and in addition it was delayed 2 hours. We couldn't even enter the departure area until 11:30.

The two woman and I talked for about and hour. They said it was hard having their store in China because not many people speak English. I told them about some of my experiences in India. I said I loved the clothes and asked them why they don't wear saris? They said that no one really wears them until they get married. Some husbands require their wives to only wear saris. They were half joking when they said that after marriage women get a fat stomach and saris hide that pretty well. They said that they couldn't imagine older Indian women wearing jeans. I told them that everyone wears jeans in the US even when you have a fat stomach. You don't have to wear tight jeans though. We all laughed.

Another thing we talked about is that women don't travel around alone much in India. When you see them on the streets they are with their family. During the week you see women walking around to get to work but otherwise it really seems to be a man's world. They told me many women are expected to stop working after they have children. Their thoughts were that India isn't as advanced as the west, but I think it's just a more traditional society. In addition, I had only been to a few places. Maybe it's very different in Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bangalore.

Once we finally were able to go to the departure area, we had to scan our bags first and then check them. We got our boarding passes, went through customs, and then walked through security. I get stopped every time for something different and my bag gets hand searched. This time it was for my plug to recharge my iPhone. Everyone goes through the xray and gets a pat down. The women have a private enclosed area with a curtain. When it was time to board, you get an additional pat down and all your bags must be re-examined and opened.

It was a small plane and I was in row 2. I had a retired man sitting next to me. He said he worked in the Indian government for 40 years. Now he is enjoying life. He does a lot of fishing and hiking outdoors. This trip, he and his 3 friends were going to Kunming for a golfing weekend. They went there last year and had a good time so this could become an annual tradition. There are some great courses there. They would play three rounds over 4 days. When they arrived they would have an easy day after the red eye flight. He said that no one speaks English in Kunming. If they didn't have a guide, they would have been in trouble.

He asked if I had a guide. I said I would many days, but had some free days mixed in. I said originally, I was thinking of doing the China portion of my trip on my own, but now I'm glad I didn't.

We talked about the Indian elections for West Bengal. He said change was overdue in this area. Even though he lives in Delhi, he said that whenever he comes to Kolkata it is for transit only. He hasn't been in about 3 decades. He said the communists in power can't do anything to help the people here and over time this form of government will continue to decline.

He asked me how I felt about OBL. Apparently that is the abbreviation on the news everywhere in India for Osama bin Laden. I said that I am glad he was captured. I know he was terrible man but I'm not "happy" he was killed. He still has many followers. I had heard on the news that they confiscated a lot of important and very useful information, so that was good. Also it sounded like they wanted to interview one of his wives.

I haven't been reading anything but only catch the information on the news from time to time. He told me that he thought Pakistan was completely useless. Not only had they not known where OBL was, but the US could not even get them involved in the capture for fear of leaks.

I don't know if Pakistan knew where he was but either way, if they say they knew, the US won't trust them. If they say they didn't know they look like idiots. We both agreed Pakistan is not really reliable in helping to capture terrorists. They have no incentive. Every once in a while they give someone up to prove they are still helping but these are usually lower level people.

I knew I should have been sleeping, because not only was the plane a red eye, but there was a 2 1/2 hour time difference. It was nice to talk with an Indian that spoke English and was so knowledgeable and intelligent. I have mostly been meeting western foreigners in India besides the people associated with tea.

When I arrive in Kunming, I am hoping where it says on my itinerary "Bamboo and Golden Temple when ready", that they really mean it. I was sad to be leaving India but was excited to go to China.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bilochun/sets/72157627306793855/

Moving on to Kolkata

I was sad to leave Darjeeling but it was time to move on. I got to the train station was told the train was sold out to Ghoom. But after that, I could get on to Kurseong and there would be plenty of seats. I could either take a taxi to Ghoom and then buy a ticket or stand on the train and hope someone doesn't show up. I got a seat although it was on the side of the train with the lesser view. Once the train started moving, everyone with cameras was standing up taking pictures anyway. Once in Ghoom, the train really did clear out. I met a young woman and her mom from Provo, Utah. They were traveling around together. The daughter was getting married and moving to San Francisco in June. I gave her my info. The daughter was a huge yoga devotee and had spent some time in ashrams in the south. They had two weeks left to travel together. She was a snowboard instructor in Utah and didn't know what she would be doing in the bay area. Her husband to be would be moving there before her and getting a place most likely in the south bay.

The rest of the train ride was really relaxing. The view was partly in the mist and partly sunny. The train went through so many villages. At first I thought it was weird that the whole village stopped whatever they were doing to watch the train go by. But then I realized, the train probably took up much of the road and you couldn't do anything except watch the train go by. We increasingly saw more tea plantations as we slowly went down the hill. Supposedly the train moves at something like 8-12 kph--very slowly. I'm surprised they are able to maintain the track as it goes along the narrow and perilous Hill Cart Road.

I arrived in Kurseong at around 1pm. As soon as I got off the train, an enterprising young man asked me if I would like a taxi. I said yes, and let him take my bags.

I was glad to see my homestay family when I returned to Makaibari. I had some tea and cookies when I arrived. I really didn't have any plans. I just wanted to hang out and relax.

Later that afternoon we went to
Meera's sisters house to get some water. She looks a lot like Meera. Some other women came over and everyone was chatting and laughing. There was a window next to where I was sitting with a closed curtain. Their house was situated so that you could could hear everyone coming down the hill. It must have been a pretty busy walkway. Every once in a while there would be a lot of activity. I would peek behind the curtain to see what was going on. They laughed and said I would fit in very well here.

We had a nice dinner of rice, daal, and potatoes with veggies. I was still tired from being out to 11pm the previous night so I went to bed right after dinner.

Meera had to go to Darjeeling for work the following day. The plan was that I would go to Kurseong with Mona Lisa and we would have lunch. She would drop me off at the Internet cafe while she was at her computer class. After class we would wait for Meera and Sunita to come back from Darjeeling. Then we would go to a local wedding of a young couple that lives on the Makaibari estate.

I felt underdressed for this wedding I was going to even though I didn't know anyone. We took a taxi down the hill to the estate. They had two areas. The wedding couple was sitting in a tent just outside their family's home. They were dressed beautifully, especially the bride. We waited to go inside and see the couple. Each person had a gift. Each person sort of blessed the heads of the bride and groom and gave them a scarf. At least that's what Meera and Sunita did. Then we all walked to the separate area where the food was. There was a buffet and a server behind each different entry. I had rice, daal, aloo gobi, a nice spicy chicken dish, some bread, and they also threw some sweet dessert on my plate. We would bring the dessert back for Manshi and Granny.

I recognized some of the women I plucked tea with. I said hello to them. I also saw Pasang when we were leaving. He said to stop by around 6 at his home if I wanted to see his new daughter. I said I would. The four of us walked the rest of the way downhill.

I was just hanging out at the house and so full from eating all day. I was glad to get up to walk to Pasang's house. Along the way we ran into Allison and her daughter Sophie and her husband who had arrived from Germany this week. They were on the way to Pasang's house too, to finalize their trek.

At Pasang's everyone was talking about the trek. They needed to make the final decision whether they were going to Sikkim or Singalilia. I chimed in whenever appropriate regarding Singalila. I think if it was just Allison and her husband they would have gone to Sikkim. But with the kids it would definitely be hard. Pasang has this way about him of not telling you which decision to make, but phrasing it in a way, that whatever is his opinion, you eventually reach it as well. Pasang's father served us all tea.

Then the women all went to see the baby. We had to touch fire first as this is tradition and then we could see her. She was beautiful but big for an 18 day old baby. Mona Lisa and I left shortly afterwards. I didn't want to be around when Allison's family made their decision. They needed privacy.

I was getting used to watching the Indian soap operas they have on tv in the evenings. These soaps are so hoaky and not even in English. But the plots aren't too deep. The women are beautiful and dressed in the most elaborate clothing (saris and kultas).

In the morning, I ran into the two men from Germany that were filming all week. They were heading to Nayan's office to pick up the taxi for Bagdogra. I would be riding with them. They were filming a documentary and it sounded like they wanted to start an exchange program with the local school here and one in Cologne.

I was at the airport almost 3 hours before my flight because the filmakers flight was earlier than mine. It was going to be a long wait. I went to the restaurant and got some Makaibari tea and some veggy pakora. I shouldn't have been hungry yet. But the food was good and I ate it all.

As I was waiting for my food, a college age girl sat down. She ordered some take-out and was instructed to sit at my table and wait for it. She was from SF and going to school at Columbia. Currently she was involved in a study abroad program and had a total of 5 months in India. She was really nice and she said her father was a chef for a private family in SF. She was supposed to bring back some tea for him. She had no idea where to start and what to bring him. I suggested she should go to the Makaibari store right in the airport. I told her I am sure he would like anything there but my personal favorite was the imperial silver tips. I said it was expensive but it was worth it. She was doing some major like sustainable or Eco-friendly planning and had to write a 30 page paper at the end of the program.

Once I finished eating, I figured I might as well go through security. I got to the gate and some woman was trying to cut the line in front of me at the xray. I totally went off on her. With the biggest smile on my face I said, "You know what, do whatever you want. Go ahead of me. I don't even care. I'm not even here in front of you. I don't exist."

I thought of Katherine in Darjeeling and her story about the stamps. She said that overtime little things about other people bother you. One day, someone cuts in front of you in line. The next day someone else does it. You feel helpless. There's nothing you can do. You are in another country. The other person might not understand you. But each day this happens, you are slightly irritated and get pissed. You add another so called "stamp" to the card.

Then one day you suddenly realize there are no places left on the card to put the stamps and you blow up. This poor woman had been doing what everybody else does here and just cut in front of me in line. She had no idea my stamp card was full. But she backed off and put her stuff down behind mine.

I sat down in the fan only section. I found out there was an air conditioned section but no seating there. I started reading. A man sat two seats away from me. He thought he could use me to watch his bags. He would say, just watch my bags, I'll be right back and then just leave. At first I would occasionally glance at his bags and then I stopped. He left 10-15 times. At one point I had to kick someone out of his seat. Eventually we chatted a little because I noticed he was checking to see why the plane was delayed. He said instead of 1:55, we would be leaving around 2:30. Apparently the plane was coming from Kolkata and got real close to the airport but turned around because there was a major downpour. So 2:45 came and went. Then my "friend" told me that they were giving out snacks. I should go get one. I walked over to where he pointed, but they were gone.

I moved to a different seat location. Supposedly someone "in the know" from Jet Airways walked by. Everyone was pissed about the delays and was yelling at him. I started chatting with the guy sitting next to me. I asked him if he heard what was going on. He said he hadn't but asked me to watch his bags. Just as he left the guy from Jet Airways came back and announced to everyone the plane from Kolkata had just taken off. We would most likely board about 4:30. My new friend came back. I told him what just happened. He said he heard. He said he wanted to try to get some snacks. He said come with me as I have a friend who works here. So we found out that the food in the snack box wasn't going to be very good. And it would be a while before they would bring more snacks. So he asked his friend if we could go to the restaurant and eat something. This would require going through security again which is generally not allowed. So they ripped up the tags on our unchecked luggage and they took our boarding passes. They would have to re-issue them for us.

So Karma and I went to the restaurant. He ordered chapati and a chicken dish for us plus we shared a beer. Man was that beer cold. I drank it pretty fast and didn't eat much. It was so good.

When we finished Karma got the bill. During our snack we became well acquainted. He was originally from Gangtok and currently living in Kalimpong as a branch manager at a bank. He was going to Kolkata for a business meeting on Sunday--just for the day. Then he had a three week trip to the USA (New York, New Orleans and maybe some other places). He said something about it being for the rotary. His wife apparently is in the travel/tourism industry. They have a beautiful 2 year old daughter. She looks more like him than his wife.

He said if I come back to India he'll set up a trekking trip for me in Sikkim. His whole family is in mountaineering except him. He says he really likes trekking too and he'll come along on my trek.

I told him where I was staying in Kolkata and that I had a car waiting for me. I hoped that they had checked with the airport before heading out. He said that his hotel was nearby and asked if he could get a ride with me. Of course I agreed.

So we went back towards security. He got our new boarding passes. We got new tags for our carry on bags we were good to go. Our flight was boarding soon so we got in line. The plane was completely full. But it was only a 50 minute flight.

As we approached Kolkata everything was so green. There were so many trees. It looked like there were a lot of homes outside the city that were really nice. We landed and it was super hot and humid. My driver was standing there with a sign. He told me he waited 3 hours but not to worry, he slept in the car. There was no problem with Karma coming in the taxi with me.

There was a lot of traffic and it took about an hour to get to the hotel. We planned to meet for dinner and Karma said my hotel has a good bar that has live music. We should go there afterwards. Usually Karma meets his friend when he goes to Kolkata but this time, his friend was in the UK. He didn't know anyone else here so this actually worked out perfectly.

So he asked where I wanted to go for dinner--Chinese, Bengali, Muglai. I said I had never had Muglai food, so we went to Peter Cat. The line was super long but he put our names in. We waited about 1/2 hour. We watched all sorts of arguments with the guy that was letting people in. Some of them looked like serious yelling.

So all of a sudden, Karma must been getting hungry and he said, do you want to try the Chinese place? I said sure let's take a look. It was a two or three minute walk but it was packed there as well since it was Saturday night. This place at least gave us an estimate of 30 minutes. I said, let's go back to the other place since I will be eating Chinese food for the next month.

In less than 15 minutes after returning they called us. It was an oasis inside. We were away from the taxi cab horns. It was air conditioned. There was no yelling about getting a table.

I let Karma order for us. The restaurant was famous for kabobs. He had scotch and I had Chantilly White Indian wine. We had some chicken skewers with onions and tomatoes as an appetizer. Then they brought us two of today's special with rice. Part of the dish
was lamb and part was chicken. It was really tasty. This was a really fancy restaurant. The waiters looked like raj type emperors in white. They were very attentive. The place was dark but the predominant color was red and it was very comfortable inside. Karma paid for dinner.

So we finished dinner and headed back to my hotel to listen to the music at Somewhere Else. I said I would get drinks. We hung out until like 1. They had two bands. The first was Pat Methany-like jazz and the second one was blues. We got right up front for the second band. It turned into a really nice day even after the all the delays.

So it was a slow start to my Sunday after being out late and drinking all night. I went to breakfast at around 9:30. I took it slow and read the paper. Then I headed out for the Victoria Palace at about 11.

This place was very close to my hotel and built to honor Queen Victoria. The structure was finished in 1921 about 20 years after her death. As I was walking there I noticed a teenage boy behind me. We were walking at about the same pace so he couldn't really pass me. Finally I must have stopped to take a photo and he passed me. He said Victoria Memorial as if to ask me if I was going there. I sad yes. He motioned the way I was already going. He didn't really speak more than a few words of English. We couldn't really communicate. I just assumed he was going there too. So we both kept walking.

The first view I had of it was just outside a gate. It's within the city park but has a separate gate and an entrance fee. It's built in white marble and has reflecting pools like the Taj. So I was thinking this boy was just concerned that I got to the memorial safely. I was going to make it easy for him. I would buy his entrance fee and we could say our good-byes. I bought him admission (10 rupees--150 for foreigners) and said "see you". I am going to walk through and take my time and take a lot of photos.

So he wouldn't get lost. He kept following me around. The weather was nice right now so I decided to walk around the outside first. You never know if it will rain. So again I was taking my time, taking photos, and saying you can go ahead. I don't think he understood a word. At this point, I genuinely thought he wanted to accompany me. But maybe he was secretly getting annoyed with me. I really wanted to be by myself and I couldn't communicate that to him. I would stop and take photos or go a different way than he went and he would always find me. After walking around the entire building and gardens we went inside.

So besides the gorgeous dome inside, they had a lot of photos, galleries, and history of the city of Kolkata. Some of it was really interesting. My "boy" was still with me. I explored each and every gallery so I actually thought he would be bored and take off. So finally after we finished walking around the inside and outside, I thought he would leave like any other normal person. We had nothing to say to each other and nothing in common. So instead of leaving through the gate, I said I wanted to hang out in the hot afternoon sun. This I could tell was bugging him. I actually do like to people watch and this was a perfect spot for that as all these beautifully dressed women are wearing these gorgeous saris and kultas. The fabrics and colors are so colorful. At one point a family wanted to take a picture of me. I said only if I could take a picture of your family. They agreed.

I was getting a little terse with my boy. Like why would he want to hang around with me? He wasn't asking for money, he didn't want to be in my pictures, he didn't want me to buy him lunch. So finally we exited the gate. I said bye and waved. Ok that wasn't working either. I didn't want to walk back with him because then he would know where I was staying. I raised my voice and said Go! Bye! See you! Now I was practically yelling. There was a policeman nearby but I didn't want to get him in trouble. I mean he didn't do anything wrong. He finally sensed my anger. Then he said 50 Rupees? I'm like, are you crazy? Scram!!! Go! Now I had something to tell the policeman. He knew it too. So he finally left. Ok, no more mister niceguy! I'm not allowing this to happen again.

I walked back to the hotel. It was 39 degrees celsius at 2:45. That's 102 and 90% humidity. There were all sorts of street food stands, but all I could think about was a cold drink. My water was no longer cold. I had my first pepsi in about 15 years. It was so cold and so sugary. When I got back to the hotel, I was drenched and took a shower. I had some hot tea in my room with the air conditoner on full blast.

I think if you intend to go out during the day you must have to take many showers here. Around 4:30 I headed back out. I wanted to check out the BBD area. It's not far to walk but I wanted to get there before dark since there are a lot of colonial style buildings in this area.

What I didn't realize was that there are street vendors lining the sidewalk the entire way as you walk there. Kolkata is different than Delhi as you walk the streets. In Delhi, everyone is calling you to check out their shop. I find that in Kolkata, they just stare. Occasionally someone will call out to you. But the stares might be worse. At a certain point. You feel like there must be something wrong with you. Although I would rather walk the streets than take a taxi.

There were a lot of colonial buildings in this area. Once it got dark though, I headed back. One thing I like a lot about India is that I feel so tall. I'm 5 feet 6 inches and most people here are shorter than me. It a nice change!

Another thing I notice in Kolkata is that a lot of the street food stands advertise these big elaborate menus. When I finally decide to go up to one, it invariably turns out that the item I want is not available. I can never tell if that's just for today or never available even though it's on the sign. I also noticed that less people speak English. In Delhi and Darjeeling I never had a problem. But here, maybe it's that they are not used to my American accent. I ask the taxi driver to take me to the Park Hotel on Park Street. Then some other native person has to repeat it in "English" before the taxi driver understands.

I had such a large breakfast today and a couple of samosas and bananas during the day, that I didn't want a big dinner. I actually wanted a kati or kathi (I have seen them spelled both ways). You can get them from the street vendors. They are rolled up naan with different things inside. All the stands had mentioned veggy, chicken, etc. But of course when I ask, all they have is egg. So instead, I went to the local bookstore that also had a tea bar. First the tea, then the books. I actually had a Sikkim tea.

On the way back to the hotel, I figured maybe I should check out the cafe in my hotel. They might have something light. They had the kathi's on the menu for about 10 times the price, but, I could get the chicken tikka with no egg. That's what I did.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bilochun/sets/72157627306814019/

Leaving Darjeeling

So today, I thought I would buy my train ticket for Kurseong, finalize my tea purchases, mail my last packages, and maybe take the train to Ghoom and walk back. I later found out this was a little too ambitious.

The day started out slow and didn't leave the guesthouse until 11. I stopped by Goodricke tea to make sure I wasn't getting ripped off at Nathmull's. I had now tried two teas at Goodricke, and either they don't know how to brew tea, are skimping on the amount of tea, or have really crappy water because I haven't liked either tea I tried there.

I resigned myself to the fact that Nathmull's is the place for me. I tried two more teas today. The Pussimbing autumn and Pussimbing spider. The spider was wintergreen tasting to me (my least favorite mint). The autumn was a little sweet and spicy. I had never tried an autumn flush before. When I finally purchased my teas, the owner gave me a 5% discount since I had been in there every day for about a week.

The next thing I needed to do was mail the rest of my packages. I walked to the post office but arrived at around 2:15, shortly after they had come back from lunch. There were 2 other people ahead of me in line plus the man wrapping the packages had two candle waxing jobs to finish. There was a woman from France that was first in line and then a woman from Finland.

The woman from Finland had 5 months off. She was nearing the end of her trip. I guess you get a sabbatical after you've been with a company for over 10 years in Finland. She was traveling all around India. We both had the same sort of feeling in that this country kind of changes you. She said she had been to two weddings and a funeral. Then just recently a ceremony for cutting a three year old boy's hair. There is a sense of community and family here. It's something that the western cultures have definitely lost.

I thought the post office closed at 4 but it was 3. Well, I at least got the wrapping portion done. Tomorrow, I can show up at 9 or 9:30 and pay to mail it. Just as he was finishing up my package, it started pouring rain with thunder and lightening. I would have to walk back to the guesthouse with the package and keep it dry. I had an umbrella and my rain jacket but it was really coming down. As I was waiting for the rain to slow, the power went out. Ok, I headed out.

By the time I got back, my pants from the knees down were completely drenched. The package and my bag stayed dry which was the most important. I'm thinking of going to Kalimpong tomorrow. We'll see if I can get a shared taxi early enough in the morning after I go to the post office.

I actually was hungry when I got back. I put on warm clothes and I headed out to eat. Frank Ross cafe keeps drawing me back. I had two orders of momo's and the masala dosa plus my masala tea. It seemed like the sky was clearing. I was looking for a place to watch the sunset and maybe get a pot of tea and hang out. Next thing you knew, I found myself at the Windamere Hotel. It was one of those British era places. There were two rooms to choose from either the bar area or sitting room with a fireplace. I choose the fireplace room. There was a woman in the room already. I think she was reading. We ended up chatting for about 1-2 hours. She had been in southern India doing photography for a group of at-risk children. She had quit her last job of 18 months. She didn't want to do it anymore and got this opportunity to do something she loved, photography. She is travelling through the end of May, sorting out her living situation, and then planning to do photography for a career. Why is everyone I meet here in some sort of transition?

I told her what I have been up to since I've been here. She wants to go to Sikkim and even has her permits, but can't decide which trekking group to go with. She said one guy she talked to tried to sexually harass her. She's like, you think I'm going with them? I gave her Pasang's contact info so she could contact him. She might be able to go with Allison's family in a few days if the timing works out.

We both talked about how easy it was to do nothing in Darjeeling. That also seems like a common thread amongst travelers. She said we should keep in touch and maybe meet up in the evening after our explorations tomorrow--she was going to Ghoom and I was going to Kalimpong. We exchanged emails.

Roadtrip to Kalimpong!

I actually woke up before 5 and saw a gorgeous sunrise. Then got out of bed for real at 7. It looked like it was going to be nice out today. I left just after 9 and got to the post office at 9:30. There was no line and I mailed the package and got my receipt. Next I walked to the shared taxi stand. Apparently for Kalimpong there is a slightly different set-up. Instead of paying the driver, you go to the booth, pay, and then get a receipt. You show that to the driver before getting on. My taxi was awaiting only one other person after I got on, so we left shortly after 10. This was the first time I had ever ridden in the last row of the vehicle. I thought it might be extra bumpy, but it wasn't. There was a woman with about a 6-9 month old baby next to me. Then I also noticed a couple that didn't want to be separated. They were probably in their late 40's or early 50's. They sat in front of me. We climbed up the hill quite a way. I noticed a sign at elevation of 6800 ft. Then we climbed down quite a way to Teesta. There were many tea plantations on the way down. We saw women in the fields picking two leaves and a bud. Teesta also boasts the river. It was really running fast. Apparently white water rafting on this river is popular. I saw several rapids and the water was a dull green color. The man in front of me that had his arm around his wife mentioned something to the driver. I assumed there would be a bathroom break. This was not the case. When we crossed over the Teesta River to the other side, the driver stopped in the middle of the bridge. Both the husband and wife got out. It looked like they were praying. The woman had a small bag with her. She threw whatever was in the bag into the river. The ceremony was short and they were back in the taxi. She was crying. I teared up as well. Her husband comforted her. All I can assume is that there were ashes in that bag. We continued on.

We arrived in Kalimpong. It was Wednesday and market day. The town's street was so narrow and all the people walking around made it slow going. I was hungry so I went to the Gompa Hotel and restaurant. I had a veggy chowmein. I walked around the town and again I felt too much stimulation. There was so much going on and a lot of traffic. I thought there would be a separate market area but it was all encompassing in the middle of the busy downtown area. There were some good views to be had, but I couldn't figure out where they would be. I walked back towards the downtown. I figured out where I was on the map. Then I went to the Silver Oak Hotel. This was a grand English manor house. It definitely took you back to the colonial era. The hotel staff even dressed the part. The lounging area had hard wood floors and beautiful carpets. There were lamps on tables and comfortable chairs all around. I asked if I could get a pot of tea and sit outside. They had a fabulous garden and the view was finally what I had been looking for. Had the skies been just a little clearer you would have been able to see Kachenjunga from here. I was glad to be away from the traffic and people. It was just over two hours drive to get to Kalimpong and I didn't want to hear horns beeping again for a awhile. When you order a pot of tea anywhere around India, you always get a couple of cookies. I like that.

I hung out for about 1 1/2 hours or maybe 2. The sun was out today and believe it or not, I had dressed too warm and had to take some layers off. I had read in Lonely Planet about a small paper factory near this hotel. I asked about it and they pointed me in the right direction.

It would never be easy to find this place unless I kept asking people. The young school girls kept laughing at me. Then they finally showed me the way. You had to walk down these very steep steps. Afterwards, you had to know which building because there was no sign. I walked in the door. They said come. I smelled this damp, wet paper smell. I don't even know how to describe it. There were all sorts of brightly colored papers drying, hanging from the ceiling. I was led to another room for retail sales. They had all sorts of hand made paper in different sizes, colors, and patterns. They also sold lanterns, diaries, stationery, envelopes, etc. I bought a lantern for my homestay family in Kurseong. Then I also bought 10 pieces of paper with hand made designs that were approximately 4 x 6 inches. The lantern came in this beautiful had made paper briefcase. Thank goodness for that since I still had a taxi ride today and a train ride tomorrow. Without the carrying case, it would have definitely broken in two.

Now that I spent a little time at the store, I was ready to get out of town. It was just after 4. I had been told that you really need to get out of town by 5 because after that you won't be able to find a shared taxi.

I asked around at a couple of places and they said I needed to go to the Darjeeling Syndicate. Like I was really supposed to know what that meant or where it was? Everyone just pointed down the hill. So I walked a little and asked again. I did that about 3 times. Finally someone actually said, it's in the building next to the hotel. So I asked for a shared taxi to Darjeeling and they had me follow them to the taxi. This one again was pretty full. After I got in, we waited for one other person and we were off.

The ride again was beautiful. I wanted to stop so many times to get out of the car and take pictures. We did stop about 1 hour into the two hour drive for about 10 minutes. I chatted with a man from Germany that was traveling around India with a couple from Hyderabad. They were staying in Darjeeling too and came to Kalimpong for the day. About 10 minutes after we started up again, we stopped. There was a woman selling carrots and beets on the side of the road. The driver got some. Then it seemed like everyone else in the car wanted some too.

Another interesting thing about these taxi cabs is that before you start the drive, the driver gets small envelopes, packages, and bags. He acts as a courier, and drops things off along the way.

Just like on the way back from Rimbick, we stopped at the same gas station before hitting Darjeeling. They dropped us off at the train station. I thought there might be a chance it was open and I could buy my train ticket to Kurseong for tomorrow, but it was closed. So I just walked up the hill. I'm getting good at walking the hill now and don't need to stop and catch my breathe. 7000 ft of elevation is nothing.

I got back at 7 and got an email from Katherine that she was planning dinner at the Park Restaurant. It sounded like she was there now. She had taken the train to Ghoom with a Romanian women she met. When I got to the restarant, there was also a guy I had chatted with at Frank Ross sitting with them. He was Quentin from New Zealand. They were all at various stages of dinner. I ordered Pad Thai as it was a Thai place. We ate and chatted. I was starving so I wolfed down my meal. Then the Romanian women left. We went to Joey's Pub but it was too crowded so we went to the Buzz.

There are always plenty of seats at the Buzz. We sat down and split two beers between the three of us. Katherine was buying. We heard about Katherine's excellent housing situation when she gets back. She will be leasing a furnished place one tube stop from Wimbledon. And the owners of the place will be gone for the entire time she is there. Sweet! Quentin will be traveling to the UK from India to visit his family that lives there. He was excited to see them as they had moved away from New Zealand several years ago.

We all talked about being westerners here in India and how it made us feel. I could constantly feel people adding up the costs of things I was spending my money on. I said it bothered me because many people's wages are low here. I was buying things that may have been several times their yearly wages. So I am glad I mailed the things I bought and don't have to carry it around with me. Also people sometimes are just so curious about what we are doing here and want you to come to their homes and are really generous. Others stare at you and want to be in pictures with you. Then there are others that want to take advantage and get as much as they can from you (mostly shopkeepers, taxi drivers). I don't blame them to be honest!

The other thing we talked about is the garbage issue. I said I couldn't figure out why people are constantly sweeping their homes, shops, businesses, yet they throw their garbage out the windows of vehicles, in the streets, in natural places out doors. I think they were trying to explain to me that in India personal space is very important to people and they want to keep it clean. Outside that personal space, they don't care as much. It's almost impossible to think of how the refuse would even be disposed of if the country had a concerted effort to try.

We hung out until 10:30, although I don't know why we didn't get kicked out sooner. Last call was at 9:30 and I thought the place closed at 10. When I got back to my guesthouse they said they were waiting for me and wondered where I was. I felt bad. I mean it's a small place of five rooms, but I didn't know I had a curfew.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bilochun/sets/72157627431119394/

Back in Darjeeling

Ah, a good long comfortable sleep. I still wake at 5:00 every day but don't get out of bed until at least 6. Breakfast at my guesthouse comes to my room at 8 and I always get tea and toast with the orange marmalade jam. It goes really well with the tea they serve here. I also watch tv in the mornings. The BBC news was all about the royal wedding. Also apparently the NATO troops had bombed one of Kadafi's compounds. One of his sons and three of his grandchildren had been killed. I know this is a NATO operation, but I don't like this third war.........

I bumped into two people I met trekking. They were on their way to try to get a permit for Sikkim. I told them I was going to the zoo and the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute. They said it's a short walk and they enjoyed it very much. There were quite a few people there this morning as it was a Sunday. The ticket gets you into both as they are on the same grounds.

The zoo comes first. As you enter you come to the deer and goats. Then soon enough the wolf and leopards. The black leopard and snow leopard were pretty active. I don't know if they were planning their escape route or they were just agitated with people like me watching them and taking pictures. The snow leopard was gorgeous and had a really long and thick tail. I watched him for a while.

Then I went to see the tigers. They also had a lot of bright colored pheasants and other very colorful birds. The Himalayan black bear was no where to be found. Then came the red pandas. There were several large sections where they were housed. Finally a worker showed me two of them up in the tree. You could only see the color of their tails hanging from the trees. I was bummed I couldn't see them closer. I kept walking a little further then was so excited I saw two cages of the red pandas. Oh, they were so cute and they were moving around so you could see them. They probably had the most visitors watching them. Pasang told me that this is the only place they breed the red panda. They tag them and set them free in the wild. Apparently they have a pretty high success rate.

I took one more spin around past the black bear and he was moving around too. I got pretty close to him. He was definitely looking for a way out.

I grabbed some chapati and chick peas just outside the zoo. They were nice enough to let me leave and come back in. This time I headed for the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute. The place was really cool but unfortunately they don't let you take pictures. Tenzing Norgay is famous in these parts. He was a sherpa from Nepal and had several attempts on Everest and success on many other peaks before joining the 1953 expedition of Edmund Hillary. Tenzing made Darjeeling his home and was the director of the mountaineering institute for many years.

The museum showed equipment used in the various expeditions and they also show the equipment used now. It's quite the contrast. The whole upstairs is dedicated to Everest. There are great maps of the various routes and who was the first one up each one of them. There is also a huge map of the Himalayas. There are buttons listing each peak. When you press the button the peak lights up. There is also a comparison map of the highest peaks in each section of the world. Mt. McKinley in Alaska is a mere 20,000 ft compared to 29,000 at Everest.

After spending a good part of the day between the two places, I walked back towards the guesthouse. I must have taken a wrong turn and ended up at the chowk bazaar. It is a huge shopping area of stalls and shops with anything you could possibly need. It is overwhelming at times. It was very busy as it was Sunday. As always, I look around the stores at the beautiful sari patterns but only end up buying baby bananas at one of the fruit stands.

It started to rain heavily. I was near the post office so I jumped into Joey's Pub. It was pretty dead. But the man, Girish, that works at Nathmull's tea shop was there and asked how my trek was. I told him I had just gotten back. I hung out catching up in my journal until the rain had stopped. I walked back towards the guesthouse and I got a piece of Tibetan bread stuffed with onions and cabbage. I also got a samosa. Boy was that the best samosa ever. The potatoes were mixed with some amazing curry paste and fennelgreek seeds. Oh, it was so good. I went back for two more. I have finally started eating street food and have been rewarded with price and quality.

I was just walking around. I checked out a place I might go for dinner. It was supposed to be great Bengali food. I'll keep it in mind for later. I bought a wool scarf for walking around at night as it gets chilly at 7000 ft.

I headed over to the tea house. It was really packed at around 5 or 5:30. I sat down next to a young German guy, Frederick. He was very cool. We chatted for about 90 minutes or so while drinking tea. He already had a snack and tea, so he tried another cup. Instead of doing military service in Germany you can volunteer through various organizations. He was volunteering in southern India as an English teacher. Now is the school break so he is taking time off with some other co-workers to travel. He is thinking of heading to Sikkim. He says he has no equipment and will have to rent it all. I told him I heard there was still a lot of snow up there.

He shared his favorite pizza joint with me. After we finished our tea, I went back to the streets to get dinner as I only wanted a snack and not a full dinner. This time it was momo's. I spent a total of 49 rupees on food today (less than $1.50). Too bad I also spent 120 on a beer and 290 on tea.

The following morning, I was watching the BBC with my breakfast and they were saying Obama would give a speech. I figured that it was about Libya. It was odd since it was getting around 11pm east coast time in the US. Then the BBC started getting leaks. They said that it was regarding Osama bin laden and he was captured and/or dead. Weird. Then, just before the speech, the cable went out at the guesthouse. I had the NPR app on my iPhone so I quickly turned it on and heard the speech. Thanks NPR and iPhone!!!

So on today's list was the Tibetan self help refugee center. I asked at the hotel how to get there. The man that speaks the least English showed me the way down the hill. He said it was a fifteen minute walk. That's interesting because when I did a google map this morning it said the walk was 1 1/2 hours and something like 7 kilometers. Maybe this was a short cut. I walked and it was all downhill. Soon I saw a beautiful Tibetan temple or gompa as they call them here. There were monks chanting and playing the drums. It was a beautiful setting. I walked around for a bit. I met an older man. He asked if I needed help. I said I was just looking around. He asked me if I have been to the Tibetan refugee center and I said, no but I wanted to go. So he said follow me. We walked behind the gompa. Then we followed a well trodden path. He showed me the road. He said to take the road and when there is a junction, I should go to the right. He pointed to it from where we were. I asked if it had a yellow roof. He said yes.

That worked out well because had I gone the google maps route, I never would have seen the gompa. He said it would take 25 minutes but it was shorter than that. It was mostly downhill. I saw a sign and arrow once it got tricky and you were walking by people's homes.

It is a small place with a showroom. You could purchase any sort of Tibetan made product. I had heard about the rugs. Each one is hand made to order with natural dyes for the wool. They take about 6 months to make. Apparently they ship them to your home when they are completed. They had some samples on hand so you could see the quality and size.

It started to rain a little and I walked into the photography exhibit. In the early 1940's China invaded Tibet. Along with the Dalai Lama, many people fled Tibet. Right now, there are more Chinese than native Tibetans in the country. The Tibetans may lose their cultural values and way of life forever.

I am really glad I was able to see both the gompa and the refugee center. I walked back the same way I had come. I slightly got lost on the way back and overshot the gompa. I ran into the same man and he led me back so I could take a few more photos.

I decided in the afternoon that I would go to the Happy Valley tea plantation just to do my diligence and compare at least one other estate to Makaibari. I walked down the hill to the chaos of Hill Cart Road. I continued past the main section of town. I kept asking people, to make sure I didn't pass it. But everyone reassured me I would see a sign. I eventually did. I followed the road down the hill to the estate. Along the way I met an Indian family walking down the road too. They were very interested in me-- where I was from, what I was doing here, how I liked the country, etc. They were from Utter Pradesh and asked if I was going there. The younger boy of about 10 wanted to show me around his town. He was sweet. The whole family wanted to take pictures with me. I think because of my relatively light skin. That was so weird....

I finally got to the bottom of the hill where the factory was and there was a little gift shop. The woman who worked there practically accosted me. The plantation is closed today for May Day holiday. But I could come into her shop and learn about tea and try some tea as well. She said come into the back room.

There was already another person inside. She was from Oslo originally but living in Australia most recently. She had just spent one month trekking in Nepal. She had five months to travel in southeast Asia and was traveling with someone else that was sick today. Before we got started with the tea tasting a group of about 10 Canadians from Quebec showed up. We all squished together in the room. The Canadians were all dentists doing a three week volunteer assignment in southern India. They had one week to travel before heading back to Quebec.

The woman had 6 bowls of dry tea leaves. She showed everyone how to smell the leaves. Then she boiled up some water and made us all go into the other room. She said you need one teaspoon of tea for each cup. Then she brewed it for 5-10 seconds. She said that's all you need for 1st flush. And she also said that you can get three steepings of the leaves. We all tasted the tea. It was ok, but nothing special. They sell their tea exclusively at Harrod's. Apparently they also have green tea, white, 2nd flush, and two other lower grades. I wanted to just get out of there because I wasn't planning to buy any. Finally the woman from Oslo said she had to go. I took this as a clue for me to get up too. Otherwise I could be there another half hour.

I really just checked out this estate as a sanity check. I noticed walking down the hill that at Happy Valley, the tea plants didn't look as healthy as those at Makaibari. Even though I didn't get the official factory tour, the woman who did the tasting had previously worked there. She said the estate was organic. Well, how come all the trees were painted in white from three feet down? Doesn't that usually indicate pesticide use?

After I got back I went for some fabulous tea at Nathmull's. Ah, I found two teas I really liked today. The lighter of the two was thurbo 2nd flush muscatel. It tasted a little vegetative to me but in a pleasing way. The other one had an amazing puckery muscatel taste and was the 2nd flush Pussingbing. These were both 2010 teas.

The tea lounge was packed so I invited an older Frenchman to sit with me. He was here for three months to learn the Tibetan language. He lives in Paris and had been to San Francisco before. We had a nice talk about many things. He told me about a restaurant that he liked nearby. When we both finished our tea he walked me there. It was nearby and called Hotel Shangri-la.

I had a big dinner since I never had lunch that day. It was, pappadum, Tibetan bread, vegetable biryani, and smoked eggplant. Yum! I had a lot of rice and eggplant left over and thought it would go well with my tea in the morning.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bilochun/sets/72157627306839513/

Singalila - part three

Today was another easy day. We would be hiking about 7 km to Srikhola. This village is along the river.

We left at 9:00 and arrived just before 11:00. Along the mostly downhill walk, the first thing we noticed was that people were picking and making their own tea. Pasang stopped to chat with a man that had tea leaves withering outside his home. He said the family also rolls the tea by hand and dries it completely outside. We continued walking. There was a hill of baby strawberries and we picked some of the bigger ones. We heard cicadas. We saw many butterflies. We saw people growing their own tea in many places. We also saw tea plants growing in the wild. We saw beautiful vegetable gardens with potatoes, garlic, onions, and peas. We started to hear the river and then we saw it. It was running pretty well. There were many waterfalls. Pasang even pointed out a black cardamom plant to me. The seeds grow at the bottom, but harvest wouldn't be until late May.

The elevation here is more similar to Kurseong (below 2000 meters). It's hot and humid with a nice breeze. There is a gorgeous view of the hills and river valley from this village. When we arrived, I got some local tea. It was very smokey with strong tannins. But it was nice to taste the local beverage. We walked down by the river after we got our rooms.

At around 4:00 the porter came by my room with Makaibari tea. I am sure going to miss this. I went to the dinner area around 6:30 or so. There were two sisters from Sweden there. Marie worked for Greenpeace and Leena was an architect. They are both living in Germany now--one in Hamburg and one in Berlin. Apparently they travel a lot together and seem to have been all over the world. They had been to Kolkata and were planning a trip to Sikkim to see the monasteries after their trek. Pasang and I were telling them about Makaibari and the homestay program and how you can see the entire tea process. The sisters were both huge fans of darjeeling tea and are thinking about going.

It rained quite a bit this afternoon and evening. Dinner took a while as there was a school group of 25 eating here as well. But is was good as usual--garlic soup, veggy fried rice and potatoes. We had a long day tomorrow. We would leave at 8:00. The walk to Rimbick was less than 2 hours downhill along the river. Then we had a four hour drive back to Darjeeling from Rimbick. We would all share a taxi.

Again, breakfast was delayed due to the large group. As soon as we ate, at about 8:00, we were gone. We heard the rain and thunder while we were eating breakfast, and it didn't look like the rain would let up any time soon. It's too bad the walk today was almost entirely in the rain. We were walking with the river below us. The cliffs all around were so steep and green and the mist was so pretty. There were so many terraced farm lands on the hills. Pasang had already called ahead for a taxi, so hopefully it would be waiting for us in Rimbick when we arrived. We had one more border check as we exited the national park. Then we had some tea while we waited for the taxi.

When the taxi arrived the two Swedes would be in the front with the driver. One gets really bad car sickness. Then four of us were in the second row. There were 5 in the last row. Who knows how many were on top with the luggage? At least 5 or 6 to start out with. We also added a woman along the way. So that added one additional person in the front. I had never bothered to look at any of the taxis before. But the Swedes looked at the jeep before we took off and said how bald the tires looked. When I looked at the tires, I almost died. They were completely bald like I had never seen before. But in addition, the steel belts were coming apart. I hoped we would make it for 4 hours to Darjeeling. Then I hoped the driver would use some of the money to get new tires. We stopped after about two hours for a quick break. Pasang made sure I had some lunch. We only had a 10 minute stop, but I managed to get momo's. I slept on and off the entire ride. At one point there was a herd of cattle on the road and the two guys couldn't get them to move. It was too funny.

The road is so bad. Some times the potholes stretch the entire width. Then other times the road is draining from the rain and there are huge lakes in the road. There were some pretty waterfalls along the way. Sometimes we were at the bottom of the river valley and sometimes at the middle or the top. We would continuously add and drop off people from the top of the van. The signal was a tap on the roof. That meant to stop as someone wanted to get off. Then when a new person was ready and situated or all was good to go, we would hear another tap or two. We finally got to Manibhanjang. Today was Saturday and it was way more active than it was on Monday morning when we arrived. Siszi, my porter, got off at this point. He had ridden on the top the entire time. I thanked him. He was really sweet and for a young kid, was responsible and reliable.

So we continued the rest of the way to Darjeeling. It seemed to go by fast. It was hard to come back to civilization. When we got to my guesthouse Pasang said that if I come back to Kurseong, maybe I could meet his daughter. His daughter was born 8 days before we left and his son turned 8 that same day too.

At the guesthouse, I must have looked wretched. They offered me some tea and I said, yes please! I got a better room this time. Then I just hung out and drank tea. After I was sure my hot water tank had warmed up, I took a long hot shower. It felt so nice to be clean and dry again.

I was starting to get hungry. I thought I would check out Frank Ross cafe again if there wasn't a line. I sat down and got masala chai. This might have been the best one yet. I also noticed they had a south Indian section of the menu. I hadn't seen that before. I got a veggy uttapam and cholla batura. It was perfect and hit the spot. It's so funny to see Americans come in and order veggy burgers. But maybe they've been in the country a while and wanted a change of pace. I'd been here three weeks already and still can't get enough Indian food!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bilochun/sets/72157627306947889/

Singalila - part two

I had heard some people talking early in the morning. I was sort of awake but had no clue what time it was and had no plans to get up. All of a sudden, I heard a knock on my door. It was 4:40 am. Pasang was there and said to put on warm clothes because you could see the mountains. I just grabbed my camera and warmer gloves because I had so many layers on when I was sleeping. It was true. What an amazing vista!

It was an 180 degree view. Kanchenjunga, head on, like I had not seen before. Plus, and this was a big plus, you could see the Nepal and Bhutan Himalayan mountain ranges as well. Everest was there technically, but cloud covered so you couldn't see it.

At first the sky was dark but kept slowly getting brighter. Even the surrounding areas not covered in snow looked magnificent in that first morning light. All of a sudden the sun peaked through the clouds on the Bhutan side. Kanchenjunga was amazing as the sun hit it. There's just a little touch of some pink and then the mountain just gets brighter. There are three peaks called the 3 sisters. You couldn't really see the definition of the mountains until the sun hit them--but then they were pretty too. Of the ten highest peaks in the world, we could see 4 at this moment in time. Everyone was happy after seeing the mountains. The difficult climb up of sometimes a 65% grade seemed so far away.

We decided to stay put today and visit the yak farm. The view from Phalut is similar to the one we just saw but closer. The 21 km walk to get there at a steady 3600 meters or 12,000 ft would be difficult in good weather conditions. But we needed one more day of snow melt. It is also possible the trek would be in vain if there was no view tomorrow morning.

We walked up to the yak farm and found out they had let the herd out for a roam. There was a baby yak in the front yard and he was so playful. We were invited in the family's home for some warm yak milk. The taste was very sweet but nice. They also make yak cheese.

We decided to go look for the herd and do some exploring. We heard the yaks as they have bells around their necks. But we only saw one. This little wander took us about 1/3 of the way to Phalut (7 km each way). We stopped at a gorgeous overlook and hung out for about 1/2 hour just relaxing in the sun.

I took a nap after lunch and when I got up, you could see part of Kachenjunga again. New arrivals had appeared in Sandakphu. Some hiked from Tonglu. Others came from Kalpokhri. There was a couple in their 60's from Milan. They had a horse with them just in case they couldn't make it walking the whole way. They were going to Sikkim after this trip. They were really sweet.

Then a family arrived from Switzerland. They were currently living in the Mauritius Islands. The man was about 50 and had come here 30 years ago. He thought it was time to come back and show his family. His wife was complaining how the weather where they came from was really hot and perfect. She was wondering what they were all doing here???

I laughed a lot that night. The couple from Switzerland had a 17 year old son and 15 year old daughter. The son's biggest problem was why he always had to speak English when there was an American around? I couldn't answer but only smile. I understood some of the French that was spoken, but they also spoke a lot of English. The woman from Milan had Swiss parents but was born in Italy, so she was speaking French too.

Then later everyone was wondering if they could smoke. They said, an American is present so they weren't sure if they were allowed. I said they could all smoke as everyone except me and the 15 year old wanted to. Pasang and I had a small glass of roxy. The Swiss couple started with rum and then switched to roxy.

The Italians looked so comfortable lounging in their chairs after dinner. We knew they were drinking roxy, but later they showed everyone the hot water bottles they had underneath their clothes. We all laughed. I left shortly after dinner because I was hoping for another early morning with a view of the mountains.

So around 4:45 the next morning, I woke again by a knock on my door. Rumor was the view was clear and today we could also see Everest!

It's just this incredible feeling to see these mountains that you have heard about your entire life. The challenge of explorers wanting to climb them and also the failed attempts to do so. I mean in front of me were 5 of the 10 highest peaks in the world in three different countries Nepal, India, and Bhutan.

Kanchenjunga was one of the last to be conquered and is considered to be sacred and not allowed to be climbed now.

We had breakfast around 7:30 or 8:00 and left for Gurdum today. The walk was all downhill for 12 km, and a 1400 meter descent. We decided against going to Phalut because of the current snow there. Plus the first village that you reach was 17 km in. So if you needed shelter due to rain, this was not a good place to be hiking.

We started our hike in the sun, and then it got hazy and later misty. I had peeled off all my long underwear for the first time in days. We passed some beautiful wild flowers including many different colored rhodadendrums in bloom. The mountain ranges we had seen this morning soon became lost in the clouds and forest. Coming down the mountain, the rhodadendrums soon turned into bamboo forests. I kept my eyes peeled for the red panda as this is their habitat, but to no avail. We came to an area of the forest that had recently been burned. Pasang explained that this actually helps the red panda. It was a controlled burn and the bamboo would grow back stronger, faster, and more healthy after the monsoon rains. So by fall, you wouldn't know the forest had burned.

We arrived at 11:30 and beat the rain. Since we left Sandakphu, we would be in India the remainder of the journey. First I had a cup of tea and then hot water for a bath. Lunch was shortly afterwards. I felt like I hadn't even earned lunch today. There was a lot of mileage, although it was downhill. As we approached this town, we could see flower and vegetable gardens and how steep it is in this valley.

A young couple from Israel/Switzerland, working in Bulgaria the last 3 years for a gaming (poker) company had come down the mountain this morning just like us. They were staying at a different place overnight and still had about 5 km to go. They both quit their jobs and have 3 months to travel in India and Sri Lanka. They would have the rest of their walk in the rain. We were the only ones staying at this guesthouse tonight. It was a quiet evening. But the sky was clear and you could see so many stars.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bilochun/sets/72157627358461570/

Singalila National Park

My original idea for trekking was in Sikkim. I heard there were unbelievable views but the mountains had not been cluttered with debris like the Annapurna range in Nepal.

I tried to get a trekking permit in Delhi as I heard there was an office there. The day I went there were 4 French tourists ahead of me in line when the office opened. Then when it was my turn, I was told I had come to the wrong tourist office. This was the India office. I needed to go to the Sikkim office on the other side of town. This was impossible. I would not make it there and back before my taxi would be arriving for the Taj Mahal. I would have to get the permit in Darjeeling.

It turned out that while I was at Makaibari Tea Estate, I was connected to Pasang. He led trekking groups and was a registered guide. He was taking another homestay family to Sikkim on May 10th. Too bad the timing didn't work because it would have been nice to join a larger group.

We started talking about the trek and he asked me if I had a permit. I said I didn't have it yet but maybe I could get it in Darjeeling. He told me in the Darjeeling office it can take 3 business days, so it would be better to go to Siliguri for the day. I told him, to be honest I didn't want to waste a day down the Hill Cart road and back up. It's a harrowing experience.

So he threw out another option. He said we could do a 6-7 day trek in Singalila National Park and see some gorgeous views. I wouldn't need a permit in advance and it would be cheaper. Ok, I was in. I told him I am not a fast hiker but that I am persistent. I had been up to 10,000-11,000 feet before, but not above that. He thought I would be fine. When he gave me the details, it seemed like a lot of mileage, but we built in an extra day in case of the unknown.

So on Monday, we started out. The plan was to leave from Darjeeling and drive to Manibhanjang.

Day 1 - Manibhanjang to Tonglu
Day 2 - Tonglu to Sandakphu
Day 3 - Sandakphu to Phalut
Day 4 - Phalut to Raman
Day 5 - Raman to Rimbick
Day 6 - Rimbick to Darjeeling

It took about 2 hours to get to Manibhanjang. The town means something like prayer valley. It looked much like rain the entire drive but cleared up some by the time we arrived. To hike in Singalila National Park, you need a guide. We also got a porter who carried his own bag and mine and was still a lot faster than me. We had to check in with border patrol since we would be crossing into Nepal on and off as the park is on the border with India and Nepal. The woman in our shared taxi to Manibhanjang has a guest house in Tonglu, Nepal. That would be our first overnight.

The trek was nice. Everything is so green. It was nice to be away from beeping horns and other people. You see a lot of Japanese pine trees at the beginning. These are prevalent throughout the area. We also saw many rhodadendrum plants in bloom. Pasang saw some strawberry plants with tiny and sweet baby strawberries. He picked some for he and I. The whole day we would be climbing. Sometimes the climb would be on a grassy area. Sometimes we would be on a narrow stone path. Less frequently, we were on the road. The great part of this hike versus hiking in Sikkim, was throughout, we would be hiking from village to village. We could get food and water and also spend the night without having to carry excess equipment.

We had a quick stop for tea near a Buddhist temple. The temple kept moving in and out of the fog as it was very misty. Our next stop was in Nepal for lunch. This is where the inclement weather started. While eating we had hail, rain, thunder, and lightening. After I finished my noodles, we put our rain gear on and moved onward. We wouldn't stop again until Tonglu. We had all these weather conditions on and off for the rest of the afternoon. Along the way, it seemed like the good weather was always just behind us. But that left some nice views in the clouds and mist. By the end of the day, the continuous rain and hail had gotten some of my clothes wet. And I realized my boots were not waterproof.

After Pasang showed me my room, he said I would have a "fire" and have tea. I said ok. The tea came first then after that a fire of hot coals actually appeared in my room. Whoa, was that a nice surprise! It warmed my entire body. Thank goodness for the fire, otherwise I would not have been able to start the following day dry.

It started raining again quite hard and I was glad to be inside. Dinner was pappadum, rice, daal, potatoes and squash, and potatoes with green beans. Before that I was given garlic soup and popcorn in my room which supposedly helps with altitude sickness -- just in case. We had walked 11 km, and climbed over 700 meters to 3070 since Darjeeling. Since Pasang works at Makaibari, he brought some nice Darjeeling tea along for us the entire trip.

After dinner, I was just heading back to my room and I noticed the sky was so bright with stars after the rain. Pasang showed me where to look to see the red light from Eagle Crag tower in Kurseong and also the lights in Siliguri.

I was told I should get up around 6:30 and maybe we would be able to see the mountains if the sky was clear. Breakfast would be at 7:30 and we would leave at 8.

The hike on Day 2 is Tonglu to Sandakphu. It's about 20 kilometers instead of 11. But again, it's mostly uphill and an elevation gain of 500 meters. We would be at 3600 meters or 12,000 ft by the end of the day and again spend the night in Nepal.

The skies were clear this morning and it was almost hot at times. I had to take off some of my layers. The first part of the hike was downhill, unfortunately. It was such a tease.

At a border crossing where the final downhill ended, we stopped at some benches to get psyched for the uphill climb. After we ascended the first steep part of the hike, Pasang pointed to the place we would stop for lunch -- Kalpokhri. We saw it for such a long time in advance, but it seemed like it took forever to finally reach it.

Some groups stop here and make two days of the hike to Sandakphu, but we were pushing on. Hopefully, we would arrive by 4pm. I like having a hot lunch and tea along the hike. This is the way all long climbs should be set up!

From our lunch stop onwards, it was uphill and very steep the entire way. The mist appeared again. There was thunder in the area. I kept hoping we wouldn't have rain again.

I was going really slow. I would walk about 15 steps then stop. I had tried the nuts and raisins Pasang had given me, but they didn't help so much. Finally I decided to just look at the ground and not up ahead where we were going. I walked slowly, but kept going. Sometimes they would be waiting for me, but I wouldn't stop to rest because I had this slow, slow, pace that I didn't want to interrupt.

There was snow on the ground where we were walking. It had melted in some spots and was very, very, slippery. Finally at just about 3:45, we made it. The lodge where we stayed had many rooms, but there would be no hot coals here.

I tried but couldn't warm up. Even when they brought my tea, that didn't help. Finally after about an hour of trying to warm up, I went in the kitchen and asked for more tea. They had a fire there and I slowly warmed up.

Dinner was at around 7:30. I went to the eating area and there were 3 young Swedes, then an older couple from Sweden showed up as well. A woman from France and her boyfriend from India showed up too.

Everyone was hanging out chatting. Pasang offered me some rhodadendrum rice wine called "roxy". I just took a little. It tasted like saki and looked like pink lemonade. It was nice but I had to drink it slowly. Everyone was either drinking rum and pepsi or the roxy at this point and the group became quite lively. It turns out the older couple had a daughter that went to school with one of the younger Swedes. This was pretty wild considering they were from a tiny town north of Stockholm. Another couple sat down just before dinner. I heard them say they had been here 3 days and hadn't seen the view yet. It's possible it could be clouded over every day. That would be a disappointment.

We had a nice dinner of papadum, rice, yellow daal, and potatoes and cauliflower. I went to my room shortly after 8:30 to get another layer on and to try to stay warm. My legs weren't hurting from hiking today, but I wanted to be sure I would rest well.

Because there is really thick snow on the way to Phalut, we may do a short hike to a yak farm, and spend another night in Sandakphu hoping the snow will melt some. We'll decide in the morning depending on what the conditions are like.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bilochun/sets/72157627343484864/

Three days in Darjeeling

From what I can tell, everyone that comes to Darjeeling is looking for R&R or just to get away from the pollution in the big cities and head for the green hills. My guesthouse is right next to the Chowrasta or walking area. There are shops lined up on both sides of the street in this area.

So I guess I am doing what the locals are doing as well. I went to three restaurants mentioned in the Lonely Planet guidebook and they didn't let me down -- Glenary's which has been around about 80 years, Frank Ross Cafe, and Hotel Lunar. At Glenary's I had rice, chapati, aloo masala (potatoes with masala spices), veggie pakora (fried veggie wantons), and tea. I realized I ordered too much when they brought out about 15 pieces of the pakora. I tried to cancel some of the food but it was too late. At Frank Ross I had momo's which are steamed dumplings with cabbage and onion filling. They also make beef dumplings. I also had cholla batura which is chick peas with a sort of gravy and spicy onion sauce, and fried bread that is puffy. But the best dinner, I must say, was at Hotel Lunar. They specialized in South Indian cuisine. I had a paper dosa, veggie stuffed uttapam or pancake, and aloo mater (potatoes and peas). The two sauces go on top of either the uttapam or dosa (see attached photo).

For a town called Darjeeling, I thought I would be served amazing darjeeling teas everywhere. This is not the case as most teas are just average and they don't tell you which estate they come from.

I did find a little tea shop called Nathmull's. They have two locations. One is for purchasing teas, and the other is for purchasing and tasting. They had 7 first flush 2011 darjeelings and many other darjeelings that never make it outside of India.

Most of the tastes are about $2-3. However their most expensive tea goes for double that. I was sticking with the organics and tried 2 teas each day. I am taking extensive tasting notes and may buy some tea on my way back to Darjeeling after my trek.

I had been purchasing clothing, scarfs, tea, and other gifts and I wanted to ship some items to the US. When I entered the post office I was taken back to about 1920.

There was a long line to the left with about 4 counters enclosed in glass, a multi-use counter straight ahead with no queue, and a man sitting on a chair in the corner with a small table in front of him. Of course I went to the multi-use counter and the woman sent me to the man in the corner.

They don't have boxes or envelopes to pack your goods, so you go to the authorized packer. First the man packed all my stuff within the two bags that I bought. Then he packed it in re-used plastic wrap. Next he wrapped it in linen and hand stitched it all together. Last but not least he took a candle and sealed the stitching all over with red wax. This was required in order to be shipped. I had to fill out the customs forms and he also sealed that on the package with wax.

I had to write the address on the package. I had two options for delivery -- three weeks and six weeks. I did get a receipt and they did ask for my email, so there is a possibility the package can be tracked!!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bilochun/sets/72157627201893103/

Tea Processing - 101

I met Sanjee at the Makaibari tea factory at around 7:45 am on Wednesday. He was great. He let me tag along all morning and ask a ton of questions. He first had to plan the day for the factory and sometimes I had to wait around a bit for things to happen.

It all depends how the withering process went from the night before. If the tea plants were wet due to rain, the process could take longer than if it was dry. Typically it can take 14-20 hours for the withering process to be completed. The tea sits in 30-40 ft long by 3-4 ft wide troughs. There is mesh or wire below so that air is always circulating. Air can also be blown from below. There are fans in the part of the building where the withering is taking place. The workers are tossing and turning the leaves as well. After plucking, this is the first step in processing tea. From here, when ready, the tea is taken to the rolling machines.

I must mention the beautiful floral aroma you smell throughout the factory. The smell is sweet and so pervasive throughout. I hope I never forget that smell.

The rolling process takes about half an hour. Rolling is further reducing the moisture in the leaves and releasing juices. For the first flush Darjeeling tea, the next step is drying. There are additional steps in the process for the second flush, oolongs, etc.

The tea is fed into the drying machine at the top. The machine is essentially a conveyor and the tea slowly cycles down to the bottom. This process takes about 30 minutes as well. The drying machine is hot to the touch, but also blows air. The tea drys further by air overnight before the tea sorting takes place.

There are nine women sorting the tea leaves. When you purchase Darjeeling tea you see packages labeled "BOP" or sometimes "FTGFOP1". These woman know the exact difference between the broken tea leaves or the tips. I should also mention that each tea lot is labeled and tracked throughout the entire process. After the tea is sorted, it is packed and shipped.

Sanjee had six teas cupped for me so that I could taste the teas side by side. The dry leaves were in front of each cup and the wet leaves were behind so you could see and smell what the tea leaves are like. You could also see the different colored liquors from all the teas.

He explained that you take some tea with the spoon. You slurp it in your mouth and roll it over your tongue. You want to fill your entire mouth. We tasted the 2011 first flush. The rest were 2010 -- the second flush, oolong, green tea, white tea, and imperial silver tips. Of course I loved the first flush which I had been drinking on and off all week. The second flush was definitely full bodied. I didn't know Makaibari made oolong, green, and white teas. These don't frequently make their way to the US. The imperial silver tips was out of this world. It had so much going on in that one slurp, that I wanted to drink the entire cup. Even smelling the wet leaves, you knew your taste buds were in for a big surprise!

The factory tour and tastings are available to anyone that is interested. Makaibari wants people to know what goes into a cup before purchasing their products. Once you know the entire story, chances are you will continue to buy their teas.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bilochun/sets/72157627159161103/