Day 5 Darjeeling/Agra

Diwali!
5:00am: woken up by town clock
5:30am: woken up by drummer

All is well - the drummer was back! He was like our "snooze button." I have since tried to find out who he was. Only one website mentioned monks that walk around Darjeeling with a drum between 5-6:00am. So I don't know for sure but it is likely true.

Friday was Diwali but it was also our travel day to Agra. Another great sunrise - I never imagined being up so early for so many days on vacation...but it is hard not to - with the view...and the clock...and the drummer.

We set out for Bagdogra airport at 9:00am. A beautiful drive with our last views of the Himalayas but also all the people along the way getting ready for Diwala. Shops were overflowing with flower garlands and fireworks were already being set off.

Our flight left at 2:30pm and we arrived in Delhi at 4:30. We had arranged a driver already and squeezed into his tiny car. Our luggage had to go on top! Off to Agra right away and as it got dark the fireworks started to go off. Homes and shops were lit up with festive lights (Christmas lights), and ladies' saris sparkled.

It took 3 1/2 hours to get to Agra on the holiday (usually takes at least 4 hrs). Got to our hotel, ate and off to bed. The fireworks kept going into the night but we managed to sleep, it had been another long travel day.

Darjeeling/Agra Day 4

5:00: Woken up by town clock.
5:30: Awake but no drummer boy!
5:45: Got up anyway but couldn't help wonder what happened to the drummer boy. Is Thursday his day off? Did he sleep in?

I know I sound like I am repeating myself but it was yet another beautiful sunrise over the Himalayas.
We set off at 9:00am, planning to go to two monasteries but on our way we decided to go to Tiger Hill. It was still clear and we were leaving the next day. Getting up there for sunrise wasn't a big deal to us so off we went.

There was no traffic going up the hill and it took us only about 40 minutes from Darjeeling. Such a great decision - it was warm and no crowds when we got there. Our driver pointed out Mt. Everest right away - just a small peak showing itself in the distance. The Indian Himalayas were giants from this perspective, but it was exciting for the four of us to see Everest. A little different driving 40 min. to see Mt. Everest compared to when Michael and I trekked in Nepal to Everest Base Camp - 2 weeks!
Here is a photo of Mt. Everest from Tiger Hill:

Spent a bit of time up on Tiger Hill and then set off for the two monasteries. First, the Yiga Choeling Monastery is one of the oldest in the area dating back to 1850. One of the few monasteries where you can take photos inside (10rp/photo).

The second monastery that we visited was the Dali Monastery, also known as Druk Thupten Sangag Choeling Monastery. 

200 monks study and pray here and the Dalai Lama inagaurated it in 1993. We were there early in the afternoon and lots of monks of all ages were milling about - at the coffee shop, outside on benches or peeking out of their classrooms.

We ended up going back to the Dali Monastery 4:30 - 6:00pm for prayers.

We sat in a corner while 200 monks chanted, drummed, played the horns and cymbals. We had lots of time to admire the paintings on the walls, the carvings, and three huge Bhuddist statues that oversaw everything. Midway through, some of the younger monks showed up all of a sudden with kettles full of tea. They served all the monks (their tea cups hidden in their desks) and then they kindly came and served us as well.

There is nothing like the sounds of the monks chanting, along with their unique sounding instruments. A part of India like no other - impressive. Here Michael is holding a smaller version of the drum used by the monks:

Darjeeling/Agra Day 3

5:00am: woken up by town clock.
5:30am: woken up by drummer boy.
5:35am: got up and watched the sunrise on the mountains from the roofdeck of the hotel - another clear day.

It was another beautiful, clear morning. From the top of the hotel the view was not much different than our room. We met a woman who had gone to Tiger Hill for sunrise the day before. This seems to be what a lot of people do. They leave at 4:30 (or earlier). She said it was good views but not that much better than from the hotel. And it was very, very cold. But she did see Mt. Everest. We wanted to see Mt. Everest, especially for the kids sake but none of us were very keen on getting up so early and being freezing cold.

Later in the morning we went to Happy Valley Tea Estate. This plantation prides itself on selling all its Darjeeling tea to Harrods in London. We took a guided tour of the facility and it was very interesting. Well, there were a bunch of guys outside who asked to be our guide. So we chose one and he did a good job. He made sure to explain the working conditions of the tea pickers; how much each woman has to pick (determined by which category they fall into: young and unmarried, married, older woman, casual worker); hours of work (8-4); overtime pay etc.

We saw the drying process, the women who pick through all the tea to get rid of the "undesirable tea", packaging and so on.

Then we were shown outside to the tea bushes and although we didn't see anyone picking tea leaves we saw the ladies coming in to deliver the morning load.

There is a separate little building for tea tasting and a very friendly woman showed us several types of tea leaves and explained the difference between the best teas, next best etc. She made us each a cup of tea  - such a happy lady with a sing song voice.

Darjeeling/Agra Day 2

I woke up at 5:00 am to the sounds of the town clock. It was too cold to get out of bed yet and it still looked dark. I wanted to know if we had a view of the Himalayas but it was too early. At 5:30am I heard the sounds of a drum in the distance and it soon got closer. Was someone actually walking around town with a drum? This I had to see. So I got up and peeked out the window and sure enough there was one lone person walking and drumming past the hotel. I watched as he slowly carried on up the street and out of sight.

I looked out of the window and up to see a snowy peak with the first light shining on it. I watched as the sun rose and lit up the mountains looming over Darjeeling. I watched for more than two hours as the sky changed colors every few minutes and more and more mountains came into view. It was spectacular and I couldn't have asked for a better view from our room.

Mt. Kanchenjunga, is the third highest mountain in the world and it seemed so close. Apparently Mt. Everest could also be seen from Darjeeling so (being the Everest experts that we are) we got out the binoculars and looked for it. After scrutinizing all the peaks we decided that we found it - just a little peak, right behind Mt. Kanchenjunga. We were very excited and showed it to the kids and they were excited too. Well, later in the day, we were told that we could not see Everest from our hotel. We would have to go up higher to Tiger Hill to see it.

After staring at the mountains for a long time we ventured out of the hotel and started on our list of things to see around Darjeeling. First, we went to the Tibetan Refugee Self-Help Centre. There is a large population of Tibetans in Darjeeling and it feels very different from other parts of India. At the refugee centre there is an orphanage and men and women knitting and weaving - things to sell to raise money for the Tibetan refugees.

Of course there were Tibetan prayer flags strung from tree to tree and building to building. And Tibetan prayer wheels that get turned as prayers are said.

Next, we went up the hill to Bhutia Busty Monastery. Just as we were walking down the lane a man said to us, "you are very lucky, prayers are just starting, run." Inside we followed the sounds of a drum and chanting upstairs. There was one monk in a very small room doing all the prayers by himself. The four of us sat on the floor in front of him. He chanted, drummed and banged the symbols, poured liquid (buttermilk?) into metal bowls and threw rice. He repeated this over and over for about an hour. An amazing experience for us - the sounds are mesmerizing.

Another cold night and early to bed with hot water bottles. Darjeeling pretty much shuts down by 9:00pm. So far with the mountains and the Tibetan influence we were loving this little town high on the hill top.

Darjeeling/Agra Day 1

It is Diwali, fall break this week. The kids are out of school so we took off to Darjeeling and Agra. Day 1 was the travel day: a two hour flight from Bangalore to Calcutta, a one hour flight to Bagdogra, and then a 3 hour drive up into the hills to Darjeeling.

Some travel days go well and some do not. Both flights were on time and we arrived at Bagdogra at 3:00pm. We got a prepaid taxi at the airport for 1750 rupees ($39Can) to Darjeeling. The drive was beautiful, starting out through the town of Bagdogra, and then almost right away into the tea plantations. It was flat for the first 45 min.and then uphill, winding back and forth for the next 2 hours, 15 min.

The road to Darjeeling is narrow and bumpy and I was surprised at how off the beaten track the it was. There was one other town before Darjeeling and little homes perched on the side of the hills all over. A very picturesque drive with the sun setting and the sky changing colors.

By the time we got to Darjeeling it was dark and for some reason we didn't have the hotel phone # or address. Our driver didn't know it so we had to keep asking where the Dekeling Resort was. We knew it was a little out of town. We were told to go up a long and very steep and narrow road but didn't find it so had to go back down. Then more directions and back up again and finally found it.

The only problem was there was no one there, it was completely deserted. Everything had gone so well up until that point. Now we had to find a hotel. We were very lucky to find a room on our second try - at the Viceroy. The rooms were nothing special but we were tired and just glad to have found a place.

The first thing we noticed was how cold it was and immediately got out pants, socks, and jackets. There was no heat - that's right - no heat in the hotel. However they did provide hot water bottles for the beds at night which work surprisingly well. We all had a great sleep until 5:00am when the clock tower went off and at 5:30am when the drummer strolled up our street...but that's Day 2...