This Is Momo

Darjeeling! After the Andamans, we flew to Kolkata, then boarded a night train (niiiiiiight traaaaain!) to the wonderful (not) city of Siliguri, in West Bengal. Darjeeling has no major train station, so to get there, you have to first go to Siliguri, then board a life-threatening jeep for a four-hour ride from hell. Hamish had to ask the driver to stop the car because he thought he'd be sick. You used to be able to get a toy train all the way up, but a landslide knocked out part of the track and it hasn't been repaired yet.

Hello Darjeeling! 2110m/6922ft

We were surprised by how large and built up Darjeeling is; buildings cling to the steep hillside. The town is staggered, so you get great views, but there's a lot of intense hill walking involved. It was cloudy and chilly, and we were unprepared for the temperature drop! We ducked into a tea shop almost immediately and sampled 10 different Darjeeling teas, black and green and white.

Gorkhaland

Darjeeling is home to the Gorkhaland movement, and we saw a lot of signs supporting it. The movement has been around for over 100 years, and calls for a separate state, Gorkhaland, because many of the people in the area speak Nepalese and identify as Indian Gorkhas. It's a politically unstable place; the Naxalite movement also has roots here. We both just read Jhumpa Lahiri's The Lowland, which is more about Kolkata, but provides a fascinating look into the Naxalite movement in the 1960s. We saw the hammer and sickle Naxalite symbol a fair amount, too.

Despite "Keep Darjeeling Green" signs, there was a fair amount of this.

We were keen to go on a trek, despite the cloudy weather, and several people told us that the climate would be different (...less cloudy) higher up. So we signed on to do the five-day Singalila Ridge Trek, along the border of Nepal and India in Singalila National Park. You have to go in with a guide, and he arranges for trekking huts/food along the way. Our guide was named DB and he was hilarious and kind. He'd been doing this for 25 years--we asked him how many times he'd done this trek, and he had no idea--too many to count.

Our trek was along the India and Nepal border; left Hamish is Nepal, right Hamish is in India!

If you're interested, here's where we went:
Day 1: Maneybhanjyang --> Tumling (12km)
Day 2: Tumling --> Sandakphu (18km)
Day 3: Sandakphu --> Phalut (22km)
Day 4: Phalut --> Srikola (32km)
Day 5: Srikola --> Rimbik (6km) (jeep back to Darjeeling)

This was day 1 and 2. Clouds clouds clouds.

You can see Hamish and DB up ahead. We passed many Buddhist monasteries and tiny temples along the way, as well as huge weathered Tibetan prayer flags.

DB and Raccoon.

Hamish in Sandakphu, during a brief moment of clarity.

Baby yak! Yak attack!

A few km into day 3, from Sandakphu to Phalut.

Disaster struck when we reached Phalut, when we both came down with terrible altitude sickness. Piercing headaches, dizzyness, nausea, achey joints--it was tough times. We conveyed to the people who ran the hut (DB was several kilometers away, collecting yak butter from the "yak place" at this point) that we were feeling bad, and asked about the possibility of descending. Unfortunately it was blowing a gale, raining, and the road was impassable by jeeps. It was a four-hour walk to a jeep road. They kindly gave us hot garlic water as an antidote, and later DB brought us a "rare plant" to smell. He was very insistent that we only smell it, not eat it. It helped!

Hamish Jackson: The Face of Altitude Sickness. They say that the "healthiest and fittest people" get hit by altitude sickness the worst. We clung on to this "fact."

By morning, we were feeling a little better, but it was a tough 16km to our lunch hut (still no jeep road), where the lady kindly let us have a nap. We dreamed about getting helicoptered away! Luckily the nap, some ramen and multiple cups of tea restored us enough to finish the remaining 16km to Srikola.

Phalut! It was clear in the morning, amazing!

Day 4, in a jungley part of the trek.

DB, our brave and noble guide.

Black bear.

A chicken basket.

One of DB's "friends" (he was very friendly with the ladies of the tea huts).

It's dinnertime for goats.

MOMOS!! Classic, delicious Tibetan dumplings, served with spicy red sauce. DB treated us to about 40 momos (at 8am) on the jeep ride back to Darjeeling. DB said: "This is momo." We all thought this hilarious and laughed much.

Would you eat something called a "birizza"? We didn't.

Back in Darjeeling for a day-- Lauren's birthday! For breakfast we had pizza, scrambled eggs, chocolate cake, a donut and a pot of Darjeeling tea, at Glenary's Cafe, a Darjeeling institution. It was wonderful. Then we visited the Happy Valley Tea Estate, which is Darjeeling's oldest and also walkable from the main part of town.

Happy Valley Tea Estate

We took a tour and saw how they process tea. It takes only 22 hours from picking to storage: after tea is picked, they wilt the leaves, several inches thick, in large open beds. They have a special machine that rolls the tea leaves. Finally, it's dried until only 2-3% of the moisture is left in the leaves. It's put in a big container and stored to mature for three months. Then it's ready to sell.

Happy Valley Tea Estate

Happy Valley exports almost all of their tea, with a big contract from Harrod's. Most of the Darjeeling tea we sampled wasn't the Darjeeling we're used to (which is lighter, softer and more fragrant)--the Indian market seems to want darker tea, to use with milk and sugar. But we loved Happy Valley's tea.

Tea leaves, ready for processing.

Another night train (niiiiiiight traaaain!!!) to Kolkata, third class AC, very good. Our compartment-mates were quiet and went to bed early, which was appreciated. A few compartments down a family of 12 was having a feast until 1am.

Victoria Memorial in Kolkata. This man insisted on a photo, but Hamish wasn't totally feeling it. It was disgustingly hot outside.

Terrifying trash can at the Victoria Memorial.

Hey Krishna

We went to a crazy bazaar in Kolkata, where each street has its own specialty, from bangles to metal piping to party decorations (the best one). Anything you could possibly want was there.

Some friendly bangle-sellers.

"Sony Fancy Mirror"-- you can get these at the market.

That night we retreated to a mall, to further celebrate Lauren's birthday (since her actual birthday was cut in half due to jeep ride/niiiiight traaaaaiiiiin). They had a Coffee Bean, which was bizarre to see. We went to a delicious Italian restaurant and ordered a TOWER of BEER, had two thin-crust pizzas and pumpkin ravioli, then saw two back-to-back films in the (air-conditioned!) movie theater. It was great.

TOWER O' BEER

And now, of course, the cookie review. This time Raccoon tried a cookie called "Nice Time." The packet advertizes 0 trans fat on these "sugar-showered coconut biscuits."

"More sugar-drizzled than showered, but they're damned tasty. The perfect accompaniment to a cup of Darjeeling. Truly a NICE TIME."

Taste: 10/10 ("coconutty goodness")
Crunch factor: 9/10
Size: 7/10
Dip factor: 9/10

Modi on top

ALSO, India elected a new Prime Minister last week! This was the biggest democratic election in history, with a 66% turnout. Modi smashed it. Everyone we've talked to is really excited to have new leadership--the Congress party has been in power pretty much since the British left, and it's basically controlled by one family, the Gandhis. Someone we met described Modi as "incorruptible," and we hope that's true. Apparently none of his family members have benefited even a rupee from his work in politics, which is a stark contrast to most politicians here. Congratulations, India!