darjeeling and sikkim

after the madness and chaos of most of india, darjeeling and sikkim were a welcome reprieve. although they are technically part of india, these 2 states really feel as separate from india as elizabeth taylor is from one of her many ex-husbands. both states are in the himalayas so i think that the calm mountain energy and the influences from nepal and tibet just completely shift the culture. there is a lot less staring (in india no matter what you are doing, people are falling over themselves staring. i almost just want to walk around in a bikini covered in paint so i can really give people something to stare at). there is also far less hassle. people may ask you for something or ask you to come into their shop, but if you decline, no one starts yelling at you or shouting, "good price, good price" or "just looking, no buy". don't get me wrong, the absurdity and chaos of india keeps me on my toes and makes me feel...something. and i appreciate india for that. but sometimes you just need a break. it brings me back to my teaching days. i love each and every class i have ever taught. but there were days when they were so outrageous, i just needed to escape somehow, someway. but i always went back and found one me reason to love them. india is my out of control class and i just need a break.

in darjeeling, we walked around the town and saw some astounding views. we found a local pub, called joey's, where we hung out nightly. everyone knew my name for a second, but promptly forgot it. but it was ok, because at least they asked. we discovered that the owner of the pub was in a hindi, bollywood movie called chowrstra (which is also the name of the main square in darjeeling). all in all, it was quite a relaxing experience. which was the same with sikkim.

after a torturous ride in a jeep through the himalayas from darjeeling(which they managed to squish 12 people into), we did arrive to gangtok (the capital of sikkim) safely. i don't really know how, seeing as every turn seems like a dance with death, and an almost deafening experience since the horn is the dominant form of communication. the horn can mean anything: move, asshole; hello; i like your car; my head hurts; will you marry me?, etc. and i can never make any sense of the messages so i just try to block it out. maybe i will take up horning as an alternate language for the next time that i am back here.




this is the steam train that rides up the himalayas to get to darjeeling. i really wanted to be on the steam train going up, but somehow we got on the diesel train. but i did get to see it as it was getting ready to go down the mountain. it takes the train 8 hours to go 88 km (about 60 miles) because it is so slow. kids were running alongside it and jumping aboard, which looked fun.


href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYp2XAfuxjl3ZEebTh048kh7N3Ko5qR0WXYF2lRvuYkvgPsKNhRzSjGBlHXQFZDyFGP84ao35qJFdKead_smGNjLYTTcOXxkRPIOptJY5dUOTSSyshXvtWMAB6AL1aBW_kgQJMHHqrVd9n/s1600-h/ra+002.jpg">

while in sikkim, we visited a couple of buddhist monasteries. this was on one of the walls. i have no idea who it is; i just thought it was pretty.



in darjeeling, we woke up at the ungodly hour of 3:30 to take a jeep up tiger hill and see the sunrise. on a clear day, you can see some of the highest peaks of the himalayas. we did not get a clear day. there were throngs of indian tourists there to see the sunrise. when the sun came up they all ooohed and aaahed. i was trying not to fall to the floor from exhaustion.




the sunrise. the sun did in fact come up that day. whoopty doo...




there are street vendors everywhere, especially when you are near any kind of transport, like the jeeps and trains. they sell the most delicious street food. my favorites are the samosas. i have probably eaten at least 50 in the 2 weeks i have been in india.



this is the owner of joey's pub who was in the bollywood movie. and the other guy is brad, an aussie fellow who we met on the toy train to darjeeling. he has been traveling with us ever since, although he opted for a different trek in nepal. annette must have been getting on his nerves.