Exploring

Monday 21st April, Darjeeling, West Bengal

Today was an explore day around Darjeeling. Structured in the morning, and free in the afternoon. No great story to tell, just a bit of a photo journal of the day's activites.

I was sound asleep a little after 9pm last night, and slept the sleep of the dead. First stirring was at around 4am, and as events unfolded I should have got up at that time, as crazy as that sounds. Went back to sleep of sorts until about 5:30-ish, and then got up and dressed for the pre-planned 6am stroll around the corner to see Kangchenchunga at dawn. Except that dawn was nearer 5 than 6, and so by the time we got there the clouds had well and truly rolled in, and the great mountain was nowhere to be seen.

Ahh well, there's always another day.

So back for breakfast and our 9am departure to the Hamalayan Mountain Institute. The HMI was established in 1954 by (or with the support of) Tenzing Norgay. The HMI is one of the premier climbing training bodies in the world, and some 45,000 student have gone thorugh its gates. Tenzing was cremated there, and a prominent memorial sits in the main compound.

Next to the Instiute is the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park. It houses a variety of Himalayan animals, and as best as I can tell its main claim to fame is the conservation work it does for the Red Panda. It claims to also do Snow Leopard conservation work, although some of my travel companions advise that this isn't the case. I'll admit that the leopard in the photo below didn't look all that happy, and keeping a roaming beast in a wire cage doesn't seem proper.

After the zoo it was off to the Happy Valley tea company (est. 1854) for a tour of the tea harvesting and processing facilities. I learned about first flush, second flush, green and white tea, although to be honest I couldn't easily discern between the teas we tasted. Interesintg grounds and process though.

A bit hard to see, but through the haze is Darjeeling behind the plantation.

Wandered into the main street/mall for a most excellent dosa for lunch (forgot to take a photo), and then I deced that it probabaly would be a good idea to buy some genuine Darjeeling tea,, so went a did another tasting. Slightly extravaget, the expeciance was more informative than part of the earlier tour, altohugh the previous knwledge was useful.

Closed off the day with an interesting chat with Garry Weare about trekking in India/Sikkim versus Nepal, and then some useful background on the Australian Himialaya Foudnation (of which Garry remains one of two founding directors).

I'll close this post with a few more shots from the rather anachronistic New Elgin Hotel. I said yesterday that tit opened the year after James C was here in Darjeerling. Of course it would have been under construction then, so I can imagine him wandering past and watching it being built!!