Pictures from yesterday and adventures from today

Here are some pictures that would've gone in yesterday's post, as promised. Today's post is below the pictures.

Sunrise at Tiger Point Hill (the sun has finally come up!)

Mount Kangchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world. Everest is apparently somewhere in that view, as well, but I honestly have no idea where.

Really cute white wolves! Mu got a great shot of them emerging from their house.

Asiatic black bear, posing for the crowds.

Cuddly langurs. These guys are apparently considered sacred in India.

Mu (and a random lady) in front of the peace Pagoda.

The Ghoom Monastery, with a huge Buddha wrapped in cloth.

Tea garden! Look at all those tea plants!



And now, on to today. It was rather a weird day for me. Mu has gotten my cold, and being more sensible that I was in similar circumstances, decided to spend most of the day in bed. He has emerged now to join me back at the tea house from yesterday (the one with internet!), but until now, I've been meandering on my own. Hence, there are few pictures from today (it rarely occurs to me to take pictures, I've noticed), and the ones that I've taken aren't up yet, because it's usually Mu who uploads them.

In some ways, it was maybe a convenient day for Mu to be sick, in that he didn't have to suffer through my traipsing through tea shops and other souvenir stalls. I meandered happily around, smelling teas and looking at beautiful teapots and shawls and other things. There's a Tea and Tourism festival currently going on, which turns out to mean a whole host of random things. There were tea tastings, which was to be expected but also a "fun archery range" (I paid 20 rupees, approximately 40 cents, for the privilege of shooting 3 arrows badly and one reasonably well, to the laughter and applause of the people hanging around), an exhibit of photos and paintings of Darjeeling, another somewhat inexplicable exhibit of military-ish things related to the Gurkhas, one of the local ethnic groups, and lots of performances, including lots of heavy metal (very strange to be listening to people screaming while I'm sitting here drinking tea) and very bizarre dance/fire-breathing performances. The area around the tea tasting also blasted Scorpions music, for reasons known only to them. I like the Scorpions, mind you, but it was rather random.

I had heard that a local heritage hotel, the Windamere, had a daily high tea, so I went in search of that (and got lost and found the festival, so that was a happy accident). They turned out to be up a very steep flight of stairs, which I trudged up when I finally found it, discovered that the tea was served between 4 and 6 (it was around 1 at this point), and trudged back down. On the way back, I acquired a very pretty warm shawl, as well as a few more souvenirs. I also encountered a monkey, just hanging out on a path. I hadn't realized that they live this high up! This one was chilling, so I took some photos, but was careful not to get too close -- a lot of them have rabies, which would be distinctly unfun.

After checking in on Mu, I went out again, first for a small lunch (momos, soup, and masala chai for 30 rupees!), and then for that high tea I had originally searched for. I brought, appropriately, an Agatha Christie to read. :) The tea was served in a very quaint sitting area, with cushions and lace everywhere, and it was very good. I had an entire pot of tea, two sandwiches (cucumber and cheese, as you might expect), a piece of coffee cake, two cookies, and a scone. For those of you from the Bay Area, think Lovejoy's but with no choice of tea or sandwiches at a third of the price. Who needs choice when you've got super yummy, high quality Darjeeling tea? I also chatted with some people there -- a British man and his Indian wife, whom he had met years prior at that very hotel, where she had then been working. The man told me that I should give Kolkata another chance and that "after a few days, it grows on you." I smiled politely and nodded. I have no intention of doing this, of course, but I didn't need to tell him that. :) After they left, I read a bit more, and then meandered back down the hill to meet up with Mu and have yet more tea.

So now, we're internetting here, with a cricket game on the TV and more rock music being played outside to a large and enthusiastic crowd. Tomorrow, we will have a few more hours here in the morning, and then we'll get on an overnight train to Varanasi!

I'm not sure when we'll next have internet, so if I can't communicate 'till then, I hope everyone has a happy and wonderful New Year's!