Darjeeling unlimited 1/5
Up at 6 after sleeping for 12 hours. We went to Glenary's cafe for wifi, croissants, muffin, and cappuccinos. After 2 hours of much needed wifi time and a wonderful view of the peaks of the Himalaya, we headed out to explore.
First we headed down the steep slippery roads/paths to the Bhutia Busty Monastary w the Himalaya in the background. It was a yellow sect monastery that could show the current Dali Lama. We saw the same protectors upon the entrance as the monastaries in Tibet.
Then we headed for the Tibetan Refugee Center. There was a smal shop of goods, but the interesting part was the photo halls. Many pictures of the refugees, what Lhasa looked like before, and articles on the history of how China has not only impacted Tibet but the disputed territory w India.
We tried to make it to the other side of the mountain without having to go back up and down. We found the most wonderful path that was flat and took us to the gondola we were looking for. Along the way Delhi Belly hit me hard just like it hit Andy this am. That was fast and we ate in a nice restaurant yesterday! I guess there's no escaping it. We got to play w a little puppy along the way! Yay! We found a street stand and got some veg and chicken momos and milk tea for $.6. I already have Delhi Belly, what's the worst this can do?
We took the gondola down the hill, it took 20 min and it was a little scary considering the rusty parts and sounds of lose screws. At the bottom we started walking, looking for the tea plantation Patabong. A guy asked where we were going and he said to follow him. Apparently it was closed so we took us to the one in his village. I was suspicious but we followed anyways. It was far so we jumped in the back of a truck w him and several other locals. Going down the road was fast and so bumpy, you couldn't really sit down on the metal because it hurt your ass, and there wasn't anywhere to hold on to to stand up so we squatted as much as possible. What's going to a country if you don't do a dangerous ride like a local at least once? He showed us the closed tea factory in his village Barnesbeg which has the same name as the tea factory. We bought us sodas in the local shop and showed us the views from his village. He offered to take us to the other side of the valley but we were running low on time. I offered to give him money but he declined. Maybe it's because I gave him the money that fell out of his pocket, maybe he's just proud of his village, but he was the nicest guy and it was so great to meet a local! He even got us in a jeep (for free) going back up so we could catch the gondola.
We were in line for the gondola and a group of people from Calcutta jumped in front of us. Hell no said Andy (oh god I thought). We get in with that group. andy asks if they speak English. Yes. How do lines work out here (I put my head down and look at my phone)? Andy really wanted to know but thankfully the guy didn't understand what he was asking and didn't detect his off putting tone. We ended up conversing and all was well.
We walked back to the town and hit up more street food vendors. At the town square we ate delicious food of chicken covered deliciousness, pakodas, samosas, and a lovely veg pie w cabbage in it. Then a dude came by asking if we wanted tea and he would serve us. Hell yeah! We had 2 milk teas to finish off our snack. So good!
In need of some wifi we hit up the cafe again and got some great green tea w clove flavor then dinner of veg and chicken burgers. Annoyed w the wifi we headed back and had a fire in our room! This was a perfect opportunity to wash and dry some clothes. Darjeeling is a great little town and we had a wonderful day! So glad we made the long journey here.