Darjeeling - Tiger Hill

After getting off an overnight train at the NJP station, we took a shared jeep with some Spanish tourists up north to Darjeeling (location described here). As we started to wind up the foothills of the Himalayas, we welcomed the cool mountain air. It was such a nice contrast from the humidity and heat of Kolkata. The city itself was busy with Indian tourists, as everyone was on the Puja holidays, equilavent to our Christmas.



Pictures of this will be coming soon but the story continues...



At 3:45 AM we woke up to catch a jeep to watch the sunrise from Tiger Hill with our Spanish friend Isaac and English friend Paul, but Paul was feeling sick and had to head back in. The 10 km ride was in the pure rush hour of everyone going to Tiger Hill. We had imagined a nice peaceful sunrise, but instead we in a crowd of 400 tourists, all pushing to get a spot near the fence, with dozens of ladies yelling "Coffee, coffee, chai, chai!" and men selling postcards.



We waited in this mess for a half hour before the first glimpse of sun hit the Khangchendzonga peak of the Himalayan range. The crowd gasped and more pushing ensued as everyone wanted to take a photo. Then 5 minutes later the sun peaked out over the misty valley and more picture taking and pushing started. We did enjoy the view and the experience, but it was not the gentle morning we had expected. On the way back, we stopped by a monestary and some other famous viewpoint, where we found several more Indian groups who wanted to take their picture with us. Their conversation with us was usually limited to "where are you from?" and we think they just want to show their friends back home pictures of the foreigners.