Day 130. Darjeeling

We woke up to rain unfortunately. It is still very misty and I don’t think it will clear anytime soon. We had breakfast in the company of Agatha and also in the restaurant were a nice Thai family here on holiday. The dad is a biker (F800GS) and he showed us photos of a recent trip to Llasa in Tibet with his bike covered in snow. 

He also produced for us some awesome coffee bags which he had brought with him, I can’t remember the last time  I tasted decent coffee so this was a treat.  

The rain did stop though so we went for a stroll through the town.

We wandered down the lanes which are thankfully traffic free and came to a large town square. 

There was a stage set up with performances by singers and dancers. Very colourful and the crowd were clearly enjoying it. 

Still very misty.

We then adjourned to Glengary’s an old established tea house for a cup of Darjeeling tea (as you do) and a slice of apple pie. 

We decided our afternoon activity would be a two hour train ride on the famous Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. They run this little excursion to Ghum where there is a museum of the history of this system. 

The railway dates from the late 1800’s and is an absolute engineering feat. It runs from Darjeeling to Siliguri and the terrain is incredibly steep and precipitous. At the Darjeeling end it runs right alongside  the narrow road and crisscross’ it many times. A fantastic hazard for motorbikes on a wet and misty day.  These narrow gauge steam engines look just like Thomas, I wonder if they inspired the character. 

Joining up with the carriages. 

Wasn’t trying to be clever but I got the reflection as I hung out the window to take the photo. 

And just one more selfie... 

The train had a 10 minute break alongside a war memorial, we wandered about and said hi to another western couple. It didn’t take long  to make the connection, I coached Hamish Wright at football during my time with the fabulous Ruahine Racoons. 

He is now a doctor and taking time out with his wife Hannah, also a doctor. A nicer couple you would not meet, we really enjoyed talking with them. 

In the background is the Dali monastery. Bottom photo is the entrance to the monastery, plus train, emergency services and vehicles - busy place.

By the time we returned to Darjeeling the rain had returned so we wandered back up the hill to our hotel. 

A nice day really, not particularly energetic but sometimes we just need days like these.