Saturday 23 May 2015

Snippets of Darjeeling

I made my maiden voyage into Darjeeling in May 2015 with S and some of her friends who soon became my friends. We left Kolkata in the night by train and reached New Jalpaiguri early in the morning.

You can either book a taxi or take a shared taxi to Darjeeling from NJP. The shared taxi costs around Rs. 200 per person. We received a number of offers for transport at lower rates, each of which turned out to be a scam. They offered to take us to Darjeeling for a lesser amount if we hire their transport service for our travel in and around Darjeeling. A quick calculation suggested that it would be cheaper to take the standard shared taxi and to hire a taxi for travelling  inside Darjeeling once we get there.

The drive up was a beautiful introduction to Darjeeling. We drove through hills, watching the toy train go by. We could not travel in the toy train in this trip because of lack of time. Lack of time was something that I felt multiple times during the trip. Darjeeling is a city that needs to be seen at its own pace, with time to stop, smell, taste and savour it. The next time I go, I will pace myself.

Anyway, I reached Darjeeling around late afternoon and checked into Pineridge Hotel. It is an old colonial building right at Mall Road with big rooms, great view and a haunted feeling. There are big mirrors on the staircases and big balconies on each floor which give the place an eerie feeling in the night. It also has a lovely restaurant called Foodsteps that serves great waffles and pork sausages. If fact, I would recommend a breakfast here over the more commonly known places such as Keventer's and Glenary's.  However, the hotel needs some TLC. In one of the rooms, the carpet was slightly burnt while in the other room, charging points were not working.
Pineridge hotel
Since S had been to Darjeeling before, we took her recommendation and had lunch at Dekeling which is famous for its thukpa. Lightly spiced egg thukpa was perfect for the cold afternoon though their momos were just about okay. Before we left Darjeeling, we found the perfect momos at Kunga, which is next door to Dekeling.

We spent the rest of the day just walking around Mall Road and beyond. Darjeeling was cold, full of clouds and a welcome break from the heat of Bombay. I could feel the clouds walking by us.


Clouds in Darjeeling
As I mentioned earlier, we were short of time in this trip and therefore, hired a taxi to take us around Darjeeling and Ghum in one day. Since we wanted to see the sunrise at Tiger Hill, the day started at 3 a.m. On a clear day, the sunrise at Tiger Hill is stunning and you can see the first rays of sun falling on Kanchenjunga. If you are lucky, you can even see Mount Everest. It was about 4.30 am when we reached Tiger Hill. The crowd and the energy at Tiger Hill was surprising for that time of the day. However, because of the clouds, we got to see glimpses of the sunrise but not much else.

On the way back to Darjeeling, we stopped at the Ghum monastery. It has beautiful paintings on the wall. However, after having seen the lavish Buddhist temples at Bodhgaya since childhood, the monastery failed to make much of an impact at me. The quiet and peace inside the monastery was was destroyed by flashes of cameras and tourists who do not know the concept of keeping quiet in a monastery.

Batasia loop however was a pleasant surprise. Famous for the beautiful view from the toy train, it also has a beautiful park which was in full bloom.


Flowers at Batasia Loop
Darjeeling has a long list of places to visit and things to do. A walk through the tea gardens, view of the city from the rope-way and para-gliding (which we did not do) are some to be mentioned. It was full of clouds which obscured the hills around us but also gave a beautiful feeling of walking through the clouds. Three places that stayed in my memory are the Japanese temple/ pagoda, the Victoria waterfall and the Darjeeling zoo

The Japanese temple/pagoda is beautiful, peaceful and extends its acceptance to everyone. We reached the temple during their prayers and were invited to join them. While I am not a very spiritual person, the energy inside the temple was very calm.
Japanese Pagoda
Victoria waterfall provides a beautiful viewpoint from the top. The walk to the top is fun, especially if you stop at the waterfall to get wet. We did and thoroughly enjoyed it. Rocks under the water were a little slippery but nothing dangerous. Water at the bottom of the waterfall is generally clean though could do with a bit of help. The tourists have been throwing water bottles and other garbage in the water and the water may become very polluted in the next few years. Has anyone wondered why a large number of Indian tourists visit a place because its clean and unpolluted and immediately start polluting it?
Victoria Waterfall
View from the top of Victoria waterfall

The biggest adventure of the day was the Dajreeling zoo. We saw a royal bengal tiger, a bear, a black panther, a jackal, various types of leopards, Himalayan wolves, yaks, snakes, birds and numerous other animals. On the top of the list however is the red panda. These furry, red, cute beings are just perfect to visit on a cold Darjeeling day.

Bear and Red Panda at the Darjeeling zoo
Darjeeling is also a heaven for shopping. Apart from the standard tea and woollens, we saw lovely pieces of art, silk scarves, jewellery or other nick-knacks. S found a beautiful antique snuff-box at throw-away prices (which, if she ever reads this, I am willing to steal or buy any time).

We returned to Kolkata via bus from Siliguri. While waiting for the bus, someone at the stop suddenly screamed "earthquake" and everyone ran outside. I am as yet not sure, if there was an earthquake or not.

P.S.- Never take a bus from Siliguri to Kolkata. When I did, I did not know that instead of the promised 11 hours, it always takes 17 hours to finish the journey. 

Saturday 2 May 2015

Memoirs of Kerala- Part 3 (Varkala and Trivandrum)

We continued our journey through Kerala and reached Varkala one late afternoon. Varkala is a small town with a beautiful beach right next the cliffs.

The first thing we noticed was the heli-pad right in the middle of town (being used as a taxi stand at that moment). The second thing that we noticed was the beach.

We stayed at the Varkala Marine Palace. The hotel has everything going for it. It is located on the cliffs overlooking the beach and has beautiful wooden cottages. The room had a very ethnic and slightly antique feeling to it and had a bed big enough to swim. 

After spending a week in beautiful, but conservative Kerala, Varkala was a bliss. The presence of a lot of foreigners gives it a feel of Goa and freedom. The locales are used to people sitting on the beach and getting in the water. In fact, this was the only beach in Kerala where I felt comfortable getting down to my beach clothes and getting in the water.

The first day however we just walked on the beach since it was already late in the evening. The water is cold and very clean. Small crabs and other sea animals come out to the beach once its cold and we had make sure that we don't step on any, or for that matter, get bitten by a crab. 

We decided to have dinner at Varkala Marine Palace's restaurant and never regretted it. The restaurant is right at the beach, have a lovely view and serve beautifully prepared seafood in local flavours. A cat decided to join us for dinner every day. By the time we headed to the bed, we were fully relaxed and super happy. 

The next day we headed to the busy parts of the cliffs which are dotted with lots of restaurants, shops and hotels. It is like a mini Goa. We tried the food at Clafouti Beach Resort for lunch. While I don't remember the details of the lunch, both Avi and I agreed that I was good.

In the evening, we walked back to the cliffs to watch the sunset. The beauty of the sun setting into the sea has somehow never ceased to amaze me. 

After a week of travelling and running around, we spent our days reading books on the beach, walking on the beach or the cliffs or just eating at the Varkala Marine Palace's restaurant. If you want a peaceful and beautiful place to destress, Varkala would me my first choice. We loved Varkala so much that we extended our stay by a couple of days.

Leaving Varkala late meant that our schedule for Trivandrum was slightly messed. We could not go to the Trivandrum Zoo and a couple of other places because they were closed and decided to enjoy the beaches instead.

We stayed at the Travancore Heritage, a seaside resort with lush greens. Since we were staying on the upper side of the resort, we had to take a lift through coconut trees to get to the beach. Even in the heat of Trivandrum, beach was perfect. The water was clean, blue and the most beautiful that I had ever seen, before Cambodia.

 We spent one evening at the Lighthouse Beach in Kovalam. It is supremely crowded, perhaps due to being the most famous tourist spot in the city. The view from the lighthouse was quite good and so was the sunset. However, the crowd and noise take away from the place.

All in all though, beautiful glimpses of Kerala. We bid adieu to Kerala the next day with some really fond memories.