So, this morning we woke up at 3:00 - there really was no need for us to set our alarms for 3:50 for pickup at 4:30 because our Japanese "friends" above us got up much earlier and starting walking and banging around in their room. So after reading the latest news I got up and had a shower. We had some coffee and around 4:20 we exited our room and walked down to the end of the road for pickup.
However, no car emerged at 4:30 so at 4:45 we walked back up the hill to the resort where I accidentally woke up the dog while I was looking for other exits/entrances where the driver could be waiting - just in case. This prompted the hostess of the resort to wake up and come out - and we notified her that we had seen nothing of the driver so she started ringing around and finally got hold of him - he was on his way...
Nearly 20 minutes later we were finally picked up at 5:00, half an hour late - the driver excused himself with not having heard the alarm - fair play to him for not making up some elaborate story.
We were on our way and after a fair few involuntary stops due to queues along the way to Tiger Hill (lots of cars going there at this time in the morning) we arrived after about 45 minutes while it was starting to get bright. Unfortunately a thick fog had developed overnight, which followed us all the way from the resort and to Tiger Hill - so there was nothing to see until after about 10 minutes up there when the sun finally came out of the fog, well above the horizon. So no mountain ranges then...
After a further few minutes there with literally hundreds of people fighting for spots we decided it was pointless to remain there and instead returned to the car where we asked the driver to drop us off on a scenic route back to Darjeeling by foot, as suggested by the hosts. And they were right, it was a really nice walk in a quiet area with little going on although we did meet a fair few people, must of which were friendly enough to offer Good Morning and Namaste's back to us.
After just over one hour of walking we were back in Darjeeling, i.e. at around 7:20 only to realise that no breakfast places were open. So instead we went on the hunt for an ATM and after 4 tries we finally found one in working order - clearly ATMs up here are not a bank priority.
After being ignored by the staff in one breakfast place for 15 minutes we got up and went back to our favourite place Kunga where I had fruit muesli (freshly chopped!) with curd - and Claire had a cheese omelette and some of that really nice plain Tibetan bread with butter - yum!
After breakfast when went for a walk past first a museum and then around Observatory Hill, but at a lower level and ended up spending quite some time walking both down and up before returning back to Chowrasta. From there we went down to the Zoo and spent about an hour - and spotted a black bear, a black panter, a snow leopard, royal bengal tiger etc - we also spotted a few specimen of the red Panda, which neither of us had heard of or seen before - just as lazy as its black counterparts it must be added - a lot of slouching going on there ;-)
Then we had a look at the Himalayan Mountaineering Museum, which was pretty impressive too - it sported a lot of equipment used by many of the famous Mt. Everest climbers in the long gone past.
At this point, at around 12:00, we were very tired and decided that we would get some takeaway food, which we would bring back home for later - but first have a nice snooze. After 3 nights of little sleep I was pretty messed up. So back in our room at 13:00 we went to sleep and I had 1.5 hours before getting up again.
At this point (Claire still sleeping) I cleaned the fire place and started a fire, had something to eat etc before Claire woke up. After a shower she also had something to eat and we made some of that nice Darjeeling tea that we had bought in a shop yesterday - we also shared a Tuborg that Claire had been around for more than a week.
From then on it was pure relaxation in front of the laptop and the telly while the fire was keeping us toasty.
However, no car emerged at 4:30 so at 4:45 we walked back up the hill to the resort where I accidentally woke up the dog while I was looking for other exits/entrances where the driver could be waiting - just in case. This prompted the hostess of the resort to wake up and come out - and we notified her that we had seen nothing of the driver so she started ringing around and finally got hold of him - he was on his way...
Nearly 20 minutes later we were finally picked up at 5:00, half an hour late - the driver excused himself with not having heard the alarm - fair play to him for not making up some elaborate story.
We were on our way and after a fair few involuntary stops due to queues along the way to Tiger Hill (lots of cars going there at this time in the morning) we arrived after about 45 minutes while it was starting to get bright. Unfortunately a thick fog had developed overnight, which followed us all the way from the resort and to Tiger Hill - so there was nothing to see until after about 10 minutes up there when the sun finally came out of the fog, well above the horizon. So no mountain ranges then...
After a further few minutes there with literally hundreds of people fighting for spots we decided it was pointless to remain there and instead returned to the car where we asked the driver to drop us off on a scenic route back to Darjeeling by foot, as suggested by the hosts. And they were right, it was a really nice walk in a quiet area with little going on although we did meet a fair few people, must of which were friendly enough to offer Good Morning and Namaste's back to us.
After just over one hour of walking we were back in Darjeeling, i.e. at around 7:20 only to realise that no breakfast places were open. So instead we went on the hunt for an ATM and after 4 tries we finally found one in working order - clearly ATMs up here are not a bank priority.
After being ignored by the staff in one breakfast place for 15 minutes we got up and went back to our favourite place Kunga where I had fruit muesli (freshly chopped!) with curd - and Claire had a cheese omelette and some of that really nice plain Tibetan bread with butter - yum!
After breakfast when went for a walk past first a museum and then around Observatory Hill, but at a lower level and ended up spending quite some time walking both down and up before returning back to Chowrasta. From there we went down to the Zoo and spent about an hour - and spotted a black bear, a black panter, a snow leopard, royal bengal tiger etc - we also spotted a few specimen of the red Panda, which neither of us had heard of or seen before - just as lazy as its black counterparts it must be added - a lot of slouching going on there ;-)
Then we had a look at the Himalayan Mountaineering Museum, which was pretty impressive too - it sported a lot of equipment used by many of the famous Mt. Everest climbers in the long gone past.
At this point, at around 12:00, we were very tired and decided that we would get some takeaway food, which we would bring back home for later - but first have a nice snooze. After 3 nights of little sleep I was pretty messed up. So back in our room at 13:00 we went to sleep and I had 1.5 hours before getting up again.
At this point (Claire still sleeping) I cleaned the fire place and started a fire, had something to eat etc before Claire woke up. After a shower she also had something to eat and we made some of that nice Darjeeling tea that we had bought in a shop yesterday - we also shared a Tuborg that Claire had been around for more than a week.
From then on it was pure relaxation in front of the laptop and the telly while the fire was keeping us toasty.
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| This exactly captures tiger hill - fog, sun not out until well above the horizon, absolutely no mountains to see - and lots of people - a letdown... |
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| Black bear in the zoo |
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| Snow leopard in the zoo |
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| Royal Bengal Tiger - gone cookoo from the enclosure - just walking back and forth along the fence in a mindless state |
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| The black panther |
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| Kunga Restaurant - the highlight of Darjeeling - really nice food! |
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