May 2 | Thoughts on Steroids

It was the first time where we had the whole day in the same town, until now, either early morning or sometime later we would take off for our next destination, today felt relaxed. But even with a whole day in hand, we were feeling the paucity and were working hard to plan well enough to not miss anything important.

The plan was to head to Tiger Hills at 4AM or earlier (yes, if one has to lay their eyes on the sunrise, this is the time to leave) but we did not go because it was raining outside and the sky was heavily overcast, which meant we would never get to watch anything from the point. After staying tucked in for an additional few hours, we were now ready to gorge on some good food and scavenged through the place for a good breakfast. But before that we needed some bed tea and when the guy came to serve, he told us that the Kanchenzonga range is visible right now, we rushed out of the room into the lawns and laid our eyes for the first time on the elusive range. It’s difficult to describe it in words what it is to look at those mountains. While we could not see the entire range, we kept guessing which one of these is the Kanchenzonga and which are the others. It was a window of about 20mins after that the clouds pulled their curtains on the range leaving nothing more to watch from the hotel lawns. But while watching the range sitting there on morning tea, my thoughts went wandering about how it would be to be there, it was as if my thoughts were intoxicated and could not take a break.

Kaventers came highly recommended for cold cuts and English breakfast, so that’s where we headed. We had taken the bike along and faced some serious issues to find parking, but later when we went up to the cop, he asked us to park at a place where the board suggested, it was meant for Govt Officers and when we pointed that out to him, he asked “Do you want to park or no?” We sheepishly agreed.

Darjeeling is the hub of the Gorkhaland agitations and it’s very often that political rallies with a cavalcade of cars will pass through the narrow lanes of the city. These are normally boisterous young lads who are not there to harm the people in anyway, they are just asking for what they want but a little more loudly than most of us would have. If you do come across a rally, halt and let them pass. Even we came across a rally, though this was something more religious, but what was insane was the length, we did exactly as i told you should be done and ended up waiting and waiting and waiting!

Kaventers has slow service, may be because a few of the servers also cook the order, so be patient, they are generally a nice bunch, just a little overworked sometimes. They have a dish on the menu that has a little of all the meat; Sausage, Bacon, Salami, Pork served along with eggs done as per your choice. The meat in a single dish is enough for two, so order accordingly. Also, remember that they shut shop for breakfast by about 11:30AM, so get there early.
From here we headed to the HMI (Himalayan Mountaineering Institute) the complex houses a Zoo, 2 museums and the institute itself. It’s definitely worth a visit. I found the enclosures for the animals much better than what you find in all other Indian zoos, they were on the incline of the hill and no cage on top with decent area to move around. Though most of the animals seemed sluggish, am not sure why. The HMI area houses two museums; the HMI museum and the Everest museum. While have not been maintained as they should have been the Everest museum is more interesting. They also have a souvenir store, make sure you check what you buy; i got a compass that stopped working as soon as i got back to the hotel.

Tea Garden was what we were looking for now. We were looking for Rangli Tea Estates, but after a whole lot of finding and directions all over the place, we finally figured that it’s really far and may not be doable today, so instead we went to the ‘Happy Valley’ Tea Estate. It’s a little difficult to spot while you are in the vehicle, but ask a few people and you will figure your way. Since it was Sunday, the factory was closed, but the Gorkha was kind enough to show us around. Make the trip it’s interesting to know how the tea that you drink is actually processed.
Sushant had an interesting insight about the bad directions here, he figured that the town is full of mini towns; as in, after every 15mins you will find an area that will have its own shopping, eating, staying, sight-seeing areas, so when anyone asks for directions, it’s always “Aagey” but how much further is for you to find out.

By now we were pretty pooped and needed to little drink to unwind, so we headed to Glenary’s again for a drink and dinner. ‘The Buzz’ today seemed pretty dead, so we went to the restaurant had our little revitalizers and grub and headed back to the hotel.

The plan is to leave for Pelling tomorrow morning.

Morals: I’m not sure but maybe April onwards is a bad time because we have been encountering sever fog and cloud cover all the time, but keep a watchful eye, the Kanchenzonga ranges come out for a sneak peak, make sure you catch them in those moments. Incase of any rallies on the road, just give way, they are peaceful rallies. Plan your meals well, restaurant have clear timings and will not serve after a certain time whether its breakfast or dinner. If you are into trekking and mountaineering, do visit the HMI, but if that doesn’t you may want to skip this place, the zoo though is interesting.