Indian times - Darjeeling To Kolkata

So, after our epic 27hr journey from Kathmandu we arrived in Darjeeling. We were plesantly surprised with how chilled things were in Darjeeling! We stayed a few days and ventured out on the Toy Train (My dad would definitely have approved/enjoyed this!) Went to the tea plantations - although as I don't drink tea  and neither does Sharon, it wasn't an opportunity to sample a fine brew...although we have heard that it was!

We were also very impressed with the mountains we could see from our guesthouse rooftop - Mt Kanchenjunga - the worlds 3rd tallest mountain, definitely worth getting up just after 5am to watch it appear at sunrise.

After finding ourselves a good coffee we took the bus south to Kolkata. Now, I know what you are thinking...surely after the last bus you would have learned? But this night bus (although not the VIP Volvo bus) was much better, in fact, we had sleeping berths which enabled you to lie down and enjoy whizzing along in the darkness...no screeching breaks, no broken bones, obviously I'd be lying if I said it was a completely smooth road, and there was one railway track that we appeared to sit midway across for  longer than I'd liked.. but on the whole it was great...I even slept!

 

Kolkata was completely different to Darjeeling, which is what we had expected. It was much warmer, much more humid and there were considerably more people! We found a place to stay, which after a slight aircon disaster is not somewhere we would chose to stay again .. and had just a couple of days to take in this new realm. We visited St Paul's Cathedral, the Victoria Monument (Built in honor of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.. but not finished until 20yrs after her death) and a few other most colonial establishments, relics of the Imperial age. They were amazing, although a very stark contrast to the poverty that we saw in other areas of the city.

Although we weren't in India long we definitely enjoy our two stops and perhaps one day will go back to see a little more.