Enchantment in room A10

Darjeeling

After our butt-reaming in Kolkata, it was with a sense of renewal that we boarded our flight to Badogra airport, which itself is 700km north of Kolkata. We left the yellow ambassadors and exhaust stained buildings behind, and flew north, to a place we didn’t really know much about, but had heard good things. The most common refrain was that Darjeeling was a place to chill out and get away from the intensity of everyday India.

We got a private taxi from the airport, which was at sea level, and immediately felt the fresh cool air and the warmth of the sun. We drove along flat roads with nice scenery on either side, and began a slow ascent up a winding hill, eventually driving to 2,000km altitude, the scenery getting more stunning the higher we climbed. The driver navigated the road with skill; had any of us been driving I don’t think I’d live to tell the tale.

Darjeeling is known as a hill station, and as you approach the city (approx. population 100,000), we saw all the houses and buildings nestled in and amongst the hillside, which itself was covered in thick forest. Needless to say, the building standards were a far cry from Wellington. In the event of an earthquake, I don’t think a single structure would survive. The streets were narrow, but wide enough for a truck and a few motorcycles, with two to three storied structures on either side. It felt cool riding into town, and after a bit of walking around we settled on the Dekeling Hotel.

It was here that our period of enchantment began. The people at the hotel seemed a world away from the people we were used to dealing with (and a million miles away from Kolkata). They were nice(!), friendly, spoke good English, gave you a fair deal, weren’t in your face, and were just generally lovely and pleasant. Figures, they were Nepalese, a people who have been through a difficult past, and seemed to respond to this with kindness and humility. The room we secured was at the top of the hotel – the attic – and we had to crouch over just to get in the door, and indeed, walk around half the room! It felt like being in Alice in Wonderland, especially given the fact Ben and I are both over 6 feet. Somebody bought some tea in (picked and packed in Darjeeling) and pointed out to us the view from the window. It was above anything else in the city, which seemed to slope treacherously downhill, and far off in the distance, when the cloud cleared (if only for an moment) you could see the deep snows of the Himalaya’s. It was a magical moment.

Our enchantment in room A10 continued when we hit the streets. The air was cool but not chilly, and people just enjoyed being out and about, operating at a leisurely pace. Our spirits lifted even higher when we realised we could feed the three of us (not small boys, by any means) for less than five dollars at any one of the many family run and owned restaurants, and enjoy the most delicious Nepalese food. The best places to eat, I found, where the small, hole in the wall type restaurants that no one had heard of, and largely consisted of kids and the rest of the family. We were normally the only ones dining, and the whole place could usually only fit about six people. We also dined at some more upscale restaurants, which were also delicious, and naturally, had more varied menus.

We would browse around at the markets and shops, and marvel at the magnitude of counterfeit goods – pretty decent quality stuff too, all things considered, and all from Hong Kong. I bought some imitation Adidas running shoes for about $30 which have since served me well. We also found ourselves in a tea shop, and watching the last over of an India vs NZ ODI, in which an Indian batter smashed fifteen off the last over to tie the game – what a match, and what a moment.

Later in the afternoon I went for a run by myself (having not convinced the other guys (yet) of the benefits of running). I ran up the hill past everyone coming down, trying to show off a little, and got to the top completely out of breath. It hit me: we were at altitude, and it was definitely harder to breath. Even walking up stairs I would get short of breath.

I continued along the Tenzing Norgay road, and soon realised something: the track I was running, and the run itself, was by far the best run I had ever done! Not for the speed at which I tracked (slow), nor the depth of my breathing (shallow), but for the scenery, the feeling, and the sheer exhilaration. On one side was steep hillside leading higher and higher, and on the other, huge mountainous valleys as far as the eye could see, with villages dotted all amongst and in around. As I rounded the corner, the late afternoon sun would cast its eye over a village high up in the hills off in the distance, creating a mirage like image. It was fantastic. Every so often I would ask for directions, and eventually found myself following the train tracks and winding through the town. The locals all looked at me bizarrely, I’m sure, but would almost always offer smiles and waves.

I felt truly privileged to be in Darjeeling. I enjoyed it so much, and had the most amazing time. It felt a world away from India, and in a more practical sense, as if we were in another country. It might as well have been, given the Nepalese and Chinese influence.

In the final analysis, the best thing about Darjeeling was how easy it was to be happy there; as easy as the Himalayan freshness, and as bright as the smiles of the people living there.

Enchantment indeed.

Turkey