Travels: Thailand/India 1997

Travel Letter #4

Himalaya

But now some notes from our travel diary. Darjeeling, which is situated at 2134 m with the mountain sides covered with tea plantations and the worlds 3rd highest mountain towering in the background (Kanchenjunga, 8586 m) made the perfect stop for two overheated Norwegians. We tried to take the so-called "toy train" to get there - a 100 year old, small steamtrain that climbs an impressive stretch of engineering art. But the trip takes 10-11 hours, only 3 by bus. And when the bogies are loaded with troublemaking Indians, the prospect of 10 hours static standing wasn't too encouraging. After one hour we had enough, jumped of and caught the first available bus. It was rather cold in Darjeeling, down to 5-8 degrees, so we could finally make use of our Norwegian woolen underwear. Except a trekking tour, we didn't do much there. More or less the same as the hordes of Indian tourists who go there just to cool down, enjoy the scenery and eat good food. (There's even a brilliant bakery there, Glenary's, which became our favorite hang-out place.)

But some words have to be spend on the trekking trip. We initially went off for a three-days trek, but if we fancied it, we would proceed for another 3 days. The trek, which was more or less 1000 steep meters up, 1000 steep meters down and so on, goes along the eastern border of Nepal and through a national park called Singalila. The path runs through thick, blossoming rhododendron and bamboo forests and small herding and farmer settlements, with the impressive mountains in the distance. That is, we missed the last part almost completely. As in Troms, the winter went berserk here, with a cold, thick fog following us all the way, just interrupted by heavy rain and hails. At the peak point at 3600 m, where the best view was supposed to be found, we saw absolutely nothing. So we made three days enough, and afterwards we realized that was a smart draw. We felt like our legs where on stretchers and could not walk normally for days afterwards. (If I close my eyes I can still, with some imagination, feel the pain in the legs.) But it was still worth all the effort, and we got a short glimpse of Kanchenjunga. And we celebrated my birthday in Gods free thick-fogged nature, with cakes and potatochips that Anne had smuggled into our backpacks without my knowledge. Very sweet indeed!