Sipping tea in Darjeeling....

I recently got back from Darjeeling. If you have not been here before, I highly recommend it. Darjeeling is a hill town at the base of the Himalayas in India. I was invited to a conference by Fulbright that was very close to Darjeeling. So given the chance to spend a couple of extra days, I headed out to Darjeeling to check out a view of the Himalayas. I am glad I did. It has always been a dream of mine to see the tallest mountains in the world and as expected, I was not disappointed! Kanchenchunga Mountain (the third tallest mountain in the world) can be seen in clear view. Here is a pic of the road leading to Darjeeling. A refreshing change to be out of the smog and in some pretty cool weather.We drove up in Land Rover type vehicles, winding and curving all the way up to about 8,000 feet. Here is our first view of the mountain....

The town of Darjeeling is located on a hill almost at the base of Kanchenchunga. It was a great town. Lots of shopping, great tea (of course) as it is well known for and the people were extremely pleasant. I woke up very early the next morning to head out to see the sunrise as it hit the mountain. The pictures do not do justice to the majesty of this place. As the sun hits the mountain, it literally looks like gold is melting down the mountain. It was amazing and something that I will always remember well...







in the foreground on the edge of the hill, one can see Darjeeling town. That's where I was staying.

The mountain is also called the "Sleeping Buddha" because if you look at it closely, it looks like a person sleeping facing up towards the sky. Starting from the left one can see the Buddha's head, arms, belly, and feet. It is considered sacred by Buddhists, so the Indian government forbids anyone to climb the mountain anymore to maintain its purity.

Here are some more pics of several that I couldn't stop taking. It truly was awesome and very awe inspiring.
And yes, it was that cold....about 30-degrees Fahrenheit with quite a bit of wind. In town we met Kiran. He owns a tea house called "Hot & Stimualating Tea". That's not a typo, that's actually what the place is called. Kiran was a great guy and brought u s up to speed on the local music scene. So few of us sat in his tea house and chatted with him. He makes really great Masala Chai! So if you are in town, be sure to stop by Kiran's.


Overall a great place to visit. Good shopping too! Until next time...