Darjeeling Day, 5

We saved our biggest adventure for our last day in D. Not on purpose, but because the hike I was hoping to take in Siliguiri National Park would be an all day event that would require nice or at least walkable weather, and that had been in short supply during our first two days in D. But on Sunday the weather forecast for Monday looked superb, and so we booked a one day trek to Silkguiri National Park.

Our guide--a fortyish Tibetan named Dowa-- met us at six in front of our house at six. The day looked promising, the sun was already risen in a cloudless sky. Our vehicle was one of the ubiquitous hummer type vehicles that clog the streets of D. We drove two hours over roads badly in need of repair to recharge our starting point, the tiny village of Dahur. We ate our breakfast of noodle soup and dumplings in a nondescript tow table, concrete floor hole in the wall and set out.

The first part of the hike was going to be the toughest, an eight kilometer (5 mile) hike with a 1000 meter (3000 feet) elevation gain. At our first stop, after about an hour, we could see the Himalyan mountains in the distance. It would, unfortunately, be our last glimpse of them today, as clouds rolled in and not only obscured our view of the mountains for the rest of the trip but would threaten rain and cause us to cut our hike short.

Along the trail, Jane starts to take notice of the chestnuts lying on the ground and soon accumulated quite a haul. At our next stop, she grabs a rock and starts smashing them open and sampling their contents. By noon we reach the summit—a small village called Tonglu—and we can barely see our hands in front of our faces. Thankfully, this is lunchtime. We are offered tea and a choice for lunch of either noodle soup or chow mein in an unheated hut.

After a half-hour we start our descent down a broken down wreck of a road that is a challenge for even the sturdiest of four wheel drives. Thankfully, it is not long before we leave it and our back over rolling hills. By the end we have covered nearly twenty kilomterers.

We had planned to out for a big last meal at a nearby fancy restaurant but are so exhausted we simply stay in bed and watch movies and order room service from the hotel

Start of the hike, sunny but cold

Resting

Lunch stop

One leg in Nepal and one in India (although I forgot which is which)

Not sure what this is, but it looks nice

O

Breakfast stop, very early