South Africans in India - Part 3: Darjeeling and Sikkim, Kolkata
DarjeelingDay 28 - Nov 7 |
But no. Some family is in our seats. 5 people, who seem to have confirmed waiting list tickets on ladies quota. The conductor comes and tells them to bugger off, and gives us the seats. But their stuff takes up the entire floor area, and they've just gone to sit with some other suckers for a while. We didn't speak Hindi, and they didn't speak English, so we don't know what the real situation was. They could have been cheated by an agent, but were probably just freeloaders. Their kid would cry and then stop immediately when it got what it wanted. It liked magnets. The guy in the bunk across from me sat with Buddha-like patience, allowing two of the freeloading women to sit on his bed. He played some bizarre Celine Dion remix on his phone, and Linkin Park, and stared at some spot in front of him. The mother tries to put the sleeping child at my feet, and I'm like 'No no no I am tall. This is unacceptable'. The bunks are only about 5'9" to start with, so I'm already in a fetal position. But I begrudgingly let the woman sit there with the child over her shoulder, so that she has the width to use. I have to sleep with my head on the table half-way between bunks. They finally get off at 2am. The buddha-like man sympathised with us, happy that the freeloaders were gone. I managed to sleep with a crick in my neck until 8am. We got off and bought some cheap slop at the railway station. It was so gross though that I gave it away. We take a Rs100 rickshaw from New Jaipalguri train station to Siliguri, and eat a real breakfast at some oriental hotel. Oh sweet air conditioning. But we were now entering high altitude, and it wouldn't be so bad for the next two weeks. We took a share-jeep up to Darjeeling, with 7 other people, for 3 hours of solid climbing. It was only Rs100 each, which hardly makes sense, since I think it was a petrol jeep. Petrol alone must have cost more than Rs700.
We arrived, and climbed up the hill to the top, where the book promised Hotel Tranquility. It was a tough climb, and there are no rickshaws. But I insisted, even though we passed a dozen acceptable hotels. There was one room available, and we took it. Rs450 for an amazing view, and hot water.
Darjeeling is in Gorkhaland, where the fearsome Gurkhas live (The British referred to them as the deadliest soldiers in the world once, because of their camouflage and knife skills). It was a cool spot, so the British kept it for strategic reasons. It's India's biggest hill station, and has Himalayan views in all directions. The Gorkhas are Nepalese essentially, and want autonomous rule in Sikkim. But the territory is disputed, and a decade ago, the Chinese were going to invade, and the Indians said they'd protect them and pump money into the economy. It was a good deal, so they went with it, and now Sikkim is one of the richest per capita states in India. Of course they still want Independence. Of note is that since the vast majority of residents are Gurkhas, it was almost like leaving India. People don't stare at you, don't push you to buy their products or get in their ride. Interestingly, there were lots of lepers, but they don't follow you. (cough) We were in Darjeeling mostly to get a permit to Sikkim, and so we went and got the form. The office was closed on a Sunday though. Likewise the doctor was closed. I wanted to ask about my eye. We got lunch and tea at Hasty Tasty, checked out Chowrasta where girls were dressed up traditionally and dancing on stage, and walked around a bit. Not much more to tell about this day. We watched Click on TV, and had some beers with loud Australians chatting to each other. We got back at 9:50, and it turned out there was a 9pm curfew. We were kind of surprised, but there was seriously nothing to do. We watched Jersey Shore until we fell asleep. 
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Day 29 - Nov 8 |
I organise a doctor's appointment for 1pm. We go to the Sikkim permit office and get our 15 day visa, so we have done all we have to. We have breakfast at the Frank Ross Diner - they had mexican food, which Aurora was excited about, but it was kind of gross. We tried various mexican foods in Darjeeling and Sikkim, and were always left with a quizzical expression on our faces when the food arrived. We waited about 20 minutes past the supposed time, then the doctor saw me - it was a private hospital - Rs200 for a consultation is pretty damn cheap. He looked at my eye, and said it was either an allergy or a bug bite. He doesn't know. But just keep taking my malaria meds, which are also a broad spectrum antibiotic, and it should go away.
We decided to go to Pelling and Yuksom, so we asked around, and found out Jorethang would be a preferable pitstop on the way to Sikkim, instead of the going via the capital city Gangtok.
There is a lapse in notes for this day. Presumably we drank lots of rum, and blacked out. But I believe we booked our Koltaka-Chennai flight on the internet, giving us some 10 days or so. It was either 3 hours on a plane, or 37 hours on a train. Simple choice by now.
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Day 30 - Nov 9 |
We walked down the hill to the first tea plantation we could find. It was the only one mentioned by the Lonely planet, though there are some 53 tea plantations on the hills there. This one is special though, as they are where Harrods buys its Darjeeling tea. Just as our luck would have it, the tea plantation was closed that day for maintenance of equipment. But some Americans climbing back up the hill said there is an amusing lady there who will show you around for a small fee. So we pushed on down the hill, and found the woman. She was big eyed like the witch in Hansel and Grettel, and she gave us her tour. We found out some tea is 20 years old, but most is only a few years old. She sold us the Harrods tea, some expensive Super Flowering Golden Tippy Orange Picking One tea (SFGTOP1 tea) which as workers they get for free. Of course she is not meant to sell it. But we paid heavily, at Rs300 for a 120g pack. Up at the town, it was Rs50 for the same amount. But we also went into a tea bar and the teas went up to Rs80000, so it was a compromise. I mean, at least we are assured that it was cheaper than in Harrods. We walked a fair way down the hill and caught a combi-taxi back up. For lunch we had Masala Dosas at Big Bite, and for supper, some Indian food at Hotel Shangrila, which was expensive, but some of the best food I'd had in India. Walking back was really scary, because dogs roamed the streets, and barked the hell at you in alleys with no lights. The streets were only one car's width, so it was terrifying at times. I just told Aurora to walk confidently, and said calming words like 'There there Fluffy. Come now Mitsy. Shh shh'. We had some close calls. We watched the India vs. New Zealand cricket.
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PellingDay 31 - Nov 10 |
They replayed the India vs. NZ game all day long, showing the 100 that bowler Harbhajan Singh made over and over with 'Breaking news' below. It was some serious overkill. We took a share jeep to Jorethang, which drove on what could hardly be called a road, and which would have been impossible to navigate unless you're a local. In Jorethang we tried to eat, (I was being a vegetarian for India), but there were no restaurants that served vegetarian food. Only Pork, Beef or Chicken. Not a vegetable to be found after 3 restaurants. Finally we found a guy who was willing to make some rice and dhal, and even threw in a few chunks of fried potato. We took another jeep to Geyzing through beautiful scenery. Finally a third jeep to Pelling. All in all it was Rs370 each, which is really cheap considering the terrain. We tried to stay at Hotel Kabur, but were shunted away to Hotel Blue Hills. It was ok, but had no hot water, and the toilet didn't flush. We returned to Kabur, and had beer and wine, though the 'Caravella Wine' turned out to be 18% port. I had a superb Veg Thenduk. The chilis made it the spiciest food I'd had. In fact, if you are some kind of food connoisiour going to Sikkim, try the Veg Thenduk at Hotel Kabur. Sikkimese food is spicy, perhaps to keep warm. Aurora had food poisoning, and I ran across town to find water bottles. Some hotel playing psytrance music obliged to open their doors and sell me some bottles. We slept early, before 11pm.
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Day 32 - Nov 11 |
I woke up early to take a photo of Khangchendzonga, the world's 3rd tallest mountain, which was smart, since it disappeared for the next week behind clouds.
We took our stuff over to Hotel Kabur and checked in there. We had a short zoning out time, watching Into the Blue 2: The Reef! But Aurora convinced me it was a terrible movie and we should go outside. We walked up to Sangachoeling Monastery, which was a nice walk. We saw big buddhist figures, and stupas outside, and 6 or 7 monk-boys playing cricket with a piece of wood and tennis ball. We loitered for an hour, then strolled back down, picking up litter on the way. A monk-y dude gave us some tangerines, calling them oranges, and they were great. We didn't make it back in time for lunch, but found that next door was serving food. I tried their Veg Thenduk but it was watery slop: flavourless and oily.
We chilled in the room watching the reruns of last night's Modern Family. For supper, I tried the Veg Gathuk, which also was not very good. Aurora had mashed potatoes and cheese and a Tibetan sandwich. The sandwich is just made on pita-like bread. They make their mashed potatoes with way too much mashing. It literally drips off your fork. We'd watched the Australia MasterChef show on mashed potatoes recently, so we critised it more than we normally would have. "This just isn't what we're looking for" - "Is this a soup?", we'd say to each other, probably puzzling the other customers. I tried a beer based on its name - "Hayward 5000" - it said it had maximum 8% alcohol. We met a French Canadian couple on their honeymoon, Aquila and Carmen. Carmen played some decent folk guitar There were two Spanish girls working at a local school, who were there for a few nights to party, and a morose German fellow. The German guy was looking at the now-scabbing bug bite below my eye and said he'd seen it before - yes, he'd seen it before when his friend came back to Germany, and then it grew bigger and bigger and then dozens of baby spiders burst out of his face!!! I was not happy with his story.
The Spanish girls had apparently partied after the bar closed last night in their rooms with others, and had forced other guests to leave. But they played it off innocently, and said they were tired tonight so don't worry. The Spanish girls and Carmen all sang a Nepali folk song, Ressom fididi, or something. She said it meant something about silk flowing in the wind and wanting to be like the silk. It turned out to have a deeper meaning later.
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Day 33 - Nov 12 |
We packed up and stood outside waiting for a share jeep for an hour. We went to Yuksom through some great scenery - a few waterfalls. The driver delivered a TV and large rubber tubing on the way. They all seemed to supplement income as postmen. We arrived in Yuksom, checked out a couple places that were really cheap, Rs200 range, but they were bleak. Some British couple suggested a place down the road, and we checked in there. Rs600, but it was great. It was really chilly, and the hot shower was great. Yuksom was quaint. It was in a valley, and had some low clouds covering everything making it feel kind of LOTRy. We tried walking to a monastery, but realised the sun had just set, at about 4:45pm. Not knowing how far away it was, we gave up. We ate at Gupta's and had mexican food. 'Nachos' and 'Quesadillas' where cabbage is the main ingredient. I liked it, though Aurora was almost choking from the whole chillies they had slipped in. It was so cheap but I didn't want to waste food, so I ate until I was a bit sick. Aurora never understands my need to do this. There are starving children in Yuksom! Though there might not be - there are only a couple thousand people there. I read a local magazine and it had 4 or 5 bios on local psychotics and mutes. But it was cute. It seemed like they had problems, but they knew about all of them.
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Day 34 |
We did our washing in the room, and went on a walk to the monastery again. We meet Israelis on the way who say it is a long walk, and it is. I carry Aurora for a few seconds because she is unfit. Kids at the top are throwing sticks at trees for amusement. We bought tea, and as it started to rain, we decided to go back to the hotel. But instead we met Andries, an egte Boer, and the first Saffer we'd met in India. He ran up to us from 10 meters away and asked 'Arr you Sourf Afrikans?' He was a funny oke, saying 'I've beeen wrrking in Dubaaai so I don't haff an strong accent'. We couldn't tell if he was joking, but it sounded like he had just come from Pretoria that day. He said he travelled around without much money, offering his hand to local farmers along the way. South African farmers are a dying breed, but I reckon they are among the world's best. He said he'd call to organise some wine route missions when he's back in the Cape.
We huddled in the room for warmth, and then attempted a walk in the heavy drizzle out to the Norhebang coronary throne. We discussed cultural relativism until some kids arrived. We gave them candies. We walked around and back to eat. We sat at a table with some French people and a Chilean, who were volunteering in Kolkata at a medical centre. They were on holiday. Some drunken local was filming us on this phone, but it was getting a bit much, so I filmed him back. Take that. Aurora offered the French people ketchup for their pasta and I was embarassed. I even reached over to stop her. They replied 'I'm sorry, but we are French' with a look of disgust, then laughed. We had Yak cheese. It's ok, kind of like sour cream cheese. We laughed at the menu's 'Vag chow mein'.
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Day 35 |
We tried to take the 6am jeep back to Pelling with the Israelis, Ohr and Eilad. But the jeep didn't come, and we shared a car. It took an hour less than the trip there. We checked into Hotel Garuda for Rs400. The Israelis argued for Rs350 and were threatening to go elsewhere, but I said 'Guys, it's one shekel'. It really was. We went for a walk with the Israelis to Pemayang Monastery, which had a big circle gonging prayer wheel thing. They had a 3rd floor with an ornate reconstruction of the metaphorical Buddhist vision of the universe. There were kama sutra paintings on the walls.
Then we went to the Rabedentse ruins. We were not sure where it was, but we found the Rab. Nature Interpretation centre, and followed the path. It was a nice enough walk, and after 400 metres, there was a sign saying "You're half way there" and then the great "Don't be discouraged. Extreme Excitement is waiting!" So it was the right way. The ruins were actually the alternative 'Oldest capital' of Sikkim, because of fighting between the Chogyals and the Gurkhas.
Little girls playing with flowers asked us questions, and we sat around for a while. We left the unofficial way, across a damn levee and construction site. We saw Carmen along the way, who was checking out Children's day at the school. Because not every child knows their birthday, they have one day every year when everyone has a birthday.
We ate banana cake and icing cake outside the 'Tribal People & Scavengers Society' building. Strange. We went back to rest and then party at Hotel Kabur. We brought a bottle of vodka and sat next to a Columbian/Italian couple. The lady had big dreads. We discussed India, SA, and Columbia. He says it's much better in Columbia now. With the crime is mostly in the jungles. We chatted with a Mumbai fashion designer about how 'fabulous' Sikkim is, and then sat with his entire extended family, singing songs like Imagine, The General and Knockin on heaven's door, etc. They were rich, it seemed. The one guy's father owned HIT beer, and the designer was talking about how he would have to go to Brussels, and how boring it would probably be. His model friend had invited him to an MTV show. They had new phones, and played PS3 because there's not a lot to do in Sikkim. Wild. I chatted with the one guy about west coast rap music. We went on about Tupac and how great he was. They were self-deprecating, calling themselves Indo-chinks, and it was definitely a big change from any conversations we had with 'India proper'. We drank too much though.
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Day 36 |
It was time to leave, so we took a share jeep back to Jorethang. There were live chickens in a bag under our seats. They were nipping at our heels, and it was a bit surreal. Then took another to Darjeeling. We got through the Sikkim border with typical bureaucratic speed. It was a fairly miserable 5 hours. The weather was cloudblind, and we ended up at Hotel Tower View, a very simple spot. Rs350, and no TV. Everything seemed to be full. We got our bus ticket to Kolkata, which was our goal for the day. We walked around looking at Hasty Tasty, Kunga, Sonam's kitchen, but eventually we chose to eat at Glenary's, and it was awesome. Baked mac&cheese, sizzling veg, strong drinks. We slept like babies.
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Day 37 |
I shaved my moustache, and leisurely had breakfast, some beans on toast, and we hopped yet another share jeep to Siliguri. It took 3.5 hours plus some extortion from the driver when there was a road block and we needed another route. We found a Gupta's travels, and then we found the correct Gupta's travels. We had over an hour, so we went looking for some food. We found a divy blacklight bar, and got some really spicy aloo gobi and dhal makhani. We had some more extortion, this time from Gupta's travels, when it turned out our bus had been cancelled, and if we wanted to take the Volvo coming 2 hours late, we'd have to pay Rs100 more to be upgraded. But it was a Volvo, and a really nice bus. We slept a lot. The guy next to us forced me to drink a Pepsi. I hate drinking beer or cold drinks on buses, cause then I have to pee at 4am. He asked if I was Muslim, probably because I had no more moustache. No, we're atheists. He didn't understand, and laughed at the prospect. I mentioned evolution, but didn't push it. He gawked when Aurora told him my salary. I was embarassed. He said I must have done something great in a previous life. He said he made a lakh rupees in two years. A lakh is 100,000 (or, as they write it: 1,00,000), but I think he was lying. That would mean this bus ride cost 1/5 of his monthly salary. A million in 2 years is more likely, for a Saudi road engineer. Anyway he was nice enough.
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KolkataDay 38 |
We awoke at the last stop, Kolkata/Calcutta, but couldn't work out where we were on the map. Some asshole took us to Hotel Ashreen for Rs100. We could have walked it in 5 minutes. There was a vacancy, for Rs840. Our most expensive room yet! But nice and big, with TV, geyser always on, AC, etc. We headed to Blue Sky cafe, which was a minutes walk away. We were in the road trying to work out which direction to go on the map, and some guy appeared over Aurora's shoulder, and asked if we needed a ride. I snapped at him. Aurora thought I overreacted. I don't know. We were back in a big Indian city, and I was still adjusting. But no, we don't need a ride. Fuck off. I disagreed with Aurora, but I said ok, I'm going to be super nice to people today. It backfired on her, since Aurora wanted to get away from most people asap. We walked across the maiden (garden), and it was melting heat. People grazed their goats everywhere. We saw Victoria Memorial, and stayed in line for the Planetarium English show. The show was boring, with a woman speaking about the planets. It was amusing when she yelled at the people whose mobiles went off. The second half was shown using an overhead projector. Compared to the planetarium show I saw in San Francisco in 2008, which zoomed out to show the known universe, this was a joke.
We walked to the Pizza Hut, and ate large amounts of cheesy food. We argued over the price. Then we went to Cafe Coffee Day and had the cookie monster. It was just a day to waste, so we were doing it in gustatory ecstacy. We walked back via Mother Teresa road, which is a high road, aka Park road. We stopped in a music store. The laundry had dried really well, with the AC and fan going all day.
Kolkata has always had a reputation for its countless homeless. Mother Teresa brought some infamy to the place, so India pumped money in, and improved the situation. To be honest, all in all, Kolkata is much more livable than Mumbai.
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Day 39 |
We pretty much didn't care about Kolkata, its main attraction being that it had an airport. So we just stayed at the hotel until 1pm, ate at Blue Sky cafe again until 2pm, then took a taxi for Rs200 to the airport. We got there with hours to spare. We checked in our bags with Indigo and sat briefly at a ridiculously expensive restaurant until we saw the prices. Then instead bought sandwiches from the more reasonably priced stands. We bought books and magazines for the flight. We were first in line, and the plane was ok. Very little leg room, and the stewardesses all looked like femme-bots.
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