Tea and a bit of Buddism ...

Still in Darjeeling and I have to say it is an absolutely stunning place, we have been so lucky with the weather; so far the days have been warm, sunny and clear and the clear view of the Himalayas is breath taking - even though I was too knackered to get up at 3 30 this morning and join the others to see the sun rise over them!! (All this fresh mountain air is just too healthy!!!)

Yesterday morning was spent going for a long walk along the Labyrinth of roads and through The Chowrasta ... shops on one side, stalls on the other, dogs lying asleep scattered anywhere and everywhere, no cows but there were monkeys and plenty of them. (Not sure if Claudine is frightened of them or the germs that she pointed out that they were carrying). 

We climbed up 'Observatory Hill', which luckily was just a hill as my legs generally don't do hikes - well not yet anyway. Apparently one is supposed to get a beautiful view of the Himalayas, particularly Mount Kanchenjunga, from here. However, the view seemed to be obscured by trees and more trees. And we all know what animal likes to live in trees ...

The hillside was rife with monkeys of all ages and we were advised to hold on tightly to our bags, less the little primates should attempt a snatch and grab. Claudine did seem rather concerned as the inquisitive little creatures eyed her up - was this nervous little woman going to be easy pickings? Mind you, if they had seen the 'might of Claudine' over in Delhi a few days back, they probably would have avoided her from the start. As it was Claude gave them 'the stare' she now used on any friendly passer by, 'just wanting to chat' and the monkeys moved on.

Halfway up the hill is The Temple of Mahakal, which stands where the Oldest Monastery in Darjeeling, The Bhutia Busty Monastery, used to be, before it was sacked by the Gorkhas (not Gherkas) in 1815 and finally moved. 

The Mahakal Temple there is pretty stunning, full of coloured flags hanging everywhere. There are six colours in total: red, white, blue, black, green and yellow. Buddhists believe that each of those partiicular colours vibrates with different parts of the body, as well as representing the four elements and workig wiith various emotions.

Prayer was taking place as we stood watched and listened to the chanting and bell ringing. The Temple was built for followers of Lord Shiva and only those followers are allowed to step inside the two sacred caves nearby.

It is interesting to know that the Sanskrit word "Durjay-ling" means "Shiva of invincible prowess who rules the Himalayas". And some believe this is where the name Darjeeling is derived from.

We moved on down, back through the Chowrasta and looked out across at the stunning sight of the Himalayas, it is truly breathtaking, fortunately the sky was so clear that day that we could see the peaks that make out the shape of Lord Shiva lying across the mountain tops.

If you look carefully you can see the profile of his face to the left, then move your eyes down to follow his arms crossed over his chest then see the outline of his body all the way down to the tip of his toes.

By this point we were parched and popped off for a pot of delicious Darjeeling tea, followed by an amazing lunch back at the house.

Afterwards, Claude and I trudged down the winding roads and finally found our way down to the National Zoo. (It turns out that my travel companions sense of direction is only marginally better than mine. And I could get lost walking around a christmas tree!!!)

Now I have to admit, that generally I don't like zoos, I find it too upsetting seeing all the animals pacing around in their tiny cages/enclosures. But at this particular Zoo, they were given plenty of space and I had the opportunity to go and see The Red Pandas, actually to be honest, I never even knew they existed until now. And being of the ginger race myself, I felt akin to this great big ginger and white bamboo eating creature. We stood by the enclosure and waited and waited and waited, then realised that the ginger badger looking animals we had been staring at, were in fact the pandas!

After the zoo, we had to rush off to meet the others to go and visit the girls at the Orphanage that the trust sponsors and supports. (Ok brief bit of advertising here: please check out www.darjeelingchildrenstrust.com) The ages of the girls range from about 6 to 18 years old and they were absolutely adorable. It was so nice to walk into a room and see it suddenly light up with the smiling faces of these beautiful girls, all running over to us and wanting to play. Most of them could speak a little English and wanted to teach us clapping games. And a lot just wanted to stare at my hair then stroke it!!!

And apparently I was to feel complimented that they referred to me as 'sister' rather than 'auntie', allegedly it shows how young I look ... to be honest I felt complimented they wanted to be related to me at all!

The girls seemed so happy to see us, they live in such poverty (they can only bathe once a fortnight and even then the water is freezing). Most of them do have parents, who just can't afford to look after them, many also have brothers that they have been separated from because the boys are sent off to the boy's orphanage elsewhere in town. It really is heartbreaking.

As deepest Winter approaches, all the children are sent back home for a couple of months to their families, down on The Plains, where it is only slightly warmer.

I was surprised at how much my spirits were lifted by these adorable, loving children; I have never really considered myself to be maternal, but I left that building wanting to smuggle most of the girls back home with me and I really can't wait to go visit them again tomorrow!

This morning Claudine and I managed to make our way all the way down to the Botanical Gardens; unfortunately for me, Claudine did start physically heaving as we passed an open sewer en route!! Hmm and we are only one week into the trip ...

I can't say I was too impressed with the flora and fauna there; nothing seemed to be really in bloom - maybe I have been spoilt by Kew Gardens and The Eden Project. But it probably didn't help that my stomach started to make some unpleasant gurgling sounds and the thought of being stuck at the bottom of a steep hill with nothing but a few bushes to squat behind was making my stomach tighten even more.

"Not bad", I hear those of you that know me and my obsession with bowel movements say. "It's taken her nearly a week before getting onto the subject of the toilet!" For those of you who don't know me, yet are fellow sufferers of IBS, I am sure you will appreciate the aforementioned obsession?

Luckily, (and praise be to Lord Shiva) we managed to make our way all the way back up the steep 40 minute climb, with neither of us passing out from heat exhaustion, dehydration, knee pain, swollen ankles or any other interruptions. My stomach was fine and I could relax.

This afternoon was spent visiting the Tibetan Refugee Help Centre. I am embarassed to admit how ignorant I am of the horrific situation between Tibet and China. Now having read the bullet points on how the Tibetans have been and are still being treated by the Chinese, I feel sickened. In fact if one were to switch the word Chinese with Nazis and Tibetans with Jews, that would give you a rough idea!!!

Without wanting to end today's blog on such a negative and sad note, I will finish by saying that these last few days out here in Darjeeling have definately been an eye opener and help me put a lot of things into perspective. I wouldn't say that the things that had brought me so much pain before I left have gone away, but I would certainly say that they are becoming much easier to deal with and I can't wait to find out what the rest of the trip brings (famous last words?) ...