Nov 21, 2006 - Crossing into Sikkim

We had arranged to meet the Irish couple in a bakery call Glenarys between 8:30 and 9:00am but there was no sign of them showing up. Luckily we had the name of their guesthouse so Ian went to investigate and came back to tell us they were miserable and had been up sick for half the night and basically wouldn't be going past the bedroom. It was a pity because the cost of the jeep will be between 4 of us now and not 6 but what can you do. The drive through the mountains was beautiful especially when we got out of the fogged in areas and we...

Nov 18, 2006 - Darjeeling

This place rules...... After our harrowing 3 hour journey, 90km away 2km up from New Jalpaiguri (NJP), we made it into the market centre of Darjeeling. The air was noticably thinner, and at 2134m above sea level, it was also much cooler than the previous few days of travelling. Welcome relief, but the hills certainly stretched the lung capacity, even just trotting around town. We checked into a room at the Alimont Hotel, which has views facing South across the tea plantations below. A bit roomier than previous abodes, it only has tempid hot...

Nov 18, 2006 - Kolkata (Calcutta), India

Calcutta's great maelstrom of 14 million people makes for crowds and extreme poverty, therefore many are torn between goodwill and necessity. There is not much of a willingness to help other's for generosity's sake for everyone is in need; everyone wants something from you. The human rickshaw justifies his exorbitant fare price by motioning with broken English "too heavy." Indian men smile at you (or at the possiblities you represent) and walk beside you asking "Where are you from?" followed by "Come into my shop, looking is free" or "Where...

Nov 18, 2006 - Train ticket and another jeep ride

When we alit Ian suggested it might be a good idea to buy our train tickets back to Calcutta because we knew we wanted to get the night train on the 27th. Lucky we did, we got the last 4 tickets on the train, 2 in 2AC and 2 in 3AC. We then found a jeep and driver to take us the 4 hours to Darjeeling. I love that I'm back in the mountains. It was a lovely drive thru winding wountain road until we hit the fog. Here in Darjeeling it's so bad you can hardly see your hand in front of you and when it's clear you can see Mount Everest so that's...

Nov 16, 2006 - Kolkata -> New Jalpaiguri

We landed in Dum Dum, Kolkata's International Airport, around 1am to find a city stuck in a 1960s time warp. Everything around us was dirty and broken and old. And the Indians themselves on the flight were like unrulely schoolchildren playing a game of musical chairs, each vying for what they considered the best seat on the plane. Some even had to be removed from the seats reserved for air hostesses, the airline crew left shaking their heads, and the plane 25 minutes late in taking off. I could only imagine as to what was in store for us in...

Nov 3, 2006 - Anyone for Tea? Darjeeling-India

We left Kathmandu at the unearthly hour of 4am. We finally arrived at the Nepal/India border at 8pm. The journey was as ridiculous as it was hilarious. Again we were thrown around the whole time(imagine a 16 hour rollercoaster ride), however, as every nepali on the bus decided to throw up on the floor and out of the window, by 11am we decided we had no option but to sit on the roof. As we bumped along the 500km we were rewarded with diesel fumes, stunning scenery and an Army convoy. This is Maoist country, you see. The Nepali army like...

Sep 20, 2006 - Darjeeling, India

From Kolkata, we headed north on the overnight Darjeeling Mail train to New Jalpaiguri. Having heard that booking a train in India can be a nightmare, we were pleasantly surprised to find a foreign tourist booking office in Kolkata which greatly simplified the task! The train itself was very comfortable and unlike the train journeys in Vietnam, we actually got what we ordered and consequently got a good nights sleep! Before we knew it, we were sitting squashed in a jeep in New Jalpaiguri waiting for one more passenger to completely pack it...

Sep 16, 2006 - Kolkata (Calcutta), India

We weren't really sure what to expect in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta)! Having heard so many different opinions from other travelers, it was obvious that we would just have to make up our own minds! We had mentally prepared ourselves for images of severe poverty and human suffering and while these images are undoubtedly there, we were happy to discover that there is a lot more to Kolkata than what makes the western press. We saw lots of examples of beautiful colonial architecture and historic temples and the people were very welcoming. Not...

Aug 25, 2006 - Farewell

Dear Friends & Family Today, our 100th, we leave Calcutta for Singapore and therefore begin the last part of our journey home. It is a bitter sweet moment of course but our thoughts of home have been increasingly persistent and we feel we are now ready to go. Claude's ship leaves next Thursday and should be back in Auckland early October. Calcutta is a great city and we have enjoyed our stay here. Being busy with Claude's shipping has meant we have not done as much of the touristy stuff but this has been offset by our 'retreat' - The...

Jul 14, 2006 - Kolkata. Out with a bang.

Hello everyone! Ok so im not even going to attempt to make my last entry about India....from India....on my last day in India. No way that's happening. The train was just dandy. Much to do today though so definitely check back for the final words before they switch to being about Thailand, from Thailand, if I have Thaim(...) Love Mark

Jul 5, 2006 - Farewell India

HB: Next stop was Bikaner famed for its rat temple. It made my stomach turn seeing the diseased-ridden, ugly, smelly things scampering around the temple but enough about Mark's feet.. It is quite extraordinary the lengths some Hindus will go to for a bit of luck. Apparantly spotting a white rat at the temple or having one scuttle over your feet is good luck as is eating the food left out for the rats which is covered in their 'lucky' saliva. Just in case any of these or other fool-proof methods should fail a savvy Hindu will routinely bribe...

Jun 30, 2006 - Kolkata

Landing in India is something everyone should do at least once. you can take your pickl of places to start, delhi, bombay, kolkata, etc. We chose to start on Kolkata because it's the cheapest form thailand and wow it's was an eye opening expereince from the first second. We breezed through cutsom and immigration and straight into the indian sun. holy hot! after getting settled in our guest house with new friends from the plane we took to the street and started exploring. one of the first things you notice is the noise. the horns on the...