Travel Tuesdays - Darjeeling

Darjeeling, India

It isn't a very crisp image and I've long since lost the original negative, but one I've always been fond of. The lady is so tiny and I love the colors. I took this photo in real tea country, the hills of Darjeeling, India. It was a magical place covered in fog with white Buddhist prayer flags on poles lining the streets. The mist would lift here and there and let you get a glimpse of what was on the hillsides. I hope it is just as pretty now. Look here for recent images.

We were eager to see the famous narrow gauge toy train but it was out of commission due to landslides. We visited the train station but were not able to ride it.

We stayed at the Windamere Hotel which was a bit like staying at an eccentric Grandma's house with a mix of old British raj furniture and monkeys climbing on the roof. The bookshelves had albums full of black and white pictures of parties from years gone by. There used to be good boarding schools in this area and when the British were in India they would stay at the Windamere when they came up to visit their children in the cool hills. The hotel web site has quite a few good old photos scanned in now.

Each morning we were to get up early to see the sun rise over the Three Sisters in the Himalayas and tea would be brought to our room just in case it was clear enough to see the sunrise.

When we wandered through the town shop keepers asked us where we were staying and sent us home promptly if it was time for tea or dinner. They loaned us umbrellas when it was raining which it seemed to do daily. I've tried unsuccessfully to recreate the Mulligatawny soup served in the hotel restaurant.

*Travel Tuesdays will feature photos taken out of Charleston and the Lowcountry.  Join me for Travel Tuesday Field trips!