Darjeeling Day 2

4am departure to the famous 'Tiger Hill' to watch the sun rise on the Himalayas. It was very cold - we arrived in total darkness to see so many stars and an orange crescent moon and then watched the sun come up on Kunchenjugna mountain (3rd highest in the world) and to our delight - in the distance Everest.

It was an absolutely astounding experience (and worth toughing out the cold). By the time sun rose at 6 there were 100's of people gathered to watch and loud cheers went up with the first sight of the sun !

We were extremely lucky with the weather as it was clear with great visibility.
It was a privilege to be able to see this and something we'll never forget.

The Himalayas are 1700 miles long and up to 200 miles deep and create the border for many countries, including Tibet which following the invasion by China in the 50's led to many Tibetans coming over the border to Darjeeling.

We got back about 7:15 and went for a walk around a headland path near the hotel to see the valley and mountains once again - the town was buzzing as people headed to work and also to the temple as today is an auspicious day in the Hindu religion.

After breakfast we headed out again to the Mountaineering Institute ( where there is lots of interesting stuff on Everest and the people who've climbed it). Darjeeling Zoo was very close
- I have reservations about zoo's for some animals, but the animals here were from the region and enclosures seemed good. The zoo also runs a successful captive breeding programme.
Highlight were the red pandas; snow leopards & a white tiger !

We then went on to a small tea plantation where local tourists dressed up and ( on this occasion) were re-enacting a scene from a famous Bollywood film ( see vid attached).

From there we headed to a centre that was a refuge for displaced Tibetan Buddhists - there wasn't a lot going on other than an exhibition of the story of the invading china and the Dali Lama's exile.

After that back to town & we queued for lunch at a popular Nepalese restaurant (v basic but lovely food), then a walk back to the hotel followed by drinks and small food.Read more