Darjeeling in the clouds...

So..., we are in Darjeeling now....we got here late in the evening, after the whole day in a chicken jeep journeys....from PElling to Siliguri, and then to Darjeeling...we even found Shamrock Hotel, recommended by Blondie's friend, Boma. The good value for money hotel turned out to be just "good money" hotel... there was no value there... Blondie got a little cold cell-room, and when she asked for a shower, the guy just laughed and said that the most he could do was to bring a bucket of hot water..., which was a big favour anyway, as the hot water was generally available till 18.00...
Anyway, the money was there, the nite in this place cost INR110 = $2.20....so that was somehow explained...

So, tired, wet and hungry, Blondie took a bucket-shower, ate instant noodle soup and went to bed, ready for stunning views awaiting her the following morning, as Darjeeling is the place for views!!!
A little bit frozen, but refreshed and ready for ohhhs and aahhhhs, Blondie hit the road to venture Darjeeling, however she only discovered a rainy, foggy, full of smog and constantly honking jeeps little hill town...since there was absolutely no views to see, Blondie ended up in a tea house and after 5 cups of hot, delicious tea with lemon and honey, she decided to finish the day in bed, since she felt really rotten....probably the journey in the rain and the excitements of the Sikkim adventures gave her a really bad cold.
So, there she was, sniffing, coughing, stuck in bed, in a cold cell-room, and the only cheer for was what? Of course, you are right, Georgie, biscuits and cups of hot Darjeeling tea...Hot tea wouldn't be possible without her electric grzalka...(check Practicalities link for the description) At that time, Blondie was so happy that her parents convinced her to take it!!!
The following day, felling much better, early in the morning Blondie ventured to a nearby Buddhist monastery, where she was granted with a short glimpse of blue sky and some mountains! This lasted only few minutes, after which the whole sky went back to sleep in the thick clouds...After that, she visited a Happy Valley tea estate, where apart of some details on picking an processing tea, she more importantly found out, that the women picking up the tea, (guys don't do that, as women hands are softer and gentler) 8 hrs a day, no matter weather conditions, poisonous snakes and spiders living in the bush, those women earn INR56/day.....which converts to $1,20, EUR0,70....let's leave it with no comment....
This day Blondie finished with a nice dinner, during which she met and chatted to a nice Polish couple, traveling around India for few weeks.
The following morning, after 14 hours of constant rain, but not a shower or drizzle, literary a wall of lashing rain, Blondie decided to face it and leave this wet area and move to Kathmandu...maybe there, she would have more luck seeing a bit of mountains...?
So, here we are, in a chicken jeep again...got back to Siliguri, without any major adventures...surprise, surprise...from there another jeep to the Nepalese border. At the border, no one seem to know where was the Immigration office, and basically people said that Blondie could get her visa in Kathmandu, so generally she entered the country illegally....however, this didn't prevent a travel agent from putting her into a plane to Kathmandu. It turned out that, as a Tihar festival is coming, buses to Kathmandu had been booked long time before, so the only available seats on this wonderful 15 hour ride were at the back of a bus....and this was too much for still sick Blondie. So, she decided to treat herself to a flight!!! The problem was, that she had 35 minutes to reach the 25 km away airport, but the guy said "no problem".....so, he put her in a taxi, which had a task to bring her to the airport on time to board a plane..........
On reaching the airport, some 10 minutes before departure, someone just grabbed her backpack and she was rushed to the plane... no security check, no passport check....absolutely nothing....but she made it!!!!!! Kathmandu, welcomed Blondie with rain, of course!!!!

to be continued...