Momos and Kashmiri Tea

This morning the weather looks a little more promising but we have had to bite the bullet and make a decision as to when we leave Darjeeling ... whether we actually get to see the main Himalayas or not. So we've decided to strick to our original departure date of next Thursday 14th because the weather reports for the next week don't look any better.

But we've been able to re-schedule our original flights out of Bagdogra and instead of transiting back through the traffic hell of Calcutta we'll now fly to Delhi and then on to Bangalore arriving there Thursday 14th. The added advantage of this route is that the Bagdogra-Delhi flight tracks the Himalayas and we may be fortunate enough to get some good shots of the main range from 39,000 feet.

We've just been shopping at Chandulal's Kashmiri Shawls and stocked up on gifts for the girls. Old Mr Chandulal and his 4 sons run the shop in the main Darjeeling bazaar and we were treated like royalty. Whilst we looked at literally hundreds of pashmina shawls they provided us with Kashmiri tea and the famous Tibetan momos which are like dumplings... very delicious.

While we were there a very large student protest march passed by, complete with hundreds of chanting students and other locals plus a large contingent of Police armed with sidearms, rifles and even long billy-sticks!

Bob Bell asked if the Indians generall treated us Aussies warmly or with suspicion. Well all of our contact with Indians so far has been very good and they have been warmly welcoming and very helpful. They know about our cricket team and other Australian icons and they want to know how life is back home and how it compares with here.

They are somewhat stunned when we tell them how much Aussies earn in comparison. For example, Ramesh our driver in Chennai earns 2900 rupees a month... about $82.86 Aussie! Out of than he pays 1900 rupees rent and the rest has to feed, clothe and entertain his family. There ain't much left for a home loan, smart cars or Maccas every other night. But things are relative. Here you can feed your family quite well for about $3 a meal. The other night, we and the other Aussie couple we've met here and have dinner with most nights, had a very substantial meal including beers all for just on $20!

Well folks it's off to see if the gods have been kind and allowed the weather to clear enough for us to catch a glimpse of Kanchenjunga.

Dave and Ian