Location: 27.03 degrees North latitude; 88.16 degrees East longitudeElevation: 7001 ft (+/- a couple of hundred feet depending upon where exactly in Darjeeling you happen to be at the time)
Weather: cold!!! mid/upper 40's during the day, 30's at night
Darjeeling is the quintessential Himalayan hill station: draped across a steep mountain ridge with the magnificent Mt. Khangchendzonga looming above. During the British Raj in India, Darjeeling's temperate climate led to its development as a summer retreat for British residents seeking an escape from the heat of the plains. Darjeeling became known as the Summer Capital.
Darjeeling
It's as if someone took a box of blocks up to the mountain ridge, tipped it over, and let the blocks tumble down the hillsides. . .
Tenzing Norgay & The Himalayan Mountain Institute
mostly from Lonely Planet:
Tenzing Norgay was just 18 years old when he left his village in Tibet in 1932 to seek adventure and income with the new European-led mountaineering expeditions. The Planters' Club in Darjeeling became home base for sherpas hoping to be hired onto the expeditions. After several attempts on Everest and numerous successful climbs on other peaks over the intervening decades, Tenzing Norgay joined John Hunt's 1953 British Everest expedition. It was this expedition that also included a New Zealand bee keeper by the name of Edmund Hillary. The rest. . .as they say. . .is history. The pair were the first to successfully ascend and equally as important return from the summit of Mt. Everest. The date was May 29th, 1953. They spent 15 minutes on the summit, of which Hillary remarked "A symmetrical, beautiful snow cone summit". Tenzing Norgay became a world figure much in demand, but remained in Darjeeling to be with his family. He helped establish the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in 1954 and served as it's first director.
Batasia War Memorial
The Batasia War Memorial was constructed by the Zilla Sainik board in Darjeeling in memory of all the brave ghorka (the region in and around the area) soldiers of the Darjeeling hills who have laid down their lives for the country in all wars and operations since Indian independence in 1947. The memorial was sanctified on 22nd March 1995.
It seemed to be "the thing to do": dress up in period costume and get your picture taken. I never found out what "period" the costumes represented. it seemed to be just the women who were doing this. . .
and of course, wherever there be tourists. . .there be a little bazaar with people displaying their wares. One of the noticeable differences in Darjeeling in comparison to the other places I have visited is the lack of harassment by the merchants. They just were happy to let you look without trying to give you the unrelenting hard sell. It was very nice for a change. . .
Japanese Peace Pagoda
The Japanese Peace Pagoda is one of more than 70 such pagodas built by the Japanese Buddhist Nipponzan Myohoji organization.
The Buddhist Monasteries
Buddhism is the prevalent religion practived in this part of northern India. There are many Tibetan gompas (monasteries) sprinkled around Darjeeling. Here are a few. . .
. . .the Bhutia Busty Gompa on the northern lower slopes of Darjeeling. . .
. . .the Samten Choling Gompa. . .
. . .and the Druk Sangak Choling Gompa. . .
"Thus spoke the Buddha, do not do anything harmful, do only what is good, discipline your own mind. This is the teaching of the Buddha."
Tiger Hill
Tiger Hill is just outside/above the little town of Ghum, which itself is about 10 km south of Darjeeling. The top of Tiger Hill sits at an elevation of 2590m (8497 ft), which is easily going to be the highest altitude attained on my travels here in India. Watching the sun rise over the Himalayas from Tiger Hill is just "one of those touristy things you should do", so I get up at 3:30am and climb into a jeep at 4:00am for the 30 minute ride down to Ghum and then up Tiger Hill. It's very early on a Monday morning. The previous couple of days have not been crystal clear. I think I'm probably going to be one of the only people stupid enough to want to do this this morning. How wrong I am. There must be a thousand people up here by 5:00am. It's a little unbelievable. The predawn sky is absolutely filled with stars. This is worth the early hour and the bone-chilling cold all by itself. The skies begin to lighten at about 5:30am. Unfortunately, there are enough low clouds and mist that most of Mt. Khangchendzonga and the rest of the Himalayan range remains hidden from view this morning, but this is what I do see. . .
That's Darjeeling spread along and down that mountain ridge in the middle of the below photo. . .
Mt. Khangchendzonga
Mt. Khangchendzonga is the highest peak in India and the 3rd highest peak in the entire world, behind only Everest and K-2. It reaches an altitude of 8598m (28,207 ft). The name "Khangchendzonga" is derived from the Tibetan words for "big five-peaked snow fortress".
Local Fauna Update
The Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park was established in 1958 to study, and hopefully preserve the animals that call the Himalayas home. The animals are supposedly very well taken care of, but they are still housed in relatively small cages and enclosures so I'm not going to include any photos. The primary reason I visit the zoo is to see the elusive Himalayan snow leopard. They have a pair of them, and they are absolutely magnificent creatures.
I also spend about 15 minutes on my last morning in Darjeeling gazing out at Mt. Khangchendzonga. I hope to glimpse and (obviously) photograph the elusive Yeti (a.k.a. The Abominable Snowman) and finally settle the debate once and for all. Alas, I have no luck. I think I probably just needed a pair of binoculars. . .
And Finally. . .
The Himalayan mountains as seen from the inside of an airplane at 34,000 ft. . .
I have gazed upon the Himalayas. . .
