We were ready to make a hasty departure out of Agra and we promptly boarded a plane to Delhi and spent the night for a third time. The next morning, we got up and took a Jet Airways flight to Bagdogra, the city with the nearest airport to Darjeeling.
Darjeeling is one of India's famous hill stations. The hill stations are a throwback to the British rule and many were used for rest and relaxation for British soldiers and in some cases additional industry as well. Tea is the city's claim to fame and many consider it the best in the world.
The city sits in the northeast section of India and is very near to the border of Nepal. In fact, most of the people that live in Darjeeling are of Nepalese descent, direct descendants from some of the original tea pickers that crossed into India in search of work.
We got a taxi and started the 3.5 hour journey from the lowlands to the hills. The ride was beautiful. We passed verdant fields and made our way past monkeys sizing us up along the road. We had initially planned on taking the UNESCO World Heritage toy train up to Darjeeling but had second thoughts when the innkeeper at our hotel suggested that it may be more comfortable just to do a two hour ride around rather than spend eight hours on the train. When we eventually passed the train on the narrow road, we understood her point. While clean and nice, it didn't necessarily look too comfortable for a full day journey.
The Darjeeling Toy Train...we never did end up taking a ride on it
Our driver was clearly a local. We were mesmerized at how expertly he navigated all of the twists and the turns. This driving was not for the faint hearted. So many times I felt sure that we were about to go over a cliff or clip a car but as we continued I learned to have more faith in him. This guy could drive. Eventually, Bill and I settled into the ride and we laughed as we read the euphemisms painted on the walls along the ride. Signs warned drivers to pay heed to the dangerous curves with comments like "Hurry burry spoils the curry" and my personal favorite, "Enjoy the view. Don't commit suicide". Umm, OK.
We arrived at the Dekeling Hawk's Nest hotel. It's very rustic, but the 150-year old place has great charm and we were both excited to see that our room had two fireplaces - one in the family room and another in the bedroom. We settled into a nice Tibetan meal (if you like pot stickers, you'll love momos) delivered straight to our room and relaxed by the fire.
Our cozy room at the Dekeling Eagle's Nest
Darjeeling is a sleepy town and it's fun just to walk through the main chowrasta (town square) area and people watch. Most of the locals are Nepalese or Tibetan but their are also a lot of Indian and western tourists. We walked around the nice botanical garden (especially for you, Mom Trotter) and enjoyed looking at the hundreds of orchids (well, I did at least!).
Prayer flags along the pedestrian walkways, shrouded in the morning mist
We weaved our way through narrow streets down to the Happy Valley tea estate and got a personal adhoc tour from an employee there. The man told us that all of his family works there and that his children will too one day. The top two leaves and the bud of the tea bush are picked for the highest quality of tea. The bushes looked beautiful dotting the hillsides.
Happy Valley Tea Estate pickers
We had fun getting lost around town and walking out to the fabulous zoo. The zoo is extremely small but it has all of the animals indigenous to the area - red pandas, snow leopards, tigers, asiatic bears and monkeys. A lone red panda seemed intent on antagonizes the monkeys in the cage next to him. I figured it's about time those guys got a taste of their own medicine!
Near the back of the zoo, you can walk through to the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, founded by Tenzing Norgay sherpa. Tenzing, along with Sir Edmund Hillary, was the first person to summit Mt. Everest. The institute is impressive. Though small in size, the institute can lay claim to having nearly two dozen of its members having summitted the highest mountain in the world.
Monument to Tenzig Norgay, across from his grave marker
One morning, we went to Tiger Hill, a promontory where you can sometimes catch a glimpse of Mt. Kangchenjunga, India's highest peak and the third highest peak in the world. In fact, if you are extrememly lucky you can even catch a small glimpse of Everest in the distance. As the Trotter luck would have it, we saw neither. I knew that no good can come from getting up at 3 a.m.
I was really interested in buying handicrafts at the Tibetan Self-Help Refugee Center. Bill and I set out to find it and started walking...and walking...and walking. We finally got there and it was interesting to meet the refugees. The men and the women all have different crafts - the women spin yarn and make the most beautiful rugs, creating from memory. The men sew jackets and make leather goods. We really enjoyed our time walking around the centre and "talking" to people using a series of smiles and hand motions.
Ladies giggle and hide in embarassment as I take their picture. No worries, I promise that I asked before doing so
The evening before we were set out to leave, we headed into a store to buy some wine and cheese. Most of the world doesn't seem to be big on cheese so we were uber-excited to see a big cheddar cheese wheel. As we stood in line waiting to buy some, we started to talk to another guy in line. John is also from the US, but lives in Darjeeling. As we continued to talk, we walked outside and met his daughter and sister-in-law, Julia. Julia had just gotten accepted to a master's program and they were celebrating with some tequila. John invited us over and after some initial hesitation, we accepted.
We had a blast that evening meeting Krystal (John's wife), Parker (Julia's husband) and John's two beautiful kids. Talk about it being a small world. Krystal and Julia's mother lives in Kerrville near where Bill and I got married. We ended up staying for dinner and sharing the wine that we had bought and all partaking in a bit of tequila.
John told us that he is a consultant for the CHAI (Community Health and Advancement Initiative in India) project a joint venture between Tazo Tea, Mercy Corps and the Darjeeling Ladenla Road-Prerna, a development organization to promote a better way of life for the tea pickers in Darjeeling and Assam. These improvements come in the form of health, economic development and youth initiatives primarily.
His job sounded fascinating and as the night continued, John suggested that perhaps we extend our stay and go to the tea communities with one of his teams. As much as we enjoy spontaneity, this would require us changing some of our transportation logistics, etc. and we initially declined. But the more we talked about it, the more excited we became and we agreed to try and maneuver around our schedule the following day.
We were successful and two days later, we were headed out to the tea communities with one of John's teams: James, Subash and Mahendra. As Subash drove along the long and windy roads, James told us more about the region and the program. He informed us that the hill people around Darjeeling and Sikkim are predominately the Lepcha people, a mountain tribe. James told us how the CHAI project gets involved - if a village is interested in the project, the CHAI project will often add duties to the local samaj (the Nepali caste group that traditionally organizes funeral, weddings, birth, and other important events).
Our first stop was at a committee meeting in Pussimbing village. Despite the pelting rain, many villagers had arrived to attend the meeting. We sat proudly in the concrete and tin roof community hall that had been built just months before as one of the projects. As the team helped direct the meeting, we noticed that the committee members were very engaged and eager to come up with suggestions for the next youth project. Two ideas that were bounced around while were were there included a Pop Idol event that could be held with neighboring villages or to create a foot path. Eventually, the deafening rain and lack of quorum to vote brought the meeting to an end. Bill and I were both impressed with the professionalism and interest by everyone involved and were excited at the suggestions.
Committee meeting in the meeting house that the village recently built, Pussimbing
Our next stop was to Lepcha Goan vllage. We took a rest at a house near the river and were served homemade tea...mmm. Some of the women from the village asked if Bill and I would like to try some homemade beer (toomba) that evening. After being assured that it wouldn't be offensive for me as a female to drink, we both enthusiastically replied in the affirmative.
As the day turned to evening, all of the locals seemed to disappear. When I asked where everyone had gone, James informed me that the women had all gone to the kitchen to prepare a snack of popcorn and the homemade beer. Little did these women know, they are women after Bill's heart. Popcorn and beer are two of his favorite things in life!
We asked to go to the kitchen and we had so much fun sitting and hanging out with the women. Although we we did not speak the same language, we were all able to communicate using hand motions and smiles. They asked if I wanted to take a turn at heating the popcorn kernals over the fire and then laughed ferociously when I actually did it. Bill and I were amazed at how well an old tin can could be punctured and made into a popcorn maker.
Villager making popcorn out of an old tin container and a stick
Simultaneously, a younger girl was making the beer for us. The toomba was a mash of fermented maize steeped with hot water. As if the concept wasn't innovative enough, the presentation was even better. We were served in large bamboo glasses slightly larger than a hurricane globe with bamboo straws inside. The straws had a small hole in the bottom that allowed the beer to come up the straw but the mash to stay out of it. Ingenious!
Lepcha girl making maize beer, or toomba for us
We had so much fun in the kitchen that we ended up staying there for hours just drinking beer and eating bowls of popcorn. No worries, the beer had almost no alcohol content although we both could attest to a small buzz at the end. Afterwards, we headed up the hill via headlamps and flashlights to other houses in the village. We had an excellent meal of curried potatoes, rice, lentils (that were deliciously almost like borracho beans) and cauliflower.
Chong, one of the more senior villagers, had kindly invited us to stay with him family at their house. They were so thoughtful and all shared a room, giving Bill and I our own private room. The next morning we got up and two of the girls brought us chai tea. We had heard that Chong had some of the Lepcha's ancient scripture. We were very interested to see it and Chong kindly offered to show us it.
I am not sure what I expected to see, but I was humbled with what transpired. Chong walked into the room with a stack of thinly veiled cloth surrounding many books. Each book was made with handmade paper and was covered in rabbit and deer leather. These books looked like they belonged in museums. Chong could not tell us the date of the books because they are only labeled as being created in certain seasons, e.g., summer, spring, etc. To give you and idea of how old they might be, some were so old that it was prior to knowledge of binding. Instead, the books would be a long sheet of paper that was folded. Each page was written using an ink made of crushed forest mushrooms and a feather quill.
The room was very quiet save for Chong telling us the story and James kindly translating for us. But it was when we started talking about the contents of each book that Bill and I both became speechless.
Chong telling us about the Lepcha scripts as his family looks on
Chong carefully unwrapped each wrapped parcel and began to explain the contents of each book:
- Book of Revelation - predicts past, present, and future including the current demise of the their culture because the Lepchas did not protect their sacred mountain
- Book of Grammar - the vowels and consonants for reading and understanding the text
- Field guide to Animals and Plants - this book's purpose is to discuss the animals, plants and their uses, but is told in parable form and they cannot identify the actual names today
- Book of Passing - this book is never read in the house and is kept well hidden from children. If a family member is terminally ill but is having difficulty passing on, then a designated family member reads a passage from the book and according to legend, the people will almost immediately pass upon hearing the text
- Book of Death - once a person dies, a designated family member goes out to an open field and analyzes information about the person's life (I think that this is astrologically based). After analyzing this information and repeating some scripture, the spirit is at peace and will not disturb the village.
- Book of Conduct - Offers ways to live your life, similar to the Bible and living by the Golden Rule
- Book of Women - offers advice for how to act and live, etc.
Bill and I were particuarly amazed by the Book of Revelations. Chong told us of the responsibility that his people (the Lepchas) had been given. Originally animists (worships nature), many now have converted to Hinduism or Buddhism. But the ancestors were told that they must respect and protect the mountain at all costs. They are a peaceful people and have not done that. This book has accurately predicted that such neglect will be the demise of the Lepcha culture. People continue to attempt to scale the mountain despite protests of the Lepcha people and sadly, the prophecy is holding true.
A close-up of the Lepcha text
The Lepchas believe that these sacred texts were originally big slabs of stone that fell from the sacred mountain and landed near the river. The Lepcha ancestors transcribed it for future generations. Today, it passes from one generation to the next through each family. Chong is currently transcribing texts from other village families' texts, ones that are missing from his family's own library. Each text is carefully preserved in a piece of cloth that is wrapped around the sacred text. Bill and I both worried that the humidity and our hands touching the handmade paper would ruin it forever.
One of the older scriptures. This one was made before the Lepchas knew how to bind
We both felt very lucky to see these sacred texts. The Lepcha's scripture says that not just anyone can see these. This precious visit continues to be a highlight of our trip.
After talking with Chong, we took a walk around the village. Our first stop was at the one room schoolhouse for the smaller children. We had bought candy on our way to the village and Bill and I met the children and then handed out the sweets. Their eyes lit up like Christmas trees. We started taking pictures and the kids had never seen a camera before and they didn't know what to do. It's amazing what a quick lesson can do. Once they got the hang of it, they loved having their picture taken and we ended up being chased for pictures the rest of the morning!
Bill and I taking a picture with the class (me in front and Bill in the backrow)
We met up with the village committee members and began to walk around to houses, checking on the progress of the latrines that are currently being built. The village has just built their first latrine and is continuing to build over a dozen more. It was fun to see the villagers proudly show off the holes that they had dug with their family and friends. As we walked by one house, we were told that the man standing there was blind and was very proud of the small shop that he owned. I asked him if I could take his picture and he took off running. I looked at the crowd of people and then at James, afraid that I had offended the man. "No," James said laughing, "he ran inside to get his sweater vest so that he'll look nice for the camera". We assured him that he looked great and he didn't need the sweater.
Blind villager in front of his shop
Villager, Lepcha village
As John had predicted, we didn't want to go and were sad to leave. As we started to walk towards the car, the line behind us on the small footpath continued to grow. The villagers all walked us to our car, a 20 minute hike away!
We left humbled and happy, but mostly thankful. This experience alone is why we love to travel and it's something that cannot be fabricated nor duplicated. A lifetime of working will never bring the understanding and peace of mind that one incredible travel experience can bring. We vowed to return to the village and we sincerely hope to do so one day.
***Update***
Shortly after we left, we received an email from James, our wonderful guide and team leader from the CHAI project. He gave us an update on the latrine project:
"Remember the latrine pits we monitored there... almost 70% is complete. We supplied the villagers with construction materials on 26th April'07. It was a huge logistical challenge as usual, but, everything worked out well. Even
the weather favoured. Though they had to carry all the materials (cement, pipes, steel rods, pans, etc.) as headload all the way to their village, they were as energetic and enthusiastic till the evening."
How cool!
- Chrissy