Darjeeling
I’m used to living in the shadow of an invisible mountain. Mount Rainier looms 90 miles from my home in Seattle and it’s more often than not clouded over, hidden from view as I peer out the picture windows of our living room.
When I came to Darjeeling, famous for its outstanding tea and view of Khangchendzonga, the world’s third highest peak, I hadn’t expected to see the mountain during my short two day visit.
The first day I was right.
Expecting morning clouds, I had no plans to rise at 4:30am, when most tourists head to Tiger Hill for the sunrise. Instead, I was (thankfully) awoken at 5am by noisy hotel guests in the hall and decided to make my way to the viewpoint, 11km away.
My late start paid off as my shared van ride pulled up just as it was getting light. Others had been waiting for an hour in the frosty cold but I arrived just in time to see the snow-capped outline of Khangchendzonga begin it’s arrival for the day.
The Himalayas stretched out in a panorama along a 250km horizon with peaks pointing upward just above a sheet of clouds. The tallest peaks the only ones visible.
Indian tourists far outnumbered foreign tourists. This is a great sign for any developing country. It means the locals have enough discretionary funds to vacation and enjoy themselves.
The downside for me, however, was that as a blond foreigner, I became the attraction. “Madame, photo please?” I posed with a half dozen women and men eager to be seen with this oddity. I finally had to turn back my adoring fans so that I could enjoy the peace and quiet of the amazing sunrise.
Though I had no intention of being awake for this spectacular moment, I’ve traveled enough in India to know that it’s when you don’t make plans that the most precious and unique moments appear. I silently thanked the hotel guests who were clamoring and shouting outside my door at an ungodly hour. If it hadn’t been for them, I wouldn’t have witnessed one of the most amazing sunrises that I may ever see in my lifetime.
Happy Travels!
You can also read about my India travels on my blog at the Seattle Post Intelligencer.
Join other Wanderlusters and help make this the most popular women’s travel blog by subscribing via email or RSS feed (see links in the right column)! You can also add this article to popular social networking sites by clicking on the buttons below.
Beth…I’m really enjoying your trip…every bit of it. Am so glad you got to see Kangchenjunga (that’s how we spelled it in Nepal), and hope that some day you’ll take the three week trek in Nepal to its base camp. It was the greatest of all treks, because we had to go on footpaths that were used only by the locals. No roads. And half the time our trail would have been obliterated by an avalanche of rock and scree and, to me, it was frightening to go over a freshly trampled, narrow path with a cliff on one side…and sometimes on both. But, in the words of Sondheim, I’m still here! We went to out-of-the-way places like Kampachen, where you could climb a ridge and see the mighty Jannu Glacier below. And, of course, there were those sunrises and sunsets of THE MOUNTAIN.The word picture that you painted brought it all back to me…a truly majestic mountain. Thanks!
Meg Noble Peterson
www.megnoblepeterson.com
Excellent post!
Look me up if Kerala is in your Indian itinerary.
Take care!