Darjeeling and the Zoo

Darjeeling is a great place to recover from the exhausting and
sometimes debilitating intensity of the other Indian cities we have
visited. It is quiet and some streets are pedestrian only. Believe
it. Pedestrian only. The weather cool which makes our long forgotten
fleeces (at bottom of our bags for almost 4 months) extremely
comfortable. There are lots of little shops and cafes to explore.
And we've been reading a lot. A sweet Nepalese family owns and
manages the hotel we are staying in. It has internet, a library, and
a restaurant, so we can easily just move around in our pyjamas
(pyjamas is a Hindi word by the way). We've decided to stay for about
a week here and just enjoy ourselves. Darjeeling is the first place
we have stayed more than 3 nights for the last 4 months.

Yesterday morning we woke to knocking on our door. The Nepalese man
wanted us to come to the rooftop to see "the mountain". Also, he has
been greetings us in the mornings saying "good morning balance" which,
we have gathered, is because he thinks we are a good balance unlike
other couples where one "talks talks talks" (hand signals included)
and the other just sits there (sad face).

It has been cloudy and misty and the views are often obstructed, but
for brief moments we gaze in wonder at the crisp snow-capped peaks of
some of the Himalaya's giants, including the third-highest mountain in
the world. The name is long and starts with a K.

Then we went to the zoo. It is small, but packed with Himalayan
fauna, such as, the Himalayan black bear, wolves, black and snow
leopards, red pandas, Indian tigers, and more. Next to the zoo is the
Everest Museum which showcases news articles and trekking gear from
famous climbers of Mt. Everest, including of course, Tenzing Norgay
and Sir Edmund Hillary. It's as close as we will ever come to Mt.
Everest. Never know. But probably.

On the way back we sampled some side stall savoury snacks served in a
newspaper cone. It was like Indian trail mix.