A week before the trip we aren't sure if it is going to happen because yet another state decided to go two. Needless to say it was the one we were heading to. God dammit why!!! We panicked, we sulked and then we decided. Decided to go where ever the political situation signals the train to go to. News suddenly for me had become quite an important deal.
Just like Vaishno Devi calls for her devotees, Darjeeling called out to us. The week we wanted to relax in the hills was the week the bandh was relaxed for. Ruchi's snacks, weird pics, snakes & ladder, magic slate, & a live bong saas-bahu kahani just like how Ekta narrates them helped us get through the ridiculously long train journey.
At Siliguri, my pashmina was out, half way through to Darjeeling my socks were out, and foggy breath while we heartily laughed about dragging our suitcases back and forth marked our arrival finally at the place a first timer, a second timer, and a long time visitor were eagerly waiting to get to.
Hotel Belle Vue had an awesome view which was for most of our trip blocked by the heavy clouds. A narrow corridor that led us to a backyard/a narrow way into the streets. My non-snoozable mental alarm would ring in the mornings and drag me out to the backyard to take in as much as I could of the majestic green & brown in spite of the heavy fog.
After a couple of days of eating, shopping, and walking around, my only regret was to not be able to see "The" peak. Our last morning in Darjeeling, I did the usual walk to our backyard and as she opened the bright green grill door for me I was saying to myself 'peak or no peak it was an awesome trip' just to turn around as I stepped out into the sun and noticed the gigantic white mass. Our trip was done like a bun!
The last view point that our cabbie took us to was near the Batasia loop. A panaromic view of huge masses of snow. There are times when nature wants you scream out loud to say how beautiful she is but all you can do is just go dumb and sigh silently and feel like a nothing standing there staring back at her. This was our breathtaking moment.
It was time to move on to redeem my first impressions of the city of joy! My personal favorite moment in this city was when we hopped on to a local bus on the spur of the moment. As I settled down in my seat, the old bus stereo was singing "main zindagi ka saath nibhaata chala gaya" Indeed!
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