Jai Maa Gorkhaland

Long live Gorkhaland; the clarion call of the region surrounding and encompassing Darjeeling, India. It is technically part of West Bengal, but the people here are decidedly not Bengali and assert a separate identity and government. They want their own state, separate from Bengal, and the cries for separation are everywhere. You start seeing flags and signs declaring Gorkha rights as soon as you get out of Siliguri, the transfer point where we took the jeep up to Darjeeling. The movement has vowed to officially establish a separate state by 2010, and I wish them the best of luck because Darjeeling is nothing like the rest of the state. For the time being, people have undertaken various forms of generally non-violent resistance against the Bengali government, primarily by acting as if the state is already theirs. Licence plates, for example, changing their vehicle numbers from WB for West Bengal to GK for Gorkhaland. Also, I have heard of some tax resistance and striking.

I'm sitting in Gangtok, Sikkim at the moment, where we will be for the weekend but we will head back to Darjeeling on Monday morning to stay for the rest of the week. More on Sikkim later, but first I want to catch up on Darjeeling. It's pretty safe to say that we totally fell in love with this town, known as the Queen of the Hills. It started with the pretty magical journey from Siliguri, climbing into the Himalayas by jeep. So, the Himalayas are really big, and we are still not even that far into them. I'm not sure of elevations or anything, but the steepness and magnitude of the mountains we've seen is really amazing. You are supposed to have great views of snow-capped peaks, but so far the mountain mist has been an impediment to that. We are hoping that any day the weather will clear.

Also, the culture of the people in Darjeeling, and the mountain towns in general, is a relief after the stress, hassle, and noise of big Indian cities like Kolkata and Varanasi. This change of pace and temperament is definitely welcome right now. Also, the temperature is considerable cooler; another relief after almost 95 degree days in humid Kolkata.

We got to Darjeeling Tuesday afternoon and checked into a charming spot called Andy's Guest House, run by a Mrs. Gurung who is one of the nicest, most honest and straightforward lodge keepers we've met so far. Also, the cleanest and cutest lodging. From there, we began to wander. Through a narrow path of street stalls selling produce and food, we reached the Chowrasta, a sort of town square. No cars are allowed here so it's a sort of paved park, and social focal point for Darjeeling. It's a great spot to sit looking onto the mountains with a cup of tea and some momos, Tibetan vegetable dumplings which have recently become my new favorite food.

From the Chowrasta we made our way up the hill, and stumbled into Observatory Hill, probably the holiest site in the city. It is sacred to both Buddhists and Hindus, with a shared temple at the top of the hill. As we walked toward the complex we could hear bells ringing from various temples, and see the hint of Buddhist prayer flags strewn amongst the trees. The sounds got louder and the prayer flags got thicker until finally we were at the top and in the middle of this totally magical place. The picture below is a section of the prayer flags, and only begin to hint at the enormity of the place.

Another one of Darjeeling's more notable attractions is the Toy Train on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Railway is a two foot wide narrow gauge line that runs from Siliguri to Darjeeling. It was built between 1879 and 1881, and still uses a steam engine. The use of the narrow gauge at the time was a major innovation in trying to combat the steep and treacherous mountain terrain that the railway needed to cover, and was crucial to the development of the Darjeeling region. We took a two hour round trip joy-ride on the steam train to Ghoom, where you get a half hour for tea and a peak at the railway museum there. Apparently Mark Twain took the railway up during his visit to India and said it was "the most enjoyable day I have spent on this earth."

Oh, also we went to the botanical gardens there which were really cool. Lots of good fauna. Like I said, we are in Gangtok, Sikkim at the moment but will be making our way back to Darjeeling on Monday, in time to celebrate Holi in a more Hindu part of the country.