October 8- from the itinerary: Full day independent. Enjoy the resort grounds and facilities.
The comment that "this hike is probably more adventurous than you are used to" should have been a sign....
The day started earlier, tea at 7am.
What I was expecting: 15 miles which involved walking down to a river and then up 3000 feet to Darjeeling. The walk paralleled a road and we could use the car at any point along the route if I got tired. Darjeeling is at the pointy end of the arrow.
Andrew (the manager) was MIA - yesterday he said he was coming and today it appeared I was doing this alone with the guide. The guide gave me an option of going via the waterfall walk (done day one), or a route through a village - I had no idea, so asked him to choose - but he said it was up to me, so I chose the new option. I was later told by Andrew that I should have known to take the waterfall option. This was strike 2 against Andrew (strike one was not knowing the itinerary I paid for).
We drove for about 30 minutes and walked near a village where we saw some interesting plants and peppers.
and started walking down the village's cement walkways which were wet and very slippery. These were interspersed with stone steps which were also treacherous. It took about 1 hour to go the first mile through the jungle and it was a bit like ice skating at some points. At one point I realized we were away from the road and if I fell the guide didn't have any sort of first aide kit, so I would be a bit screwed. Here's the guide going along the cement walkway/steps
Then we got to the river and I could see the path on the other side. What I couldn't see was a bridge - because there wasn't one. "Boots off" said the guide. I said "if I had known there would be river crossing and ice skating I wouldn't have done this hike". Thankfully the guide was able to help me over the rocks. No one had a towel to dry feet afterwards, so wet feet into socks and shoes.
Here are some photos as we walked through the jungle.
The next part of the hike was up an area where there had been a recent landslide. Honestly, this was easier because it wasn't slippery - it was just climbing up a dirt area without a path (no photos).
The terrain levelled out and the guide noticed something. on his trouser leg - leeches. He asked me to look to see if I saw any - I couldn't even tell what I was looking for. He found a few on my trouser leg and I told him we were going to do the rest of the hike on the road. He told me to walk in a way that was ridiculous on a slippery stone way (a bit like a prancing horse) to avoid more leeches.
We eventually got the the half way point at 3.63 miles and stopped for a snack at this attractive shack. It also meant the good news that the hike was not going to be 15 miles. There was another surprise when I took my glove off and found a leech had bitten through my glove. As of this writing 3 weeks later I still have a raised scar. The toilet at this stop was very basic, but it did work. That said, I'm bad at squatting, poor ankle flexibility.
The next half of the hike was much better as we were on the road.
The 750 feet elevation increase per mile was a happy change to the jungle walk. That said, we walked by one young man who was totally drunk at 10:30am.... and had a second rest stop which wasn't any more attractive than the first one.
At the top we were met by the car to start the Darjeeling sightseeing portion of the day. Supposedly we made great time and were earlier than anyone expected (5 hours vs. 6 hours), probably because the walk was half the distance I was told. Here are some photos coming into Darjeeling.
We also saw a hill that aspiring mountain climbers use for practice. This is also where Tenzing Norgay used to practice. Tenzing Norgay was from Darjeeling and the Mountain Institute is named after him.
This started at the zoo where I was surprised to have to pay the entrance fee that I had pre-paid - another strike against Andrew and glad I brought my wallet which was an afterthought. I'm not a big one for zoos, but had to go through the zoo to go through the Himalayan Institute. There were more stairs (ugh) and long the way we also saw some monkeys.
The Institute was very interesting and had examples of gear used by many of the successful ascents to Everest. Unfortunately, photos weren't allowed.
We walked through downtown (ugh, more walking) and saw some monks and a local KFC.
Then through a square and open air market to a grocery known for it's ice cream.
Then there was the issue about lunch which the guide also didn't know I had paid for - strike 4 against Andrew. Luckily he found the packed lunch that I ate while waiting for the train.
Another highlight of the day was riding the toy train with the steam engine. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the DHR or the Toy Train, is a 2 ft (610 mm) gauge railway that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal. Built between 1879 and 1881, it is about 88 km (55 mi) long. It was used to haul people, soldiers, and goods. There was also a ropeway constructed to bring goods up/down. I had a great seat in the front row behind the engine.
At one stop we came across people in traditional tea estate gorkha attire.
I stayed on two stops and when I got off at Ghoom and luckily found the guide/driver because I ran out of phone battery. I had the enjoyment of just missing the output of a guy who was throwing up on the sidewalk. It was a relief to get back to Glenburn. Here are some views as the sun set and afternoon tea.
In the evening the electricity was off/on about 4 times which was actually quite romantic given the candles available. I found 2 more leech bites on my leg which wasn't very. nice.
I had lots of tales to tell other guests at dinner which included some lovely Barramundi fish.
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