All aboard the Kundalini Express
Well, actually the overnight train from Kolkata to New Jaidalpur (NJP). This was our next stop after our brief sojourn in Kolkata.
To steal a phrase from our travel agent Trish, the journey is the destination! And this is certainly proving true in India. We were really looking forward to our first overnighter on an Indian train, and it didn't disappoint. The benches slash beds were comfy, made all the more so from the clean sheets, blankets and pillows supplied by the rail company (and embroidered with their logo!) We wasted no time upon boarding in laying out the linen and clambering into our beds. More lamington time as the gentle rocking and chk-chk-a-chk of the rails sent us into blissful slumber.
Waking in the morning to a man walking down the corridor spruiking hot chai (20 rupiah - 4 cents) and taking our orders for a hot breakfast had us envisioning a beautiful spread a la an Agatha Christie novel. Alas, the old cliche of 'train food' appears to hold true in India as well. This omelette was a little disappointing. But no complaints - it saved us from eating the bread and 'laughing cow cheese'* that Michelle had managed to find the night before as emergency supplies.
* to call this 'laughing cow cheese' does great disrespect to the original and best traveller's delight, La Vache qui rit. The Indian equivalent, while similar in taste and texture, can never match the French wonder.
Once arriving in NJP, we eventually managed to rendez vous with the chap we're renting the bike from, Gautam from ultimateadventures.in. He's been nothing short of amazing so far. He runs a bike touring company that does tours all through India, as well as up into Bhutan. He met us just outside of NJP with the bike, helmets and new riding jackets for both of us, and then we followed him all the way back up to Darjeeling where he's based. He basically spent all day taking care of us, and we're meeting him this morning to sort out our itinerary, and borrow some riding GLOVES. After a three hour ride into progressively colder and colder weather, by the time we arrived here in Darjeeling last night my hands were like two lobster claws.
The drive up here was pretty spectacular, and a little revealing of what we're in for! About four years ago the main road from NJP to here was wiped out by a landslide (which also affected the toy train we'll be doing in a few days time). This had the knock on effect of pushing a lot of traffic, especially truck traffic, onto the picturesque but very narrow and winding tourist route. Anyone who's driven in south east Asia can understand that road rules are somewhat more fluid in this part of the world, and this leads to some unexpected situations. Such as the be that confronted the unfortunate truck in the photo below, who found himself squeezed off the road by a still larger truck. Remarkably, no one was injured. I found myself a little closer to the crane hauling it out of the ravine than I would have liked, but it all worked out in the end. Looking forward to the next few days of mountain driving, despite this!
Dodgy omelette
That's me in the orange jacket. What is it they're dragging up from off the cliff? Oh, it's a truck...
View from our hotel room
To steal a phrase from our travel agent Trish, the journey is the destination! And this is certainly proving true in India. We were really looking forward to our first overnighter on an Indian train, and it didn't disappoint. The benches slash beds were comfy, made all the more so from the clean sheets, blankets and pillows supplied by the rail company (and embroidered with their logo!) We wasted no time upon boarding in laying out the linen and clambering into our beds. More lamington time as the gentle rocking and chk-chk-a-chk of the rails sent us into blissful slumber.
Waking in the morning to a man walking down the corridor spruiking hot chai (20 rupiah - 4 cents) and taking our orders for a hot breakfast had us envisioning a beautiful spread a la an Agatha Christie novel. Alas, the old cliche of 'train food' appears to hold true in India as well. This omelette was a little disappointing. But no complaints - it saved us from eating the bread and 'laughing cow cheese'* that Michelle had managed to find the night before as emergency supplies.
* to call this 'laughing cow cheese' does great disrespect to the original and best traveller's delight, La Vache qui rit. The Indian equivalent, while similar in taste and texture, can never match the French wonder.
Once arriving in NJP, we eventually managed to rendez vous with the chap we're renting the bike from, Gautam from ultimateadventures.in. He's been nothing short of amazing so far. He runs a bike touring company that does tours all through India, as well as up into Bhutan. He met us just outside of NJP with the bike, helmets and new riding jackets for both of us, and then we followed him all the way back up to Darjeeling where he's based. He basically spent all day taking care of us, and we're meeting him this morning to sort out our itinerary, and borrow some riding GLOVES. After a three hour ride into progressively colder and colder weather, by the time we arrived here in Darjeeling last night my hands were like two lobster claws.
The drive up here was pretty spectacular, and a little revealing of what we're in for! About four years ago the main road from NJP to here was wiped out by a landslide (which also affected the toy train we'll be doing in a few days time). This had the knock on effect of pushing a lot of traffic, especially truck traffic, onto the picturesque but very narrow and winding tourist route. Anyone who's driven in south east Asia can understand that road rules are somewhat more fluid in this part of the world, and this leads to some unexpected situations. Such as the be that confronted the unfortunate truck in the photo below, who found himself squeezed off the road by a still larger truck. Remarkably, no one was injured. I found myself a little closer to the crane hauling it out of the ravine than I would have liked, but it all worked out in the end. Looking forward to the next few days of mountain driving, despite this!
Our cosy little carriage
Dodgy omelette
That's me in the orange jacket. What is it they're dragging up from off the cliff? Oh, it's a truck...
View from our hotel room
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