Darjeeling – Tea (ovbiously) and tasty food!! 
 
The main touristy area in Darjeeling is relatively small. You could probably walk from one end to the other in half an hour or so so it didn't take us long to figure out where everything was. It was nice to have everything all close together for a change so we could walk everywhere and not have to worry about flagging down transport. We had a look in a few tea shops and book shops. It didn't actually feel as though we were back in India yet as the streets were full of Himalayan smiley faces and the place is relatively well kept in comparison to what we've been used to in India. I think that both Tom and I were surprised. We weren't expecting Darjeeling to be as busy as it is. We imagined a small town surrounded by tea plantations. The town as a whole is much much bigger than we thought it would be and sprawling across a steep hillside.  
The temperature had dropped dramatically for us as well as we were now a good 2000m above sea level. Especially after coming from the border at Kakarbhitta which was extremely hot and sticky. Now we were having to layer up as it was too cold! Our first morning we awoke to find ourselves in the clouds, literally. Fog and mist everywhere. This unfortunately remained the case for our whole stay so we didn't get to see those lovely views out across all the tea plantations which was a shame. Most of the time we couldn't even see to the end of the street we were on! 
We spent time doing a few touristy things whilst we were here, namely The Bengal Natural History Museum, The Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park (ie. The zoo) which also included the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute and of course high tea at the Windamere Hotel :).
 
The natural history museum was short but sweet. An interesting collection of very old and tatty looking stuffed animals and birds. The museum was established in 1903, I think all the exhibits had been there since then. It also had a shudder inducing collection of pickled snakes, fish and baby animals like snow leopards in jars. Nice. 
 
I probably wouldn't have wanted to go to the zoo had it not been for the fact the mountaineering institute was within it's grounds. After Delhi zoo I didn't hold out much confidence that the animals would be kept in great conditions so wasn't really up for seeing those things again. The zoo was much much better than Delhi zoo, though a zoo is still a zoo. I was still saddened to see a number of the animals pacing back and forth as they do, especially the endangered snow leopard :(. 
 
The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute was fascinating. Lots of memorabilia and info from numerous expeditions in the Himalayas over the years, including a floor dedicated to Mt Everest. Interesting to see how the quality of the gear and clothing the mountaineers wore changed over the years. Unbelievable that those who managed to make history and reach the summit of Everest managed to do so with seemingly such ineffective equipment and clothing!
We nipped back to our hotel to make ourselves as presentable as possible before going to the Windameeeere. We were actually nervous we might get turned away as they may not have wanted scruffy backpacker folk at their hotel but we needn't have worried. We were seated in a big old room and waited for our tea. We could easily have been sat in a room of a big old English country estate. Two pianos in the room, lots of paintings and pictures on the walls, very charming. We actually ended up joining two Californians, a father and son as there was only the four of us. Ended up having a pretty interesting couple of hours chatting as the father (Baaab – Bob) was quite a character, an eccentric theatre type. He somehow seemed to know quite a lot about Lichfield too to my amazement, talking about Samuel Johnson and David Garrick when I mentioned where I was from. What?! Pretty knowledgeable guy. 
 
Our tea did come with milk, phew! (Nowhere serves tea with milk in Darjeeling. You have to have it black). We also had a little basket containing cheese and pickle sandwiches, cucumber sandwiches, shortbread biscuits, some kind of chocolate marble cake and small pastries containing raisins. When they were finished we were all provided with scones with jam and cream. Loooovely! Totally worth it :). 
 
During our stay we also went up to Observatory Hill to see the temple there. I've never seen so many prayer flags. It was very misty up there due to the clouds and this made it quite eerie too. Very memorable. Took some nice photos. There were a few monkeys there too which provided some extra entertainment.
 
We then went to the botanical gardens. They were a little disappointing and not too well looked after. Nevertheless I enjoyed that they reminded me of being in the UK as everywhere was so lush and green :). 
 
On our final day we visited the Happy Valley Tea Estate. The mist had eased off slightly so we were able to see across the valley for a short spell which was nice, the sun was even shining! It was great watching all the tea ladies picking the tea. We went into the factory and were shown around for free by a really nice guy. Was really interesting seeing the process from start to finish. 
 
Worth mentioning some of the yummy food we ate whilst we were here too. When we originally arrived late in the afternoon the plan was to grab a seat in a cafe, have a bite to eat as we were starved, then one of us could go off to investigate the accommodation in the area whilst the other stayed with the bags. This cafe/restaurant ended up being Kunga's, a tiny family run Tibetan place. They served us the MOST amazing veg and cheese fried momos! They are a classic Tibetan snack that can be filled with anything and either steamed or fried. Think big version of wonton dumplings. These were fantastic! We had to come back for more later on in the trip. They also became my fave as they knew we were looking for somewhere to stay and helped us find a great place. I love it when people are that friendly and helpful. They later served us chicken chilli and probably the best beef curry we've both ever had! As well as lovely beef Thukpa (Tibetan beef noodley soup) and more veg cheese momos! We had prepared ourselves for the fact that as soon as we reached India the quality of the food we had been used to in Nepal would soon be pretty much none existent! We were super happy we got to enjoy it for a little longer! We also found a great place for breakfast we frequently returned to. Highlights included french toast with honey and sesame seeds, delicious! Tom has toast with cheese and caramelised tomatoes, lush! They also served English tea with MILK, yes! We did eat well in Darjeeling :).