and then

We managed to get a 10.30am flight on Tuesday that left at 11.30am!!

Arrived in Delhi to stiffling heat - 42 degrees.

The taxi driver couldn't find our guest house, so we ended up staying at a Roman catholic cathedral with a group of nuns.

Wednesday we caught our plane home and arrived safely, with a lot to think about....

Monday

We are stuck in Bagdogra - not the nicest place.
It is very hot bordering on 40 degrees. and after several hours in the airport our flight was cancelled.Fortunately we have managed to get an air conditioned room in a hotel.Please pray that we will get a flight tomorrow, so that we can connect with our flight home on Wednesday.
Neil

Sunday 7th

Sorry we could not get internet access for a week due to a cyclone.



So here is an update......



Darjeeling



We got up at 4am and saw the sunrise over the mountains and the snow covered slopes of Katchenjunga.



Visited the Happy valley tea estate selling tea exclusively to Harrods and had a tea lesson on super fine tippy golden flowery orange peco one - even tasted some brewed for 5 seconds....









We went off to the hills and spent a night in a a trekkers hut at 10,000 feet at Tonglu. In fact we were the only people there and fortunately did not take the bed suggested which had rain dripping on it during the night. We walked down the next day in the sunshine taking about 4 hours.






Next stop was Mirik which boasts a large lake, excellent food, horse riding and pedaloes! We took the pedaloe and sampled the food.



It was about 4hrs on the road before we got back to Kalimpong in a jeep with 17 aboard. Very hot and squashy.






We said goodbye this morning ...had a wonderful trip to Bhutan last week.



Now we have a night here before flying to Delhi and two nights there before flying home to UK.



If you think you are having hot weather you should try this!!!

So...

Two days later I tried again on my own.
We made it a bit further but came to a halt and I had to climb round four landslides and walk about 3 miles to meet another jeep which took me to Darjeeling.

Then on to Bejumbari to stay the night with Bishesh and the next day on to Lamagoan for several adventures... but you'll have to wait till I get back to hear about them....

In between

We have been out of blogging range for a week and have had some adventures.

Caroline went down with a tummy bug so I had to travel to Lamagoan on my own.

We had tried to get there last Tuesday but found the road blocked by a landslide.

When thedriver decided to turn round we found ourselves blocked in by another landslide!
Eventually it was cleared and we went back to Kalimpong.

Tuesday

Caroline and I have met up in Darjeeling and saw the sun rise over the mountains this morning.
We left at 4am to travel to Tiger Hill where we saw the snowcapped Himalayas.

Monday morning and it's raining

It's Monday and it is raining in Kalimpong and it looks like it is set in for the day.
It's the first time I got my umbrella out and I certainly needed it on the walk up to town.
This morning we planned the next stage of our adventure.
I will not be going to Bhutan but there is an exciting programme ahead.
Tomorrow we take a jeep at 7.30am in Kalimpong, wait until it is full up and take a three hour trip to Darjeeling. Bishesh will meet us there and go with us on the jeep trip to his home in Bijanbari (the field of seeds) which being on the plains is hot. The next day we set off for Lamagoan (Quite a bit higher and cooler)to see the school etc till Sunday - no blogging while we are there.

Next Monday we hope to go to Sun duk pur which is 12,000 ft high (beware possible altitude sickness...) and has a good view of the Himalayan mountain range. Bishesh is arranging for us to stay in a trekking hut. We plan to do some walking from there. I understand the road up is quite scarey...... some people prefer to get out and walk in places as the jeep does three point turns to get round the tight hairpin bends which have quite a drop on one side.
Apparently there is a good walk down through the rhododendron forests to another hut and then we will go via Bishesh's house to pick up our stuff before spending a couple of days in Darjeeling.

That's the plan, but out here it seems that anything can happen..... we are learning to wait and see.