Several times, there was an impasse where a car from each direction met and neither could get past. Ultimately one had to back up so the other one could get by. One time, a soldier had to make one car move backwards, because 20 cars were piled up behind the car that was headed in the other direction. It was a trip through lush, green forests. We went through a number of small villages, and noticed how multiple shops next to each other all sold the exact same packages of salty snacks, candy, etc. It is unclear how anyone can make a living in this manner. Many small shacks with tin roofs, many houses in various stages of disrepair, many men standing around with apparently nothing to do….
We arrived at the Cochrane Place Hotel, which is clearly much more elegant than the other hostelries in the area. We had two nice rooms. Rita’s and Jim’s was larger with a little balcony and a nice sitting area.
David's perspective is that the hotel was very "funky", with all sorts of interesting pictures, and other bits and bops...such as this, an elephant trunk-shaped exhaust pipe, or perhaps....a tea kettle? Given that we're in tea country we chose the latter!
The entire area was shrouded in thick fog and cloud. Jim and Rita went for a walk in the afternoon, and wandered down a small road into a residential area where the houses were brightly painted. People smiled at us, and many of the homes had beautiful flowers growing outside or in pots. There were cows, goats, chickens, roosters, and dogs wandering around in the street; many of the dogs were in the middle of the street sleeping. The homes were very much in need of repair and paint, and many parts looked like they had been in need for many years.
After our walk (and a nap), we met David and Jo and walked into the town of Kurseong. It is about one and one-half miles from where we are staying (all uphill), and we saw a number of residential areas along the way.
Again we saw all of these little shops, next to each other, where the very same items were sold, and many people were standing around outside. Again, lots of dogs in the streets, along with some chickens, etc. We got into the main street in Kurseong, and there were stores next to stores next to stores. People everywhere. Incessant honking from the bumper-to-bumper traffic. We walked to the train station where we will board “the toy express” to Darjeeling on Wednesday so we could check it out and figure out when we were going to get tickets.
The ticket counter was closed for the day which we knew already but made plans to get the tickets Tuesday morning so we would be sure of seats on the train. We were all feeling pretty tired so we took a taxi back to the Hotel. And it was beginning to rain – which pretty much happened every night. Also the mist persisted for most of our stay in Kurseong.
We had dinner with David and Jo in the hotel restaurant and had a full dinner, with a menu selected by the chef with approval from Jo. (she is so handy to have around since her ability to speak in Hindi makes everything so much easier for the rest of us!) The meal was interesting and we all agreed that the chicken dish was the best although the presentation of white, yellow, and green rice stacked in layers on top of each other was beautiful. However, it made a huge mess of “rice everywhere” when Jim took the first spoonful. After a traditional Indian dessert, we fell into bed, exhausted. And aside from the sound of the torrential rain hitting the tin roof, we all slept like logs.
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