Friday May 27th, 4th Anniversary!: High tea and high mts

Notes from the traveling desk of Rita Meek

David and Jo’s fourth anniversary! Today the monk with the gong went by around 4 am, so everyone was up early.

David and Jo were out by 6:30 am and found the area in Darjeeling where the morning exercise contingent gathers. People were jogging, walking dogs, stopping to use exercise bars by the side of the road…Jo thought this was very different than what is seen in Delhi.

Dave thinks a view like this of Kanchenjunga could motivate just about anyone to hit the pavement!

Jim and Rita also went out for a walk at 7 am and saw a number of men carrying 30 kg sacks of goods to the stalls next to our hotel. Incredibly heavy; many of the men had a head strap that distributed some of the weight but it still looked like a miserable way to earn a living.

After another breakfast in Jo’s and David’s room, Rita, Jim and David headed out to Ghum. We stopped at a monastery along the way and listened to a drum hit by a curved stick, as well as bells.

Rita turned back and David and Jim kept going to Ghum, and then on to the Aloobari monastery, which was between Ghum and Darjeeling. 6 foot high massive prayer wheels of bronze that one turned by hand. So many beautiful monasteries!

David and Jim had quite an adventure. They walked about 7 miles, initially along the Tensing Norgay road. They saw one small monastery, and then walked to the Aloobari Monastery, after some retracing of their steps since they had gotten directions to the town of Aloobari (potato field) rather than to the monastery. This was very small, with only four monks – the village could not afford to pay them very much so they did not live in the monastery but came each day to work in it and maintain the building.


David and Jim continued now to Ghum, the site of the train station we had passed through on the Toy Express several days before. It started to pour so they took brief shelter at the train station, had a snack, and continued onto the largest monastery, which was a large building decorated with gold and red. There were many monks in residence, all wearing crimson robes. There were young and old monks alike. After this long trek, Jim and David were tired so they returned to the town of Darjeeling and the Hotel Shangri-La by cab, just in time for our next major activity.

In the meantime, Rita and Jo had done a little shopping at the Fairtrade store across the street, and bought two frames made by women who were trying to start businesses from their homes and communities. Rita had also gone to a fancy tea store on the main square and bought a tea infuser, so that we could try the fancy tea from the Happy Valley tea plantation the day before.

The high point of the day was High Tea at the Windemere Hotel. We all spiffed up and went to visit this grand old hotel which was decorated and ran as though the British were still occupying India.

There was a large veranda, as well as a number of rooms where one could have their tea served. We had freshly brewed tea (of course), along with raisin scones (hard and dry), Devonshire cream (yum!) and some strawberry jam. There were also tiny bread and butter and cheese sandwiches, and also sandwiches with cucumber. There was a marble cake as well.

Many framed letters from (I am sure) notables hung on the walls. The only name I recognized was “Nelson A. Rockefeller”. The furniture was overstuffed as one might expect, and all decorated as though we were in the 1930’s rather than 2011. It was lots of fun and when Jo and David look at the pictures, they will remember their 4th anniversary with fondness.

On the way back to the hotel, we saw a large group of monkeys, including some babies. Jo gave us tips to avoid making eye contact with them or stare at them or they might bare their teeth and make aggressive noises. Apparently one of the Vice-Ministers of India died when he was having breakfast on his patio, and a group of monkeys dropped onto him. As he was trying to get them off him, he lost his footing, fell off his veranda and died!

David adds that there was an amazing fog and both the mist and the crowd outside of their room was so thick that he barely could walk.

We then walked around a little, and Rita bought several scarves from the Fairtrade shop, including one for Gita. Back to the hotel to pack for our early morning departure to Kalimpong. We had a memorable (for its terrible quality) dinner of tikka chicken and off to sleep..

Thursday, May 26th: Exploring Darjeeling

Notes from the traveling desk of Rita Meek

Note from David: Hard to believe, but I don't have any photos from today, so this will be a text-heavy post!

As usual, Jim and I woke up multiple times during the night and stayed up for good at about 5 am. Soon thereafter a monk was walking down the street, ringing his gong. Another unusual start to what will undoubtedly be an amazing day!

We had breakfast with David and Jo in their room which looks out on the street scene in Darjeeling.We were all fascinated by the number of children who were beautifully dressed in uniforms, obviously going to one of a variety of schools. We saw the people putting up their stands and arranging their goods for the day. Also, foreigners strolled by wearing ‘interesting’ clothes (on Friday Jo and I saw a gentleman wearing Coca-Cola pants). We set off for the zoo, and along the way, my stomach began to give signs and signals that it was very unhappy. We found out that the zoo was closed on Thursday, so we decided to head off to the Happy Valley tea factory. Along the way, I got to visit the Mayfair Hotel since we thought that was the most likely establishment that would have an American-style bathroom. We walked down the slope to the Happy Valley tea plantation after a fairly long meander, passing a number of older women picking tea leaves.

At the factory entrance we were greeted by a guide. As opposed to the tea tour the day before, this one did not allow any photographs of the inside of the factory. We were taken from room-to-room, and one of the things that I thought was particularly interesting was that the workers are divided into three groups: around 18 - ?, over 50, and inbetween. The oldest group was assigned areas to pick which were the closest to the factory; the youngest were given areas farthest from the factory, and the middle were inbetween. It seemed like the group worked as a team, so that the weight in kg they were supposed to pick was significantly more than anyone could pick on their own. We went into a special building where we met a woman who proceeded to give us a lesson in how to tell the different qualities of tea by blowing on the tea in your hand to release the aroma. She also gave us a cup of the fanciest tea they produce at Happy Valley. The Happy Valley tea is sold only by Harrod’s. By the time we were done with this adventure and bought our obligatory package of the fanciest tea, we headed back by taxi because I was very sick and Jo was very tired. I then went to bed for the rest of the day. David and Jo had a lunch which was “unusual” and then took a nap. Jim went out for an explore and went around Observatory Hill, went to a monastery below Darjeeling. Dinner at a bakery/restaurant and then to bed.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011-Trains and Tea!

Notes from the traveling desk of Rita Meek

Yet another jam-packed day. We started off with breakfast, and then packed to leave, and headed off to the Makaibari Tea plantation, located within walking distance.

We just didn’t know it was all downhill, meaning that it would be all uphill on the return. (We actually bailed at the end of our tour and took a cab back to the hotel). We were not sure what we were going to get as our “tour” but this far surpassed any expectations we might have had.

We were met by Panong who was a volunteer who worked in the tea factory. It was a complicated story, but as best as we could understand, he grew up in the area and still lived here. He was a mountaineering guide, but joined a group of people from the community who volunteered on a regular basis at the tea factory.

We learned about the process of planting, harvesting, and preparing tea as well as about Rajah Banerjee, the owner of the tea plantation.

We were taken into the factory and told that the first step was called ‘withering” where approximately 70% of the water was removed from the leaves for water evaporation.

However, if the tea was to be green tea, this step was eliminated. Then the leaves were “rolled” which basically put the leaves through a conveyor belt and opened more of the leaves.

The leaves then went through a “fermentation process” which in fact as not fermentation but increased oxygenation. Oolong tea is made up of both green and black tea. The green tea has a different length of fermentation process. After the fermentation step is completed, the tea is “sorted” which separates out sticks, dust, and other debris.

The leaves are then packaged for retail distribution.

The best tea is the “first flush”, followed by the “second flush”, the “autumnal flush”. We learned that the lowest quality tea goes into tea bags. Perhaps we shouldn’t wonder what type of tea goes into those little Keurig cups!

David then met Rajah Banerjee who is the owner of the factory.

He was quite a character to say the least...stories about how the secret to the universe could be discovered by cutting open a cow horn and observing the repeating geometric patterns inside....hmmmm...

Dad laughing along with Mr. Banjerjee following some funny insight

Classic Mr. Banerjee



His great great grandfather started the company in 1859 and it is apparently the only tea plantation that has remained family-owned. He started organic tea farming this area, and brought a lot of ideas about ecoagriculture to the world of tea farming. He also has a strong sense of a living community and is obviously very socially conscious. Seven villages are part of the Makaiberi tea plantation environs. The tea plantation offers nursery and child care and education to the children of the workers. Additionally, the women do most of the tea leaf picking. They earn a decent wage, will get a pension when they turn 58, get extra money if they pick beyond their target for the day (i.e. pick 10 kg and needed to pick only 5 kg). The community has started to offer homestays for tourists who want to get an in-depth experience; they can accompany their hostess to the fields the following day and pick tea leaves. Women start working for the company at the age of 18 or above. The tea from Makaiberi is one of the tea that is used by the TAZO brand of tea which is what is sold by Starbucks and is the tea provided at the Inn at Montchanin where, of course, David and Jo went on their honeymoon night.

Afterwards we took a walk through the tea estate.

Then a brief stop at the tea factory store and the purchase of a few wooden crates of tea (the boxes are made on site by other women), we returned to the hotel for our last meal of chicken tikka, raita, roti, and a chopped vegetable salad.

After a taco-style roti, we got ourselves ready, took a cab to Kurseong, and took our seats on the Toy express.

A brief foray into the stores nearby while we waited for the train to leave, and peanut butter, KitKat bars, and Cadbury chocolate in Jo’s pack, and off we went on our next adventure. The train ride was “memorable”, but not one that we would likely repeat. The fog made it impossible to see the scenery next to the left=side of the train, and the right side view was basically of tin shacks with stores selling the same items, and men and children standing or sitting outside of the stores when we came into the little towns along the way or stone walls.

The engineer blew his horn almost continuously, and the smell of the diesel fuel filled the car. The ride took three hours (with some prolonged stops at stations) to go 30 miles/13 km from Kurseong to Darjeeling.

Our first glimpse of Darjeeling was a city built on a hill with some of the houses painted with bright colors. Then the tin shacks appeared, and we chugged into the station – and as David and Jo would say “the controlled chaos of India.”

Off to find the Shangri La, the hotel David had arranged for. (He has done a simply incredible job of organizing our trip.) We got in a cab (after Jo did a little negotiating of the price) and wound our way through the lower portion of Darjeeling until the driver pulled over and said he could go no further. We would have to walk the rest of the way because the streets were not accessible to cars. Well, not a lot of options there, so we headed off up the hill with our four bags, computer bag, backpacks and banjo case. We got to a very busy and congested street == and had no idea where to go. Jo asked several people for directions but they were not particularly helpful. After some more wandering, we asked a store owner to lead us to the hotel, which he graciously did through the chaos of a smaller version of Times Square and there we were at the Shangra La.

As soon as we walked through the door, a feeling of serenity came over us, and we proceeded up to our rooms, which were large and spacious, decorated beautifully, and with large windows overlooking the square. We could watch people buying scarves from a stand just below the window.

Off to dinner at the restaurant in the hotel, and a dinner of Tibetan soup and stir=fried vegetables. My chicken soup was flavored with cilantro, scallions, and a few fresh green beans—a pretty far cry from the chicken soup with matzoh balls I made for seder one month ago.

Jim went out for a late=evening explore and came back with Cadbury chocolate and bottled water. The town closes down around 9 pm, and we collapsed into bed.