Darjeeling

When I was at the train station,I learned that Darjeeling has an elevation of 6,800 feet, which is lower than I had expected. It's about the same elevation of Steamboat Springs. Normally, I would be pretty well adapted to such an elevation (I live at 5,400 ft), but my adaptation is only temporary. Tamding is better adapted, even though he lives near sea level, because he is Tibetan. Tibetans and Nepalese are born with oversize lungs. I don't have those genetics, so I have to build up more red corpuscles in my blood, which takes about two weeks. Normally, I have the better blood, but it's been about two weeks since I've been home so I've lost my adaptation.

Today, we went on the Seven Points walking tour. The big draw of the tour is the view. There are many viewpoints of the Himalayas. And the Himalayas around here are taller than normal. The main peak is Mount Kangchenjunga, which is the third highest peak in the world. So the mountains around here are for real. Not like the tiny mountains near me in Colorado. It is said that on an unusually clear day, you can see Everest, but that also requires that Everest has a clear day, too. That didn't happen today. But Kangchenjunga is stunning anyway.

The hike goes downhill pretty far. Far enough that you have to shed a lot of clothing. And far enough that you see all the tea plantations. When you reach the bottom, you can walk back up, but I was in no mood to do so (I'm already a bit cramped). So we waited at a tea stand for a taxi. I bought some tea, ofcourse. But the cool thing is that he explained to me the leaf/bud difference. He did so by reaching out the window and grabbing a piece of a tea plant. Tea has two leaves 180 degrees apart, and a center spike, which is the bud. Left too long,the bud will turn into a flower. But harvested at the right time, the buds produce the finest teas. Especially during the second flush. I should note that most teas are leaf tea.

After the hike, the local server was down. So I walked around and bought some tea. I also bought another sweater. I guess Tamding was right about the last sweater, because this one only cost 550 rupees ($13). I should mention that these sweaters are genuine Yak wool, and are quite soft. If I wanted to, I could buy cashmere, but that's a little too classy for me. But cashmere is very cheap here. I also had a beer and an Old Monk rum. Tamding is on a different mission. He is trying to buy a very special masala spice for his mother. We tried last night,to no avail. Hopefully, he will have better luck today.