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A day of acclimatizing and sight seeing around Darjeeling. A useful and very interesting day. Tega, our trekking guide from Marcopolo World Travel, a very pleasant man who was full of energy and interesting information about the area, escorted us. The day started with porridge and omelette then we got into the jeeps and started to weave through the traffic and school children of Darjeeling. First stop was a Japanese Buddhist Gompa built after the Second World War. We left our shoes at the door and were greeted by a nun handing out sweets. The founder of the Gompa was Fuji Guruji. Next, we visited the world peace monument also built by the Japanese where we learned about the representation of the five elements and the life of Buddha. After another short trip in the vehicles dodging traffic and wearing out the horn we arrived at the Tibetan Refugee Centre. This was donated to the Tibetan refugees by the Indian Government and later expanded by American charities to provide a cooperative where the refugees produce authentic handicrafts to fund their lives in exile. The ladies carded and then spun the wool on home made spinning wheels made from local wood and bicycle wheels. Next the wool was dyed and taken to the weaving room where over 30 looms were operated by hand. The order book for carpets was full to April 2006 (12 months). The ladies worked in teams of up to 5 weaving intricate designs on carpets and rugs. Other crafts were leatherwork, hand painted cards, woodwork, knitting and jewellery. Of course we ended the tour in the shop to purchase their wares and contribute to the cooperative economy.
Next stop the Himalayan Mountain Institute and the Himalayan Zoological Park. The HMI had some fascinating artifacts and information from expeditions to the Himalayas and in particular Everest! We ended the tour of the HMI with a cup of Darjeeling tea in the teahouse by the Sherpa Tenzing statue. The Zoo was well kept and the animals looked healthy. The Zoo motto was Education, Preservation and Conservation but there was still a sense of guilt as we viewed these magnificent Leopards, Tigers, Bear and others behind bars.
Our next stop was the Happy Valley Tea Factory where we were guided through the tea picking, its flushes and the manufacturing process. We were shocked to find that the ladies who pick the tea only receive about 75 pence for a days work. They have to pick 8kg of leaves, making sure that they only pick the bud and first 2 leaves. The leaves are then weighed, dried, crushed and sifted before being packed and sent to the tea board for sale. The wooden factory shed was basic but functional and some of the machinery inside was very old. In particular the working furnace from Belfast and the now disused steam driven engine in the tea crushing room. We were able to buy the best tea from the licensed shop and Mike spent the rest of the day trying to remember what SFTGOP1 stood for: Super Fine Tipi Golden Orange Pekoe One.
Click HERE to listen to the sounds of the monastery.
Our last visit was to the Buddhist Monastery in Darjeeling where we were fortunate to experience a ceremony in the temple. The temple was very ornate with many paintings of Buddha and his disciples, hand embroidered silks and a marble floor. The monks were all seated on cushioned benches. About 200 of them chanted prayers and verse interspersed with trumpet blasts and loud steady beats on the drums. They were all dressed in maroon shawls and from the youngest to the oldest they all had shaved heads. We took Tibetan tea with them during the ceremony. It was made from tea, milk, butter, salt and water. As the ceremony closed we filed past the offertory box and went outside to put our very cold feet back into our shoes. Despite not understanding a word that was said we could see that it was a moving experience for them and the music was very powerful. Our day was certainly full of many different sights, sounds, smells and feelings. The group were all tired as we returned to the Gymkhana Resort for a set dinner and a briefing on the trekking day ahead of us. All that was left was to prepare our kit and sort out the alarm calls before retiring for bed.
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