Recap of the last 10 days

I'm back in Calcutta after an incredible journey to Darjeeling and the Andaman Islands.

Darjeeling was so sweet. The people who were mostly Nepali and Tibetans were wonderful and beautiful. Literally, they were some of the most beautiful people I have ever seen. Their faces were dark and exotic and exquisite. It's a cute little town and we spent time at the zoo, on Tiger Hill for the sunrise which was astounding, did some hiking and some shopping at the small bazaar where we got beautiful scarves for $2. I loved the little guest house that where we stayed. We spent time with the kids from Norway and Gerry the German and met others along the way. It was cold up there and there was always a warm fire in the living room and hot tea when we got back. The owner and his wife gave us white kata scarves when we left and wished us a peaceful journey. The trip down from the mountains was beautiful. Everything was so lush and green.

When we got back to the Bagdora, we met up with Raj who owns a tea plantation two hours away. We met Raj through Christina, who we met in Calcutta. He picked us up with his car and driver and we made the trip out to the countryside, right on the borders of Bhutan, Nepal and China. Raj owns a 3,000 acre plantation, the biggest in India. He took us on a tour of the grounds as it was getting dark. We went for a stroll through the "gardens" as he calls it, and he asked his driver to follow in the car because there had been a leopard and an elephant spotted on the land that day and we didn't want to meet up with either one in the dark.

When we got back to the beautiful plantation house, he had his servants light a fire and make us rum and cokes and snacks before dinner. We stayed up very late laughing and talking and watching Bollywood dance videos on tv and had an incredile dinner at 11 pm. The next day we went on a longer tour through the plants and through the factory where the tea is processed and packed for shipping. It was facinating. Even though I drink a lot of tea, I never really knew how it was grown and made. Now I do thanks to the Rajmeister.

He is a very wealthy, very giving man. We drove to the airport with him that day and all flew to Calcutta where his main home is. We checked into a fancy hotel where he was hosting a wedding party that evening and he invited us to come. He sent his driver to pick us up and take us shopping so we could buy clothes to wear. Oh my...what a difference from the red light district of Calcutta...

The wedding was great fun, but didn't even get started until close to 10 pm. We left the party at 1 am and it was still rolling. We had to get up at 5 am to catch our flight to the Andaman Islands.

In the interest of not making a post too damn long, I will continue with the Andaman Islands in the next chapter....