Cicada Sunrise

Ah, Darjeeling. Sitting a top a hillside station in a cafe with the capacity to make one dish at a time, overlooking a fog hidden view of the Himalayas, sipping my cup of deliciously strong coffee and eating french toast made from home made wheat bread with honey and sesame seeds, I realized how happy I was. I quickly realized how much I did not want to go back to Kolkata. We could breath fresh, the people were friendly, no unashamed stares by the young men; an aura of peacefulness and tranquility radiated throughout the whole town of Darjeeling. Don't get me wrong, this is still India. People live humbly and there are dirty squat toilets and sad disease ridden roaming dogs, but it is different. No honking horns, unless you are turning a windy corner, no one hassling you for anything - pure bliss.

The first two days we were there it was fog covered. We walked around the one path, went to the small shops, went to this great little Hindu/Buddhist prayer center covered in prayer flags with little buildings where you could offer a few rupees and get blessed by the men there and get the third eye paint stuff. I watched for awhile before I had the guts to go in, but I eventually did, and someone gave me incense and said to walk around the building three times. Shiva, Buddha..and something/someone else I couldn't quite figure out. Anyway it was great. The whole place was covered in monkeys as well. Real monkeys. The cutest little babies running and playing and being cuddled - it was great. When I get my pictures to upload I will send the link. They were soo cute. We did get attacked a few times though. At one point we were trapped at the bottom of this stairwell surrounded, but a guy gave us some banana to feed them as a peace offering and we made it out alive. It was close.

So on Sunday morning we got a tour up to tiger hill to see the Sunrise. We had to get to the car at 4 am so we could get up to tiger hill on time. After a sleepless night we made it to the van and proceeded on a very bumpy journey up the hill. Side note - the jeep ride from the train station to Darjeeling was 4 hours of bumps and turns - we were all nauseous - but compared to that this was cake, even after 1 hour of sleep. Anyway, we got to the top of this hill where there were all ready at least a hundred people gathered. WE found a spot right up front facing where we thought the mountains were going to be, and waited. It was almost pitch black. Slowly the sun rose to our right, and straight a head we see that those clouds off in the distance aren't clouds, their freakin the Himalayas. Imagine being in Seattle on top of a hill and seeing other hills in Portland. It was insane. They were so far away, but we could see the details and the shadows...I can't even describe. We were so gitty. And that was just the beginning, almost the whole landscape in front of us was filled with rolling hill tops and the Himalayas poised along the backdrop. Completely breathtaking. I decided then and there that I will go to Nepal. You have to after seeing that. I never thought Nepal was a place I needed to go. Things change. It was awesome. I wish this computer had a USB for me to upload pictures, but they will come. I promise. My little camera couldn't get too close, but I think you get the idea. There are a few ones that look boring, but they are part of the panoramic scene that we watched rise out of the dark fog. Wow. There is one with a tiny little white peak in the background - that's old Everest. Pretty darn cool.

Another thing that made me not want to return to Kolkata: Kate found a grey hair on my scalp during lunch on Saturday. A GREY HAIR. I am 22 years old. I know I can get stressed and anxious about things, but a grey hair. This city is obviously too much for me. I was close to accepting defeat. But, I came here for a reason, to put myself in a hard situation and I have to continue. However, I don't think I'm going to be working everyday all day for the next two weeks. Luckily Puja is coming up and we will be on vacation. I took the day off today to read and chill out - hopefully I will get some sleep tonight. I didn't sleep Saturday, and I couldn't sleep on the overnight train last night because: My seat smelled like urine and crap (literal crap..., and a 10 person Nepali christian singing group was sitting next to us and decided to stay up all night talking and practicing their ballads. It put the others to sleep, but I couldn't do it...tonight is the night. tonight i sleep!