Birding and more.

Today is R's day as we are going birdwatching which has proved a bit more difficult than expected to organise. It means another early start and no chance of a hotel breakfast. Kalyan, our guide is twenty minutes early and urges us to eat before a long  day.

Back to Keventer's for omelets, tea and toast. As we eat the town clock strikes eight with a strange electronic tone. We don't remember it from 2011 and it seems to get louder every day we are here. By the time that we have eaten the car has arrived, driven by Sanjay. Time to set off for Tiger Hill.

We have history with Tiger Hill. On our 2011 visit we had to get up at 4 a.m. to drive up there to join a badly behaved crowd see the sunrise reflect off Kanchenjuga. We had paid for grandstand seats in the observatory to watch. There was nothing to see and if there had been it would have been obscured by the people standing in front of the seating. R was very grumpy indeed. D heard the convoy of vehicles heading out of town in the early hours. We weren't going to fall for that again.

Sanjay takes a back road from the hotel and joins the Hill Cart Road on the outskirts of Darjeeling, where the early morning steam hauled Joy Train has just passed. We catch it up and overtake giving D a bonus photo opportunity. Once clear of the built up area Kalyan calls a dismount and we head up the road on foot, watching and listening. The sun is starting to break through and there is not too much traffic making for a pleasant walk. We see a couple of small birds but the pickings are thin and the car is called up to take us a bit higher. 

Here the country is more open and there are more different birds to see. Even more importantly there is a clear view of the massive mountains of the Kanchenjunga range which were hidden for us in 2011 and for the last two days. A real thrill.  We move further up the hill to the tollbooth. It is not expensive and we are immediately rewarded with more birds including a male Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker with its bright red cap. 

Kalyan suggests that as we are so close to the top of Tiger Hill we may as well take it in. The aforementioned observatory is being demolished prior to a rebuild. R cheers quietly. Looking over again towards the mountains we see that they were pretty much hidden in the clouds. We have been very lucky. Retracing our steps down the hill there were a few more different birds. Most were species unique to the Himalayas.

The second stage of the day's proceedings was to drive out onto the Old Military Road, which passes through the National Park and therefore requires payment. Kalyan led the way on foot and Sanjay followed at a distance in the car. The country was quite heavily wooded and there were no birds visible to start with. As we walked the sun vanished and the fog started to build. At one point Kalyan tried using some bird calls recorded on his mobile phone to attract some feathery friends. Just as the fog closed in we passed a hollow with quite a lot of activity. This kept us occupied for some time.

By now visibility was really poor and it was time to call it a day. This meant negotiating a precipitous, narrow and very bumpy track down to the main road at a village called Sonada, about 15 kilometres outside Darjeeling. In the visibility it was very hairy and we were lucky to meet only one vehicle heading up this track. In Sonada we parted company with Kalyan who lived in the opposite direction to Darjeeling.

The main road back to Darjeeling had a better surface but a lot more traffic, some of it without lights, and the fog was even worse. Local drivers seem to think that driving with hazard warning lights on makes them invincible. There was some very scary driving going on and we were both relieved when we suddenly drove out of the murk into sunshine. As a bonus we then caught up with the returning afternoon Joy Train and its steam loco. Yet another photo op.

Back at the hotel we had a cup of tea to settle our nerves. Tomorrow is move on day so we have to pack. That done, as it is Friday we set out to the pub. This turns out to be more difficult than we thought. Joey's is closed and there is no explanation.  The Buzz Bar at Glenary's is even more awful than it sounds and the Windamere (that's how they spell it) don't want oiks like us in their bar unless we are dining and tonight is fully booked. We resort to the other Shangrila which has a sign saying bar. They seem a bit surprised that we only want a drink but show us to their bar stools and provide complimentary peanuts. The only beer they have is Budweiser. It will have to do and after the tribulations of the Hill Cart Road goes down very well.

We try the Tibetan restaurant next door to last night's for supper. Several of the menu choices, including the ones we went for, are not available. They do have a very tasty cauliflower and chilli starter, with interesting bread, and we don't mind thenthuk two nights running.  The place is quite cold and nobody shuts the door. R wants to know the Ghurkali for "Put wood in t'oil!" The food is tasty and filling but on balance Kunga's gets our vote.