Asia-Europe 2012

On the way to Calcutta we decided to camp in a forest, in the immediate vicinity of Chandipur, a muslim village.

We cooked a soup, set up the tent and then proceed to watch a movie before sleep. Suddenly, a group of 8-10 villagers arrived and requested us to get out of tent. Informing us camping was an unwise sollution, they invited us to sleep inside a house in the village, and also offered secure parking for Palomina.

The next day we were stars. Even before waking up there were at least 100 people waiting to see us inside and outside the yard. We went on a tour to visit the houses of the village’s elders, the teachers and the policeman. In every house they offered us tea and snacks and we talked about how the village works and what the people do (which was mostly farming).

To survive the streets of India you need a good driver, good brakes, good horn and good luck. That’s what a local taxi driver taught me and he was right.

The 650km from Darjeeling to Calcutta took us 2.5 days to complete. The road condition was very bad. Most of it was covered with potholes. Trucks, cars, motorbikes and bicycles were driving both on left and right side of the road, in all directions, even on the divided expressway! Animals and vehicles being pushed by hand were adding even more risks. Many vehicles were rolling with their headlights off even at night. And we were still on a National Highway designated road.

After some time the road became sand and then ended abruptly at the Ganges river. We spent one hour to find a way to cross it, as the bridge was no longer in place.

This is a water delivery system, as per the Indian civil engineering norms. Instead of having a water main pipe under the street, each house is connected to the pumping station via a bunch of surface pipes. We found such design in most mountain towns in this country.

Prior to the introduction of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the journey from Siliguri to Darjeeling took up to 5 days, employing rail, boat, horse and ropeways. After the introduction of the mountain railway, the ropeways were slowly abandoned.

We found only one such ropeway rebuilt and in operation. A 20 minutes journey took us above the tea plantations. The variety of tea grown there is called chai.

To better understand the process, we moved to Happy Valley tea estate, in business since 1854. The factory was closed and only maintenance personnel was there because it was off season. But one worker took us for a short tour and explained how the century old British machines still prepare varieties of chai such as green, golden or black. Finally, they took us to a nearby village for a chai tasting.

It was such a pleasant experience!

From Nepal we went straight to Darjeeling to find the narrow gauge railway, completed in 1881 – a new addition to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list. The road was magnificent, featuring steep ramps, sharp turns and spectacular views.

There are a total of 12 trains running regularly on the railway: 3 with steam traction in each direction from Darjeeling to Ghum (2,225m elevation, also has a railway museum) and 3 with diesel traction in each direction from Darjeeling to Kurseong. Freight service was discontinued in the mid 70s.

As you can see in the last picture (click it for high resolution) the train used to go all the way to Siliguri (an 86km journey taking around 6 hrs) but only less than half of that is currently in service after a land slide during the 2011 monsoon season. The other part (featuring 3 more loops and all 3 zig-zags) is supposed to reopen sometimes during summer 2012.

The steam train was fully booked but after a short chat with the station manager I was approved for 2 seats usually reserved for officials and staff. The second day we took the diesel all the way to Kurseong.

For the railway enthusiasts: full photo archive and extended cut video.