This was a very stressful experience. The train was air conditioned, partly, and AC was erratic. I was very hot, and found it hard....no teeth cleaning or washing on this trip. We talked to a guy from the West Bengali legislature....and MP, and it was interesting. He is a Christian, and showed us his bible translated into West Bengali. A lady travelling with us showed him her pics of the Holy Land and he was totally impressed!!The train arrived at 6:30 AM, and we walked for a while to meet our bus at a huge rail terminal, New Jailpurguri. Very dirty but I'm used to it now. Onto the bus, and we drove for at least three hours to Kalimpong. I took lots of pics along the way. Many many Rhesus Macaque monkeys along the way....very common. We were now in the Himalayan foothills, and the winding roads were pretty extreme. Lots and lots of bridges as we followed the Teesta River. We stopped at a cafe for breakfast. We got to Kalimpong, which is where our leader, Abhey lived. It is a lovely mountain town, and we stayed at the Mountain View Hotel....I went onto the roof of the hotel to take this pic. (Remember no more pics as internet is too erratic to upload pics). We took a walk up the mountain, and I took a pic of a schoolboy in his full uniform. The girls were too cute, with orange bows to their black braided hair, but of course they were too shy for the pic. I saw a guy anointed two locals with fresh ticks. I got anointed too!! We then stopped at a local Hindu shrine....quite an important one. There was a lovely view there across Kalimpong.....the mountains are spectacular. Now it is cool.....the sweaters were out!! Then we walked to a Pine View cactus nursery. There was a great mountain view, and the cactuses were quite lovely as the pics show. We went for lunch at a King Tai Chinese restaurant. Then we went to the highest point in KALIMPONG, called Deolo. Fabulous view, over 1600m. Took some great pics there, many of amazing plants. Poinsettias are common all over, as it is nearly December!! We went to the oldest school built in the 1900S called Dr. Graham's Homes, where we saw the school, and saw a lovely chapel on the top. This was a private school built for the sons and daughters of the officers during British rule. A coed school. Pics are great. Then we returned to the hotel to freshen up. Then we went for dinner at Sinclair's Retreat....a fancy hotel chain. The meal was great. We drank Indian red wine. All a big mistake for my stomach!!
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