Namaste everyone.

I'm here, the last place I'll be visiting in India this time around. Darjeeling, right up in the most northern parts of West Bengal. It's truly freezing up here, and I'm literally shivering as I write this.

The trip was quite uneventful. The train trip was really cold, but I'm becoming somewhat of a master at sleeping anyway. Kashmiren scarf wrapped around my face, Lonely Planet under my head as a pillow, and German-Clown blanket wrapped around the rest of my feebly shaking'n'shivering body. :)

I arrived, not in Darjeeling, but in a small place called New Jalpaiguri. From here I caught a jeep up to Darjeeling, a 3 hour trip up bumby roads. Basically, these jeeps work a bus-service: they take 10 people from N.J. or Siliguri (big city close by) up to Darjeeling, then take 10 back down again. It's the fastest way to travel here, but sitting 10 people in a jeep is about 5 too many - so I did the touristy thing and joined some other white people in a jeep. 200Rs. each wasn't too bad AND I've decided that my last time in India shouldn't be affected too much by budget problems. I've got enough money to have a nice last two weeks, so that's what I'm planning to have. :)

Well, I've found a great room - the view is of the snowy Himalayas, among others the 3. highest mountain in the World. Can't spell the name, but it's about 8,500 meters high, which is a fair bit. :)

The cold is getting worse, so I'm off for a cup of tea. ;)

FOR NOW

Bye bye everybody,

Simon E