Accolades

Mike, Adina and Riona Fryer 

“…..The pre-dawn excursion was the highlight of the Darjeeling sector…..The world changes colour slowly, but spectacularly. The Tibetan massif casts shadows upwards into the atmosphere and the mountains start to adopt a dusky pinkish hue. The huge crowd issues a collective gasp as the brilliant orange disc of the sun finally appears, illuminating the tip of Mt. Kanchanjunga with the same orange light. The rest of the range follows, changing from red to orange to brilliant white in perhaps twenty minutes. No wonder the Lepcha worship these mountains.

Far, far to the West we can now make out the tip of Mt. Everest. All eyes are turned towards it before it’s finally lost in the clouds that have started to roll in once again. Then it’s back for breakfast……”

We spent a lot of time walking….to and from the village and along the little paths that meander through the hills. Our guide, Shishir, explained the uses of the plants we encountered along the way. Everything in the hills seems to have some use; if it's not eaten then it's crushed and made into antiseptic or rolled up and used to stop nosebleeds or made into an organic insecticide. Failing that, it's fed to cattle and goats. Even the trash is burnt and the ash used to ward off ants. We've both been totally inspired…"

Michael Buckler 

“…..I had a most wonderful trip particularly the Darejeeling part where my favourite time was in the mountains…”

Nancy Schneider

 “….I spent my last day with Malini, my homestay's guest’s daughter's dance
class... I was fed lots of famous Bengali sweets, cookies and chai in bed which I  will miss..and they gave me a lovely gift upon my departure, a white cotton sari with pink and gold trim...

I was sad to leave all the fun I had in Calcutta and the warm hospitality of homestay family hosts ...they are very dear, lovely people.  I got to know them and their lives from day to day.  It was a really a good experience to stay with an Indian family to experience first hand the roots of Indian culture.  I forgot to mention I rode the metro here, yes, Calcutta has a subway system nicer than NYC's, very clean and modern...I say goodbye to a city with so much to offer, hope to return someday...