I just got back from a 10 day trip to West Bengal, India.  It was a lot of fun.  A good mix of adventure and relaxation.  We left of the third and took a taxi (a friend of ours owns it) to the boarder.  We drove all the way to Pashupatinagar, just to find out that only Nepalis and Indians can cross the boarder there… it was some treaty made in the 1950s to prevent the British from getting into Nepal… Anyway, we had to go back down the hills to a different boarder point, Kakarvitta.  From there I checked out of Nepal.  We took a rikshaw (a bike with a seat on back) across the Mechi river, which in this season looks like a stream in a river bed, to India.  There I went through immigration and we took a taxi to Siliguri.  There we got a local bus to Kurseong.

Kurseong is the town where Kiran went to college.  It’s a cute little town on top of a hill, half way between Siliguri and Darjeeling.  It’s also the town where his Mom grew up and where his Dad and uncles went to school.  He showed me where he used to hang out with his friends and where his mom and dad used to walk when they were “dating”, though they don’t really do that here.  I met some of his mom’s sisters and his cousins.  I saw his campus and met the man whose house he lived in while he was studying.  There is a beautiful grotto at the top of the hill.  It was a peaceful and pretty place.

Then we headed to Darjeeing… about one and half hours on a jeep.  It was a sunny day and a nice ride through the hills.  We had quite a hike from where the jeep left us to our hotel, but it ended up being better in the end, because we were close to the main square.  After relaxing a bit, a hot shower and some lunch, we took walk around.  It wasn’t a very clear day, but you could see the mountains in the distance.  The roads around the main square are closed to vehicles, so there were many people walking and some kids on pony rides.  We stayed three days in Darjeeling.  We saw North Point and St. Paul’s the main colleges there.  We went to the zoo and saw a light and water show in the main square.  We at beef momos (dumplings), which we can’t get in Nepal.  We also visited Kiran’s Mom’s sister and her son.  She smiles and laughs just like Kiran’s mom.  After three nights, we decided to head off to Kiran’s father’s village.

I don’t remember the name of it.  Maybe Maladi.  It’s near the Malootar Tea Estate, where many of the villagers work.  We got into a jeep to Kurseong and took a small van up through rocky roads to as far as we could, and walked from there.  It was really something to go to the village.  His uncle and aunt live there, and two cousins.  Kiran had stayed in the village for about 10 months when he was younger, so everyone knew him and they love him very much.  He showed me the football ground (they play 6 on 6 because it’s small) and I met many of his friends.  His best friend is Manoj, whose family is super cute.  I had a great time.  It was quiet and relaxing.  The kids took me for a walk one morning through the tea gardens.  It was a good time.  We were going to stay two nights but ended up staying 4.  Everyone was disappointed when we left. 

We got a jeep to Siliguri and a taxi to the boarder.  Checked out of India and that same taxi took us back to Nepal.  And what a welcoming we got…

Bandh!  That means a strike.  There was a three day transportation strike planned.  Figures.  So we stayed in Kakarvitta.  The next afternoon, there was a lift in the strike and we left for home.  We had a good trip, but I cant tell you how excited we were to get back to our apartment… little did we know, we’d be on the bus for 25 hours!  The bus we took stopped about 25 minutes out of Kakarvitta to pick up 25 students and a few of their teachers… it took about an hour for them to load up their stuff.  Then, we stopped for gas, and they all wanted to get off the bus… the driver stopped at his home, to pick up clothes, and they all wanted to get off the bus.  We got stopped along the way, because there was a strike zone for a few kilometers, so the police were escorting buses and trucks… we waited an hours for there to be 15 vehicles in the escort… we stopped for dinner, we stopped for breakfast, and two of the students wandered away… so we had to wait while their teachers wandered around Hetauda looking for them… It should have been 5 hours from Hetauda, but it was a local bus, so it stopped constantly to pick up and drop off passengers… anyway… eventually we got back in to Kathmandu.  We were so happy to get into a cab.  As Kiran was telling the driver about our long trip… the car died… it’s funny now… but we couldn’t believe it!  We took a different taxi and finally got home…