Thursday, March 11, 2010

Days 7 - 10 in India


With the exception of early on day7, Darjeeling has been engulfed in cloud, so no mountains. The last few days have been uneventful, I have just been hanging out drinking chai and eating lots of curry and street food. I very nearly joined a 7 day trek to the base of Khangchendzonga, but it was too soon and too expensive and as it happens Kerry has been ill, so it was a good call. Today, Thursday, Kerry and I should have left to go trekking, but as Kerry is not 100%, we'll go tomorrow. Darjeeling has really grown on me and you really shouldn't judge a book by its cover. The town is mainly on the west facing slopes but it creeps up and over a ridge and this is where I've been hanging out, listening to the distant sound of the traffic. Looking east the mountain falls away into a deep valley and at night it is like seeing a stary sky below which merges with the sky above, its a surreal sight.
Connection or coincidence?
I was sitting in bar here in Darjeeling, drinking coffee by the way and I saw something strange. A local poured himself a beer, took a pinch of the frothy head and put it in his pocket, strange hey? I was quite shocked to see this as its not the first time I've seen it. A similar thing takes place in Bolivia, when the person with the biggest head on their beer, takes a pinch and pockets it thus preventing bad luck. I questioned the local but he was too drunk to explain and simply stated it was his style.
Another thing happened too, you'll often hear the local women singing around Darjeeling and I did infact hear them singing a song to the tune of 'Blowing in the wind' by Bob Dylan. Once again this isn't the first time I've heard this sung with a religious connection. The other time was at mass in the highlands of Guatemala, strange but true.

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