Darjeeling – general update

We spent a few days in Darjeeling, sipping tea, taking in the chilled mountain air and getting our first sight of the monumental Himalayas. Darjeeling’s main draw are probably the laid back literally chilled atmosphere, the toy train that takes 7 hours to climb the mountain, and the tea; but for me the most magical part of this town are the endless views of the eastern Himalayas and in particular the mouth watering sights of Kanchenjunga the highest mountain in India and the 3rd Highest in the world. It is an impressive sight that is made unbelievable when you get up for the 5am sunrise and witness the flood of the first light of the day over the mountain.

It is views like this that really make me feel lucky to be here and so fortunate to be able to lock these vistas into my memory, and thoughts.

From Darjeeling we skip out of India to Nepal for a month of eating dal bhat, sitting in the lap of the Himalayas and trekking alongside the greatest mountains of the world. Look out for our pics from Annapurna!

Calcutta (Kolkata) – the way India used to be and still is

On leaving the family stops of Raipur and Bombay we made our way to Calcutta. Now named Kolkata, Calcutta is one of the 5 main metropolitan centres of India. It has a really important spot in India’s recent imperial history, as the sight of the headquarters of the East India Company (the trading company set up by the British, which preceded the full occupation of India by the British raj and the establishment of British India) and also the first official capital of British India. Calcutta is littered with old buildings from the time of the Raj, and has a real sense of the history throughout the main city CBD.



However due to the recent politics of the region (a big communist political contingent) development has been severely constraint. As a result the whole city is like a time capsule of India from about 60 years ago. Buildings are all low lying and old, and despite being functionally out of date, they maintain a massive sense of character. The average man’s life is tough and much like the traditional city life of India around the time of independence. There is a buzz everywhere you go, of people fighting to survive.



I got a real sense the Calcutta is an example of how India used to be, but also Calcutta represents how India still is for the for the majority of people in the country. Granted things are all bright and shiny in places like Bombay, but taken in the whole India is still struggling to provide the basic quality of life that should be expected, to the majority of its people. Calcutta is busy, crowded, and full of people working working and working, but not earning earning earning. Just a visit to the main market is an eye opener to the labour intensive struggle of the majority. The differences between the have and have not’s are as stark as the distance between Bombay and Calcutta – they are poles apart.



I enjoyed Calcutta for the purity of the experience and the lack of gloss of some of the other cities. However it is also easy to see how some may find Calcutta unacceptable and tough to manage – in my opinion it is far more of a culture shock than Bombay or Delhi, and lacks the pressure releasing western touches that these other cities have and you can’t dive into endless western styled coffee shops and malls, when the real India gets too much.



To get a feel for the real India one has to visit Calcutta, but make sure you are ready, and mentally strong!!

A little bit of fame (but noo fortune!)

Our trip to India was primarily about spending time with family and having a break from the world trip after 6 months of travelling. However on arrival, due to the amazing interest people had taken, we were transformed into mini celebrities! and by the end of the family portion of the trip we had done 3 newspaper and 2 TV interviews, and hosted 2 family Q and A sessions for over 200 people. It was an amazing experience and put a new perspective on our trip.



The first thing that became apparent is just how big a deal this trip is perceived to be amongst our family in India, and also just how impossible it would be for people to undertake such a venture. I think it was really interesting talking to people about how we went about planning the trip, how we saved for it, and more about our experiences on the trip – what we enjoyed and where we struggled etc. However more important than that was explaining why we were taking on this challenge and travelling round the world. I was glad for this opportunity to distil what we were trying to achieve.



In essence the most important message I wanted to get across to people at home was the value of setting oneself a new and different challenge and working towards achieving it. People of our age in India are very focussed on progressing down a specific line of travel, towards a job/entry into the family business; marriage and kids. However people are totally unable to divert from this thinking and push to achieve other things. I know that our trip is not possible for most in India, but what was important was to use this as an example of doing something different.

We need to be innovative in thinking and test our comfort zones.



The other main topic that came through this taste of fame was just how we could capture the memories and experiences of the trip for the future. Somehow it feels to me that collecting photos and producing a blog would not do the expedition full justice and that something a bit more meaningful is in order. So right now we are thinking of producing a coffee table book that would document our journey through the best of our photos. The aim would be to really showcase the best of our pics, and more importantly enable people, who are not as fortunate as us to travel the world, to see the wonderful places we have. Keep a look out to see how our plans are progressing!