Heading to the NorthEast States... leaving our dreams of tea farming and the most wonderful Indian town ever!

We got on the Darjeeling Toy Train and it was mass chaos. We were promised that the seats in 1st class were similar to those in 2nd class. But when we got on, we could barely find a place for our bags and Ethan's knees were touching the chair facing us, where there were two other people. The family we were facing were from Mombai and they were only taking the train to the first stop and then taking a taxi the rest of the way down. Their bags were already on-route. Not a bad idea as Ethan and I look at each other and think, 'next time.' Mind you, this is a 7 hour meandering siteseeing train ride on a 2 foot track, that takes only 3 hours by car. We asked the TT if we could pay the difference for 1st class and she said there were no seats, then we asked for a refund and they said that many people get off at the first stop and we could move to the other car. We agreed and were very happy for the extra room. They used the steam engine to move the cars around and it was very cool to hear the choochoo of a traditional train, but for the trip down they used the diesel engine.

The first five hours were great. We got to see people in their homes and we waved back at children, women doing washing, men planting, school children walking to school. The train came increadibly close, almost into peoples homes and shops. The same cliffs that I was too scared to look over on the way up, were now chugging along side of us and I could enjoy the view and looking over them. We saw SNOW CAPPED peaks of mountains in Nepal and Sikkim! We also enjoyed the views of waterfalls, wildflowers, and mudslides where the mountain had washed out. Wer went through the clouds, saw tea estates, men making tar and doing road and traintrack work. We made our lunch of Nepali bread with Yak cheese and a fresh apple. We were truly enjoying the trip for the first 2/3 of it, then we got bored and realized how late we were for our connecting train to Guwahati. By the time we were at km market 22, I was watching each twelth of a km pass by. If anyone knows why they measure in 22km12, 22km11, 22km10, .... please let us know.

So, by the time we got to Siliguri (3km) from NJP, the connecting station, we stopped and waited. Then we asked the TT when were leaving. He said that we should take a rickshaw and not wait for the train. He told us it should cost Rs8 to Rs20 and we headed out to the street only to be quoted Rs100. Mind you the train cost Rs45 all the way down. We went back to sit on the train and go to NJP the cheap way (yes, we are stubborn) and the Indians that told us the price were shocked that they would charge so much. The goal was to go change our tickets in and make sure we were refunded the money and rebooked for tomorrow. But, the TT told us we could do all that in Siliguri, so we got off the train again only to find out that we could rebook but could not be refunded for our missed train. The lady at the window told us to stop at the office tomorrow for a refund. We found a decent room in a plain hotel, ate, showered, and slept.

So, the next day, we went to the train station and they asked why we didn't come last night? We could have a got a full refund but now we could only get 50%. Frustrated, we just took the 50% and spent the day in Siliguri (a city, I don't recommend visiting). Nothing but industry and shops and men that stare because they don't get many foreigners stopping there. We caught the 6:15PM train to Guwahati only to find that our seats had other people in them. They showed us their tickets and claimed to have the same seats. We quickly went to the office to explain the problem and the man pushed me away claiming they were my seats and to kick the other man out. I went back and re-explained that to the four inhabitants of my seat and they just stared at me. Ethan went to find the TT and I hung back. Then I went to find the TT and Ethan hung back. About an hour later, the TT showed up and the man that showed us his ticket, fumbled to show it to the TT. He immediately kicked everyone out of our seats and the rest of the people in our bunk area gave us dirty looks. Our bunks were separated because we were waitlisted and the family surrounding me turned the light on at about midnight then off, then on at about 2AM, and then they all got up and ready at 3AM and I tried to go back to sleep. The Chai/Coffee vendor strated his rounds at midnight. Who wants coffee at midnight? But then at 4AM, we realized we had arrived in Guwahati. Wow, that was quick and what are we supposed to do in a city before the sun comes up?

We walked out of the train station and everyone was yelling "Shalum, Shalum, Shalum" and Ethan turned and said they were all saying hello and welcoming me in Hebrew. We laughed and realized that you pronounce Shillong as above. Shillong is a hilltown and they were offering spaces in their share jeeps up to that town. So we had some Chai (the worst chai ever) from a drunken vendor, then sat down in a restaurant where we confused them by asking for a menu and tea. We were exhausted, dirty, and very silly. We joked about heading to Shillong, but instead walked around the city and waited for the Tourist Lodge to open. We were barely greeted by some grumpy men with mouthfuls of Pan (red chewing nuts that you must spit out and rot your teeth and make you a bit difficult to understand). We were told there was no availibility and that Ethan went ot check out another lodge but it was too expensive. They said the attached tourist office opend at 7AM, so we waited then they told us 8AM, then we got frustrated and wanted to call Spice Jet to change our tickets and leave India. We were sick of the run around. We found out it will cost us 1/4 of the price of our plane ticket to get to the airport in Guwahati and were cranky from lack of sleep. Then we took deep breathes and decided to go to Shillong. There was great site seeing and a hill town would be way better than this god for saken dirty city with bad service, no water, and unhelpful government tourist offices. So, we found a share jeep and got to Shillong only to find there are no guest houses in this part of the world, only hotels. We sucked it up and spent Rs550 on a decent room (mind you our budget has been Rs250) and rested, booked a tour of the area for tomorrow and went searching for a cheaper room. We couldn't find one, the town is booked solid. This is a major tourist destination for Indians.We have yet to see another foreigner in the city.

Our tour was wonderful. We saw waterfalls, caves with stalagtites and stalagmites, and the Bangladesh border. We brought our own lunch to save money. We find the people of this area a bit standoffish with us and therefor have kept to ourselves. I use my staring coping mechanism of saying 'hello' or nodding and smiling very effective. We have one more night here and then we head back to Guwahati where we fly back to Delhi (for two days) and then out of India.

We'll post more pictures when we get to Delhi.
Cheers for now.
Sara Zuckerman and Ethan Washburn