Ahh .. A travelogue! The first of its kind that Im writing for my blog .. The one week trip to the eastern regions of this country .. A chronological sequencing of the events ..

Day 0: The Flight to Cal

Started late evening from Mumbai. Reached Cal in the night. Stayed the night in Cal.

Day 1: A trip full of memories

Spent the morning in the Maidan, Kolkata. Spent some time in the Victoria memorial. Decided that Kolkata was too hot to spend more time in. Reached the airport rather early. The flight to Bagdogra. Rather eventless. That is, if you discount the rather pleasant airhostesses that Jet airways somehow manages to select. Coming to think of it, the single most important USP of Jet would be its airhostesses. Dont you agree?

Reached Bagdogra in the early afternoon types. The trip to Darjeeling was awesome!! One of those trips whose real beauty can never actually be captured in a photo, or in a travelogue. Mountains and mountains of tea plantations. Miles and miles of pine and fir trees. Roads full of cute little school kids. The occasional waterfal here. The random stream there. The road side shop selling Veg Momos, Tea, Coffee and other assorted stuff. Shops lined with garlands of Lehar Namkeen and Lays Chips. That was another intriguing observation. The distribution network for Lays and Lehar is amazingly strong in these parts. Every shop seems to have a rather large stock of Pepsi stuff. Kudos to whichever MBA is responsible for Pepsi food sales in these regions.

Reached Darjeeling eveningish.. Spent the night in the mall. Walked around. Darjeeling has a nice street shop culture. Street shops line the mall. Purchasing can be a nightmare for some experienced shoppers. Take the case of my mom, who went throught this kind of experience not so infrequently during our stay in Darjeeling.

The object in question is a set of five cute little Laughing Buddhas. The conversation:

Me: Yeh kitne ka hai?
Vendor: 90 Rs. Sahib
Mom: 90 !! Nahin 40 Rs.
Vendor: Teek hai memsahib. Le Lijiye.

For someone who understands the dynamics of negotiations, it must be easy to grasp why this is so unnerving for the average shopper. As they say, the pleasure of a purchase is often in the negotiation rather than the acquisition.


Day 2: Darjeeling .. The city of tranquility

Visiting the local "tourist spots" of Darjeeling city. Traversing the rather unnerving roads of these regions. As we negotiated the unprotected hairpin bends and narrow roads of these mountains, our respect for our taxi driver increased multifold. Visited a lot of scenic locations. Ended up wondering why in the hell Darjeeling hasnt been promoted as well as some other less scenic hill stations. Then realised it was all for the better. Probably it is this lack of promotion that made this place so much more tranquil and so much less commercialised.

Day 3: Tiger Hills and the road to Gangtok

One of the most publicised events in Darjeeling is the early morning sun rise view from Tiger Hills. The promised USP being a full view of Kanchenjunga and a sight of the sun rising out of the montains. So, along with all other tourists across Darjeeling, we were also unceremoniously woken up by our hotelier at a time when the Sun hasnt yet contemplated saying Good Morning. And we made our way across the biting cold in a Tata Sumo, in pitch darkness, to the promised land. And what a dud it turned out to be. The sun rise was attractive as the sun rise observable from my 12th floor flat in Mumbai. And, the day being so misty, the Kanchenjunga view never quite materialized. And so I left the place disappointed, dejected and depressed, more with the fact that I got up at 3:30AM, than with the sad view. Visited a couple of other places in the Daqrjeeling region, before finally packing our bags for Gangtok.

After Darjeeling, Gangtok was to be an anti-climax. The Lonely Planet travel guide to India that was our single most important travel companion, didnt have many nice things to say about the place. "Unattractive Commercialization", the Guide said. And boy, were we mistaken. And how wrong the Guide turned out to be .. Gangtok proved to be several shades above what Darjeeling was.

The drive to Gangtok was rather eventless. Very pleasant. And quite breathtaking. A major part of the drive was along the course of the river Teesta. Some really scenic views in that region. Totally green locales. Gangtok's initial appearances were deceptive. And matched what the Guide had to say about in relation to the "Unattractive Commercialization" part. The Gangtok city does give you an appearance of being ungainly. But the real treasures of Gangtok lie above the city, as we discovered the next day.

This has grown a bit too long. Hasnt it? Lets end Part I here. Rest will be continued in Part II. And believe me, Part II is where the fun actually begins.