Tiger Hill, A Walk Through Ghum and Avoiding the Strange Weather Non-Patterns

After eating in the hotel´s restaurant last night I adjourn up to the roof-top for a cigarette. Finally the clouds have departed and there is a starry night sky overhead. I prepare myself to get ready for a 4am sky check again, although it´s past 1am before I fall fitfully into sleep.

Still all clear at four, so I head down into town in search of a Jeep that ferries tourists to Tiger Hill, some 13kms passing Ghum on the way. A driver quickly coerces me into joining 8 other Indians for Rs80/100 single/return journey. It´s too early in the morning for me to barter and I opt for the former. The driver clearly fancies himself as a Jenson Button and heads across at break-neck speed, overtaking most of the huge convoy also making the same journey. We arrive close to “Pavilion viewpoint” and it is jam-packed. There has clearly been a backlog of tourists awaiting a clear morning; about 90% of the 500 or so people are domestic tourists. Coffee and postcard - sellers snake around the crowds with plenty of takers for both.

Whilst it is clear above us, there is haze and cloud where the mountains should be. The sun emerges into view on the horizon and there is a half-hearted round of applause. Local tourists quickly bombard Westerners with requests for group portraits – young blonds being particularly popular. Suddenly two huge orange/pink peaks can be seen in the distance, as if floating in mid-air. Even with my 300mm lens and polarising filter,it can´t pick them out. And within three minutes they fade back into the clouds and sunrise is now officially over. With such a disappointing mountain shoot, taking pictures of locals taking pictures offers some compensation.

I wait for the hordes to descend in their Jeeps and begin to meander through a gorgeous bamboo-strewn path.

I walk the road from Ghum (Ghoom) back to Darjeeling with four other travellers. The route boasts several relatively new gompas. They look pretty garish from the outside so we decide we can´t be bothered to enter them. I´m planning a gompa tour of Lahaul and Spiti in June and I don´t want to gompa myself out!

The first gompa you will come to is also the oldest. Built in 1850, the Yiga Cholong gompa contains a 5 metre high of Maitreya Buddha.

The largest of the gompas is the palatial Druk Sangak Choling, inaugurated by the Dalai Lama in 1993. It has about 300 monks, studying philosophy, literature, astronomy, meditation, music and dance.

It´s about 9.30am when we arrive back to Darjeeling – it feels like we have done a whole day´s worth of trekking. We order a blitz of a breakfast at Sonam´s Kitchen, but they can only cope with one order at a time, and by the time our last breakfast is served, the clouds roll back in dramatically.

My Rs150 room has caused quite a commotion amongst my new companions, they can´t believe there is a room so cheap. They quickly concede that cheap is not always best.

The thunder and rain quickly descend on the town again, but a nap seems impossible on my bed. This could be my Somerset Maughan moment – especially as I´ve saved money on accommodation. I grab my laptop and head down to the “Planters Club”, a Raj antique with lounge, library and billiards room. Unfortunately, I am informed that the day membership has been closed for the last three months and I am refused entry. Feeling somewhat paranoid - maybe it´s because I look kinda scruffy - I call the number on the card, put on my most “English” voice and am told the same story.

The sun is back out again, and there are now mountain views from the Glenary Coffee House as I write this up. If you haven´t figured out already, the is a new “Works In Progress - Darjeeling” that can be accessed by clicking here.