The way up

Our flight had left too early in the morning for us to have a decent cup of tea before starting from home. We had a little time for an early breakfast after checking in, and then we caught up on sleep through the flight. It landed in Bagdogra airport, just before the land slopes up to the mountains. When we met our driver at the exit, I requested a halt for tea at the earliest. He insisted that we should not have tea on the plains, but that he would halt as soon as we started out climb to Darjeeling. That was good enough for us. Half an hour later we’d stopped at John Restaurtant. It wasn’t clear whether it was named after the owner or the apostle. When we walked passed the rolled up shutters we found that, in spite of the advertisement, there was no tea. We could have coffee instead. It was definitely the apostle. The yellow chair looked too good not to take a photo of, and I was happy that I could also get a door through a door through a door in the same photo.

The architecture changes as soon as you climb a few hundred meters up the hills. Brick and mortar is no longer the rule. Wood and metal begin to become common. I suppose hauling bricks up to the hills is costly, and there are those who’ll use materials which are mostly brought downhill. The other noticeable change is the colours of the houses: they are always bright and cheerful. And, of course, many of the houses have gardens, or at least window boxes and planters. At these lower heights this is a wonderful season for flowers.

Soon we began to see the typical Pahari construction, with entrances to houses being at the uppermost floor. I always envy the views that they must have over valleys. In the hills of Bengal construction workers tend to be less careful than those in other hills. You can see evidence of this in the steel rods which jut out of walls and posts, posing a common danger. In other parts of the hills these are cut off before plaster and paint are applied. However, the colours are always cheerful, matching the winter’s beauty of flowers.