David S. Demarest

Confession Time.  I am not a 20 something able to travel loosely and freely across this world…  At least not in India in this heat!

Alright, perhaps it is a bit of an overstatement, but not entirely.  Traveling in Asia, especially with no advance planning, is not for the faint of heart.  And the heat only makes it worse.  I could have stayed out of the heat in Darjeeling, but staying quiet and reflective is not one of my stronger traits… much to my regret, I think. 

Anyway, I joined some British friends from the hotel in Darjeeling (a nice place – I splurged), and traveled with them in a “private” jeep done the mountain to the airport, arriving about 90 minutes before a flight to Delhi, which I managed to get on.  Arrived in Delhi about 6pm, and with the assistance of the official India Tourism office, I got a cab into town and a hotel room.  I think I paid too much!

A mediocre place, in a neighborhood I was not overly comfortable in.  But the bed was fine, the water hot, and the TV worked! 

This morning I took a ricksaw to Conaught Place, checked into flight options, ate a the always dependable McDonalds, and got consistent offers of assistance from an endless list of “official” tourism offices. 

As I mentioned earlier, this may not exactly be my “bag of tea”.  I think if one wants to see parts of India there is a lot to say for a planned tour.  Nevertheless, the experience is still a good one (overall), and I am learning a lot about India, its people and cultures, and me.  The fact I have thrown my grand itinerary out the window, not used my non-refundable ticket from Kathmandu to Delhi, or incurred some extra costs matters little.

I have some more pictures from Darjeeling that I will try to get posted soon.