I love Darjeeling! (And not feeling clever)

We've left shillong for a whole lot of adventure times. 

First we went to a jungle resort in Guwahati where we RODE AN ELEPHANT. That's really the main reason we went there. Jill was adamant about the elephant ride. It wasn't, oddly enough, the unbearable humidity, the dining table surrounded by spider webs catching their prey or the beetles the size of mice (I wish I were kidding). Needless to say, it was a memorable night in the jungle resort. 

What followed was an 8 hour train ride to West Bengal. My first experience with Indian railway? Also memorable. There are some times where it's easy to forget that you're somewhere cool

And exotic and then you'll see giant beetles or see hundreds of people piled into a train or watch as men selling everything from memory cards to samosas to other pungent foods come down the train aisle. It was a pleasant journey though. Some beautiful views...and lots of smells. 

Then we drove a terrifying drive up to Darjeeling. It was horrible. Oh yeah, and I was so excited to get out of the jungle and away from the mice with wings...and then...oh man. Okay so because of the lack of public facilities we've gotten pretty used to pulling over on the side of the road. This time we came back to the car only to discover we LEECHES. Jo found 4 on her feet and I only found one. But we both kept checking obsessively. It so didnt help that our driver kept looking back at us like we were diseased. 

But thankfully worth it! This is the view from our hotel. I love darjeeling! I texted my mom almost immediately to tell her she had to come with my next time. It's the land of tea and beautiful mountains and a lot of Tibetan and Buddhist influence. 

Darjeeling is really awesome, were all sad to leave. I've loved the tea and the monasteries and the mountains (even though half the time we've been here it's been too cloudy to see anything). Darjeeling is still awesome. 

We're leaving Darjeeling this morning but for the first time it's clear enough to see the snow capped peaks of the Himalayas! AND our hostel provided apples! The first apple I've had in a month! I'm gonna go pour myself some freshly brewed tea. I'm really livin the dream over here. 

So long Shillong!

Today is our last day in Shillong so here is a collection of pictures/memories from our time here!

Above left: picture of the intersection right outside of our college. Above right: we escaped one night and visited a park right at sunset!

Below left: They have been working on a fish tank in our college the entire time here. To the right, one of the desserts our chef made! So cute! Apparently he's the head of the confectionary department at a local hotel! 

 

  

Giant caterpillars and giant beautiful flowers 

Downtown Shillong, where we do our shoppin'

 

City streets and kittens on roofs!

Downtown Shillong. Lots of umbrellas up here in the rainy mountains! And we're leaving right at the beginning of monsoon season. 

Well it's been an interesting few weeks. The weather changes every five minutes and so do my feelings about Shillong (these rapid changes also apply to the bowel movements of pretty much everyone in our group. TMI? In India there's no such thing as TMI.) 

I appreciate everyone who welcomed us so warmly but I think we are all excited to move on and see some new parts of India! I have also appreciated the wifi. I don't know when/if I will get internet access again so thank you for reading this! I will post again if I can! We leave bright and early tomorrow morning for Guwahati where we will ride some elephants (yayy!) right before boarding a train for eight hours (hmm...). Then it's off to Darjeeling where we will all try to avoid altitude sickness and drink lots of tea! 

I return to America on June 14th (a ten hour layover in Delhi, a plane to Frankfurt and a 13 hour flight to Chicago before finally boarding my last plane to Boston!) 

A Weekend of Fieldtrips!

When Rakhal told us we had two very long travel days ahead of us, I was not looking forward to it. Bumpy windy roads are not comfortable and combined with the fact that the roads/heights freak me out...a lot.

That being said, it was a surprisingly pleasant past few days: Enjoy this lovely picture show. 

SATURDAY: 

We embarked on our very bumpy journey to a collection of monoliths that are amongst the oldest monoliths in India. We passed some villages, some trash, and some rice paddies. You know, India.

 Here's a picture of the monoliths and some really cool old trees. 

We walked through a market. 

 

 Rakhal asked me if I wanted to go to a temple where they used to do human sacrifice. He asked as if he thought I wouldn't. Come one, of course I want to go!

And there were some really cute kids there. They were super excited when we gave them candy. 

 

We had lunch on the side of the road next to a rice paddy. In spite of our insistence that we can make our own PB&J sandwiches, the chef made our lunches...sardine sandwiches. Luckily Subrata (Rakhal's wife and one of our professors) made us a delicious chickpea and pumpkin dish. 

We then went to a Khasi (an indigenous tribe of the area) village where we visited the home of the queen and her husband. (He is not the chief because it's a matrilineal society. Instead, the queen's brother is the chief...pretty cool!) Her husband greeted us, told us some facts, showed us his beautiful home and even took us inside! I petted the cat of the Khasi Queen...what?!

 

We then watched some archery practice. 

SUNDAY:

On Sunday we were told that we would have a very long 4 hour drive to the Living Root Bridge. It started off as a cold and rainy day and after Rakhal told us we'd have to watch out for leeches on the walk down, I was very hesitant. But it was a great day! It was only 3 hours and an easy drive. We sang some songs and the walk to the bridge was nice and easy. It wasn't raining and the bridge was so cool!

Then we visited the "cleanest village." Like all of India they have a no littering policy. Unlike the rest of India, they follow it. It was a beautiful little village and a nice sunny...and hot...day. Here are some pictures of pretty flowers of India's "cleanest village."  

 

Overall, great last weekend in Shillong!