At last a Kanchenjunga view

Up at sparrows to make the descent from Darjeeling to the plains below in order to catch a plane from just inside the Nepali border.  Would you believe it?  After all my time in Sikkim and Darjeeling there had been no views at all but on this last morning there were fairly clear skies and Kantchenjunga was just visible.  We followed the rail track up the road to Ghum at 7,400ft and then wound our way down to about 1000ft with the vegetation changing from alpine to sub tropical.  The rail track continued down the mountain to a fairly large town from which people catch the train at 7 each morning to come up to Darjeeling to work and bring vegetables etc for sale. The rail track down beyond that is now not working and not likely to be repaired either.  What a feat of engineering it took to build it.  We passed through sweet little villages with brightly painted bungalows perched on the side of the track and the precipices and at the bottom crossed a wide river bed that had a little water in it from the preceding few days of rain.  Global warming has changed the amount of water that comes down to a trickle except from the monsoons. At the border it was easy to exit India and get a visa to enter Nepal and they even took Indian rupees which is never the case when you stand in line for hours at the Kathmandu airport as I know to my cost. The little airfield building was packed with people flying to many different domestic airfields – everyone smiling and in good humour.  The Nepali are such a friendly and seemingly happy race. We flew along the Himalayas and for the first time I saw Mount Everest – she has always hidden under cloud the 3 times I have been to a viewing point! There was just enough time to collect my bag and change to a different plane from Kathmandu to Pokhara which only took just over half an hour but by then the mountains were hidden under the afternoon clouds.  The bus would have taken 7 hours but would have been far more interesting as the gorges on either side and the villages are always spectacular. ‘My family’ were having a special celebration to mark Raju’s maturity.  He is now 24 and it should have been performed at 14…The house was full of 150 friends and well wishers so I sped away to leave them to feast.  My friends A and G have put me up in their hotel for a couple of nights and then I shall stay in their home for a while afterwards.  My family will probably insist I spend a few days with them too. It is Holi today – when I arrived the Lakeside was full of shouting and happy celebrants of this colour festival – I’ve never seen so many people here before – mostly late teenagers and tourists who were enjoying dancing in front of restaurants that were blasting out music and generally having fun – their clothes and faces were smudged with various coloured powders. PICASA LINK HERE NOW