Darjeeling Part 2

So when we last left off I had gone to the movies. I got back to our hostel and found the common room full of people so I decided to sit down join in. Turns out I was joining a French couple who were on their sixth trip to India and preparing to go up to Sikkim, a French bus driver who had been to India at least as many times as the french couple, and young Japanese guy who didn't talk much, our in keeper, a young lady from Nepal, and the young lady's husband Mark. Out of this rather random group Mark is the most interesting mainly because hes a little mysterious. He's an Australian who has been living in India for some time now. As far as we were able to determine he doesn't ever work. He married an Indian woman from NE India had a daughter got divorced married the young Nepali woman and basically just travels about. He travels on his motor cycle and has visited every state in India (no easy task). He also made references to connections he had in Delhi. So whether he had money from family or was involved in some illicit business we'll never know but he did not appear to do anything but travel.

The next day I woke up to Jim saying that we weren't going to Kalimpong. Turns out Jim had come down with a case of Vertigo. According to him it had happened a few other times in his life and usually gets better with rest. So rest he did. I spent the first part of the day writing some emails and working on finding lodging at future destinations. After wards I ventured down into the market to buy some fresh Darjeeling tea. After smelling a bunch of teas I came to the conclusion that I couldn't tell the difference in various qualities...so I bought some of each. When all was said and done we ended up with a lot more tea than originally intended...oh well. That afternoon I decided to see what was playing in the theater again. I had visited everywhere I wanted to in Darjeeling proper and couldn't justify paying for a jeep to take me out of town so I could see the other tourist sights none of which I was horribly interested in. Turns out the only other English movie playing was "In the Name of the King". I had never heard of it so I went to an Internet cafe to investigate. Turns out "In the Name of the King" was directed by Uwe Bol, commonly thought to be one of the worst directors who manages to get big name actors and studio backing...I had to see it. It wasn't quite as bad as I was hoping but it was pretty bad. After the movie I went to fetch Jim so he could stumble off to dinner. Dinner was actually one of the Darjeeling highlights. We ate in a little restaurant called Sonam's Kitchen. It was only Sonam cooking so you had to place your order early in the day. The food and the service turned out to be so stellar we went back the next night.

The next day was pretty uneventful. I returned to the market to to pick up our tea, and when I got back Jim was doing a little better so he decided to venture out. We went to the bookstore where Jim had a bunch of books shipped back to the states (he does it everywhere these days), and I bought some post cards. I spent the rest of the afternoon writing postcards and reading in a pleasant cafe while Jim updated our blog (good thing somebody does). The next morning Jim was feeling a little better which was a good thing because it was time for us to head down the hill.