Monday, April 5, 2010

To the Mountains!
































Days 92-95: The program organized a "spring break" trip to Darjeeling, located in the northeastern state of West Bengal. It was cold up there, which was delightful. We spent the first night in Khalimpong, another hill station a few hours away drive along narrow, winding roads carved out of the sides of mountains from Darjeeling. In Darjeeling, we did the usual touristy things, but also found a restaurant the size of a closet, with 3 tables and no extra room to move around. We ate a Tibetan dinner entirely by candlelight. Darjeeling is known for its tea. We had a chance to visit a tea plantation, also carved out of the side of a mountain, thus the pictures of bushes. On Easter morning, we drove up a nearby hill to watch the sunrise over Kanchenjunga, the 3rd highest peak in the world. Needless to say, it was hard to come back to Delhi...

Kerala, formerly known as Paradise
















Days 77-81: Five days in Paradise. The Indian state of Kerala includes a series of islands connected by both freshwater and saltwater. There's the Arabian Sea to the west and farther inland are the backwaters. There aren't a ton of pictures, but we spent a day exploring Fort Cochi, right on the Arabian Sea. The next day we got on a houseboat and sailed through the backwaters for the afternoon, night, and briefly the next morning. Afterwards, we grabbed a bus to Cherai Beach, where we stayed in beach huts and spent 2 full days laying on the beach and eating some of the best seafood ever.