Monday, December 24, 2007

Merry Christmas from Darjeeling

I reached Darjeeling yesterday evening - after the hardest climb I
have ever done! I took the steep road from Teesta to Darjeeling. 30km
of continuous climbing, with the first 12km an average gradient of
>12%. I've climbed from 230m to 2250m. The ride took almost the full
day for a mere 42km. Enough said!

Beautuful views of the icy mountains, conical pine trees. Without the
covering mist, I am wondering how beautiful this place must be!

This place is teeming with tourists. Just like every other tourist, I
went to Tiger hill, the highest point (2545m) to watch the sunrise. Or
more accurately, to see the mountains getting lit by the sun. Very
nice view, but again rendered less effective by the fog.

Will be leaving shortly towards Siliguri - and will post remaining
stories from there...

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1 comment:

Gauthaman said...

A climb of 2000m in just 42 kms. Torturous it feels until you get to the summit. Once you are there your heart would have been filled with unbound joy.

Muliangiri was a climb of 800m with around 12 kms. If you have time watch the video where Gaurav climbs the hairpin bend at 1752m.