So last Friday after fishing, we went back to Kalimpong and met up with Anju to head to her hometown of Padong. We rode in a shared jeep and it should have taken about 45 minutes but due to the driver driving like a crazy person we reached in about 30 minutes. Anju had stated before that we would need to walk for about 30 minutes once we got to the town. She did not mention, however, that we would be walking directly uphill the entire time. Turns out that her family lives at the very top of this mountain and it backs up to this cliff that you can see mountains in the state of Sikkim, as well as other mountains in West Bengal.
It was totally unreal that growing up she would have to go up and down the mountain everyday to go to school or anywhere else for that matter. She also mentioned that in places where they had stairs, that they had been added within the last few years. I cannot even imagine having to do that for daily life! Talk about life being difficult!
Once we reached the top, we were greeted by her mother and uncle. We immediately had lunch at her home, and were shown remarkable hospitality throughout our time there. Her family is precious and so very kind. We could only stay a few hours because it was very last minute and we needed to go to Darjeeling Friday night. After lunch we climbed some more to the cliff that overlooks the valley behind her house. We sat there for a while and chatted and learned some more about her life and just about growing up in India. It was really a special time and I am super thankful for the opportunity to go to her home.
From there we went back down to the jeep and ended up having the same driver take us back to Kalimpong. When we arrived back, we were looking for a taxi to take us to Darjeeling. Apparently most taxis leave at 3pm at the latest, and it was about 6pm. Some people wanted a ridiculous amount to take us there, and so we were trying to find a ride. We ended up having to call Anju and she got some of her family in Kalimpong to get a taxi to agree to take us there. Turns out it was the party taxi that we were riding in! From the very beginning we were listening to all American pop hits and the driver was dancing in the front seat to all the songs. It was so much fun! At one point the hills were so steep that we were driving on that the taxi couldn't make it up. The driver stopped and asked for all of us to get out and walk up the hill. Of course it was pitch dark at this point and we thought he was kidding. He most definitely was not, and so we got out and walked up this one hill. It was really hilarious and indescribable because he was driving alongside us as if he was a trainer and yelling at us to move faster and clapping at us to do better! When we got to the top of the hill we realized that there was another hill, so we in turn had to walk up the second hill as well. It was the craziest thing ever...but one of those times that was just so much fun and really funny.
We made it to Darjeeling around 10pm and we went to our hotel to crash for the night. I will update again about how the hotel was (read honeymoon suite), as well as the experience of being in Darjeeling.
It was totally unreal that growing up she would have to go up and down the mountain everyday to go to school or anywhere else for that matter. She also mentioned that in places where they had stairs, that they had been added within the last few years. I cannot even imagine having to do that for daily life! Talk about life being difficult!
Once we reached the top, we were greeted by her mother and uncle. We immediately had lunch at her home, and were shown remarkable hospitality throughout our time there. Her family is precious and so very kind. We could only stay a few hours because it was very last minute and we needed to go to Darjeeling Friday night. After lunch we climbed some more to the cliff that overlooks the valley behind her house. We sat there for a while and chatted and learned some more about her life and just about growing up in India. It was really a special time and I am super thankful for the opportunity to go to her home.
From there we went back down to the jeep and ended up having the same driver take us back to Kalimpong. When we arrived back, we were looking for a taxi to take us to Darjeeling. Apparently most taxis leave at 3pm at the latest, and it was about 6pm. Some people wanted a ridiculous amount to take us there, and so we were trying to find a ride. We ended up having to call Anju and she got some of her family in Kalimpong to get a taxi to agree to take us there. Turns out it was the party taxi that we were riding in! From the very beginning we were listening to all American pop hits and the driver was dancing in the front seat to all the songs. It was so much fun! At one point the hills were so steep that we were driving on that the taxi couldn't make it up. The driver stopped and asked for all of us to get out and walk up the hill. Of course it was pitch dark at this point and we thought he was kidding. He most definitely was not, and so we got out and walked up this one hill. It was really hilarious and indescribable because he was driving alongside us as if he was a trainer and yelling at us to move faster and clapping at us to do better! When we got to the top of the hill we realized that there was another hill, so we in turn had to walk up the second hill as well. It was the craziest thing ever...but one of those times that was just so much fun and really funny.
We made it to Darjeeling around 10pm and we went to our hotel to crash for the night. I will update again about how the hotel was (read honeymoon suite), as well as the experience of being in Darjeeling.
