A quick get away from Kathmandu was a good move as I have now seen on the BBC news that there are many demonstrations and a national strike.
So I made it across the border successfully, after a 40 min flight in the smallest plane I have ever been in - and of course not a tourist in sight, which was great as as always made me the talking and viewing point of the journey! I then headed up to the hills to a small town called Mirik and stayed there for three days. I even went to church yesterday, which was a most bizarre experience, as it was all conducted in Nepali, as we were only 10km from the Nepalese border. As always there was also a great Tibetan Monastery to visit and I hope that I captured some great photos of a monk cleaning the giant Buddha statue's face with a giant duster!
Had a bit of a nightmare journey up to Darjeeling today, as quite a lot of the journey was through the clouds, as we are so high, so visibility was not too good. I stuck in my ipod and closed my eyes for some of the journey as we sped around the hairpin bends with incredible views (sometimes) and huge drops (all the time). I have rewarded myself not with tea by reaching Darjeeling, but by having a lovely G&T!!!
So I am on the last leg of my trip, back in India now and I laughed at the poor attention to detail and timetables of my trip back to India. When I checked in at the domestic airport at Kathmandu they said that the plane left in ten minutes and I could board that earlier flight and they would wait for me - hurrah. Then when I went across the border I questioned whether I had wasted that day in the Visa Centre in Kathmandu to see the High Commission special permission required to return to India, as the man in his immigration office (shed) took three seconds to stamp it and wave me off!
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