There is a lot to say about Darjeeling

One of the tallest mountains in the Himalayas

The next day we woke up at 3:30 am to go to Tiger Hill to see the sunrise and hopefully spot the Himalayan mountains (on REALLY good days you can even spot Everest). The sunrise was beautiful and we were able to spot some of the Himalayas in the background. Tiger Hill is a good vantage point to see nature but it also was rather crowded and had lots of tourists.

Sunrise at Tiger Hill

After leaving Tiger Hill we went to another Buddhist temple. On taking off our shoes and entering the temple, we came upon a prayer wheel. Entering even further, we discovered a large statue of Buddha and decorative paintings across the walls of Buddha and his life. There were several other statues in the temple of other monks and poses of Buddha. The temple was completely elaborate in all its decoration and I just wanted to sit there all day and stare at everything.

Colorful statue of Buddha at the temple

Eventually we had to move back to the cars so we could go have breakfast, do some last minute shopping, and pack up to head back to the train station. On our way back to the train station, we drove by and stopped for a minute or two near a toll gate. A man was standing there lifting the gate up and down for cars and people who wanted to get through to the other side. Arandati (a host parent) told us that beyond the gate was Nepal. We were 20 feet away from being in Nepal! She said that they used to let people cross the border (beyond the gate was a street full of Nepalese shops) to go shopping, but they didn't allow that anymore. Normally when I think of border control, I think of men holding guns and shooting trespassers, but apparently in India it is just a man lifting and lowering a gate.

The elaborate walls of the temple

After stopping to eat a late lunch, we arrived at the train station and boarded the air conditioned area this time in order to get back to Kolkata. I know that if I ever come back to India, I definitely want to go back to the beautiful town of Darjeeling :)

The gate separating India from Nepal