After our time at Sikhism’s most revered temple, it was time to head to the land of Buddhists. It’s been many years since I enjoyed my first cup of Darjeeling tea, so I was extremely curious as we made our way up into the mountains to find out exactly what this Himalayan mountain town (and source of the famous tea from which it gets its name) had to offer. Darjeeling is nestled away in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains, and before we even reached the town, the drive proved to be an amazing experience. In the space of five minutes we’d driven past more gorgeous waterfalls than I’d previously seen in my entire life:

Of course, as we wound our way up the mountains and through the clouds, I couldn’t wait to stop at a roadside cafe and sample my first cup of locally grown tea:

Once we made it up the mountain, Darjeeling itself did not disappoint. The people and culture here are decidedly different from everywhere else we’ve been in India – the cultures of Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan are all prevalent here, and I felt more like we were in Nepal or Tibet than in India. Even the people, known locally as Ghorkas, are from a clearly different genetic stock.

Though I’ve never been to Switzerland, the town itself reminded me of an Asian version of some of the little Swiss mountain towns I’ve seen in photographs and movies.

We stayed at the Mayfair resort in Darjeeling, a complex of converted colonial buildings overlooking the town itself:

Of course, we had to visit the tea plantations as well:

Next, we headed off to the largest city in the state of Sikkim: Gangtok, yet another place with a decidedly Tibetan / Nepalese feel.

Having practiced Tibetan Buddhism in my younger days, I was especially excited to get a chance to visit the Rumtek Monastery, a Tibetan Buddhist monastery built in the 16th century:

The monastery itself was absolutely gorgeous, as was the view:

And we even saw some young monks trying their hand at basketball!

Before I could say good-bye to Sikkhim, I had to do one more thing: sample the local alcoholic beverage of choice, Tumba (or Chang) a local brew made with fermented millet. They put the fermented millet in a bamboo cylinder, top it off with boiling water and then give you a bamboo straw to drink it with:

It was pretty tasty – sort of like a mild ale – and I enjoyed it enough that I didn’t even mind all the little bugs I saw crawling around on the millet as they prepared it!

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Check out some more photos from Darjeeling and Gangtok:

Next it’s off to Calcutta (Kolkata) for a taste of Indian big city life at its finest!

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