Each open compartment has 6 "beds" (two, triple bunk beds) and a bunk bed across the aisle. In the 6 bed area, one the middle bed flips down to be a back rest for all the people to sit with while not sleeping. This is very hard to describe the layout and I don't have a good picture to show. Anyway, before it is time for bed (decided by the gods I guess), everyone sits on the bottom bunks talking, eating, and horking. This is where you meet interesting Indians. Unfortunately, from what we heard there can be some really interesting rides. The "highlight" of our trip was this one horrible guy who seems like a jackass (language barrier) and was horking all night.
The beds are hard and a bit dirty and its a must to lock your bags but we couldn't find a good spot so mine ended up under my head. This meant I could not straighten my legs. Despite the rocky sleep, the mosquitos and the horking, the trip went by pretty fast. We spent a uninteresting night/day in Siliguri and then were off to Kurseong by shared jeep (shared jeep means 13 people plus a child squished into one jeep. Unlike many, our jeep did not have anyone holding onto the back). We did not stay in town but a tea estate close by.
Makairbari Tea Estates is an Organic, Fair Trade tea plantation that grows Darjeeling tea and considered one of the best in the world. They have been organic before it was cool, 40 years. The man behind the successful estate is Kumar Banerjee. A eccentric fellow who we got a chance to meet and hear is philosophy. Despite some arrogance, he has his heart and mind in the right place. He seems to be very supportive of initiatives to improve the community around him. He felt somewhat paralyzed by the political system around him and coined my favorite way to describe India, Organized Anarchy. He is true. There are very few kept rules and it's tough to create change.
We stayed two nights in a homestay in one of the villages that surround the estate. The villages around rely heavily on the estate for employment and wealth. The family that we stayed with was the family of the homestay organizer, Nayan. Nayan and family were extremely nice, welcoming, and pampering. We were served tea whenever we asked or whenever we sat down. The food was amazing and plentiful. The first night, we asked to watch the mother cook to get some tips. She made Momos, which are delicious, dumpling like, Tibetan food filled with vegetables (or chicken). We helped roll a few and pinched a few closed. The cooking area was a bit different. The kitchen did not have many counters. We were cooking on the floor perched on little wooden seats. Everything was clean, it was just mostly done on the floor. We had a great time spending time with the whole family and eating together (actually, they waited until we were done before eating). They also brought us millet beer which taste like watered down sake as it is made from rice. It was an interesting taste but I had enough after my two cups.
We did some fun stuff while we were on the estate. The first day, after lunch, we went on a hike down the hill to see the tea plants and the tea pluckers at work. This nice guide names Passan gave us a tour and afterwords talked to us for a long time about our future plans in a state o India called Sikkim.
It was a great hike and Randy got some nice pictures. Although it is a hike for me, these women do it everyday. It seemed like there was a lot of women working and a lot of men standing around or "supervising". It seems that tea plucking is women's work. I don't really understand why carrying wood and water up the hill also seems to be there work too. Anyway, it makes for amazing pictures because the women are so interesting while the men are much less interesting looking.
The second day, we had an amazing breakfast consisting of Aloo Paratha (potato baked into bread and fried) with a think Dal (lentils) dish. It was one of the best breakfasts I have had in India. We keep trying to replicate it but have not come close to succeeding. This was followed, eventually, by a tour of the tea factory. We did a lot of waiting around.
In the factory, they dry the leaves, then dry them some more and then they sort them for quality. This is the most amazing part. They have the dust, them some other parts, then the tips, then the Golden Tips. These tips are the most expensive. They also have different prices and qualities for seasons and the first pluck is always the most expensive. There is a room in the factory where a group of women sit and sort. I don't know what they are doing but they manage to sort a bunch of dried leaves. At the end, they clean the machines and sweep the floor etc. and the dust that remains goes into tea bags. Enjoy!
We went into the town of Kurseong that day but it was pretty disappointing especially since the day we went into town was there weekend/break day. That night, two volunteers on the estate and a German fellow who was staying at the homestay, came to our homestay for dinner. We had a great time and they even brought us a few bottles of kingfisher beer.
The next day, after some more waiting we went on a hike of our own and then rushed to Kurseong to catch the Toy Train to Darjeeling. This is a small train consisting of 4 cars that climbs the mountain. It was an engineering marvel when it was constructed and now it is solely for tourists. The idea of it is cool but the views are not great when its cloudy. Despite this little description, the train was canceled for the day so we had to take a jeep up to Darjeeling on the worst road I have been on so far. I hear there are plenty of worst roads but this one was pretty bad.
Staying on the Makairbari tea estate was definitely the highlight of the trip so far for me. I am expecting it to be a highlight even after we do a lot of other stuff. Great food, great people and a beautiful place. We could have stayed a week if it wasn't so expensive.
I am writing this post a few weeks after the experience. We ran into our guide from the estate, Passan, in Darjeeling as he was taking a tour around. We then went to Sikkim (the place he talked to us about) and we met him and the whole Makaibari crew. It was a nice moment and exciting to see people you thought you would never see again.
I have found that there is an unspoken rule between travelers. You say 'bye' but never a heartfelt goodbye that you would say to someone you are never going to see again. You always just expect to see them in another town. I think it keeps things easier. Most of the time you don't make strong bonds but when you do it is better as a traveler to say "see you later". Seeing the people from Makaibari is just an example of one of the rare moments when you actually see someone again. It's exciting.
Avidan
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