Why India- Tea in the Parlor Makes the Ladies Holler

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Tea in the Parlor Makes the Ladies Holler

This year, we forewent a tropical Christmas (and 2 a.m. volcano hikes) and headed for the Himalayas to celebrate the birth of baby Je-sus. After a harrowing three hour drive up bumpy mountain roads, we arrived in Darjeeling, a town near the Indian-Nepalese border.

Darjeeling is famous for its tea plantations. The area was colonized by the Brits in the 19th century and became a hillside retreat for the colonialists during the summer. Tea production quickly followed, since we all know Brits can’t live without tea and crumpets.

Rolling tea fields

Mother in a tea shop

The actual city of Darjeeling is rather crowded and industrial, characterized by little shacks, a large market, and the scent of burning coal.

The main market, where Charlie and I negotiated with vendors to buy 60 winter hats for $1.30 each. He plans to sell them as “authentic Nepalese hats” to CofC students for $12 each when he returns to campus.

Charlie with his new best friend, the hat lady.

Colorful skirts

Mother and I spent hours looking at silver jewelry, turquoise tea kettles, and Buddha statues at the shops.

Click below to read about our treacherous railway journey through the Himalayas:

Darjeeling is also famous for its railways, as seen in The Darjeeling Limited. We took a quick two hour train journey on the Toy Train to the town of Ghum.

Charles on the train

The train runs on coal, and we had to stop half-way through to re-fill the engine. You can imagine the impact the train has on the environment, especially since it goes right through the town, passing within arms-length of fruit and vegetable vendors.

Spice vendor near the train tracks

We saw the cutest child ever at the train station. I’d also like to note that I accomplished my goal of being the token firang in a stranger’s photo. A man asked me to pose with his son at the first stop in the railway journey.