It’s been a pretty mellow day focused mostly on food and napping. After yesterday’s marathon of tourist activity I needed a rest-day so I stretched out breakfast into two stages having my tea and toast at the vegetarian place that bakes brown bread and then moving onto a late-opening spot on the main darjeeling square for cereal with milk. I really missed the huge portion of butter served up at my normal spot but reason prevailed and I took a break from the decadence of it. I don’t think I can hold out two days in a row though so I will most likely be back to gorging on butter tomorrow morning.

So I mostly just stretched out the spaces between meals with short walks and long tea in the afternoon at a rooftop cafe. For dinner, I bravely ventured back into Indian food territory at the Hasty Tasty, a vegetarian cafe that’s very popular with the local students. I got the special thali which was loaded with vegetables though all cooked to the extreme. Homemade bread, rice, dahl, a paneer (fresh cheese) dish, and the previously food poisoning malai kofta all served in little stainless steel dishes on a large stainless steel platter. So far so good.

Good news, I have finally found the Indian sweets here in Darjeeling that I discovered in Gantok - little blocks of sweet something sometimes with nuts or coconut or cardamom. I really have no idea what they’re called since every variation has a different name - some made with ghee, some with milk, and some so sweet they make your teeth hurt. After hunting since my arrival in Darjeeling I finally found them in a tiny stall, down the steep hillside, in the bowels of Darjeeling’s huge marketplace. No slick and shiny mainstreet sweetshops as in Gantok where I discovered these treats.

I’m now at an internet place that doesn’t support uploading pics so I’ll use one from yesterday when I had high tea at the Elgin. Note the scottie dog on the right at his own table.

Feeling a little guilty about having such a lazy day so tomorrow I’ll try and hit either the Japanese Peace Pagoda or the Bustia Busty monastery, both a bit of a walk but in opposite directions.

Sue Borchardt in Darjeeling, West Bengal. March 8, 2006 at 5:51 p.m.

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