Tuesday 1st March - Darjeeling at Leisure

After breakfast, which is definitely British rather than Indian, R goes to look at some of the shops and stalls while D goes down to the station with the rest of the boys to take photos steam engines. There are three to choose from plus a smelly diesel. There is lots of seemingly pointless activity before things really come alive with the departure of both of this morning's trains within 25 minutes of each other. Once the excitment had passed the trainspotters wandered back up the main street and stopped for tea at Glenary's, a Darjeeling institution. Briefly the clouds parted to give a splendid view of the snow covered Himalayas. R spent time on the terrace sketching and read prior to lunch. Lunch was set up similarly to dinner (i.e. five courses) the starter was a most delicious beetroot soup.
In the afternoon we visit the zoo and the Himalayan Mountain Institute (HMI). The HMI has a splendid relief model of the Hymalayas and buttons can be pressed to light up significant features. The zoo is on a small scale but has Bengal tigers, leopards and red pandas. We both liked the pheasant collection, very exotic. It was fine as zoos go, but R still feels sad that large animals are caged.
We walked back to the hotel, which is no mean feat as it is a steep uphill climb all the way, R felt she deserved a bit of cake with her afternoon tea as a reward. A bit of cake soon turned into a plateful' We all gathered for a drink at the bar and then an early dinner as tomorrow we are all getting up before sunrise to travel to Tiger Hill to see the dawn over the Himalayas.