I forgot to tell you an important detail of our first night at the Ashram… We do not know that an important Hindu festival has just begun that will last for a week. We go to bed around 22h30 and sleep as good as we can along with the noise of the constant trucks and vehicles going by on the main road. Then suddendly at about 12 pm we are woken up by a loudspeaker and chanting. It is so loud it sounds like it is just outside our window! It is impossible to fall asleep again even with earplugs… The chanting goes on all night and the strangest thing is that it sounds like someone is practicing for a show or something and keeps repeating «testing 123». Oh well, what to do…
The next morning everyone comes to breakfast with heavy eyes asks each other if have had also heard the festival…The sisters tell us that it was quite common in the area and that you just get used to it after a night or two… Are we ever glad to be going to Darjeeling today! Actually it is forbidden to put the prayers or chanting on the loudspeaker and make everyone listen to eat days in a row, but who follows the rules in India…
After breakfast we are ready to go to the train station in Siliguri and catch the famous Toy Train up to Darjeeling. I have been wanting to take this train for years and somehow it has never worked out, so this is our chance. After hearing from everyone at the Ashram, why would you want to take that train it is so slow, it will take you 8 hours and you can walk faster or why don't you take one of the collective taxis that brings you up in 3 hours... we just smile and say good-bye head for the road to catch a shared rickshaw to town. They must think we are crazy...
As we pass by General Ward and look to say good-bye to Julius we are introduced to Stephan, the Bishop of Darjeeling. He is on a visit to the Ashram bringing some patients to be treated here. He smiles at us and when he hears we are going up to Darjeeling offers to take us up with his jeep and driver. We kindly refuse and say thank you, but we are going to catch the Toy Train. He insists on giving us his card and phone number in case we miss the train.
When we arrive at the station we head to the ticket counter and say 2 tickets for the Toy Train to Darjeeling please. The man at the booth smiles at us and says, sorry there is an on going strike and the Toy Train is not running this week... Just our luck... So we end up calling up the Bishop and ask if there is still room in his jeep for us, we are not taking the train after all! He laughs and says that hewill be there shortly.
As he picks us up (with his Nepali driver) he says he has a few errands to do before leaving so he drops us off at the Bishop of Siliguris place to wait. We have an interesting conversation with him about world religions, etc. When he is back we begin our ascent to Darjeeling. He is happy to have us along for the ride and takes the longer route today. He plays some nice Nepali music for us in the car and explains many things about the area we are driving by. He is very open and has traveled to many countries.
On the way we stop at an orphanage run by the CC Sisters (Catholic Calcutta Sisters) for babies waiting to be adopted. A rich British man has donated the big house to the church many years ago and ever since it has been an orphanage. We are very touched by the 5 sisters work taking care of the 28 babies from a few months old to 2 years. Each baby is in a separate wooden crib coverd in hand knitted blankets and clothes. All the clothes here are washed by hand in big tubs outside and hung on clothes lines in the courtyard.
They tell us that they do not receive many visitors anymore due to most people now taking the faster road to Darjeeling. Nevertheless they look extremely pleased that we have taken the time to stop in and visit them. We are apparently the first visitors of the year. Bishop Stephan is deeply loved by everyone we meet, especially the sisters. You can tell that some of the sisters are quite lonely though. They are only permitted to go home to their families once every 10 years! That is quite hard to imagine for us... At the Ashram the Sisters go home for about 3 weeks every year.
After a delicious lunch we are off to continue or journey to Darjeeling.
The next morning everyone comes to breakfast with heavy eyes asks each other if have had also heard the festival…The sisters tell us that it was quite common in the area and that you just get used to it after a night or two… Are we ever glad to be going to Darjeeling today! Actually it is forbidden to put the prayers or chanting on the loudspeaker and make everyone listen to eat days in a row, but who follows the rules in India…
After breakfast we are ready to go to the train station in Siliguri and catch the famous Toy Train up to Darjeeling. I have been wanting to take this train for years and somehow it has never worked out, so this is our chance. After hearing from everyone at the Ashram, why would you want to take that train it is so slow, it will take you 8 hours and you can walk faster or why don't you take one of the collective taxis that brings you up in 3 hours... we just smile and say good-bye head for the road to catch a shared rickshaw to town. They must think we are crazy...
As we pass by General Ward and look to say good-bye to Julius we are introduced to Stephan, the Bishop of Darjeeling. He is on a visit to the Ashram bringing some patients to be treated here. He smiles at us and when he hears we are going up to Darjeeling offers to take us up with his jeep and driver. We kindly refuse and say thank you, but we are going to catch the Toy Train. He insists on giving us his card and phone number in case we miss the train.
When we arrive at the station we head to the ticket counter and say 2 tickets for the Toy Train to Darjeeling please. The man at the booth smiles at us and says, sorry there is an on going strike and the Toy Train is not running this week... Just our luck... So we end up calling up the Bishop and ask if there is still room in his jeep for us, we are not taking the train after all! He laughs and says that hewill be there shortly.
As he picks us up (with his Nepali driver) he says he has a few errands to do before leaving so he drops us off at the Bishop of Siliguris place to wait. We have an interesting conversation with him about world religions, etc. When he is back we begin our ascent to Darjeeling. He is happy to have us along for the ride and takes the longer route today. He plays some nice Nepali music for us in the car and explains many things about the area we are driving by. He is very open and has traveled to many countries.
On the way we stop at an orphanage run by the CC Sisters (Catholic Calcutta Sisters) for babies waiting to be adopted. A rich British man has donated the big house to the church many years ago and ever since it has been an orphanage. We are very touched by the 5 sisters work taking care of the 28 babies from a few months old to 2 years. Each baby is in a separate wooden crib coverd in hand knitted blankets and clothes. All the clothes here are washed by hand in big tubs outside and hung on clothes lines in the courtyard.
They tell us that they do not receive many visitors anymore due to most people now taking the faster road to Darjeeling. Nevertheless they look extremely pleased that we have taken the time to stop in and visit them. We are apparently the first visitors of the year. Bishop Stephan is deeply loved by everyone we meet, especially the sisters. You can tell that some of the sisters are quite lonely though. They are only permitted to go home to their families once every 10 years! That is quite hard to imagine for us... At the Ashram the Sisters go home for about 3 weeks every year.
After a delicious lunch we are off to continue or journey to Darjeeling.
