Flex Mentallo

Sadly, up close and personal the Queen of the Hills is very crowded, and apart from the central tourist areas is more like a cluster of shanty towns.The colonial township had been designed for a population of 10,000. Following independence in 1947, the population began to rise sharply, until today it is over 130,000. One day of tourism was about all I could stand before beginning to plot our escape to less well-trodden paths...

Today it still appears idyllic from a distance, clinging to the mountain slopes like a latter day Shangri la...

Darjeeling's name derives from a monastery called Dorje Ling which was built by the local tribal Denzongpas in 1765. Originally part of the Kingdom of Sikkim, it was inhabited by the Lepchas, a Nepali speaking tribe still native to the area. It was first visited by the British in 1829. In those days only about 100 people lived there, and the region in general was very thinly inhabited. (At that time the entire population of Sikkim was less than two thousand strong.) The foundations of the hill station were laid in 1836, when the British built a sanatorium there 'on account of its cool climate, for the purpose of enabling the servants of his Government, suffering from sickness, to avail themselves of its advantages'. It was soon realized that the climate was also ideal for growing tea, and by 1841 a flourishing industry had been established. The British ruling class of the time visited Darjeeling every summer. The picture below is from 1912.

I have waited to see it for many, many years.

At an elevation of 28,169 feet, it is the third highest mountain in the world. Gangs chen mdzod lnga literally means 'The five treasures of the high snow', and is considered sacred. To respect this climbers always stop short of the summit.

It is just suddenly there.

The mountain comes into view without warning.

Because it is frequently hidden by clouds, it is said that many people come to Darjeeling to view the mountain only to leave disappointed. But today the air is crystal clear.

Kangchenjunga.