Pay Attention! At The Darjeeling Zoo

Why stop at a little "Don't Feed The Animals" sign? At the Darjeeling zoo, there were all sorts of interesting directions for the humans.

Let's make a little religious reference.

Quiet, the weird pictures of kids on a sign are trying to make you shut up. Do you want to be in a cage?

Dustbin and sign reinforcement.

A little canine connection to the history of the zoo. Another shh! sign with a cute, hand painted touch.

A Visit To The Darjeeling Zoo

Little Darjeeling actually has a nice zoo to visit. It's small, but well laid out with a variety of animals from the surrounding area. Forget about pink flamingos. But if your neighborhood includes red pandas, Bengal tigers and snow leopards, you get to have an impressive little zoo.

A black bear was there to greet you.

Red pandas were in abundance, filling several cages. Snap! Hanging out, both in a cage and out.

The people watching was also fun, folks moving along a path as if on a conveyor belt or crowded together like paparazzi.
The zoo had a bit of a mystical feel, due to its hillside location at high altitude.

Darjeeling Portraits

Time to sit (or, more likely, stand) for a portrait in Darjeeling.

Girl in town square.

Appliance salesman and girl on hillside footpath.

Two girls who just left a celebration.

Prayer flag store couple and a couple in front of their home.

Boy and elderly man on top of a hill.

School kids and canteen customer.

One more visit with the town square girl, this time with her brother. Cute!

Touring A Tea Factory In Darjeeling

See the tea plantation and then tour the factory.  See how the tea is grown, then see it ground, dried and ready for brewing.

The machinery is straight out of a Dickens novel.  British steel all the way.

Old school record keeping. The drying machine.

Sarah supervising. Do not cross the tea master.

That's some tea bag. A dryer machine medallion, featuring the big four Indian cities of Delhi, Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. Classic.

The calm, spare drying room. Love the desk chair support.

It's easy to figure out where to put the fire extinguishers. You are at a tea facility, no spitting! Slurping, OK.

The tea factory workers.

On The Tea Tour In Darjeeling

Yes, going to Darjeeling means checking out tea. Hop in a car, head out of town and invariably you bump into a tea plantation. The hills are alive with tea bushes. And tourists.

A typical, mythical sight. Rolling hills of lush, green tea plants.

The thing to do is stop at a tourist-friendly tea plot and get your picture taken in old fashioned tea-picking garb. These folks aren't the real thing, but families pretending. Sort of like those Wild West old time photo booths back home. "Look Ma, I'm a tea picker!"

When you're done fake picking, time to do some real buying at one of the many field-side stalls. Another look at a view that never gets old.

Time for tea tasting. Off to Puttabong for a little slurping.

Sarah in the tasting room and a tea master getting the selections ready.

Bottoms up from Sarah and her brother Tony.

Tourist Sightings, Darjeeling

Talalays Gone Wild!

Sarah's brother Tony.

Sarah herself.

And James

On The Road Repair In Darjeeling

Up in the foothills of the Himalayas, it's frequently wet and slippery. The roads are narrow, windy and at grades not found in other parts of the world. Anything you can add to the road surface for traction is a welcome addition. Bring on the rock grippers.

A typical road crew installing rocks.

Forget about orange cones safely marking the work area, you claim your construction turf at your own peril. Pour and pray.

A thin layer of asphalt goes down and then the rocks come out.

Time to pound away. Let dry and the road ends up looking like a giant piece of rough grit sandpaper.