The first night in Darjeeling, I was in an internet cafe checking my email after almost a week. At another desk there was a guy who was talking about his plans and I happened to overhear. I wasn't eavesdropping; he was talking rather loudly. He was headed to Nagaland. Really? I asked him if he was going with a group, and how he was getting there and about permits and everything. He said he was just going to go. Permits were now not required; a passport and a visa was all that was needed. So I decided that I might have a go anyway. Kenichi had also wanted to go there, so I told him and we decided to go together. It was beginning to feel as though I was being called to go to Nagaland.
We got tickets for Guwahati, and then started to prepare. I still didn't know too much about the whole setup, but I had heard that you needed permits and groups of four to get into Nagaland. It wasn't going to be possible to get a group of four together for that, so I hoped that it had really changed, as the information I was finding was suggesting.
The following day I took my trip on the Darjeeling Himalaya Railway. Then the next day it was back down the mountain to New Jalpaiguri and the train to Guwahati. We had decided to go down later rather than earlier. At the train station there would be little to do but wait, and if we got there too early, we would be waiting for a long time. In the morning, it started to rain quite heavily and I worried that we would have to walk down to the jeep station and get quite wet. But by noon the rain had all but stopped. I checked out and then waited for Kenichi to show up, as he had gone for a walk in the rain. When he arrived, he checked out too and we headed off to find a jeep down the mountain. This proved very easy as one was passing by and asked where we were going. But we were the first ones they picked up and so we then spent a good half an hour wandering around town gathering enough passengers to make the trip worth it for them. Finally, we had a full complement and headed out. We took the main route down to Kurseong, but then we turned and took a different route down the bulk of the mountain to the plain below. The road was quite winding and just as treacherous looking as the way up had been, but it was a different view and it was quite stunning in many respects.
At one point, the road had a sharp turn and we faced the plains full on. It was an awesome sight.
At the bottom of the hill we reached Siliguri and, despite having agreed with the driver that he would take us to the station, he decided that wouldn't be in his best interests and he was going to have us change to a local trike and go to the station that way. He did pay for the trike, so we owed nothing more, but I'm pretty sure the extra that we paid him to get to the station is not what he paid the trike driver. Oh well, at least we didn't have the hassle of managing it.
We arrived at the station in plenty of time for the posted departure time, but as often happens, the train was late in coming from where it originated. It ended up being 2 hours late, so it was a really good thing that Kenichi insisted that we go later rather than earlier, as is usually how I operate (better early and wait, than late and wait until the next one). But the wait afforded me the opportunity to see the sun set over the station.
And we were off to the northeast and, hopefully, Nagaland.
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