a whole new world

It would seem like there's not much to say after a day of flights.  There flights work like local buses.  I think if they could find a way to keep the plane moving and drop people off, they would do it.  To catch a bus, you simply jump on...it does slow down...and the same for getting off.  so we went from Udaipur to Jaipur in 35 minutes, then Jaipur to Delhi in another 35 minutes, then in delhi we had 15 minutes to catch our next plane.  They got a shuttle bus just for us and moved us directly to our next plane without leaving the tarmak.  where in america do you get that kind of service.  Then our plane from Delhi was direct to Bagdogra...That was the calm part of the trip.  The 3 hour car ride to Darjeeling was wild...they make our switchbacks look like a straight line.  and we went straight up...to 7,000 ft.  AND it is a whole new world.  there are many nepalese and tibetians.  the driving reminded us that we were still in india.  But our lunch was full of dumplings and noodles with a dash of indian dishes.  So its 9pm and the gang is all asleep.  We did get up at 5 am to catch our flights.  We've repacked our bags and we're ready to go. we love our guide who speaks excellent english.  The weather is refreshing...warm during the day and cool at night.  We have a guide and porters so we're in for a treat.  We'll be huffing and puffing with our day bags.  its alot of ups and downs.  so this is really it for a while on the blog.  we'll be back on thursday night...or whenever the 25th is. 

the himaylas from the plane were outrageous...here we are fogged in but as we go up in elevation he said it will probably clear...hey, if we never see the mountains then it only means we HAVE to come back.  the rhodendrons are in full bloom and they are pretty spectacular. 

with love from  India and soon to be Nepal...we found out that we actually hike back and forth between the two countries.