So Toby, why did you spend so long in Darjeeling and why are there so few pictures?

An excellent question. Well, there's the fact that it was lovely and cool, as I have said. The views were fantastic. Let's see... Were there any others reasons why I spent four nights up that mountian?

Oh yes.

I managed to leave my new digital camera in the 4X4 that took us up the mountain. I paid the guy Rs150 to drive four hours on one of the most difficult roads in the world, and then left a camera that I bought for Rs7500 on his dasboard. I didn't hold out much hope of seeing it again, as one may imagine, but the legendary congeniality of the people living up there shone through and, after a few phone calls, I had it back in a couple of days. That meant hanging around for one more day than we had intended however, which was augmented again by the fact that there was no room on the train on the day we wanted to leave, which meant being there for four instead of two nights.

And, although I had my camera for the last day or so, we were in the middle of a cloud and the fabulous views were obscured. The cloud also meant that nothing dried. Becky washed her shoes one evening and Toby could be found that night using her hair straightener to dry them off.

They were damp again by the morning.

So anyway, the good news is, I have my camera back and there will be pics galore. I'm sure you'll all be thrilled, since I have a sneaking suspiscion most people claim to read this site, but mostly look at the pictures.

I am Hugh Heffner.


Toby.