... a proper meal ! prepared by Mr Marcaud... no way yo'll find something better ! 28th of June, the crepe lunch
"Mum, when are you going to bring me home ?" That's the question Thomas seems to ask us hours after the arrival in Grenoble ( not quite yet in Annecy !), as he builds his own home!
Welcoming you just before you enter the Taj mahal in Agra are the monkeys, dozens of them... beware not to hold any food, they are thieves !
a little steam train called the toy train runs from Darjeeling to New Jalaipuri where you take the train to Calcutta. Its train station signs look familiar....
It is 11:00. The tea workers head back with their tea leav crops in their baskets. Raja know them invidually. Most of these women are educated, the birth rate is low amongst them and their children are all going to school.
Raja and Stephan in the tea garden. This "middle size" estate is huge, comprising 17 villages. Only one third of the land is cultivated, the rest is left as jungle, which is part of the eco-composting that Raja has put in place since he inherited the land. Makaibari is the only tea garden which only ever had Indian owners.
We met with a tea buyer here to taste tea, test the quality and eventually buy it. Did you know that tea bulks were sold by auction ? He confirmed that Makaibari's tea are amongst the most expensive ones. But, even if you earn money, life is tough for tea people : jsut 3 weeks after we were there, the tea garden was struck by a tornado and a part of the estate was destroyed.
This picture is the only one for which I almost got into trouble : the police overseeing the mass movement looked quite angry as they asked me to put my camera down. As Thomas was crying in front of 4 street children, amazed at the sight, and Stephane was away looking for some food we could take with us ( in fact, apart from crisps and biscuits, yo can't find much : our menu was made of plain rice served in the train as we can't eat the curry, far too hot for us) I put up my best "sorry" smile to avoid trouble.
We are delighted to find fresh air after a 20 hour journey. The night arrived late, so we could afford a spleep in, and we loved it. 4 more hours uphill in a jeep ( the road in bad) and we are in the Himmalayas ! The road doesn't go quite up to the hotel so we are helped with our luggages here, but why wouln't you roll them ? because the roads are full of holes and there are quite a few steps. These 2 sherpas are women.
Darjeeling is a built on the hills. It is a charming sights. Mountains here are so vasts, it's like the Alps blown up 10 times. Valleys are so gigantic you can hardly see the other side and mountain peaks disapear in the mist or the clouds. Here, although you are in the middle of the Himmalayas, you only see the high summits after the rain when the air has been completely washed. It is from here that the great expedition that first reached Mount Everest's summit in 1953 was prepared.
In front of the surreal Dubai skyline, on the palme tree polder land ( reclaimed from sea).
Last row from L to R Stephane, Caroline, Guilaume and Hughes. Front : Manon Gabrielle, Clothilde (hidding), Romane, Thomas and Alix.
Guess who are the 2 sarchophages ? A hint : 2 brave men who did not fear to find a scorpion in their shoes in the morning. True we were a bit short of space in the tents, but most of all, it's so much quieter to sleep witout the children !
In the morning, the children of the 8 families gathered on that spot started ( from 6:00, time of this picture, minutes later, with the noise, they were up!) sand sledging... by 9 it was too hot and we went.
Malborough dune is indeed steep. I did step out of the car and go by foot !
