By Ken
Ford-Powell
Originally published on
http://kenthinksaloud.wordpress.com
Ken is a British freelance writer and teacher
living in Bangladesh since 2008. He and his wife
Vikki, an Occupational Therapist, work for an
NGO as volunteers, living on contributions from
supporters in the UK. They have two children,
Jessica aged 12 and Sam aged 9. All the photos in
this article were taken by Sam except where noted
or obvious.
A suitably dramatic title! One which I hope
you appreciate could have come straight
out of a 1940s science fiction comic – and
with good reason, as I hope you will see. |
|
|
My family and I had been very excited about going
back to Darjeeling. Four weeks earlier it had not even
been an idea to entertain, but a surprise gift from our
agency that pays for us to be in Bangladesh meant that
a holiday was suddenly possible. With no tenant in our
house in the UK for most of the last six months meant
no chance of saving any money at all and flying
anywhere was out of the question. But Darjeeling is
incredibly close to us – just up the road and left a bit;
then over the border and carry on north until you run
out of mountain. |
Not that any of us were upset about not going further
afield. Last year we went to Darjeeling after an epic
tour of Kolkata – the city where my mother was born
and raised in the last dying years of the British Raj.
We went on the recommendation of one of the British
gynaecologists working at our NGO. Though we were
physically wrecked through days of walking all over
Kolkata, Darjeeling just blew us away. We were
delighted to go there again this year – this time with
fresh legs! |
 |
|
Eating in the
Windamere Hotel Dining Room - overlooking the mountains and valleys |
|
|
|
|
So, off we went, last July! My daughter and I were
right in the middle of writing our novels for
JulNoWriMo and had been frantically trying to cram in
extra words to allow us the five days off and still get
the novels written. It was a close thing but we both
achieved our 50,000 words target within the month. It
meant that we were free to relax and enjoy Darjeeling |
properly this time.
I have to say, if you are a Costadel-Sol kind of a holiday-goer and
all you want to do is sit in the sun and give yourself cancer, and
the nearest thing to danger you want to experience is to smash your
brains out on alcohol, then don’t come to Darjeeling – it’s not for
you. Sorry! Just a fact. |
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
Windamere vista -
a monsoon view |
View of The
Windamere - taken by myself |
|
|
|
|
On the other hand, if you crave excitement, mystery,
other cultures, beautiful scenery and a little magic in
your life, Darjeeling is definitely the place to be. The
most expensive part is getting here. We’re next door,
so it was cheap – just as well as we’re penniless
charity workers – but flying to India is not cheap and
not quick if you live in Europe or America. But once
you’re here, it can be virtually as cheap as you like – it
all depends on where you like to stay. We came for
|
something a little bit more expensive
(but not much) – The
Windamere Hotel (room & full board). We stayed
here last year and loved it so much that we pretty much
didn’t go anywhere else. We were so tired after
Kolkata that we just wanted to chill out. The Windamere staff enabled us to do just that. It’s like
getting some kind of all-over massage of body, mind
and soul |
|
|
There were plenty of
other guests there but everyone made us feel so special and so
welcome. Nothing was too much trouble for them.
This year we came in
low season. It meant that the sky was foggy quite a lot of the time
and it rained a bit, but it also meant we had the hotel very much to
ourselves for most of the four nights we stayed. Well! That was a
|
good move, I can tell you! The staff
was even more attentive to our needs and desires.
The level of professionalism is higher than I’ve seen in any Western
hotel. It all made the holiday perfect. You come away feeling that
you’re a very special and treasured guest of the family – thus it
was like leaving “friends” and not “staff”! On our last night, we
were given a reserved room, just for us and treated to a very
special meal - compliments of the hotel. |
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
Dining Room
staff serving my daughter |
Their
famous DHR Club – last night dinner |
|
|
|
|
A lot of this comes down to Elizabeth Clarke, the
Executive Director of the hotel, who has been running
it on behalf of a Tibetan-Sikkimese family - they have
owned it since 1939. A former thespian, she is a
wonderful character who comes round to talk with all
the guests, pretty much every mealtime – Breakfast,
Lunch, Afternoon Tea and Dinner. She eats the same
meals we do and clearly enjoys working and living at
the hotel. |
This is a hotel where time forgot to move on (you’re
getting close, now, to understanding why I chose the
title for this post!). The Windamere prides itself on a
British Raj-style of operation. This level of
authenticity this comes from the family and staff who
are all local - I have to say, this is no “silly whiteperson’s” idea – it is the real thing! The Brits got a lot
wrong when they ruled India – however, what they got
right was that living in India was a magical life. If you
enjoy Downton Abbey and find yourself longing to live
in that kind of era, then come to the Windamere! |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
It’s not just the Windamere that does this though. The whole area has not changed fundamentally in one hundred
years. Some of the shops sell electrical goods and other modern appliances, of course, and there are cars and things
(and even the internet, though I never once considered logging on); however, the feel and style of the place is still very
definitely” old world “
The shops sell magical trinkets that ooze mystery - they come at a good price too. The stalls outside sell all sorts of
clothes and fabrics, rugs and shoes for every budget. It has all the feel of the Asian
bazaar, without the sense of chaos
that often comes with that. Darjeeling is peace and tranquillity itself. |
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
Even the teenagers here, laughing, joking and slinking
around suspiciously in corners, as all teenagers do, are
model citizens in comparison to other countries. Mind
you, I did find it funny when we found the only
shopping complex had almost no shops in it all, but
those that were there were amazing! We came across a
bunch of boys from the local Buddhist school. They
were all dressed similar to how you think the Dalai |
Lama dresses, but when they saw me and my son (my
wife and daughter had gone off to do their ‘oo’ing and
‘ah’ing in one of the shops), they quietly laughed
amongst themselves as if to say “hey, look at those
odd-looking foreigners”. These were boys who were
completely at ease with shaved heads and wearing
Buddhist shawls. We were the ones who were odd! |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Of course, this peace and mystery and ‘old world’
experience may not interest some of you, but there are
other places to stay and other things to do here. There
are museums and a zoo – the latter was good, actually,
as most of the animals have no cages (even the bear!)
and all have large areas to live in, which were clean
and appropriately tended. There is a steam train
running up and down the mountain which we’ve not
used yet, but looks wonderful. And for those of you
much fitter and more ready to risk life and limb than I,
there are the Himalayan Mountains themselves. You
can go pretty much as high as you like and next to the
zoo is a museum dedicated to the mountains and those |
who have climbed them. You can even go on advanced
courses in mountain climbing here if you choose. If
outdoor adventure is your thing, then you can do worse
than go to find Everest.
But for me, the magic came in being with my family.
Both our kids are now reaching the age where the
screaming and shouting at them to ‘damned well tidy
your room’ is rapidly disappearing and they are turning
into friends who we just enjoy spending time with.
Followers of my blog – kenthinksaloud – know that
my daughter and I have especially enjoyed writing our
novels together this summer vacation. My son though,
is no less special in my eyes. |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Sam (who like his dad has
ADHD) has no fear of
strangers and considers everyone he meets to be a
potential friend. I read Rudyard Kipling’s ‘Kim’ last
year and he could have been describing my son when
he wrote of the title character, a “friend of all the
world”. The more interesting they are, the more likely
he is to become instant friends. He befriended the
Donkey-Wallah in the main square, when he decided
he wanted a second ride on one. This man had a pet
bird that lived on his hat. By the time they had gone
off somewhere and returned to the main square about
15 minutes later, they were firm friends and the bird
was now on my son’s head instead! |
This ability to endear himself to another, even when
the two of them do not have a mutually compatible
language is quite miraculous in itself. He certainly
doesn’t get this gift from his parents. I have no idea
where it comes from.
My lad, very wisely as it turned out, decided to spend
some of his left-over birthday money on a digital
camera he found in one of the shops just off the main
square. I was dubious whether the quality would be
any good but, as it happened, I was wrong. Sam took
some of the best shots of the holiday. He seems to have
a natural eye for seeing things and has always been
good at taking pictures. Although he is still working
out all the functions available on the camera, he has
already managed types of shots on his that I’ve never
managed to do on our, more expensive camera |
|
|
|
Nearly finished…………last page coming up! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FINALLY…….utter joy abounds! |
|
|
|
 |
|
Sam snapping away on the ‘Sunny View’ patio of The Windamere….I suddenly saw a younger version of
myself…… |
2012