Leaving Darjeeling

i had waited four days for heaven to once again appear and it failed me.
god must be running behind.
i had full intention of getting up at the crack of dawn because that is when i was informed that should the mountains choose to reveal themselves at all in these winter months - they do so then.
in the early morning.
however.
upon waking up at 5:30 am.
i was cold. very very cold.
(my little clock stating 14 celsius though i swear it felt colder than that.)
and i had no desire to leave my bedding.
none. whatsoever.
and i felt surely.
surely.
the mountains would understand.
we were mentally linked.
and perhaps.
if today were the day.
they would delay their arrival by just a wee wee bit.

eventually we had to get out of bed.
pack up our belongings and catch the 9:15 toy train back to New Jaipalguri.
now.
lots of guidebooks recommend the toy train.
its a UNESCO world heritage thing i think.
one of the UN things anyway.
has a plaque and lots of blessings bestowed upon it.
(by orgs that like to bless anyway)
etc.
old old train. old system.
in India.
can you imagine?
the ride down was supposed to take 7 hours.
(the ride up via jeep took 4)
yet we left at 9:17am and did not arrive at the NJP station until 7:12 pm.
in the middle of it all for reasons still unclear to us
there was a strike.
who precisely was striking-
why they were striking-
and how productive said strike was-
is also unclear.
but it delayed us by 2 hours
and then there were repeated back-ups
where the trian literally needed to back up on the track and use a different one
or something of the sort
then there was the time when a bit of metal from our car got caught
some pole flew off apparently
(or some pertinent piece of metal flew off anyway) and with each hit against
something along the trail
said metal kept curling and curling up
eventually getting stuck on a particularly narrow piece of track
and hence we then had to back up just so they could hammer the piece down
with rocks!

when michiko and i had bought that train ticket two days prior
expecting to arrive at the station at 4pm
and noting that our train to Kolkata did not leave until 9 that night
we felt mildly irritated that we had to sit in that same train station (the one we spen a night in the waiting room) for another 5 hours before leaving.
however.
in light of the actual events of the day of transportation.
i must pass on another piece of advice for india travel.
should you happen to be taking one mode of transportation to catch another mode of transportation
allow yourself no less than 5 hours in between in order to insure
that you will not miss the second leg of your journey.
(and still allow time for an omelette meal)

but.
the most important note.
on the way down.
is that that solid white sky did part for some brief few minutes.
and once again the himalaya appeared as they had on our journey up four days prior.
(ill indulge and pretend they were saying goodbye)
its better than the castle in the sky idea you know.
a grander magic.
the top of the world right there
better than pictures or movies or documentaries.
theres that same sense of insignificance when facing an ocean on an empty shore.
but in such a sense you find peace.
your own niche in the rhythm of the world clearer and sharper than before.
and it was just a small piece of them
and so far off
but i could see.
i had needed to see them again as my first look had been a blur-
a sleepy daze.
but there they were
and though still faint through the mist
those peaks were solid-
cutting into the blue.