Into the hills – goodbye to the plains. landedin Bagdogra on Spicejet – the air above the skyline was blue – though we descended rapidl into a light smog. bagdogra airport looks the same as 30 years ago- still just a squre building festooned inside with competing gorkhalad and West bengal tourism.

we headed out of the airport past fields of tea bushes – Assam tea, our driver pointed out. this was plains tea not the mountain tea redolent with the soft mists of darjeelnig ad the shadw of Kanchenjunga.

The sunset rapidly at 4 pm – thi sis eastern india, so a long way from Delhi. Time has a different dimension here.literally and physiclly. we  wound into the hills -flung skyhigh in minutes up steep slpe that would be terrible for anyone wth vertigo.

Entering darjeeling in the night, it didnt stop us from salling out into the narrow streets – despite the full supermoon, there was no view of Kanchenjnga from Chowrasta – the fourways square. But we are here – on th veru cusp of our Kanchenjunga adventure.