India: Day 2 – Our journey to Glenburn Tea Estate

12 June: Mumbai to Bagdogra

I enjoyed my first cup of Masala tea (also referred to as Milk tea) at the hotel diner during breakfast. “Tea masala” typically consists of cardamom powder, cinnamon powder, ground cloves, ginger powder, and pepper powder.  It would be my first of many cups of Masala tea while in India, it was delicious!

We took a taxi back to the airport for our next flight to Bagdogra. The Mumbai airport is one of the most airy and uniquely designed airports I have ever seen. The white roof stretches high above and is divided into eye-shaped segments containing a circular light in each. Parts of the roof are connected to large pillars, that take on the form of tree trunks branching out near the top. There are no walls enclosing the building but rather many windows extending from roof to floor. This allows the daylight to filter in and gives the airport a very open and clean feeling.

The light fittings in the waiting areas were my favourite. Each light was built to replicate a delicate golden flower, their petals designed to look like they were opening or partially closed.

After a short wait, we boarded our flight to Bagdogra. Landing, the scenery was very different to the city, there were mounds of green grass and hilly mountains and large open spaces. Upon arrival, we were ushered from the plane by military soldiers into the building, which was quite daunting. Upon further research, I learnt that Bagdogra’s airport is actually controlled by the Indian Air Force. The reason for making it an airforce base is because of the several international borders that are located nearby including China, Nepal and Bhutan. So there were very strict policies in place at the airport, one being – no selfies within or around the airport. Many soldiers were reprimanding excited tourists for this and forced them to delete any pictures taken. #GASP! The airport was tiny and totally opposite to the one we had just come from. No air-con, quite dirty and very congested. The staring began from the minute we left the airport, westerners are not a commodity in this part of India and so we were quite the spectacle.

Our driver from Glenburn Tea Estate was ready for us as we left arrivals and escorted us to our Land Rover which was a short walk away in the hottest temperatures imaginable. The driver welcomed us to his Land Rover with a glass of fresh, cold lemonade before we began our four hour drive up the into the mountains. I could have downed the whole jug of lemonade myself, maybe leaving a bit to pour on my head too…I was that hot.

It didn’t take us long to reach the outskirts of Bagdogra, we passed by many military camps and a few tea plantations. As we started to climb up the mountains, there were many small towns that we passed through along the way. The higher we got the more and more colourful flags we saw draped across the roads. The flags are a part of the Buddhist culture as many people living in the Himalayas are Nepalese. They are known as prayer flags and hung in strings to blow in the wind. The belief of the Buddhists is that the flags promote peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom. Prayers and mantras are written upon these flags and the wind is thought to blow good will and compassion into the surrounding space.

Everything was very congested and colorful. Driving through all the small towns made me realise that a large majority of people in India are entrepreneurs of some sort. The place is bustling with tiny, cramped tuck shop type shops all facing onto the road, providing easy access for potential customers. The roads in some of the towns were barely big enough for two cars to pass, add a railway line to the side of the road and a couple of hundred pedestrians darting back and forth across the streets and you have an idea of the type of congestion I am talking about. Then add all of the above to the edge of a mountain upon a windy road and chuck some mist and drizzle to the mix, now you will understand the anxiety I was dealing with.

The climb was nothing less than nerve-wrecking. The roads are very narrow, steep and NEVER straight. You could not see beyond some of the bends and relied only on the hope that our driver’s hooting would alert any oncoming traffic of our approach. The higher we got the more miserable the weather became. There was no wind the higher we got up the mountain…so the humidity and fumes from cars was strong. Traffic never reaches a high speed due to blind bends and curvy roads so there is constant gear changing which in effect then causes more emitting of fumes. Before the trip I had packed some motion sickness tablets for the drive up, but I soon realized it wasn’t the movement that would make me feel sick but rather the constant breathing in of fumes and the altitude change that would get the better of me.

Halfway up our driver stopped at Lovers meet viewpoint in Kalimpong. This was supposed to be the lookout down to The Rangeet river, but due to the mist we did not see much other than a few meters in front of us. We were about 2 hours into our 4 hour drive and a break from the winding roads was welcomed. Our driver had a packed picnic from Glenburn, full of goodies for lunch which he unpacked upon the bonnet of his Land Rover. We were offered tea, fruit, paneer cheese wraps and chocolate brownies. Totally spoilt! I thoroughly enjoyed the paneer cheese wrap and ate quite a lot more of it during our stay. It was love at first taste! #cheeselover

(Paneer is a squeaky, fresh cheese made by adding an acid like lemon juice to hot milk to separate the curds from the whey. The curds are then strained and pressed firmly into a block and then cut into cubes.The texture is much the same as Halloumi with less of a strong flavour).

What we were supposed to see at the lookout point…

What we ended up seeing… After we had devoured all the goodies from our picnic, it was back on the road for another two hours. The higher we got the more compact the little towns seemed to get. Some of the houses we passed were literally hanging off the edge of the mountain side!

During the last 30 minutes of our journey, we turned off the main road onto the most bumpy gravel road I have ever been on…I was glad that I did not drink a whole jug of lemonade at this point. There were huge potholes around every corner and we ended up bouncing all over the show. I realize now why there were so many cushions in the back of the Land Rover.

We finally arrived at beautiful Glenburn Tea Estate, our numb butts and slightly bruised heads long forgotten. The beauty of Glenburn and it’s surrounds is jaw dropping. We only caught a few minutes of the landscape before the sun completely disappeared, but what a treat it was.

Ready to greet us as we arrived was all the Glenburn staff as well as Simon and Anjali who had arrived earlier that day. We were welcomed with lays of beautiful flowers which were placed around our necks and another glass of cold lemonade which was served to us on the patio. By the time we were done meeting and greeting most of Anjali’s family, our luggage had been offloaded and taken down to our Bungalow by the friendly Glenburn staff. We had 30 minutes before the first wedding ritual would be starting, so we headed off to our Bungalow to get ready. Just wow. It was such a stunning place! I will post some more photos of what our Bungalow looked like in my next post.

An Indian wedding comprises a number of deeply meaningful and symbolic rituals, most of which are conducted by a priest chanting mantras in Sanskrit, the most ancient surviving language of India.

The first rituals that we needed to attend were Ganesh Puja, Tilak and Godh Bahrai. These were all held under a beautifully decorated wooden gazebo in the gardens. The pillars of the gazebo were decorated with fresh, lush flowers and greenery that had been hand woven to form long garlands. When we arrived, two priests were in the process of singing mantras to bless the area. We all entered or sat around the gazebo, our shoes were left at the entrance out of respect. Simon and Anjali sat at one side of the space while a large spread of all kinds of spices, powders and flowers were laid out in the middle. We were invited to sit inside the gazebo with the priests and the bridal couple, which was really special, while the rest of the family stood around us.

Ganesh Puja is a ceremony in which the family pray to Lord Ganesh to ensure the sacred ceremony is conducted without any hindrance. Lord Ganesh is considered to be the embodiment of wisdom and the eradicator of all obstacles. Tilak and Godh Bharai are ceremonies which formally mark the acceptance of the bride and groom into each other’s families. The male members of the bride’s family put a vermilion Tika on the groom’s forehead to accept him as son-in-law, showering him with blessings and gifts from the family. Similarly, the groom’s sisters and sister-in-laws fill the bride’s lap with gifts, clothes, sweets, jewelry, love and blessings.

Our foreheads were also marked with vermilion Tika and beautiful lays of flowers were once again placed around our necks. I was asked to gather handfuls of flowers and deposit them in Anjali’s lap as a symbolic gift of acceptance. Jeremy’s whole family and myself also received gifts of clothing from Anjali’s family. All in all it was a welcoming of one family to the other and welcome we were definitely made to feel, despite the language barrier.

A kautuka, a threaded bangle of red and yellow was tied to our wrists by the priests before leaving the ceremony, to invoke the blessings of the Hindu deities. It is said to protect a person from diseases, enemies and other dangers and also brings good fortune. It is meant to be worn until it breaks. When the thread falls off one’s wrist, it is not be thrown away. Instead it should be placed back into the earth – dirt, water, or any other natural surface.

I felt like I head learnt so much about the Hindu culture in such a short space of time and I was utterly intrigued . It was so interesting and a great experience to be part of. After the rituals were done we had our first Glenburn supper. Both families sat at a long table and were offered all sorts of traditional foods by a number of waiters. This was another new experience for me…I tasted all sorts of great Indian foods bursting with flavour and none of the were unbearably hot. This was something I had been anxious about before coming to India…the spice and hot curries…but the food throughout our stay had me pleasantly surprised. We had to request cutlery as most of the family used their hands to eat, which is a skill within itself! Just think of eating rice with your fingers?!

Properly exhausted after all the traveling, ceremonies and a three course meal, we eventually got to bed close to midnight.