• E N R O U T E / / A D V E N T U R E T R A V E L
© NYIRAGONGO / ADOBESTOCK
Weaving through the village streets with their maze of small shops and hawkers , colourful ribbons and flags flying from buildings and bridges announced the approach of Diwali , the Hindu festival of lights . Soon the space opened up and the constant sound of car hooters was replaced by the screech of cicadas . An incredibly steep and seemingly endless climb took us out of the plains . I avoided looking at the scary drop-offs and focused on the green , rolling hills of tea plantations as we chased the sunset . The hills made my stomach churn as I grasped what we were in for on the run . Mr Pandey , the founder and organiser of the race , greeted us in Mirik . Thirty-five athletes from 14 countries were gathered , all keen to explore the tea plantations , orchid nurseries and other sites . At sunrise we wandered up to the colourful Boka Temple . Slipping off our shoes we snuck into morning prayers and listened to the chanting and occasional interludes from
Clockwise from far left : Local transport in the Himalayas is mainly left to short wheelbase Land Rovers , best suited to handling the precarious terrain . The mountains are dotted with holy temples . Local crowd support during the race is always strong . No time to yak along the way . Fiona McIntosh and Theresa Horn , two of the three South Africans who competed in the
2016 event .
© ADEY
drums , cymbals and conch shells . Monks came and went . Tea was served . Young kids in the back rows wriggled and giggled . In the evenings , when the shops lit up and the markets were alive , we walked the streets . We had more acclimatising to do , though , so we journeyed to the famous British hill station of Darjeeling , where we visited the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park and peered into the cages at mythical creatures like the snow leopard and Bengal tiger . At the Himalayan
I avoided looking at the scary drop-offs and focused on the green , rolling hills as we chased the sunset .
© KITTIPINYOWAT / SHUTTERSTOCK
Mountaineering Institute we paid our respects at the tomb of local legend Sherpa Tenzing Norgay , who – along with Sir Edmund Hillary – claimed the first ascent of Mt Everest . Then came my highlight : a ride on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway , built between 1879 and 1881 . When she was a child my grandmother lived in the Himalayas and rode to school on this “ Toy Train ” that puffs along a narrow gauge track between Darjeeling and New Jalpaiguri . Today the track shares much of the tar road through town , bringing traffic in Darjeeling to a grinding halt daily . But residents take the inconvenience in their stride , parking their cars to one side and hopping out to wave and take photos .
© OLEG / SHUTTERSTOCK
MAKE MEMORIES FOR LIFE // 37