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We opted for a pre paid taxi ($37) instead of facing the awaiting throng of drivers outside to negotiating ($20) for the trip or take a taxi to the taxi to the center of town to catch the shared 10 person jeep ride ($10). We had a short night at Calcutta but still enough brain power to remember what we learned from our last visit to India. That is the crowds, noise and pollution are exhausting AND that spending money to avoid public transportation was well worth it. The ride took 3.5 hours for the 80 km distance mostly because we encountered traffic and one section of poor quality road. Our driver was amazing. The roads are very narrow in places, so a lot of cooperation is needed by both drivers to inch by each other, Drivers are continously communicating with each other as to when it is safe to pass. Unfortunately much communication is done with the horn.
Darjeeling, being a hill station sits at 2200m and is in a rain forest. The views of the surrounding mountains were stunning. Darjeeling was larger than we expected and of course noisier. Steve found us a fantastic hotel, The Mayfair. It was located on the end of town near walking paths, parks and the Everest view point. Entering the Hotel and it's grounds felt like stepping back in time.
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