High time for high tea

Loretta and Wally joined us in Darjeeling, and being in the chilly Mountains we decided to warm up with a little cup of Darjeeling tea. Normally high tea is a seriously classy affair, but not so in India... 

The Elgin holds high tea at 4pm each day and is a beautiful Colonal style building, with lovely posh furniture, where you can imagine the British women chatting and lounging around in the evenings, it still felt that you had to be on your best behaviour and hold your little pinky out as you sipped your tea, but that is where the high tea as we know it ended.



High tea in Darjeeling

Sure there were cakes, and little sandwhiches, and scones and cups of tea, oh they tired, they really tried, but did not quite manage to pull it off. In place of the jam and cream was butter, the scones where rock hard (like millet bread!), the sandwiches were like a fussy kids school lunch (think singles cheese cut into four triangles! - no salmon or cucumber here) and as we are in India there was Pokora (deep fried vegetables)... with tomato sauce!! ha ha! We did hold our pinkys up appropriatly, but laughed and laughed, at first sneakily, but then raucously, as we nearly broke teeth on the scones.

A little tipple at the Elgin

The best excitment came at the end of the night, after a little tipple, when a group of young boys came to the Elgin to sing and dance. We joined in for a bit and then followed them up the street, watching the dark sky come alive with fire crackers and candle light.  It was Diwali the festival of lights and for two days the town had been alive with crackers and I am sure more than one child would have lost an eye as the fireworks were thrown around!

Everyone puts out candles and garlands of marigold and roses like tinsel and go from house to house singing, eating and blessing their loved ones. On the first day the girls go to  all the buildings and sing, and on the day we were at high tea, it was the boys time. They were really very fun! Later we learnt that there is a day for boys, girls, dogs, cows and crows! Each in turn is respected and fed and blessed. After that the dogs go back to being kicked!

Some candles we lit at our hotel for Diwali.