8th February - A bit parky

Our planned lie in this morning almost goes for a ball of chalk when some kind of drum beating procession passes beneath our window at 6 a.m. Calm is restored and we get back to sleep for another couple of hours. We remember breakfast at the Shangrila Regency being a rather leisurely affair so we just don fleeces over our pyjamas and head up to the restaurant.  Things have changed a bit. There are four smartly dressed waiters hovering, so customers are outnumbered 2 to 1. When R's Aloo Parathas arrive we are both impressed with the presentation and, upon sampling, the taste. Early leader in the Radinja Breakfast of the Year running. D's omelet is quite presentable too although beans don't really belong on a breakfast plate and does anybody actually eat chicken sausages? The place appears to be undergoing some kind of upspruce, with joiners busy replacing skirting boards and plasterers making the sort of mess that only plasterers can.

Our room here is most presentable with a very comfortable bed and a reasonably effective room heater. Outside Darjeeling is shrouded in light mist. It takes us a good while to get motivated enough to step outside. It is the coolest day that we have had so far and the sun shows little sign of breaking through. We take an exploratory walk along the ridge to the north of the town centre, past the Windamere Hotel, in the hope of a bit of bird watching. We meander with no particular objective until we see signs to Shrubbery Nightingale Park. Our interest is picqued, what a splendid name! We climb a short hill to the top of the ridge and pay our Rs 20 per head admission.  The park is an absolutely level area of lawns, shrubs and currently empty flower beds with a paved path around it and lots of bench seats. There is no litter to be seen and a team of ladies is busily sweeping up stray leaves. We stroll around the perimeter path and look over the edge. So that's where the litter went. 

We can hear a few birds but they are being reclusive.  After a while we park ourselves on a bench and watch the trees to our front. A few small birds fly up into a tall tree but are a bit far away for identification. Then they fly down in front of us so we peer over the edge. The smal birds are not to be seen but there is a Long Tailed Thrush posing very nicely straight in front of us as well as a Blue Whistling Thrush in a shrub behind.  The small ones reappear to one side and, with the aid of the bird book, we tentatively ID them as Plain Mountain Finches.  By now we are starting to feel a bit chilly so we carry on walking. This park appears to be Darjeeling's premier courting couple venue. There is barely a bench devoid of close proximity and in a couple of places the urge to shout "Get a room" is hindered only by our total lack of Nepali. As we leave there are more young couples flocking in. 

On our way home we stop off at Glenary's for tea and buns. The weather has not improved and there are no hardy types on the balcony today. We retire to our room for an hour, ensuring that we get full value from the room heater. D mugs up about Shrubbery Nightingale Park on the internet. An Indian travel website called Ixigo seems to be convinced that it was created by a man called Sir Thomas Tartan. We think that they have been had. Our afternoon excursion is downhill to the market. R is looking for a pair of socks with a separate big toe that can be worn with toe post flip flops. When we find some they are either in tiny sizes or are knee length, hairy and almost certainly itchy. We entertain ourselves by staring at weird looking vegetables and photographing some of the street food vendors at work. 

For supper we opt for our hotel's sister venue which has a bar and restaurant.  For the second year running they pull the trick of only having one beer available. This time it is Carlsberg Elephant,  rather strong for old codgers like us, but at least with a bit more cred than the Budweiser we had to drink last year. D makes his disappointment known and suggests that after sharing a beer we will go to eat elsewhere.  Five minutes later Carlsberg ordinary strength is available. Consumer power in action. We stay. The food is good and the service enthusiastic more than skilled but we enjoy the meal.