February 10, 2012
We woke up in the morning and decided to try the tea from their tea bar Chai Country. Nick ordered the Ghar di chai (masala tea) and I ordered the Irish cream tea. It was an amazing surprise! I expected a creamy, unhealthy tea coming my way. It was art! It was Darjeeling tea, with a mix of natural ingredients and masalas but on the rim of the glass mug was caramel with sugar encrusted. There were also small twigs of lemongrass and a cardamom pod opened like an oyster. Every time I took a sip, the little bit of caramel on the edge of the glass would melt with the tea. Nick raved about his tea as well. Later we met Laltoo, who is the brains behind the tea counter. Turns out he has won awards and has had articles written in international travel magazines about his talents. He is truly passionate about what he does, and it’s very commendable!
After getting ready and having breakfast of aloo paranthas (missed paranthas…we think the reason why Nepal doesn’t make them is because the lack of atta?) we decided to take care of business. Recharge our phone balance on our Indian SIM, get money exchanged etc. It was foggy and misty so we couldn’t get much of the view of Kurseong which was a tad disappointing. But we ended up taking a loooong walk around the whole city and then on our way back we walked through a small road flanked either side by tea gardens.
We decided we’d better leave for Darjeeling the next morning or we’d be stuck here just relaxing! Kurseong seems fit for that. The next morning I ordered the Kashmiri Kahwa and again it was another beauty. The service is amazing at this place and the people so unbelievably thorough and helpful! Mr. Kang (the manager) really helped us out!
So…leaving the lap of luxury…on to Darjeeling!
