DAY 169 - SHILIGURI

169) TUESDAY, 13 DECEMBER 1977 : 72KMS. - SHILIGURI

 

It was about  05.30 a.m.,  I heard sound of  cars driving to the parking  area at the observatory as well as voices of people talking. I thought  the sky began to clear up.  So we got up and put on some warm clothes because the weather outside should be rather cold.  As soon as we  looked  to the west (correctly) I thought I was in a dream.

http://munichtomadras1977.blogspot.com

 
Because what we saw was totally different from yesterday. It turned out to be a golden mountain floating in the foreground, high up in the sky so beautiful that I could hardly explain how the  nature presented all the beauties.   Somehow, though it was not much light on the sky.  I could see clearly the white snow on the top of  MT. KANCHENJUNGA (8,586 m.) in SIKKIM and the Himalayas, visible on the horizon in contrast  with pale pink color and the blue of the sky  as well as fluffy clouds floating low in the valley below and  mountain ridges behind the foggy mass. It was very beautiful that  I could not find proper words to perfectly describe  such beauty. 

The Perfect Light Show - Photo : touristofdarjeeling.blogspot.com / Bing images search

 

Cold wind was blowing through periodically, I saw thick frost on the ground and grasses.  The temperature should  be as low as 0* C (it was measured only in 5* C in our campervan). As I looked to the east,  the sky gradually became red  and  we could see that  the remote villages had become more apparent. The sun emerged, floating from the red clouds  and projected the sunlight to the mountain ranges to become red-orange color,  especially the summit and then gently splashed to others in descending  areas. And gradually change from red to golden yellow with a shadow of the ridge extends to cover the glacier near the summit.   They were gradually changed from red to golden color and yellow while the shadow of high mountain ranges covered the glacier in the nearby area and finally turned  to very bright white as the sun was rising high. Certainly, it was the most perfect light show on Earth! Perfectly  wonderful  !

MT. KANCHENJUNKA - Photo : wikipedia.org / Google images search

 



I was so relished and hypnotized by the beauty unfolded before my eyes that I almost forgot to take  photos.  I turned to look to the left of the MT. KANCHENJUNGA,  I saw MT. EVEREST  emerging only a little bit far away  behind the mountains in the foreground, almost invisible.
 
The natural light show ended up  when everything looks bright and clearly visible because of the sunlight. The fog in the valley, rising high gradually, turned into clouds.  It was time to get back into our campervan  to quickly boil water and  eggs and make  hot coffee as well as to warm up our campervan interior. Because it was  so cold outside  that I felt  my toes  were nearly  frozen  but  I was overwhelmed with a  spectacular light show  made me completely indifferent. 



 

DARJEELING Tea Farm - defence.pk / Bing images search

After breakfast, we drove from TIGER HILL through GHUM on the road to KALIMG, SIVOK along the mountain through the forest (lots of Teak), passing tea plantations and the river Tista (we stopped to clean ourselves).  We arrived SHIKIGURI and stopped. to overnight in front of the tea plantation.