Thursday 20th February - Back from the Hills

Somehow in the night R's phone moves forward by half an hour. We can only assume that it has picked up a signal from nearby Bangladesh, where there is a different time zone. The result is that her alarm goes at 05.20, leaving us wide awake, with an hour to kill before birding. We had received a vague promise of tea at 06.00 so we decided to sort ourselves out and be ready to go. When no tea materialises we walk down to HQ where tea is produced. Rahul is there but no sign of a car or driver. A couple of animated phone calls are made and Rahul distracts us with birds in the bushes over the road. We suspect that somebody has slept in.

It is the same driver as yesterday and we learn that his name is Bisor. We are soon on the road. It is still misty but not quite as heavy as yesterday. Lanpatchar is famous for Rufous Knecked Hornbills and we are looking for them. These birds are fruit eaters and regularly visit certain trees, and the locals know where to find them. Usually. We visit three or four of these and draw blanks but see some interesting smaller birds including Himalayan and Black-Crested Bulbuls, Great and Blue-Throated Barbets and Ms Chestnut-Bellied Rock Thrush. Rahul calls a tea stop and then we try a couple of other spots. At one point we stand on the edge of the road peering into the leafy abyss. Hornbill calls can be heard but they are quite far away. Then a large dark coloured bird with white wingtips fly's from left to right a couple of hundred feet down. It disappears behind some trees and apparently D is the only one to see it. As usual it was moving too fast to photograph. 

Eventually it is time to go back for breakfast. Rahul tells us to come back in April when the weather is better. We explain that we would melt on the plains in April. Breakfast is pooris with spicy potatoes and black tea. Pooris are just like luchis but made by people who are not Bengalis. The meal is both very welcome and delicious. People have gone out of their way to make us feel at home in Latpanchar and we have had a great stay. We settle up and load our bags into the Scorpio. 

Bisor is also keen to make sure that we enjoy our stay and stops on the way to try a couple of Hornbill haunts but with no luck. The road is just as rocky going down as up although we do meet a digger and team who are trying to improve things a bit. Once we get down into the valley progress is good until the last couple of miles through Siliguri. Fortunately Bisor knows Sinclair's Hotel as the map and road markings give no clue about how to get to the entrance 

Check in is quick and efficient and we have a pleasant room with all the facilities we could wish for. We sort ourselves out and have a siesta, a luxury that we have missed for a few days. Around 4.30 we head out to the Big Bazaar to look for black salt and Orange Bites. We come away with mustard seeds and peanuts. For old times sake we have decided to eat at the Cindrella tonight. We stayed there on our first visit to India in 2011, and again in 2016.

http://radinja6.blogspot.com/2016/02/fun-and-games-on-dhr.html?m=1

 We would have stayed there this year but they had no vacancies when we checked.

A good few Siliguri auto drivers run sleek new electric vehicles but when one hears the prices they quote one wonders why they are not all driving Jaguars or BMWs. Perhaps it is to do with being Corbynistas. After rejecting a couple of quotes we go with the man who laughs when D says " I don't want to buy your auto, I just want to hire it." The Cindrella has undergone a comprehensive refurbishment of its public areas. Lobby, first floor bar and restaurant have all been given significant makeovers. The food is still good, even if they no longer stock large bottles of beer. 

On the way home our auto driver drops us on the opposite side of the main road to Sinclair's then decides he will deliver us after all but gets lost in the process. After various adventures driving through underpasses against one way traffic flows, a local puts him right and we are dropped at the front gate.