The Journey From Darjeeling
I've been in Darjeeling three weeks now so I figure it should be time to move on. I think I will leave here tomorrow (May 2) and head towards Kalimpong.
Kalimpong, also in the hills, has apparently some of the best Indian cheese. I'll keep you posted on that.
From Kalimpong I will go to Janakpur in Eastern Nepal (crossing the border at Panitanki (India)/Kakarbhitta (Nepal)) then on to the Nepalest capital of Kathmandu.
I may stay in Kathmandu for a bit and then move South West to Royal Chitwan National Park, then back North West to Pokhara, then South West to Lumbini (the birthplace of Buddha) then staying in the South of Nepal moving westward through Maoist country (for info on the situation see here) to Royal Bardia National Park and the to Mahendranagar on the Western border. I will visit Malu Pothi, Jade's adopted tiger, at the nearby Royal Sukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve and then cross the border back to India to Banbassa in Uttaranchal (or Uttarakhand it seems to be now) and then move onto a place call Nainital.
Travel through Nepal will be by bus (with maybe a small portion by Elephant) and I reckon it will take at least three weeks, depositing me back in India by the end of May or beginning of June.
I'll have a few weeks in Utteranchal (Nainital, Haridwar, Dehra Dun) and Himachal Pradesh (Shimla, Dharamsala and McLeod Ganj, Manali) and then back to Delhi and then home.