The clouds are obscuring the view from my window now. After lunch we left the hotel in a Standard Nine for the return through Teesta Valley – very narrow road through magnificent scenery – single track and tremendous drop on my left. Did not get the thrills previously experienced because the car was small and the driver inexperienced. Hair pin bends were negotiated without difficulty and after a drop of 4,500 feet in two hours we entrained at Geille Khola, a terminus on one of the lines of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. We then had a three hours’ ride in a narrow gauge railways. The engine was usually visible from our window owing to the severe curve and loops, and it whistles continually. We clattered and rattled on the brink of the mountain-side and at each little wayside station there was lots of yelling from the natives. Unfortunately darkness set in and deprived us of the wonderful views. We arrived in Siliguri, had dinner and then boarded the mail train for Calcutta. Our beds were prepared by the bearer and we slept until Calcutta was reached at 7am. After breakfast at the Great Eastern Hotel and a change into lighter clothing we strolled down the Main Street and through the New Market. Although it was Sunday the market was very busy – in fact it is their busiest day. Siewert joined joined us at lunch and was pleased to see he was much better. His stirrup iron had been bent by the kick of the horse and if the kick had landed full on his leg it would no doubt have been broken.
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