Greetings from Siliguri.  Today we escaped the heat and the over-hyped banditry of Bihar (frankly, some of the most friendly and English-speaking folks we’ve met) to the relative cool of the tea country of West Bengal.  The scenery changed from brown fields of wheat being harvested, to banana plantations, sunflowers and neat rows of tea.  The real treat this evening is a stiff drink to sooth the stress of the day (remember, Bihar was a dry state) — and we definitely needed one.

We have understood from the start that this was going to be challenging, and so far we have done a good job of dealing with the stress and working together.  Deep down, we both know that we are each doing our best whether driving, navigating or managing crowds.  Having said that, finding tonight’s accommodation in the sensory-overloading streets of Siliguri proved too much.  In the mazes of streets that are Indian cities, Google Maps’ routes can be “approximations” that, to date, I have done a pretty good job of interpreting.  Today… not so much.  On our third messy pass through town trying to find our hotel, in a meltdown worthy of the Amazing Race, Jason slammed on Hillary’s brakes and told me to “f***ing get it right this time”.  It was bound to happen sooner or later, and after a couple of drinks we are good, but this journey will test the abilities of any travel companions to keep it together.

We have a shorter day planned for tomorrow… only about 125km.  That might afford us an opportunity to sleep in a bit and not have such an early start.  The day after will likely be a long push to Guwahati, leaving only a 99km push down to Shillong from there.  So there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel at this point!

Cheers,
Brian and Jason