After a late start we headed out a couple kilometers north to the Darjeeling Zoo and the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute at its attached museum. Both were well worth the admission. The zoo was laid out like a Himalayan forest and the zookeepers worked very hard to only include Himalayan animals, including wolves, red pandas, snow leopards, an asiatic black bear and a Bengal tiger. All were quite active around mid-day when we were there.
The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, at the back of the zoo, has detailed history of all of the important climbs of Everest. All the whos-who of mountaineering, including the late director, Tenzing Norgay and first summiter of Everest, were honored there. An extensive comparison of old and new mountaineering gear was also interesting.
Fortunately the fog and clouds cleared out by the end of the day and we were able to get some pictures of the breathtaking view. The monsoon has been late in leaving this year, and we don’t expect to get any sunny days up here. We had a great dinner of pad thai and tandoori chicken finished with chocolate mousse. Fusion seems to be the way to go in India.
Himalayan Wolf
Red Panda
Asiatic Black Bear
The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, at the back of the zoo, has detailed history of all of the important climbs of Everest. All the whos-who of mountaineering, including the late director, Tenzing Norgay and first summiter of Everest, were honored there. An extensive comparison of old and new mountaineering gear was also interesting.
That view is incredible! The Himalayan Wolf is gorgeous as well.
ReplyDeleteAgree; nice shooting, Anthony!
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