After waiting for Matt & Nat to get a reliable connection to the internet, we finally got the fourth installment of their trip in India.

They flew Kingfisher airlines – yes, it is the same company as the beer – before landing and taking a 3 hour ride up to Darjeeling and their home away from home, Dekeling Hotel; here the geysers make heat, the carpets are red and the showers still have buckets!

On the ride, American capitalism invades the rural mountain communities. Corrugated metal shanties are labeled with shining signage featuring 7-up logos amidst mountain views and free roaming cattle. Thankfully, warm Tibetan butter tea and brothy soups with thick homemade noodles welcome the two in their new HQ for the Darjeeling leg of their India adventure.

Nat wrote:

My camera broke. I put in batteries I bought at a stand and it just ended up heating up my camera and now…totally dead. I’m more than a little bummed because I’m dying to take photos and just can’t…

The latest video is of our journey up to Darjeeling. We ended up taking two planes through three airports and then chartered a taxi up the mountain, which took another painfully long three and a half hours. However, the trek through the trees, rural villages and mountains were absolutely gorgeous. And we saw the CUTEST little pot-bellied goats all the way up:) I haven’t seen mother nature look so glorious in a long time. Brought tears to my eyes.

After what felt like the hundredth, twisty, turny switchback we arrived freezing, exhausted and ravenous at the Queen of the Hills – Darjeeling. What a site. It reminded me of the first time I saw Santorini nine years ago. A quaint, weathered town sprinkled colourfully across the mountainside, but instead of overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, it was set upon a green ocean of tea plantations.

Need to catch up on the adventure? Go watch Matt & Nat go to India part 1 here