Darjeeling: Arteries and Lungs

To the amusement of other travellers, we paid Rp2000 each way for a comfortable 4WD trip from Bodagra to Darjeeling.   The trip is not for those prone to carsickness as the road clings precariously to the slopes through 42km.

For the last 30km the rail line shares the cuttings and criss crosses the road with no barrier. Indeed, dogs are tied to the rails; locals cook breakfast and wash themselves on the roadway; front doors of houses open directly into the rails of the roadway.

One of the fascinating and strange aspects of India is the way in which there is so little distinction between private and public spaces, and, as a corollary, private and public behaviour. Washing clothes or bodies, pissing or shitting, the family dinner or heated argument - all take place within a metre of our taxi window.
In return, we deliver diesel fumes directly into their lungs, and the steam train follows up with good old fashioned soot.
Another traveller told us his story of a cheaper transport option where you sit side-on in bench seats in the back. He was happy about the price but less so when a passenger vomited and the smell caused a cascade resulting in the vehicles temporary stop for hosing out!

Before the British, Hill Cart Road from the plains town of Siliguri to Darjeeling was a single file track for man and beast. From the 1830's it was widened and maintained for "tonga" or carts bringing the elite of the Raj and their families and support staff into the hills.
Between 1878 and 1881, a railway was constructed from Calcutta (Kolkata). An impressive achievement when you see the geography!
Since then, housing has sprouted all over the hills. A large part of it close up to the rail line or the hill cart road as any flat land created by excavation is a bonus on the extremely steep and rocky slopes.

With the arrival of cars and trucks the large number of houses and shops along the way are almost constantly in a pall of fumes.

Affluent school children, poorer local pedestrians, goats and dogs all assert their equal rights to occupy the roadway.  Many (of the humans) wear nose mouth filters against the fumes. Diesel engines may be efficient, but they spew out a lot of exhaust.

The communication between users of these arteries of commerce is via a constant stream of short beeps on car horns - approach, before passing, while passing, thank you. Many vehicles sport a large safety message "blow horn". What would be interpreted as aggressive horn use in Melbourne is merely polite communication here.
The road and rail are the arteries of these hill towns. India is just way behind in figuring out how to limit their damage to the lungs.