Really high, it seems…

…coming down from a dream.

Blowing away the clouds and seeing, once again, what cannot be.

Take your time with these photos, my friend. It took many of us a moment to really grasp what we were seeing.

No, I’m not talking about the dinosaur coming over the hillside on the right of the frame…

🙂

Seriously, its very difficult to actually see how truly high Kangchenjunga actually is. The third highest mountain in the world behind Everest and K2. This is it.

See where “eye-level” is? From 50-something miles away. Looking up…

This was our goodbye to Darjeeling. As we left the hillsides, a fitting departure.

Being a photojournalist, I must have certain images. If my job is to photograph “tea, and its production” I need to cover it in its entirety. So, in all the images you’ve seen on this blog in India so far, have you seen a single image of someone ACTUALLY picking tea?

Right. So, while the rest of the group took off down the mountain, Keyshon and Alan and I (with an extraordinarily capable driver) took off down another way.

In search of the Tea Pluckers.

It took some hunting. These plantations are enormous.

But… we found them.

In and out of clouds.

These vertical hillsides. Jump out and have a chat with a tea plucker.

By the time we got down the hill, we were regretting the clothes that we wore. Darjeeling was in the 50’s or 60’s. Down the hill… back to the blazing Indian heat.

While waiting on the rest of the group, Alan, Keyshon and I traipsed out into the fields nearby.

Little photojournalist hint: if you’re looking for the people working, always follow the ladies with the water.

It almost never fails.

And always go shake hands with the man in charge. A wise friend once told me, its always harder to shoot someone who might actually be your friend.

Now, back to Delhi. Leaving the dream for something a little bit different.

But… some things in the world are always the same…

…there she is. 😉

Stay tuned, my friends.
-noah.d