If you haven't found Nirvana yet, it's because you haven't been to Darjeeling. In case you were looking for a sign, it's the big yellow-and-red thing on top, in the center of this photo. You can even check in. We didn't, though... we were afraid we wouldn't want to leave.

	It was St. Louis, Missouri, where I saw my first building that was the same shape as the streets it sat on and I've loved them ever since. This one, built in 1914, is one of the thinnest slices of building I've seen.
A little blunter, but pie-shaped neverethless, this building fits snugly into one of the many switchback paths that lace the town.
	The State Bank of India branch in Darjeeling is the darkest, dustiest building I've ever been in, with a turn-of-the-century feel about both it and its banking procedures. After finding the right counter for exchanging money, I pushed my notes across the counter, received a piece of paper in return and, in answer to my puzzled expression, was motioned towards the stairs in the back. I climbed them, still wondering if I were trespassing, where I was directed to a wooden bench. There was one customer upstairs and another downstairs but it still took about 25 minutes before I was called to collect my rupees. Another experience in foothills finance. Just behind the stone wall in the foreground is the courtyard where the Motorcycle Artist lives.
A temple, never brightly lit the many times I passed it, with a not-aggressive, not-friendly dog always standing by the gate.
	This is Tenzing Norgay's former home which now sports a great seal commemorating his ascent of Mount Everest with Sir Edmund Hilary in 1953.
And a close-up of the plaque.
	Not too far from the Toy Train Station is this small, neat building with living quarters above a small barber shop.
The Deepak Saloon with its rich wood panels and elegant barber chair and mirror just inside the doorway -- it's really a salon.
	Coming up on the left is the world's oldest computer centre. It was built long before the first computer and had to wait years for technology to catch up.
A closer view of the Compuset Centre.
	And the address so you can sign up.
If anything resembled a castle in Darjeeling, it was this building. I looked around for someone to ask what it was, but I was alone. I'll have to return before I can tell you.

     
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