Hotel Tashi Delek Gangtok

... peak (in the same range as Everest) is easily seen from this area but of course I never saw it!

The first place we visited was a town called Namchi whose only claim to fame was a giant Buddha perched on a mountain that is directly across from another mountain with a giant Shiva staring back. The book made this sound somewhat interesting and it was (on paper) on our way to our next destination so we ...

... had been swirling with activity, movement, noise, and smells, less then twelve hours earlier when I had walked home the prior evening. I packed a few last things, ate a little breakfast, and then Will and I left our flat, backpacks on back. We walked to the busiest street near our flat to catch one of the few rickshaws out at such an early hour. It wasn't terribly hard to find one, and we made it to the train station in good time. We met our friends Andrew ...

... title of world's tallest. All due respect to Tiger Hill in Darjeeling, this was our first real glimpse of the sacred range. It was so quiet and peaceful, we only heard the roosters and morning birds, there were no cars/jeeps and no people and I had Alicia Keys' "No One" playing in my ears. It was simply magical; little did I know I would feel even more relaxed and at peace a mere hour or so later. It was so liberating, there was nowhere else I would rather have ...

... let's face it: we basically get stared out pretty much all the time. The stares are friendly and when we smile or speak, people generally smile back. People will stop us to have their pictures taken with us and we are both flattered by this and find it funny and interesting. Gabe, in particularly, is quite the celebrity as his height is such an extreme by comparison to those around us. Many ask us where we are from, usually with some difficulty getting the words out but as I was ...

... isli tři lámové (kněz, guru) a setkali se právě na tomto kopečku nad Yuksomem v roce 1641. A právě tady potom korunovali prvního Sikkimského krále. Před korunovačním trůnem vystupuje se země kousek skály, ve které je otisk nohy. Prý je to otisk jednoho lámy a směřuje přesně k trůnu. Otisk je vázně otiskem nohy - kdybych to neviděla, neuvěřím. Spíme v rodinném domku, kde pronajímají jeden, mozn ...

... ale domácí nám nakonec uvařili večeři v jejich vlastní kuchyni, jedli jsme z jejich hezkých talířů v jejich jídelně - takovéhle stravování je nejlepsí. 29. duben Ráno po páté uz jsme na vyhlídkovém místě půl hodiny chůze od vesničky a koukáme na krásu hor a východ slunce. Jakmile tu vyjde sluníčko, zmizí vrcholky hor za oparem, který trvá az do odpoledne. Potom následuje vytrvalý dés - destníky se osvědčily - dokonce se uz začínají rozbíjet. Taky začínám doplácet na to, ze nemám ...

... the weather is clear (unfortunately not now) you can see the spectacular and snow-capped Khangchendzonga mountain range. I am in an Internet cafe right now next to two monks from the Rumtek Monastery. They are here for Internet and shopping. Even the future enlightened need to take care of business I suppose. Rumtek is the official seat of the Gyalwa Karmapa, the head of the Kagyu order of Tibetan Buddhism ...

... up, not get too involved, and reflect on whatever came to mind. Finding a place to stay proved a trying task. The city was full of Indian tourists escaping the heat of the south. All the hotels and guestrooms were full. An hour of wandering door-to-door, up and down hilly streets and alleys with a 25 kg pack on my back turned up very few options. I'd checked over 20 places, almost all were full. A few had rooms costing over 1000 rupees (about $30), and one guy had ...

... couple also awaiting the next day. It was rollicking good fun. Lots of schadenfreude and retaliation to go with the sweet taste of victory and the sick bitterness of defeat. The afternoon passed quite quickly, but we also played too much UNO and never played again after that one mammoth session. No Norbert highlight from this day, since he doesn't play cards and just slept all day. But Norbert sleeping is no joke. He snores, but not like a wood saw. Norbert snores like a dying ...

... One of this road will provide a shorter route to the sea through Iran. The existing route through Pakistan is said to be too long. The driver refused to stop anywhere on the way to let us take some pictures of the Teesta river flowing by. Perhaps, he had his target to get us there within some time. We did reach Jorethang in the afternoon at 3PM. Jorethang is a sleepy town. Sandeep spotted a local store what we would call "kaka angadi in south indian parlance" and bought some local ...