Sikkim: Trekking at the doorstep of the Himalayas
Trip Start
Sep 24, 2008
1
9
76
Trip End
Jul 21, 2009
Where I stayed
Blue Bird, Tashiding, West Sikkim, India
Travelodge Hotel, Gangtok, Sikkim
Some hotel in Pelling, West Sikkim, India
Some hotel in Yuksom, West Sikkim, India
Gangtok,
Sikkim,
India
Friday, October 17, 2008
After leisurely waking up on the 13th, and pleading to get into another of our favorite shared jeeps with far too many people, we made our way to Pelling in West Sikkim. The roads were absolutely insane, nearly as bad as the road from Siliguri to Darjeeling. At one point, we were dropped off by our driver at the foot of a bridge in a random town and he took off to go pick up some other passengers. My ipod speakers were playing in the backseat and the girls had their passports in the vehicle. Ankit and I knew the guy would return, but the girls were a little freaked and he was gone for a really long time. Zoe took about a million pictures of all the adorable school kids that walked by us in their uniforms and it ended up being quite a nice and eventful pit stop. The rest of the drive took us to the lush and deep valleys of West Sikkim, though the afternoon clouds masked the glory of the Himalayas in the background. We passed by tons of waterfalls, rice paddies and terraced farms to eventually pull into the town of Pelling at night
Aoife, Zoe, Ankit, Hari - The Sikkim 4 say Adios
. With a nearly full moon, we could see the bottom of Mt. Khangchendzonga right behind our hotel and not too far off in the distance. Ankit and I had goosebumps in anticipation of the following morning's sunrise. We had a meal at the Hotel Garuda and were introduced to the wonderful world of Tibetan momo's. They're basically spiced up steamed dumplings, but made super fresh are oh so good. We also met this British couple at dinner who had been in and out of India for much of the past year and left the financial sector in England at the right time (one of them was a mortgage originator). They must soon return to England to earn some more dough; won't be as easy this time around. We woke up before dawn, glanced out of our window (where you could see all the mountains) and sprinted to the roof deck for the greatest sunrise I've ever witnessed. Not quite accurate, we missed the sun, but saw its awesome glow off the mountains. Mt. Khangchendzonga is huge, mighty and completely snow covered and I would argue a more impressive mountain than Everest save for the 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
Aoife, Zoe, Ankit, me lifted @ Last Beer Bar
. It was so liberating, there was nowhere else I would rather have been and though I had Ankit, Zoe and Aoiffe with me on the rooftop, there was no one else there but me and the mountain. The sun slowly drenched the top of Khang, then the other mountains and then the surrounding lush hills and there was nary a cloud in sight. It was similar to my reaction to the Andes and Macchu Picchu in that the awesome power and seemingly unreachable heights were greatly humbling, but simultaneously you feel very close and joined with the mountains. After our fill of the morning sun and wary of the long day of trekking we had ahead of us (I hiked 50km that day and about 75km in 2.5 days), we made our way to the first of two sacred monasteries in Pelling up a steep pathway that was fortified by walls to Songachoeling Gompa by 6:30a. Their were magnificent vistas the whole way up as more and more of mighty Khang was revealed to us. The timing of our visit was perfect as there were no tourists there, prayer flags and shrines everywhere and all of the monks and monks-in-training going through their morning rituals. There are 30 monks at this gompa, all of the kids are from poor families, they learn to read and write and live for free for life at the gompa.
I watched and meditated during the morning chants, drums and bells in the inner sanctum of the main prayer hall and I think this was possibly the first time in my life where I felt that everything was clear and made sense
Banana Plant
. I felt that my mind had perfect clarity and was devoid of thought. Every ounce of me was perfectly still and relaxed and I was transcended to a special place as I watched the monks and then walked the grounds. To utter a word would have taken me from this special place. It was easy to see why people go to such a place and why they chose this site as the location of the gompa. Those who know me know I have severe reservations with organized religion, but very much believe in spirituality and an energy between humans and with nature that supercedes our beliefs in science (which is faith in itself). Thus, while not important how, why , some sort of gods or something must exist as we have been given the gift of the Himalayas and the Andes, where so much life springs from these sources. This was by far the greatest morning of my life, the greatest views I had ever seen and the closest I have ever come to spiritual bliss. We made our way through Pemayangtse Gompa, a bigger, but not nearly as beautiful and wonderful gompa at the other end of Pelling and then commenced the day's goal of getting from Pelling to the town of Yuksom. Most trekkers do this in two days, spending a night at the lake that is deep in the valley below, but time constraints caused us to be aggressive. We took an 11km "shortcut" straight down the valley walls, past farmers and drunken villagers (Sikkim is known for an alcohol program throughout the state and we passed a chemical dependency center several times in our travels that was not exactly inconspicuous about why their patients were there). It was a beautiful, lush, steep and stony trail that very much reminded me of portions of the Camino Inka. We took a refreshing stop at the river that sits at the floor of the valley and provides power and water to the entire region of West Sikkim before embarking on the steep climb back up the other side of the valley and around innumerable bends towards Yuksom
Boys after greatest sunrise ever - Mt Khang
. At one stage, we had to scramble straight up a rockslide about 60-80m as the trail was washed out. We ran into this one kid who spoke phenomenal english and helped translate to his elders, so that we could get our bearings. This little encounters with kids who love school or learning english put such a huge smile on my face as this kid will do great things and provide so much for the previous generations of his family once he grows up. Aoife and I ran into a chai and popcorn guy walking in the opposite direction with his strong kids, which was a savior because we were out of water and planned like idiots by not carrying any food with us for the day. Eventually, darkness struck, and guided by headlamp Aoife and I trudged on (Ankit and Zoe were together a bit behind us). Eventually, a jeep rolled by with Ankit and Zoe and Aoife hopped in, leaving me alone with Green Lightning (the backpacker's knife that was gifted from Sachin) and my headlamp. Having come 40km at that point and believing in the challenge as much as the rewards of trekking, I trudged onwards. At some point in the day, climbing back out of the valley, I threw in my headphones to hear "Sacrifice" by the Roots: I tell you one lesson I learned
If you want to be something in life
You ain't gonna get it unless
You give a little bit of sacrifice
Ooohh, sometimes before you smile you got to cry
You need a heart that's filled with music
If you use it you can fly
The lyrics couldn't have been more appropriate
boys near where we were dropped off on jeep
. Eventually, after having Indian Army ensure I was ok, I made it to Yuksom under the light of the moon with a moonlit view of Khang. I saw a flashlight ahead of me and it was Ankit and Deshak (his leatherman) coming to make sure I was ok. It was pretty comical that we were both wielding weapons just in case the boogeyman attacked us. We forced our way through a much earned meal of chow mein and momos, reminding me of the horror of having to eat at the end of a day on the Camino Inka, and passed out like babies. The next day, Oct 15, was a relatively easy 20km walk on "Peruvian flats" to the tiny village of Tashiding. I mean literally one street and no more than 30-40 buildings. Our night in Tashiding was a treasure that takes me back to the night with Bayram at Lazy Frog's in Patara, Turkey. We stayed at the Blue Bird. Upside, each bed was 50INR. Downside, what you pay for is what you get, but it worked. We had to wait for cheese to arrive from Gangtok for the pizzas at the Last Beer Bar and Restaurant, so we parked it on a small grass clearing overlooking the hills about 50m down the hill from the restaurant. With our iPod speakers busted out and some Hits (Sikkim beer), we were joined by Krish, a 25 year old non-Gorkha Sikkimese who was home for the holidays with his grandparents in Tashiding. He moved to Delhi less than a year earlier to run a shop, plays a little guitar and loves the Rolling Stones. We introduced him to the majesty of Led Zeppelin and then found common ground with an appreciation for reggae beats and thus I schooled him on the legend that is Bob Marley. He spoke some English, but mostly Hindi, but music transcends all languages. I taught him the lyrics to the hook of "Get Up, Stand Up" and explained the significance of the lyrics and related it to Sikkim and Indian freedom struggles. Afterwards, we chatted and I learned that he was stabbed with a broken bottle by several Delhi police one night out at a club
Cockcomb plant on trail from Pelling
. He spent five months in the hospital and despite his family's objections returned to Delhi where he was taken to the court by the cops. Two sides to every story, but there's no way this kid did anything to deserve this. I once again explained the power of "Get Up, Stand Up" and he got it. Cheese arrived, Aoife, Zoe, Ankit and me headed to the Last Beer Bar. It's a super chilled out, hippie oasis overlooking the hills and in a humble wooden shack. It is run by a guy named Sundar and his wife (they have an adorable kid) and Sundar loves dub and reggae. My iPod on the house speakers, we were ready for an amazing night. We met this man named Binod who spoke excellent English. He's a gorkha living in Tashiding who runs the only shop in town that sells kerosene, sugar, etc. He's also a government contractor - 10-20 lakh INR roads and bridges - which we soon learned everyone in Sikkim can be as well. He uses his store to spread political knowledge to the youth of Tashiding and the surrounding villages. He is the local youth rep for the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), the nonviolent, democratic, ruling, much respected and loved party of Sikkim for at least the last 14 years. They provide the financial backing of the pro-Gorkhaland parties in upper West Bengal. Just as most Gorkhas, he believes the Hindu Nepalese should have Gorkhaland comprising Sikkim, parts of Bhutan, Nepal and West Bengal, but should remain part of India. Sikkim, bordering China, and long been a source of the hot conention between India and China, receives immense amount of funding from the Delhi government. A lightly populated state, no one is hungry or without a home, and anyone with a semi-reasonable business plan for infrastructure, small business, etc. can receive 3 lakh INR for a project - two years interest free loan. This explained why throughout Sikkim you see construction project signs proudly celebrating the completion of a project within a two year period
Farmer's house off of lush trail down from Pelling
. Assam and the other China bordering NE States don't have such funding from Delhi because of security concerns and attacks on infrastructure. Sikkim exports a ton of tourism and benefits greatly from such a program. It's a wonderful concept, but to replicate it elsewhere you need a politically motivated source of funding, such as that from Delhi. Binod likes business, but sees this as a tool and mechanism to spread the knowledge of democratic politics. He finally explained how the SDF leader, who he has IMMENSE respect for, has an 8th grade education from a small village and how the SDF is great, but local governments and police are severely corrupt. Par for the course for India. Moving on from politics to spirituality, we learned from Binod that Tashiding Gompa is one of the most sacred Buddhist gompas in the world. It is believed that the annual festival in February provides purifying water that washes away all sins and allows you to see 84 lives.
He then went on to tell us how Sundar, an extremely poor, humble, but immensely warm-hearted and generous being, received one of these government loans to start his restaurant and build it from the ground up. He used to be barman in Goa before starting a family in Sikkim. In a moment of beauty, Binod said his dream is to give and to be like Sundar (this was also told to him by a minister to give and be like the spirit of the generous poor), even though he is infinitely more wealthy and has a higher social standing than his friend.
The morning of the 16th, we took a morning hike up a crazy steep hill (and the legs and achilles were barely working from the previous couple of days) to the Tashiding Gompa
Farmer's hut on train from Pelling
. It was our last real views of the Sacred Himalaya for this journey. I had another mind-clearing meditation session in the prayer wheel room and relaxed in the sacred soul cleansing area of the gompa that was built during the 17th century. I said a final prayer and a temporary farewell to the Himalayas; definitely not a goodbye. That afternoon, we took a series of jeep journeys to get back to Gangtok - taking us by the large hydroelectric dam near Legship that provides clean power to all of Sikkim, the larger town of Jorethang and finally to Gangtok at night. We enjoyed our final meal with Aoife - she would take off for Kolkata when we split for Varanasi the following night - and stayed true to our new love of pakoras and Indian pizzas. The 17th, we took an insane jeep ride down to Siliguri for our overnight train passing by billions of monkeys on the side of the roads looking at each passing car like a human for potential food. A funny moment - the Sikkim/West Bengal border is essentially like leaving the country as foreigners need to show stamped passports, register and have permits. Ankit was chatting up with one of the border guards, Jeet, who said when he found out we were Americans: "you Americans, you all have strong physique". Traveling through India has been a tremendous self-esteem boost for both Ankit and me. :-) When we crossed back over to West Bengal, our jeep driver who had WB plates handwrote GL and taped it to his plates
Fishermen at river during our rest stop Trek day 1
. We had seen this elsewhere on our journey up in this part of India. What we later found out was there was a massive pro-Gorkhaland demonstration that day in Darjeeling and throughout West Bengal and jeeps without GL plates were getting stopped and harassed by protestors. While not knowing if our man was pro-GL or simply wanted to avoid a confrontation, we were glad not to add to our delays by saying hello to some angry activists. We then said goodbye to Aoife at NJP and hopped one of the crazier train journeys to Varanasi as we were on the massively packed Guwahari-Delhi train that passes through Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and finally to Delhi. Next up, the dissapointing experience of Varanasi.
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