Gangtok, India (Sikkim)

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  Gangtok, India
Wednesday, June 6, 2007

sikkim is small finger that shoots north into the himalayas between nepal and bhutan.  its northern border is tibet (china).  it only became part of india in 1975.  they chose india over china.  there is still
a great deal of tension in the area as the borders between india and china are not precise.  so it takes a special permit to visit and more permits once you are in sikkim to explore other areas.  it is home to
mt khangchendzonga the 3rd tallest peak in the world.  it eluded us in darjeeling and we were hoping for a peek (no pun intended) here.
 
we started in gangtok which is the best place to book trips to other parts of the state.  we wanted to do a trek but the weather was pretty much the same as in darjeeling, cloudy and rainy, so we booked a trip to the yumthang valley in the very northern part of the state

buhhdist scripts in monestary

.   before leaving on our trip we visited the sikkim research institute of tibetology a museum/library dedicated to tibetan buddhism, the
do-drol chorten stupa one of the biggest stupas in sikkim and a few parks.  the next day after a cup of masala chai (notice a trend?) we were walking down the street and we noticed a huge white peak in the sky.  khangchendzonga was making an appearance!  we hustled
to the jeep stand and caught one up to the closest viewpoint where we lucky enough to get about 20 minutes of views of the peaks as the coulds came and went.  what a thrill to behold.

we had to recruit some other people to make the trip economically feasible.  we found john from bristol and enrico from milan.  the trip is made by jeep up some very poor roads that are constantly being plugged by landslides.  amazingly the slides are cleared very quickly by locals who are paid by the government (not much i'm sure) to literally break huge, i mean giant boulders in to super large boulders, then into extremely large rocks, and then into big rocks etc.  it was a common sight to see women breaking basketball sized rocks into gravel.

we were diverted by such a landslide the morning of our trip so we had to take the long way which worked out well in terms of visibility as most of the road was below the rain.  it was a very memorable trip along the teesta river valley.  super slender roads with a scary encounters passing other jeeps and even scarier large army trucks.  i was scolded once for taking a picture of a tentative looking suspension bridge we were about to cross.  it seems they are very touchy about photography in the area

danso and schoolboys

.  we reached our guest house in time for dinner.  it was raining and the clouds were thick so we couldn't see anything.  we were told the elevation was aroun 2800m or 8400 ft.

the next morning we rose early to the sounds of buddhist chanting and went up to the roof where we enjoyed a view that can only be described as shangri-la.  towering green mts only a mere 5000m small by himalayan standards but they loomed large from our vantage.  there were so many waterfalls of every shape and size we couldn't count them all.  mist was floating up from the valley below.  the small town we were in la chung is an idyllic little town that had been just a little mt town until the area was recently opened up to tourism.  hate to think whats going to happen to it.  after a hearty nepali breakfast we were off to the yumthang valley.

we climbed another 4000ft to 12,000ft rolling through a rhodedendron park and more incredible views.  the yumthang valley was nice but a little bit of a disappointment as some clouds had rolled in and we were told we couldn't go any further as foreigners.  the road continues up to over 5000m, spectacular views, and the tibetan (chinese border) and the indian government prohibits travellers from going any further.  fortunately for us our driver was willing to go up for a few extra rupees

front of monestary

.  what a drive the road was really in bad shape.  to be expected at that altitude.  we climbed to over 15,000 ft.  higher that either of us had ever been.  the weather cooperated and we had great views of the peaks and glaciers.  we went to the end of the road and could look over towards tibet.  it was a real treat.  after some pics at the top some weather set in and we hustled down past the yaks, army trenches, and glaciers.  we got a little cold and wet so it worked out well that there was a hot spring on the way back to the guest house.  it wasn't super hot but it took the chill off.

back to the guest house where we visited the local monastery and did some yoga on our roof with sweeping views.  more good food including yak butter & cheese, momos (nepalese pasta),  and of course tea.  the next morning it was back to gangtok.  we visited the handicraft museum and artisans.  very interesting to see how many of the local artists work.  we saw carpet making, yarn spinning, carving, loomwork, painting, papermaking, and dyeing with natural pigments.  its a school and youngsters are learning and keeping the arts alive.

we got back to town and bought jeep tickets for a town called kalimpong since the weather wasn't cooperating with the trek we wanted to take in sikkim.  we never made it to kalimpong however...

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prayer wheels

stupa

waterfall in gangtok

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