Sikkim is an ancient Buddhist kingdom and in now a Northeastern Indian state wedged between Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet (presently China), and Bangladesh. Historically it was founded by Tibetan lamas in 1641, and has always had close ties to Tibet. In fact, China still disputes that Sikkim should be a part of China because of its close ties with Tibet. The leader of a Tibetan religious sect headquartered in Sikkim is still forbidden from entering the region b/c the Indian government fears upsetting the Chinese government (he fled Tibet to escape Chinese persecution in 2000). It is also home to the third highest mountain in the world, Khangchendzonga, and is a great place from panoramic views of the Himalayas. Mountains and monasteries - plus an escape from 120 degree weather - reason enough for us to visit.
The gateway city into Sikkim is the busy hill station of Darjeeling. We arrived in Darjeeling around 9:00pm and the city had long shut its doors and it's people retreated to the privacy of their homes. This surprised us as in mainland India it is common to have dinner at 9:00 or 10:00 in the evening and the streets are busy well into the night. As we searched for a map and tried to figure out where we had been dropped off a gentleman approached us asking if we needed help finding our way to our accommodation. If Varanasi taught us anything it was to be on guard with anyone offering help because a demand for money was sure to follow. As we stumbled with our words the man took out a pen and drew us a map of the city with directions to our hotel then politely wished us the best and headed on his way leaving us feeling, yet again, taken off guard... he didn't want money... maybe we would have to learn to trust again...
We woke early the next morning like young children on Easter... searching for our treasure we walked to Lookout Point and found Khangchendzonga standing a proud 28,000 feet tall - twice the height of Colorado Mountains. The valley in front of us was Sikkim and we looked forward to the next two weeks in which we planned to do two 5 day hikes and see Khangchendzonga (and Everest) everyday.
Before we left Darjeeling we took a trip to the Great Himalayan Zoo to see tigers, bears, the rare Red Panda... which we saw plus some other feisty animals - monkeys. We were admiring a snow leopard when they started their attack (the monkeys that is); throwing lime sized balls from their safe haven in the trees pelting everything in their sight... mainly the ground and my neck. The ground suffered minor aches and pains but I got the brunt... of Jason's jokes and was left with a large red mark on my neck. I did learn a lesson though... the snow leopard offers more sympathy than Jason.
After my recovery we headed off on our first trek through small villages stopping at gloriously placed monasteries (on the top of peaks) eating momos (cabbage filled pasta) and Thunkpa (thick soup) along the way. To our dismay the clouds engulfed the highest peaks and we were left with humid, mountain-less hiking. It was okay though because we had a second chance on our next hike along the India and Nepal border. It was a 4 day hike along a ridge through small Nepali villages on the boarder and from the highest points we were supposed to be able to see Everest. We heard a lot of great feedback about the views and were excited to get started even though the clouds were coming in fast... we had 4 days - surely one would be clear. Nope. None. We walked for 4 days in dense clouds. Visibility was about 25 feet. The first day or two it was actually quite an interesting hike because our surroundings were really eerie. All we could see was silhouettes of yaks, cows, wild horses, and sometimes each other, as well as vines draping from the rainforest that was presumed to be surrounding us. No more 28,000+ mountain peaks for us...
Once back in Darjeeling feeling a bit depressed and needing to get out of the rain (4 days in the wet left us a bit chilled) we decided to go to the movies. India's government was under pressure from religious groups not to release the Da Vinci Code but we got word they okayed its release and went in to buy our tickets where the attended stumped us with asking if we would like economy ($1), executive ($1.50), or box tickets ($3) - we went middle of the road not sure if the better tickets were closer for further away from the screen. After going through security and leaving our bags with the guards we entered the theater escorted by a gentleman with a flashlight guiding us to our reserved seats. As the movie started we observed that everyone was sitting in three rows - in their assigned seats - the rest of the stadium empty. At intermission we went out to buy some popcorn. A friendly woman greeted us and let us sample the flavors. We chose caramel and headed back into the theater for the rest of the movie. The next day, still raining, we headed back for more and decided on Ice Age 2 and marsala popcorn. The same woman served us and asked what movie we were seeing today upon our response she said, "Oh, very nice. Perhaps tomorrow you will try a Hindi Bollywood film." Hummm... that's a bit embarrassing.
At least visiting the monasteries went well... after an early morning, unsuccessful trip to view the mountain range we stopped by a monastery. In effort to make conversation with a monk, I asked him if he knew where a bakery was (why a monk would know where an Indian bakery was something my mind was unable to think of at 7:00am) but 'bakery' was lost in translation. Now grasping for conversation I proceeded to tell the man that we had left without breakfast and that I was starting to get hungary (in an effort to explain what I had previously asked). The connection was made... the monk got up and walked to a pile of fruits that had been offered to their gods and brought me a handful of holy bananas. Not knowing where to go next or how to turn down the offer i took the bananas and thanked the monk.
Hopefully we get better the longer we travel!
Monasteries. One of the many beautiful and peaceful monestaries we visited.
Mountains? From this point on a clear day we should have been able to see 2 of the 3 largest mountains in the world (Everest and Khangchendzonga)... we used our imagination.
Monkeys!Doesn't it look horrific?
More pictures from Darjeeling and Sikkim:
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