gangtok etc. -- one month later - oops

I flew from Leh to Delhi and Delhi to Bagdogra, covering the long distances across India in only a few hours. The last 120kms were not quite so easy, however. There is no airport in the hilly state of Sikkim, so you have to drive to get there (or take a helicopter, I suppose, but I really wasn't up for that). There was supposed to be a direct taxi service at the Bagdogra airport to Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim, but when I enquired, I was informed that no taxis would be leaving until 5 that evening (it was 11am then) because of a strike. This didn't bother me too much, because it was India, after all, and travel inconveniences are part of the territory. Besides, Zoe had emailed me to tell me that because of the strike she and Prerna couldn't pick me up. So instead I took a taxi ride into Siliguri and tried to get on a share-jeep going to Gangtok. They also warned me it would be hours until one left, but we loaded up after only 2 hours. By loaded up I mean that in the SUV 2 plus the driver squeezed into the front while 4 people each got to share the bench seats in the middle and back row. Imagine four adults sitting in the back of an SUV like elementary school kids in carpool. Add heat. Add Hindi music. It was a real party. I couldn't believe that 120km would really take 4 hours -- I was right, in a way: it took more than 6. The roads in West Bengal (the state just south of Sikkim) and Sikkim itself are worth noting. They are incredible - windy, crumbling, rocky - and cars of all kinds, not just jeeps and trucks, manage to use them. I was lucky enough to have a window seat, and I couldn't help but keep my head almost out of the car the whole drive. It wasn't the heat, which was uncomfortable but not unbarable, but rather the sights along the way. In Sikkim all the roads are windy - inclines of almost 30 degrees and curves that make the road south out Sequoia seem easy are the norm here. At best, the roads resemble the alley at home- mostly smooth but a few potholes. Because of the rain, the roads are always falling apart. During the drive it was pavement, rock, dirt, mud, and stream. Luckily the jeep had no problem with all this. I could see why a short drive would take so long. Another reason was the animals on the road. Cars have to stop (or at least swerve) to let chickens, goats, cows, and monkeys cross the road. I kept my head out the window as we passed 4 storey high bamboo and waterfalls pouring onto the road and the monkeys stared right back at me. After 2 hours we made it to the bridge with a sign that said "Welcome to Sikkim" in the usual light green that is practically the state color. But I wasn't welcomed quite yet. Our jeep joined a long line of cars waiting for the strike to end. People could walk across the bridge, as I did to register as a foreigner, but the cars had to wait. 2 hours later, the sun had set and the police finally whistled at us to start moving. We had lost a few passengers so I was comfortably situated in the front seat now as our jeep was the first to slowly move through the crowds of people right at 6 o'clock. It took another 2 hours to get to Gangtok on the windy roads; I was almost lulled into sleep except that the driver kept stopping to pick people up along the way. Gangtok is a city on a hill--the main road, the national highway, that we had been on the whole time, goes right through the center of town. The driver handed me my backpack from the top of the jeep where it had been tied down and I walked down the road to find a phone to call my friends Zoe and Prerna. It was too late to meet them that night, so we hooked up the next morning (Rosh Hashanah, in fact). And this whole description was only the first day.

Comfortable with Prerna and her family, I checked out the possibilities for trekking after a couple of days. To do the high altitude trek with huts, Dzongri, I need a permit, which was impossible to get only for one person. This meant waiting for another foreigner's travel plans to coincide with mine to insure that I got the permit. It finally worked out--I am leaving today for Pelling en route to Yuksom to start my trek. I will be out there for a week before returning to Gangtok. 

One highlight while I have been waiting is getting to stay with Prerna and eat all the local food that they eat normally. Meals always include rice - usually we have dhal and some kind of potato or vegetable dish. I have tried nettles and prickly vegetables and bitter ones too. I have had new kinds of fruit juice, bitten into a guava for the first time, and had my mouth burn from eating things that are just too spicy for my American palate. Prerna's house is pure veg, which means no meat, no eggs, and also no onions or garlic. I helped Prerna's sister Bandana make momos - by help I mean mostly I watched and I tried my turn at folding the dough around the cabbage mixture a few times. My momos were lumpy dumplings rather than expertly creased but they still tasted pretty good. 

While waiting for the trekking agencies to find some other trekkers, we went to Yangang where Prerna's grandparents lived. It rained every day there, which created perfect conditions for the best rainbow I have ever seen: it was a full arc, reaching across the entire valley. I couldn't help thinking how funny it was, to be driving on the eroding roads of steamy Sikkim--a place entirely new to me--while at the same time singing along to Avril and Pink. I see the influence of American music and movies everywhere here-Prerna and Zoe know both Backstreet Boys and Rihanna's latest hits better than I do. 

Along with my friends, I have been a guest at a neighbor's place downstairs and at the house of a family friend. Being a part of life here means that the time I spent here trying to make the trekking work wasn't wasted. I am lucky to have the connections here that I do. I am sure Zoe and Prerna are ready to have a break from me asking "what now?" all the time, but they will get to see me next week since I am leaving the gear I don't need here. Now I will see how my body will hold up to the mountains again. My camera is charged up. My bag is packed. My boots are shiny and clean-- ok not really. I didn't get that carried away. But I am ready now for another adventure.