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They Sikkim here, they Sikkim there - 29/05/05
Two apologies - firstly for the awful subject header (it sounded vaguely humurous initially) and sorry that this missive comes hot on the heels of my last mail but beings as I have just left India after nearly five months and have finally acheived a new stamp in my passport I thought it a auspicious time.
So I left you as I disembarked the train in Guwahati, capital of the Indian state of Assam. Guwahati was the breath of fresh air I needed. Everybody was so friendly and I never saw another tourist so it remains fairly untouched, something that I have missed at times in the past few months. Guwahati seemed like returning to the root of travelling in India - staying in a hotel dormitory with a variety of Indian businessmen, eating from a stall outside and generally wandering around, chatting to people, being stared at by others and experiencing Indian life without the constant attempts to extract rupees from me by touts, hawkers and rickshaw-wallahs. It was as refreshing as the cool but tropical air of the town itself. It really did feel tropical, reminding me more of places in South East Asia than India, the roads are constantly recovering from the last storm and all the vendors along the streets are prepared to cover their wares in a matter of seconds.
I had a great experience in Guwahati. I was trying to get a ticket out to New Jaipalguri and I had checked the availability on the website. The train for that night had a waitlist 102 names long, although about 50 had been confirmed, so I was prepared to wait until the next morning to travel, although as you know I prefer to travel under cover of darkness. Anyway in the station a guy approached me and told me to follow him to an office. Having encountered these kind of tactics before, often in order only to make the queue shorter by one person, I was reluctant to follow. In the end he convinced me however and I soon found myself in the Reservations Managers office. She asked me what the problem was, I said no problem just that the guy had ushered me in. She then
took my reservation slip and arranged for it to be processed whilst I waited in the comfort of the office. Just on the off-chance I mentioned the waitlisted train of that evening. This sprang her into action, one call to "higher authorities" and I was the proud bearer of a confirmed sleeper berth on the evening train. She then got one of her consultants to take my form, issue my ticket and bring it back to me, take my money and bring me my change. Another guy saw what was going on and asked for a similar favour, he was turned down as he clearly was not a VIP. This is my favourite experiences in the usually impossibly bureaucratic world of Indian Railways!
Anyway, I left on that train, a bit sad to leave as it was such a welcoming place but keen to move on. Arriving at New Jaipalguri (NJP) the next morning I quickly found myself in a jeep taking me up to Darjeeling. Many of you might have a mental image of Darljeeiling - rolling hils, tea plantations, picture perfect views of the Himalaya in the distance. Well, I am here to evaporate that image. I could not see more than 20 metres in ront of me for the vast majority of my stay due to living in a giant cloud. I never saw one view of Kanchenjunga (worlds 3rd highest mountain) let alone Everest. It was still a nice place to relax though, way out of the heat of the plains, a re-introduction to Tibetan cuisine and some beautiful monasteries, which somehow seemed even more impressive enshrouded in the mist, especially the ones down in Ghoom, a few clicks below Darjeeling and also the chance to take a few short hikes, a bit of practise before I hit Nepal. It was also Buddhas birthday whilst I was there and so there was a grand procession throught own and lots of singing and dancing in the square.
Darjeeling hillside
Looking for a bit of adventure and also hopefully a clear view I arranged a permit for Sikkim in Darjeeling and took a jeep up to Gangtok. Now I was expecting Sikkim to be a strange, mystical place in the Himalaya, its former status as a seperate country and as the last Shangri-La preceeding it. Unfortunately it seems that it has not excaped the spread of Indian consumerism and apart from the difficulty in climbing stairs due to altitude and the problem in navigating oneself around a town with almost entirely made up of Gas Hill style inclines! There were some interesting sights around Gangtok however, and most of them being at the top of steep hills meant that each outing provided a sense of acheivement also. The monastery looking ovre the town from the north side being a perfect example. I did, however, realise that to experience what I was hoping from Sikkim would require travelling further north, off the trail completely and possibly trekking a few days. I decided to leave that image of Sikkim in my minds eye and make a break for the Nepali border earlier than expected.
And so after another four hour cramped ride in a jeep, where yet again at least one passenger saw his breakfast for a second time, we reached the border town of Kakarvitta. In an amazing example of efficiency at the border I was in and out in a matter of minutes and crossing into Nepal. It has been a fun almost five months of travelling around India, although of course there are always more places left for a third, or even fourth visit.
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