sikkim part I

Sikkim is a tiny state in northeast India. The primary spoken languages are Nepali, Hindi, and English. Sikkim is also one of or the richest states in India. India pumps a lot of money into the state in order to retain it as an Indian entity. Sikkim is India but it is also very different from the rest of the country in culture, people, and “feel.” It was also a really nice break from the city, as the state is largely mountainous and agricultural.

We last left off in snowy Darjeeling. A jeep took us from Darjeeling, north through West Bengal. The altitude dropped on our way to Sikkim, and the snow disappeared. We passed hillside tea estates, and drove on roads that were bumpy and rough, and would probably be considered more of the path variety or possibly even an unpassable path, yet somehow the driver’s road knowledge persisted and we managed to push on through and get to Gangtok- Sikkim’s capital (the ride was roughly 6 hours long). As per Sikkim policy, and in order to put some money in the hands of local cabbies, the jeep that brought us to Gangtok had to drop us off at the taxi depot, where we took a cab to our hotel (which was less than a 5 minute drive from the depot). Chai and cookies were consumed at the hotel. Otherwise, I’m drawing a blank on that evening’s activities. This is what happens when you write an account too late (added to my impending old age. . . ).

The following day we rented a jeep to go to Rumtek monestary, a famous and gorgeous Buddhist monastery (with tons of money, especially as compared to some of the monasteries we were to see later in the trip). We happened to be there when they were celebrating the coming Tibetan New Year, so there were lots of people, excitement, and ceremony. The ceremony can only be described in pictures because I need to learn more in order to be able to understand what I was seeing. Lots of the monks, from age 5 to old man, participated in the ceremonies. The sect at Rumtek wears bright yellow hats with fringes (in a Mohawk style- very cool), and red clothing. The festivities involved dancing, masks, costumes galore, long metal horns for music, a gong, and drums. After the formal ceremony, there was dancing and a lot of running around that appeared to be a good v. evil display, which involved onlookers. Annoyingly, a few obnoxious tourists went right into the center of things to get pictures and then they too became part of the good v. evil dance. It would have been funny if I didn’t find such tourists so damn annoying and obnoxious. One of the “evil clowns” wore a Ronald Regan mask and chased people around. Funny. I wonder whether it was an intentional political statement or just a random mask found at a random market.

The following day, we set off to Pelling, in West Sikkim. Originally we were hoping to go north, where the mountains and their craggy snowy cliffs are “right there,” but due to the snowstorm many of the roads were blocked. Instead we decided to go to Pelling and around to hike to monasteries, see lichen covered forests, waterfalls, a closer view of Kanchengunja, chill out with monkeys, and be “in nature.” Woo! Just what I wanted.

As with most jeep trips we took in Sikkim, I again lost my appetite on the bumpy and hilly drive from Gangtok. The first thing I noticed about Pelling was that it was cold. Brrr.

OK no time to finish this post now. . .