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Happy Birthday, Papa! |
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One day I'll "climb from peak to peak"... |
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After two days of luxury we moved to a Tibetan hotel right on the main square (�Chowrasta�) with amazing views in all directions of mountains and valleys: Hotel Bellevue. Our room was very cozy with Tibetan style furniture and decoration and again a wood stove for even more ambiance. It was a perfect base for the next week or so. You see, the day after his birthday, Papa unfortunately sprained his ankle badly, so that he had to stay put for a couple of days and rest as much as possible for some more time. Often our days would start with breakfast at Glanery�s, which served fresh western style breads and even had an internet corner, besides the fantastic views of the Sikkimese mountains. Naturally it was a favourite place for some other foreigners as well. For lunch or dinner we visited some of the Tibetan restaurants to try their fried and steamed momos (dump-lings) or other tasty dishes. One day there was a general strike, meaning that everything was closed, including all the restaurants in town. No transportation, no horse rides� The reason was that the night before an important politician was shot dead, so in protest they decided to close down everything. Needless to say we were stuck quite a bit and ended up not doing or eating much that day. |
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On May 16 it was Buddha�s birthday and therefore a festival (�Buddha Jayanti�) celebrated by many people in the area. In Darjeeling the festivities were centrered around the main square and we were fortunate to attend a huge gathering of several groups of monks (probably coming from various nearby monasteries). They all had colourful clothing and headdresses, some blowing long horns or conch shells. On a podium several lamas were chanting prayers over a sound system while others were burning incense and juniper branches in order to gain religious merit. It was a wonderful spectacle and for Mommy an ideal time to shoot away roll after roll� In the afternoon we went to a monastery by hitchhiking and taking busses, hoping to find some more celebra-tions, but unfortunately they were just over. We found |
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out that had we stayed in Darjeeling we would have attended some fantastic dancing by various monks in amazing (masked) outfits and Tibetan ladies in beautiful multi-coloured skirts. Oh well, next time�
The next day we left for an excursion of a couple of days into the mountains. At 7 am we caught one of those shared Jeep taxis that are much more popular than busses in this part of India and that go to almost any des-tination in the area. Ours was Rimbik, a small village that sees a lot of hikers (both local and foreign) since it is the end of the main Sandakphu trek: 4-5 days of strenuous paths with incredible views of Kanchenjunga and even Everest if you are lucky. Getting to Rimbik we took a very scenic route, through many tea plantations and tiny villages (again looking so much like the ones in Nepal, which, indeed was only a few kilometers away as the crow flies�), past steep ravines and over mountain brooks and rivers. We checked into a nice and clean trekkers lodge run by a friendly sherpa family and had a good lunch choosing from the extensive menu. That day we were the only guests. Right away I got friendly with the family�s little girl and the little boy from next door. We played a lot around the house with their toys and they took me to the neighbours to attend a religious ceremony where everybody was singing on the ground. My parents were simply relaxing, reading or writing (the lodge had a copy of Heinrich Harrer�s �7 days in Tibet�) while sitting on the roof terrace. |
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One of the reasons we had come here was to do some trekking ourselves. But with Papa�s bad foot we couldn�t really go too far, so we decided to go for a day trip, on the main trail to Sri Kola. Fortunately the little girl came with us so I had a buddy, which made the hike so much easier: never did I complain once or ask Papa to take me on his shoulders� The path was level all the way and quite wide. The views of the narrow valley were great and the villages we passed oh so typical. My folks felt they were on their trek in Nepal as many of the people living there were either Nepali or Sherpa. By mid-day we arrived at a hang bridge full of prayer flags and we stopped at the small lodge nearby to have lunch. There was a large group of Americans as well, taking up all the space so we |
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had to sit outside. This was fine as it allowed us to interact better with the locals. After noodles and fried rice we headed back the same way. Back in Rimbik we noticed that a large group of local trekkers was staying at our lodge, disturbing our peace and quite, but allowing for some interesting chats as well. I was just happy to play with my friends again, while Papa tried to finish his book. |
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Back in Darjeeling we visited a pretty Bhutanese temple and got organized to leave for Sikkim, which meant getting permits (it was integrated in India in the 1975, but so close to the Chinese border it is still considered a sensitive area), buying Darjeeling tea and other souvenirs (given the many Tibetan curio shops). The town got quite busy in the evening when the many local tourists strolled after dinner along The Mall that was lined with many stalls selling mostly sweaters and winter anoraks (imagine 15 C if you�re from Calcutta�). We also liked browsing in the Oxford bookstore that had a large collection of books on the Himalayas and their people. A couple of days later, from the very crowded depot with dozens of Jeeps, taxis and busses, we took another Jeep to the capital of Sikkim, Gangtok. |
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