Darjeeling again, with views this time

We planned on one night back in darjeeling before heading to a remote farm for some relaxation. Little did we know that karmi farm was back in the opposite direction from where we came. Nevertheless it was a good omen staying in darjeeling as the morning was the most perfectly clear anyone could hope for and we got up super early to take in the khangchendzonga range in all its glory. The camera on my phone painted a very poor representation of what has to be the most amazing view or sight i've ever had the pleasure of seeing. It was worth coming all this way to india just to spend a few minutes gazing at this natural wonder. It truly stirred my soul.

Trek 2 (yuksom to tashiding)

We arranged our own little trek through the travel agent who looked after our bags whilst we trekked to yuksom. He walked us through the directions with some simple maps, arranged accommodation at a midway point and in tashiding and had our bags taken their. The agent said it was an easy trek but our legs were pretty shagged out from our previous jaunt. We headed up to the dubdi monastery a good 250m in altitude which immediately got us panting and sweating. The gompa itself was quiet, i think only a few monks were out and about. We caught our breath and started the descent down the back of the monastery and across to our first major milestone of the day, the road and bridge near hongri. The forest was thick and wet from the rains. Every few kms was punctuated by hamlets clinging to the stepped slopes. We eventually found our way to road, snaking past us, tantalisingly close just 20m below our feet on the slippery path. All of a sudden the path degraded into two options, a shailed almost vertical slope to the left or a potential mudslide to the right. Niki manages to traverse like a brave cat across a ridge to the shail slope with only inches of flat ground to balance on. I watched anxiously as she slid down the rocks slowly but surely, avoiding any lasting damage. Graceful as ever coming down on her backside, the worst she got was muddy trousers and some scraped hands. (nb i think this daredeviling may have been the result of watching survival programmes back to back on Discovery the previous day). I thought things through a bit too much and with my weight, additional backpack and generally high centre of gravity i decided to try the other route down. I got myself onto a large rock and sat down contemplating broken ankles and bones lacerating their way through my skin. Niki was at the bottom trying to work out a route, the best of which was 80% plus incline down soft soil and sharp rocks. I composed myself and lowered my foot down onto a sturdy rock atop the precipise and it immediately gave way, tumbling its way down 20m to the road below, taking a hefty chunk out of the tarmac as it came to a stop. Ok plan c i thought and niki found another trail that we had missed about 100m back up the hill. I worked my way back and found my way down to the road unscathed.

Off we set down the road with a huge sigh of relief and quickly came to a glorious tropical waterfall cascading down black rocks to a shallow pool near the bridge and then on again into the torrents past a river front farm. We celebrated our escapse from the clutches of near death there with a biscuit and some crisps. We followed the road for a bit until it started to degrade and a small path lead us steeply up the mountain to hongri monastery. We ended up with a very sweet mother and daughter in tow who seemed obliged to lead us all the way to hongri monastery including stopping when we were gasping for air. The mum was carrying a live chicken in a wicker basket and i chuckled to myself as the last time i saw a chicken in a basket was at the black bull in tingley in 1985. We walked through more villages, taking classic indian "short cuts" up muddy vertical fields and walking on top of crumbling old walls to avoid the leeches in the undergrowth. We eventually got to hongri monastery and took in some spectacular views across the mountainside. We then followed our pace setters across the next mountain and finally found our guesthouse for the evening. We were met by the slighlty bashful Mani, who led us to his sisters house overlooking the valleys. We got engaged in a great convo with mani's cousin (also called mani) chatting about the history of sikkim, being part of india, the empire and education. A thoroughly interesting guy who was very intelligent, modest and clearly very passionate about his state (as are all sikkimese, and proudly and quite rightly so). Unfortunately he had to leave and we ate our tea with the rest of the family watching us intently. It was a bit embarrassing as they were obviously new to the b&b business and with the organ grinder (mani's sister) away they didnt really no what to do. The food was simple but hearty and we enjoyed a few games of cards with Mani before going to get some sleep. Our room.seemed ok in daylight but at night it felt like a large coffin. There was a cockroach longer than my middle finger on the table and one of those gigantic spiders above my bed. Mani and his grandad did an average job of getting rid of it hy chasing it under my bed then wishing us pleasant dreams. I turned to niki with a grimace and suggested topping and tailing. We both boshed one of the valium style sickness pills and we were soon off to dreamland but both awoke about 3 deperate to get out of there. Feeling pretty uncomfortable we thought lets get brekkie over and done with and get the hell out of dodge. We were served up leftovers from last night and as i thought this situation couldnt get worse i turned to talk to Mani and the poor lad had just started and epileptic fit. I ran out to get his grandad who came to his aid as we stood outside just trying to keep out of their way. They beckoned us back in to finish and poor Mani was clearly quite embarrassed about what happened and we really felt for him. We ate up as best we could and gave our thanks as Mani's grandad led us out of the village and onto the path to tashiding. Niki made a great connection with this old fella as we parted, he was a ghorka version of my old man! Ah i wish i had a chance to take a picture as on his side profile he was spitting image if about 2/3 of my dad's size.

The trek from the homestay to tashiding was (thankfully) more down than up. We traversed across the hills on tight paths and decided against a couple of sideline ascents to yet another gompa and holy lake. We ended up snaking down a seriously steep rock path that punished our knees with every step. The last few kms were done on the road. We got to our hotel and with its 70s wood panelled decor, empty corridors, wide open staircases and persistent sound reverberation it felt like being in "the shining'. We were the only people staying that night and despite the hotel being vacuous we were looked after very well by the porter cum manager and his wife and son. That evening we played cards and drank appalling sikkimese rum with coke to mask the vile taste.

Sikkim randomness

Two cool dudes on the street sporting borrowed shades.

Best named beer in the galaxy: he-man 9000.

Leech bite. (have to point out this was taken after a long hike niki's feet not normally so minging)

One of many weird books at a strange hotel in tashiding.

John terry brand cigs... Look closely.

Yuksom

Yuksom was the first capital of sikkim, the state of india which was itself a kingdom of its own until 1975. Perhaps its that then what makes this area so different to the rest of the country. Its amazing how cultures can alter in only a few short miles from the heart of west bengal to darjeeling and into sikkim. The town itself is small and quaint with one main street of restaurants, tour operators and hotels. We took advantage of a sunny spell and took time out of our busy crap tv watching schedule to visit the nearby gompa and lake hobbling along at any slight incline after the previous days trek.

The gompa was much like any other we'd seen and quite non descript in detailed comparison; the place was empty, the surrounding land was cramped and there were building works going on. We left the gompa after a customary clockwise lap and headed for nobugang park, a very holy place where the three lamas met from across the lands and founded yuksom as the capital of sikkim, with the crowning of the first choygal. The park is set in thick forest with prayer flags lining and crossing every ancient stony path. It's like buddism, the architecture and nature are all entwined into one thing, the place really does have its own pulse and hum as you pass through it in the silence. There's a huge prayer wheel that i gave a first spin of the day to and made a wish. In the centre there's a gigantic stupa resembling all of the buddist elements and then there's the seats where the three lamas sat, right under a huge pine tree. We spent an hour in the park just sitting and quietly contemplating, a perfect place for it and a feeling of serenity i might not get to equal in some time. As we sat and a small and fairly ostentatious bird (which we learned later was a hoopoe) dropped down onto a verge right in front of us and just sat their still as we crept forwards to take pictures (niki has some far better close ups). We then took ourselves down to the lake which was again calm and serene apart from some indian tourists who were unable to talk without shouting. We kept quiet in respect aside from mumbling "disrespectful twats" under our breath as we passed them by. We watched luminescent dragonflies in bright pinks and cobalt blue do a merry dance over the water and tried in vain to unearth the frogs making the ninja croaks from behind some rocks.

We ate a few times in the hotel as the options in town were limited. The food was generally ok and one waiter gave us endless amusement with his inability to get any of our orders right, all the time sporting the grin of a cheshire cat and nodding profusely at everything we said. Classic encounter was as follows: Being wary of their availability i thought i'd ask if they had some local ferns in before ordering...

Me: "excuse me, the local ferns, do you have them today?"

Waiter: "ferns." he then points at the menu. "yes sir."

Me: "ok, so you're sure you have these today?" as i point at the same place on the menu.

Waiter: "yes sir."

Me: "ok, great i'll have the ferns please."

Waiter: "no sir, not possible. We don't have."

Trek 1 (khecheopalri to yuksom)

We set off from lakeview homestay with gay abandon and vigilence of the local biting wildlife lurking in the wet leaves; the dreaded leech. The path down to the lake was hard with our bags, we took a muddy short cut and ended up on our arses a couple of times. At the lake we managed to bargain with a jeep driver to take our bags ahead to yuksom. It was hard finding someone as most of the jeeps are booked up by indian tourists not wanting to sacrifice any of their comfort. So off the bags left with a kiss goodbye from their pessimistic owners who grumbled that theyll either be laying in a river or the driver's family will be adorning their contents by tea time.

So up the opposite hill we walked ( where we'd previously been on our trip to the lookout) and then started the first descent to the next valley. The terrain here is tough; no wide open flat valleys like the alps, it's  perilously steep mountain side all the way to rapids and torrents that cut harshly between the slopes. The compacted clay tracks were slippery under foot and i was constantly checking for signs of movement in the leaves. As we passed through a particularly wet stretch with niki out in front i could see the little blighters extending their soft bodies up from the ground desperately trying to latch onto anything warm blooded and soft tissued. Theyre crafty sods these leeches. Contracted they are miniscule and almost undetectable then they throw their frontal extremities upwards to latch onto the animal that has woken their senses with its tread. They grip onto your shoes and quickly clamber up to the warm skin in a cumbersome but deceptively quick goose step. Theyre tough to get off as well. Kicking and scraping isnt that effective so a lighter has to be employed to release their grip. They can sink their teeth into you and gorge for minutes without you noticing, their saliva is an anaesthetic as well as a decoagulant. Niki found this out as she got to our hotel with a bloody sock but no leech to be found. Grim but to be fair this invertebrate packs some skills.

We passed through some neat villages exchanging shouts of "namaste!" to all we passed by. We crossed a couple of rudimentary bridges and started another ascent up a greasy vine fringed path. The flora here is ever changing; from tropical and steamy, insect infested jungle to fresh and cool alpine forests. Back down the other side of the peak we found the main road to yuksom and exhausted from the precipitous slopes we decided to stick to road for the last 8kms. We were soon required to cross a large bridge squatting over some tremendous rapids a hundred feet below. We took a pit stop here to take in the views and eat a lunch of crisps, biscuits and toffee sweets. We set an ambitious pace up the road to yuksom and passed more local villages and the 8km seemed to fly by. We got to the travel agent to pick up our bags and headed to our hotel, really feeling the pain in our stiff legs after the swift respite in the office.

At the hotel we took advantage of a rare luxury, a red hot shower to ease the pain of our weary and weakened frames and the thought of watching crap telly in bed was like charlie winning the golden ticket to the chocolate factory.

Khecheopalri lake

After reading up on khecheopalri lake in the guide and hearing some good recommendations about town we booked into a homestay near the lake and crammed into a shared jeep with a bunch of french travelers and one american lady. We squeezed into the front "two" seats with niki paranoid about her bum getting in the way of the gearstick. It wasnt long before the makeshift luggage harness on the roof gave way and two bags plummeted down the windscreen and bounced onto the road. One of them niki's it escaped plunging in to the ravine but sustained some damage but luckily the tea didn't explode.

We got to the lake and made our way up what was described in the guide as a 20 min walk. It was more like a 40 minute and 400m vertical ascent up a slippery moss covered path. Nevertheless, the sweaty and backbreaking walk up made the arrival at the homestay much sweeter. Atop the hill was a tiny hamlet of homestays and farmland, each one having a resident cow, goat, dog, cockerel and chickens. We were greeted by the ever smiling chumden who led us down to her homestay made up of 4 spotless first floor rooms. We met two lads from switzerland and australia as well as a german lady and a group of young indian professionals.

That first night we were treated to an amazing home cooked meal outside including some stir fried local ferns which i'll be raving about for years (theyre like a cross between sprouting broccoli and samphire only much tastier than the former and slightly less salty than the latter). Ori, an israeli lad got on the guitar and exquisitely knocked out some classic rock then deepen (chumden's other half) took over and all the indian girls recited some of their country's faves which were a little less familiar. The beer went down a treat, sikkim's own "hit" super strong beer; both delicious and deadly. Mixing our drinks with this and a local warm millet brew (chhang) which was also quite potent and morish. The booze that keeps on giving all you need is a hot water top up and you continue supping... Cheap round. The next few days we hung out with the guys we had met including a another group just up the hill. We did the traditional traveller thing of not doing very much, just eating, drinking, learning new card games, sharing war stories and generally having a laugh. There wasnt much else to do as the weather was pretty atrocious. Ive never seen rain like it and it tipped it down most of each day we were there. We did get chance to brave the walk down (and back up) to the lake which wasnt much to look at but held a very serene ambience with the prayer flags lining the edge. Up the other side was a look out which took in views of the lake to the south and the old sikkim capital of yuksom the north two peaks away. We really enjoyed our time here. I got a bit down in the dumps in darjeeling after recovering from my horrendous bout of delhi belly and the degradation of the weather. Our hosts and the spot we were staying renewed our faith and the sikkim people proved to be the friendliest and most honest on our trip by a country mile. There's no hassle; everyone is laid back and happy with their lot and buddism definitely influences their acceptance of others and willingness to be outgoing and helpful. We decided to stay a couple of extra days which proved worthwhile; the weather cleared up somewhat and we braved the trek away from the lake an towards yuksom. The negative karma if the weather clearing up was ori the israeli guy resoundingly beating niki and i at scrabble.

Pelling

Getting about in ze mountains in india isnt like jumping into your deluxe 4x4 and roaring off into the hills on perfectly tarmac'd roads. No, the roads are rarely actual roads, more like valleys of asteroid craters lined with piles of rubble and the jeeps are old, knackered, have twice as many pasengers that are legally allowed and run on completely bald tyres. Not only that but you are at the mercy of your fellow travelers plans as they only go when full or dont go at all. As with the rest of indian transport there is some method in the madness and we bounced our way to pelling from darjeeling via jorethang after gleaming some info from the locals. The views were incredible but the bouts of narcolepsy brought on by the indian travel sickness pills afforded prescious time to open our eyelids. Niki was pretty much out cold as i valiantly held onto the seat in front to prevent implanting my teeth in it.

Pelling isnt really a place, village or town. Its just a set of touristy hotels built on top of a hill. The situation is incredible though and the top of pelling has panoramic views of the khangchendzonga range and the lower himalayas to the south. There are a couple of really nice monastery walks out of pelling and we did them both. Pemayangtse monastery is about 1.5km out of town and is perfectly placed to overlook the lower valleys. We went inside and sat to the side as monks old and young worked their way through the holy texts, chanting and singing and playing drums and horns as the pace increased. It was pretty intense at times but the atmosphere was completely serene and that experience has to be the closest ive felt as to having any religious or spiritual experience. Upstairs there were some crazy wall paintings, from the utterly bizarre to the quite harrowing. I didnt take any pics as photography was forbidden.On the top floor theres an impressive model of buddas holy realm adorned with gods and mythical creatures and all sorts of ornate carvings and paintings. The whole model was built in 5 years by one festidious monk.

Further down the road were the ruins of the old sikkimese capital rabdentse. Not much of the buildings was left but the views atop the plateau were incredible. On the way back we stopped off for a refuel at the lotus bakery whose profits go to helping fund the education of the local children. Its a good job its represents an honourable cause as as the donuts and cake we tried to eat must have been baked with powdered lead rather than flour. Over the other side of pelling was a more challenging prayer flag-lined walk up to the sangra choeling monastery, the oldest in all sikkim having being built in 1642. It was quainter than pemayangste and had a more picturesque setting overlooking the valleys below.

In the evenings there was pretty much nothing to do so we watched some crappy telly and movies whilst wearing almost all our clothes in bed to keep warm. The food was becoming very boring, "veg" momos filled with little else other than onion, chow mein with enough msg to give an elephant a heart attack. The food in hotel was ok though, warming noodly broths with actual fresh veg. We went into one restaurant and we must have been the first customers there since indian independance. I thought the owner was going to fall over as he rubbed his eyes in astonishment at the customers sitting down at one of his tables. You know youre in a bad establishment when you darent touch the menu because of the stains and solidified grebb adorning its surface. Niki had a soup that looked like heated puddle water. I was anticipating a frog leaping out of it as she drank it holding her nose. My chowmein was palatable but i experienced noodles made with tomato ketchup and soy sauce for the first time. I guess thats a tick in a box of some sort.

Darjeeling and the toy train

After downing a fistful of imodium and antibiotics we set off for the toy train from kurseong to darjeeling 30kms away and 400m higher into the himalayas. The station was tiny with one way in and out. The train chugged onto the platform and we managed to grab the last remaining seats in first class. The only difference between first and second is that you get a chair rather than a place on a bench. The train steadily backed out onto the main road with cars beeping their horns whilst swerving round the carriages. Forward gear was engaged and we were off at a break neck speed of 10kmh with cars and motorbikes whizzing past us on the narrow streets. The weather had been really dry and most of the views were clouded in a thick haze from all the dust. You could anticipate what views must be past the dusty fog but we only got short glimpses of it. The train was a lot of fun going past houses literally on the tracks and going slow past little landslides and loose gravel from the constant roadworks.

It was almost dark when we got to darjeeling. We could make out the terraced layout of the town with lots of concrete hotels dotting the steep slopes. I was expecting far more of a colonial influence on the architecture but most was cheap and functional square multistorey buildings. Our hotel was pretty nice, there was no heating (as per every hotel and homestay in the area which is utterly diabolical given it drops to below 10°C at night) but the bed was really cosy and comfy so we got plenty of kip each night. We wandered round town with no real purpose for the next two days trying to acclimatise to the cooler temperatures and ease our way into the mountain way of life. Darjeeling has an interesting little stretch of shops, restaurants and market stalls leading up to the main square on top of the hill. Here there were tea shops galore and people just chilling and taking in the views. There was even blokes with little ponies offering rides to kids a la blackpool beach.

We thought about taking a trek from darjeeling right into the heart of sikkim but 6 days sounded an awful long time to dedicate to one walk and our fitness levels probably fall way short of the requirement. We chose well as the next day the heavens literally opened as we searched in vain for a shared jeep out of dodge. We were too late for the right jeep to take us onto pelling.so we trudged back up the steep streets getting smashed to pieces by hailstones as big as marbles. We holed up in a really cute guest house recommended by a friend and dried off listening to the storm rattle the corrugated iron lining the roof. Now i like spiders, i have a lot of time and respect for the 8 legged creatures, however when faced with one the size of an outstretched palm i quickly turn into a quivering mess. And thats exactly what happened when one that size scampered up the curtain next to my head. Its legs would have poked out a good inch either side of an upturned bibby's lantern. We turned the place upside down, moved the bed and took down the curtains to find it. We even got the owner and her sons involved in the fruitless search which ended up in major embarassment and pityful looks from our helpers. Given it was pissing it down outside and there was a giant arachnid on the loose waiting to pounce on our faces as we slept the coming night we thought the best idea would be to get zonked on booze. So we did just that, blew a whole days budget on ale and wine and crawled back to our room of fangs, poison, hairy legs and terror with smiles on our faces.