The drive there took about 4-5 hours, leaving early Saturday morning and arriving just before lunch into Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim. The drive was incredible, more winding and narrow roads as previously described in an earlier blog entry, and pretty much following the Teesta River all the way up, which is known for its white water rafting. The way the roads are laid out, it's one mountain at a time, as tunnels are few and far between. So we could be driving along on the side of one mountain looking down on the valley and the river, descend into that same valley, drive through a town that we had been looking down on from above 10 minutes before, and then head right back upwards again, then an hour later, be looking down on the same spot of the valley and the river, just from the other side of it, and on another mountain! Bridges were also an adventure in and of themselves...one in particular that was most memorable...a suspended bridge that was swaying at least a foot to one side and then the other as cars drove over it, as we sat waiting our turn as only one car was allowed at a time. The river rushing by only 30 feet below us was pretty hard to hear over the squeaking and clanking of the bridge as we drove over it...but I'm alive to tell this story, so we made it!! The fact that we were driving through the foothills of the Himalayas kept hitting me over and over again, and I found myself just awestruck by the beauty and sheer height of everything around me!
Gangtok is a great town...one main street and lots of tourists!! We were among the few of our skin color, and throughout the weekend, found ourselves being the focus of much attention and pictures, some people even asking if they could get their picture WITH us...I don't think I've ever held so many children that I didn't even know in my life before! Pretty amusing to say the least! We hadn't made reservations ahead of time, so the first hour after we arrived was spent looking for vacancies, finally finding 2 rooms at Hotel Golden Pagoda, which had pretty decent views of the surrounding mountains and the valley below, and a western-style toilet to our pleasant surprise! We spent the rest of the day exploring the town, and just an interesting side note...was able to watch the Miss USA pageant on our television that night...was so afraid I would miss that being in India ;) What was pretty neat about Gangtok is that the hustle and bustle of all the traffic during the day is completely absent at night, so we could wander the whole street as we moseyed along the various stores, restaurants, and hotels...it was such a nice small town atmosphere in the evening!
The next day, on Sunday, we started out by going to the Institute of Tibetology, which is a sort of museum dedicated to explaining the main principles of Buddhism and even has a display depicting the birth and enlightenment of Buddha. Most of the depictions are painted tapestries, which were absolutely beautiful. The first stone of the building was actually placed by the Dalai Lama himself! Later that morning, having booked a trip to Lake Chunga (which I've found has several spellings and an even greater number of different pronunciations), we piled in a taxi (jeep)
again. The lake sits at 12,400 feet, and is about a 2-2 1/2 hour drive northeast from Gangtok, again more winding and narrow roads. There are lots of waterfalls along the way, some even spilling over the road before plunging into the valley below, and we stopped at one in particular, called Kyongnosla Falls--I couldn't get over how clear blue the water was! But then again, it's coming from the mountains and glaciers higher up, so it's definitely as pure as you can get. We even drove through the clouds at one point, and the temperature difference was amazing the higher up we went! Now, the army has a strong presence here, as the border with Tibet is so close, so pictures were not really allowed and if you did chance it, you had to be really discreet about the whole thing. Foreigners are not even allowed beyond a certain point around the lake, and we could only hike one path, which was closer to the south end of the lake, because of the vicinity to the border. The lake was absolutely gorgeous, and we hiked up to about 12,600 feet to an amazing view of the whole lake and surrounding mountains, being able to see the border very clearly at the north end of the lake (the mountain ridge in the clouds behind me in the picture)! Now, the highlight of the day and basically the whole trip to Sikkim, hence the title of this entry, was getting to ride a yak!! We had the option of taking yaks part-way around the lake to where we started hiking, and needless to say we didn't hesitate!! I climbed aboard Jacko the Yak, the other 3 volunteers I was with doing the same to their respective yaks, and with the yak operators leading us, had a lovely 10-minute meandering
ride around the lake!! Yaks are about the size of a bull, with a lot more hair, and I have to say that the smell of a yak is quite...unique, and just seemed to add to the whole experience. The whole yak-riding aspect is quite the operation, as they have saddles and stirrups and even horn warmers, brightly-colored knitted sock-like apparatuses that adorned each of our yaks' horns! Again, this was an experience that I will not soon forget! Did not spot any yetis though, as this is the region known for one of the first sightings of these creatures.
again. The lake sits at 12,400 feet, and is about a 2-2 1/2 hour drive northeast from Gangtok, again more winding and narrow roads. There are lots of waterfalls along the way, some even spilling over the road before plunging into the valley below, and we stopped at one in particular, called Kyongnosla Falls--I couldn't get over how clear blue the water was! But then again, it's coming from the mountains and glaciers higher up, so it's definitely as pure as you can get. We even drove through the clouds at one point, and the temperature difference was amazing the higher up we went! Now, the army has a strong presence here, as the border with Tibet is so close, so pictures were not really allowed and if you did chance it, you had to be really discreet about the whole thing. Foreigners are not even allowed beyond a certain point around the lake, and we could only hike one path, which was closer to the south end of the lake, because of the vicinity to the border. The lake was absolutely gorgeous, and we hiked up to about 12,600 feet to an amazing view of the whole lake and surrounding mountains, being able to see the border very clearly at the north end of the lake (the mountain ridge in the clouds behind me in the picture)! Now, the highlight of the day and basically the whole trip to Sikkim, hence the title of this entry, was getting to ride a yak!! We had the option of taking yaks part-way around the lake to where we started hiking, and needless to say we didn't hesitate!! I climbed aboard Jacko the Yak, the other 3 volunteers I was with doing the same to their respective yaks, and with the yak operators leading us, had a lovely 10-minute meandering ride around the lake!! Yaks are about the size of a bull, with a lot more hair, and I have to say that the smell of a yak is quite...unique, and just seemed to add to the whole experience. The whole yak-riding aspect is quite the operation, as they have saddles and stirrups and even horn warmers, brightly-colored knitted sock-like apparatuses that adorned each of our yaks' horns! Again, this was an experience that I will not soon forget! Did not spot any yetis though, as this is the region known for one of the first sightings of these creatures.After the 2-hour drive back to Gangtok, we quickly found another jeep taxi and began the 4-5 hour drive to Pelling, a small town on the western side of Sikkim, and known as having the best views of the Himalayas in the entire state. It was late afternoon at this point, and had been pretty cloudy all day, so as it got darker and started raining, the drive became even more adrenaline-filled on the narrow, steep, winding roads! We arrived just fine, a little after 8pm, and our hotel was absolutely lovely...we had called ahead so the staff had been expecting us, and were keeping the kitchen open so we could get some dinner before turning in! Now we had specifically asked for certain rooms based on previous volunteers' recommendations, and when morning came, we were not disappointed. Throwing open the curtains, and then bolting out the door onto the balcony, we were greeted with the bluest skies, the sun beaming down, and the most spectacular view...there in the distance was Kachenchunga, the highest mountain in all of India and the third highest mountain in the world, with 2 other snow-capped peaks flanking it on either side. Now, since this past week has been so cloudy in Darjeeling and while we were in
Gangtok, I had not seen any of the high peaks yet, so to say this was absolutely awesome is quite the understatement...I was like a kid on Christmas morning, quite speechless really, just gaping at the beautiful snow-covered Himalayas rising up over the hills in the valley that seemed so close I could have walked to them in no time. Even thinking back on it now as I write this, I have trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that I just saw some of the highest mountains in the world over the weekend, and the fact that I'm in Asia, my 7th continent!!
Gangtok, I had not seen any of the high peaks yet, so to say this was absolutely awesome is quite the understatement...I was like a kid on Christmas morning, quite speechless really, just gaping at the beautiful snow-covered Himalayas rising up over the hills in the valley that seemed so close I could have walked to them in no time. Even thinking back on it now as I write this, I have trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that I just saw some of the highest mountains in the world over the weekend, and the fact that I'm in Asia, my 7th continent!!So the rest of Monday, which we had all taken off from our placements for, we spent exploring Pelling. We traipsed up to Sangachoeling Monastery, the oldest in Sikkim, and the highest point in all of Pelling, to see the best view of the town laying far below us and the mountains surrounding us on all sides! The road leading up to the monastery is quite a trek in itself, and I found myself thinking I was on the Great Wall of China looking at the style of the retaining walls that had been built for the winding path up the side of the mountain, which took us about an hour to do. It was quite warm with the sun out, and we were glad to lounge in the shade of the pine trees on the grounds once we reached the monastery and the cool breeze felt so good! The few clouds that were in the sky
just seemed to graze the top of the mountain, drifting right by us, given how high we were at that point. After taking off our shoes, we wandered inside the temple, where we saw the most beautiful painted murals, statues, and fabric prayer wheels suspended from the ceiling. I'm learning so much about Buddhism and the main religion of this culture. The monks that we saw there were quite young, and I made a mental note to learn why for future reference. Well, they were just as curious about us as we were about them, and loved having their pictures taken! The hike back down didn't take quite as long, and after checking out, we piled into the taxi again to head back to Darjeeling, stopping at another monastery, Pemayangste, on the way, which has the one of the largest and most well-known wooden sculptures depicting heaven and hell. The 4-5 hour drive back to Darj was again more winding, steep, and narrow roads, knowing we were getting close as the tea plantations became more plentiful. Even though it sounds like we spent most of the time in a jeep/land rover, we got some good hiking in and I felt like we really got to see and explore a lot of Sikkim.
So that was my weekend...close enough to Tibet I could taste it, my first glimpse of the snow-capped Himalayas, and of course, riding a yak!! I have discovered an internet cafe with broadband, so I am able to upload photos for the first time...wahoo!! Enjoy!
just seemed to graze the top of the mountain, drifting right by us, given how high we were at that point. After taking off our shoes, we wandered inside the temple, where we saw the most beautiful painted murals, statues, and fabric prayer wheels suspended from the ceiling. I'm learning so much about Buddhism and the main religion of this culture. The monks that we saw there were quite young, and I made a mental note to learn why for future reference. Well, they were just as curious about us as we were about them, and loved having their pictures taken! The hike back down didn't take quite as long, and after checking out, we piled into the taxi again to head back to Darjeeling, stopping at another monastery, Pemayangste, on the way, which has the one of the largest and most well-known wooden sculptures depicting heaven and hell. The 4-5 hour drive back to Darj was again more winding, steep, and narrow roads, knowing we were getting close as the tea plantations became more plentiful. Even though it sounds like we spent most of the time in a jeep/land rover, we got some good hiking in and I felt like we really got to see and explore a lot of Sikkim.So that was my weekend...close enough to Tibet I could taste it, my first glimpse of the snow-capped Himalayas, and of course, riding a yak!! I have discovered an internet cafe with broadband, so I am able to upload photos for the first time...wahoo!! Enjoy!
