hello devoted readers!
hope all is going well at your end. My apologies for the blog coming so late.
After our stay in the sleepy town of Darjeeling, we headed off to Gangtok in a hired seven passenger jeep. After a long 6 hours of travel which included stopping for meals, permits and snack breaks, finally made it to our destination. We then made our way down to the main strip of Gangtok which was absolutely magnificent. There were rows upon rows of stores with almost anything you desire, on a street where cars are not allowed to travel, very cool!
after a two night stay in the very nice Sandim Hotel, we were off to Sikkim to start our trek. Another long jeep ride later and we found our selves at the first home stay. A very nice place way out in the jungle of Sikkim, very secluded and peaceful. During our stay, the local girls school came to our current home and showed us there traditional Lupcha dance (the local area is known for this dance) while we drank an ancient Nepally drink out of a giant bamboo mug! And of course they insisted we dance as well so keep your eyes out for some amusing pictures!
From there our host Dun-din and many other helpers such as Raju, Aaron, Kumar, Lun-lin and more took us to our first trekking spot. We hiked up a small mountain of very diverse terrain and made it to our destination in about 2 hours. From there we interacted with the local families, and set up tents for the night!
The next day we headed down the very same mountain back into the main part of Sikkim for a quick lunch. But there is no rest for the wicked! quickly after lunch we walked to our next hiking destination. Yes another mountain! This trek found to be less forgiving than the first. The terrain was straight up to the top! Lots of breaks were necessary! 🙂 But alas we made it to the summit and slept quite comfortable none the less.
After we arose it was breakfast and a trip down the mountain. (which was much easier than going up i must say!) and a Jeep ride back to Gangtok. which brings us to where we are now. We are settled back into the Sandim hotel resting our weary legs waiting for the next adventure to start! we head to Calcutta by train tomorrow and who knows what it has in store for us! only time will tell….
Sending lots of love back home
Shanti Bahar (which is Hindi for peace out )
Group Shanti
