On the terrace at Praj's House
There is a wonderful little roadside shop just down the hill from our hotel in Darjeeling where an elderly man works. You stand outside the shop at the counter and pick out the items that you want and then the man lines them up and tells you the price of each item one by one and then wants you to add them up for him. He will continue to repeat the price of the first two items until you tell him their total and then he will say that subtotal and the price of the third item over and over again until you give him the new subtotal. He is so sweet and so trusting I have bought everything I need from him.
After three nights in Darjeeling we decided to head to Sikkim. It is about a four hour drive and is frequently taken. We spoke with a cab driver about finding a Sikkim driver who was returning to Sikkim from dropping someone off and giving us a discounted rate. The cab was supposed to pick us up at 11:30 but didn’t show and when Praj tried to call him he found out that he wasn’t even half way to Darjeeling yet. So we went somewhere else and got another cab. The driver was talking non stop in Nepali for the entire drive about the most boring stuff, even more boring than reading this blog!
While driving towards Sikkim, Praj remembered a place he ate momos at 16 years ago and we stopped to find the place and we actually found it from his childhood memories. The place had been renovated since then, but he spoke with the owner about the way it used to look and how much he loved the food there. Praj ate a ridiculous amount of momos and brought a bag full of them with him as well. We bought the driver a plate of momos and after he was done eating them he grabbed my bottle of water and started to drink it straight from the bottle without asking.
The cab driver drove us to a meeting point just outside Sikkim and Praj’s family driver came to pick us up and drive us across the border. Sikkim is a part of India but they have their own border guards and require a permit for foreigners. When we went to get my permit back in Delhi, they put one copy of the form in an envelope and addressed it to the border people and sealed it. They gave me another copy for myself, kind of like a receipt. When we got to the border the officer wanted both copies, even though they were identical and I had thought my copy was just for me. I searched in my bag and found it crumpled at the bottom and it had obviously been soaked by rain on another day and was pretty much worthless. The guy let me in to Sikkim anyway and put a special Sikkim stamp in my passport, then he handed me back his copy and told me to keep that. I was glad that Praj was there with me because the guy was not very friendly and there were other foreigners there who were very confused and frustrated.
Prajwal’s family driver got into an accident a while back and is now the most cautious driver in India. He constantly honks and slams on the breaks and won’t pass anyone unless they are going ridiculously slow and he has a clear view of the horizon ahead. On the way to Gangtok, the capitol of Sikkim, we saw two places where cars had driven off the road that day. One accident had happened early in the morning and the driver drove into the river. The second accident must have happened shortly before we got there because the tow truck had just arrived. The car had driven off the road, hit a tree and then plummeted down to the bottom of a cliff. After seeing both of those accident sights, I wasn’t so annoyed with the way the driver was being cautious.
Despite being cautious our driver got a flat tire and pulled over to fix it. I got out to help him and Praj looked at me and said “You don’t have to help him.” I told Praj that the sooner he gets it done the sooner we can get back on the road. So Praj stood across the street in the shade and watched as I tried to help the guy change the flat. Praj thought it was hilarious and tried to take my picture, he didn’t get a picture while I was helping so he tried to convince us to pose like I was helping, but we did not oblige him.
Gangtok is a city in the hills and has some spectacular views of mountains. On a clear day you can see the third highest mountain in the world from his house. The style of the house is very interesting because to get from one room to another you have to go outside. You never leave the house because once you enter the gate on the main floor you are inside the house but the hallways and the stairs are outside.
Prajwal is so happy to be in Sikkim, he has been telling me how amazing Sikkim is the entire time I have been in India. I pretty much expect for Angels to be dancing in the streets that are paved in gold. I asked him if Sikkim is more like Nepal or India and he responded it was like neither, more like a town in Switzerland. We went down to the market to walk around and look at things and the market is vastly different from any other Indian city I have been to. It is similar to an outdoor mall and looks very western, there are clean fountains in the middle and the shop keepers stay inside their shops instead of standing outside and shouting “Sir, Sir, Sir come look at my fine goods”. There is not any trash in the market area or paan stains on the sidewalks, so unlike any other part of India I have seen.
We looked into going on a Trekking trip, but they wanted Rs 8000 for a 2 night 3 day trip, no thank you! Tomorrow we will explore the Gangtok area of Sikkim and do all of the touristy things.
Gangtok Market
Flat Tire
Car Crash
Wild Peacock
View from Darjeeling Hotel Roof
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