The next morning we started on our way to the state of Sikkim, a little slice of heaven sandwiched between Nepal, Chinese Tibet, and the Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan. We had some travel obstacles along the way, but looking back, it was an interesting day. We began the morning dealing with our crazy loud hotel manager that looked like an Indian Barney Ruble or Fred Flinstone, he was quite the character. Having had an altercation the day before, and then having him flip out again over God knows what again in the morning, it was hilarious that he had the nerve to calm down, put on his best sad puppy eyes, and politely ask for a tip as we were leaving! He was met with laughter, which did not make him the happiest of cave men. The day before, we met a solo British freelance photographer that was looking for a group to go up to Sikkim with, and since we had a jeep just for the four of us, we told him to come along. Jack was his name, but throughout the trip we pretty much called him every white boy name known to man. He was 30 minutes late though as we were trying to leave, so now we were yelling through the streets of Darjeeling "Michael! John! LARRRY!!", but still, no Frank was to be found, so we headed out to Sikkim, and surprisingly on the way out, there he was, sitting on the side of the road with his luggage, haha. Jack quickly became part of the group, sharing our Guju nasto (snacks) while improving his Indian accent. So it was on to Sikkim, or so we thought. We got to the border (and hour and a half away), and didn't have the right passes since we were booked as Indian citizens, came back to Darjeeling to get passes and then headed back to the border. It was a celebration when we finally got into Sikkim! We needed special passes since it borders Chinese Tibet and also since the Chinese government never officially recognized Sikkim as part of India since 1975 when it joined the country.
We drove through the foothills scattered with little villages, tea farms ringing the hills, and the occasional shanty town sprawling up from the river to the ridge. It was STILL cloudy and foggy, but we kept telling ourselves "oh yea today looks clearer then yesterday!". We were on our way to Pelling, a town on the doorstep of the third highest mountain in the world, and the highest in India(about 250 meters shorter than Everest)-Mount Khangchendzonga. I attempted numerous times to pronounce it right with the help with the locals, but it always turned into "Caan-chen-DONGA!" (my South Carolina coming out a little). So everyday I was met with laughter from the local guides or hotel people when I would ask "is it clear today? can we see caan-chen-donga?!" By dusk we were climbing the final steep mountain ridge amidst what seemed like infinitely cascading hills collapsing on top of each other, kind of like the ones you draw as a child. It soon began to rain, again hiding any views of Khangchendzonga, but we again tried to see the lining and thought maybe this rain will clear out all the clouds by morning. That night, me and Anjali literally dreamt of clear blue skies and flawless Himalayan views... we woke up to more clouds. This was actually the second night in a row we both, oddly enough, dreamt of seeing the snow peaked mountains.
So we got ready and decided to spend the day seeing old holy and royal places of the first Sikkimese capital in Yuksom (about 2 hours away). Sikkim has a rich history of Buddhist kingdoms a
nd royal dynasties as well as being a safe haven for Tibetan refugees, monks, and llamas. "Yuksom" meaning the "meeting place of three llamas", was where the first Chogyal of Sikkim was crowned in 1641. A chogyal is kind of like the Holy Roman Emperor but in Bhuddhist terms, a religious leader that ruled the secular state as well. As the story goes, it was here where the three holy llamas descended from three points of the Himalayas and crowned Phuntshog as king. The most powerful of the llamas, Nyingmpa Llama Lhatsun Chembo, flew from Northern Tibet (he was a pretty sweet yogi) and landed in the mountains near Yuksom. He hiked across the mountain ridge and planted his walking stick in the ground which grew into the prehistoric looking cryptomeria pinetree that now shades the coronation throne of Phuntshog
. About 15 feet from the throne is a rock with a footprint eroded into it, the supposed footprint of the powerful Phuntshog who, in one leap, jumped from the rock to his throne, leaving the 4 inch deep indentation of his foot. The old throne and monastery is now a beautiful school for children and one of the teachers was nice enough to show us around and tell us some of the stories and myths of Yuksom. The kids were pretty funny and as Anjali sat in their class and got swarmed and tackled by them all, we were outside stacking flat rocks for good luck.
nd royal dynasties as well as being a safe haven for Tibetan refugees, monks, and llamas. "Yuksom" meaning the "meeting place of three llamas", was where the first Chogyal of Sikkim was crowned in 1641. A chogyal is kind of like the Holy Roman Emperor but in Bhuddhist terms, a religious leader that ruled the secular state as well. As the story goes, it was here where the three holy llamas descended from three points of the Himalayas and crowned Phuntshog as king. The most powerful of the llamas, Nyingmpa Llama Lhatsun Chembo, flew from Northern Tibet (he was a pretty sweet yogi) and landed in the mountains near Yuksom. He hiked across the mountain ridge and planted his walking stick in the ground which grew into the prehistoric looking cryptomeria pinetree that now shades the coronation throne of Phuntshog
. About 15 feet from the throne is a rock with a footprint eroded into it, the supposed footprint of the powerful Phuntshog who, in one leap, jumped from the rock to his throne, leaving the 4 inch deep indentation of his foot. The old throne and monastery is now a beautiful school for children and one of the teachers was nice enough to show us around and tell us some of the stories and myths of Yuksom. The kids were pretty funny and as Anjali sat in their class and got swarmed and tackled by them all, we were outside stacking flat rocks for good luck. Walking around the small village of Yuksom was so peaceful and it was great that we were the only tourists there that day, I couldn't believe we had the place all to ourselves. We roamed around the paths lined with multi-colored prayer flags and hung out by the small holy Kathok lake that was bright green with algee. We then ventured up a steep kilometer long path to visit the oldest monastery in Sikkim, the Dubdi Gompa. The path was steep and the air thin, and we were all huffing and puffing 45 minutes later when we reached the top, but it was definitely worth it, as it was my favorite place in Yuksom. Set near the top of the mountain overlooking Yuksom and the surrounding hills and valleys, the monasteries were surrounded by crazy looking pine trees and tons of prayer flags. We had to get the caretaker to open the monasteries, which were amazing. As we looked out, dark clouds started to roll in and the rain soon came. It was pretty powerful to sit before the golden Buddha by candle light with the faint sound of thunder and rain. When we returned to town we warmed up with some fresh hot soup and "hot ginger" drink and headed back to Pelling. Along the way we stopped at some waterfalls and a holy "wishing-lake". Khecheopalri lake was packed with even more prayer flags and prayer wheels, and it is said that if any leaf falls onto the surface of the lake, it is swiftly removed by the surrounding birds (I didn't see any leaves on the lake).
The next morning I sluggishly woke up at the normal time of 445 am in hopes of watching the sunrise over the Himalayas. When it was clear, you could supposedly sit on the front porch of our hotel and see the can-chen-donga. Everyone else was still asleep as I stumbled out the door expecting to see the same misty hills, but alas, after five days, the greatest mountain range in the world was visable! I ran inside and woke everyone up (I don't think they believed me at first), we gazed at the view from our hotel- Himalayan peaks and Buddhist prayer flags fluttering in the wind, then wal
ked up to the helipad on top of the hill to get some better views. As the sun slowly peaked its head over the horizon the peaks of the soaring mountains turned gold, orange, then a pinkish hue. Finally what was right in front of us the whole time, hidden by the fog and clouds, could be seen, and it was magnificent. My camera isn't the best, and the morning light probably didn't help, so I don't think the pictures do the sight justice, but you'll get the idea. After staring in awe for a couple of hours, we headed back to town, grabbed some fresh momos from a little shack that hung off the cliff next to the road, and happily began the 8 hour journey to the capital city of Gangtok. On the way we stopped at the Pemayangtse monastery from the Buddhist "N
yingmapa" tradition, which was by far the most elaborate gompa we had been too. It was as colorful as the rest of the ones we saw, complete with beautiful gold statues dressed in fine silks, chanting monks, and plenty of prayer flags. The inside of the main temple was also similar to the others, just bigger and more intricate. It was amazing to see the blend of cultures and religions in all the monasteries; some paintings the figures look more "Indian", some more Tibetan or Chinese, while others a unique blend. There were Hindu gods mixed in the Buddhist myths, Buddhist versions of Hindu gods, Hindu versions of Buddhist gods, and so forth.
So after finally glimpsing the highest mountain in India, we continued further north, where are journey got more interesting, and teh scenery even more breathtaking... to Gangtok and North Sikkim.
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