Gangtok

January 21, 2007 Andy 0 Comments

Our first sunny day in Darjeeling, typically, was the day we were leaving. For the first time we could see the snow capped peak the world’s third largest mountain, Kangchenjunga. We didn’t have time to take in the views however as we had a shared jeep booked to take us to the capital of Sikkim, Gangtok. The drive over was fantastic. Three hours of beautiful mountain roads that often had me fantasising of a shinny red Integrale…

Upon arrival we picked a nice sounding hostel we found in the Rough Guide. It was a good choice. Not only are the views stunning and the food good but it is the friendliest hostel I’ve experienced yet in India. Not bad for 4 pounds a night. The people up in the Himalayas are so different to all those we’ve met before. This was something we noticed when climbing the hill to Darjeeling. I think it has a lot to do with the Bhuddist Tibetan and Nepali influences.

Looking from our balcony the town, prayer flags flying, unfolds in front of us perched on the steep hillface all the way down the valley. Up the hill the otherside hang hundreds of terraced rice paddies. A little further in the distance lies the Rumtek Monistary. Above all of that the aforementioned snow covered Kangchenjunga completes the scene. Unfortunately, subsequent to our first day it has been too misty to get any decent pictures.

Since we’ve been here, we’ve been relaxing after the Rickshaw Run, reading loads and trying to get our websites updated (another day and we should be there). Yesterday we took the cable car down to the Museum of Tibetology (which was closed) and today we were up early to climb the mountain to the Enchey Monastery. We then climbed a little higher to the Ganesh Viewpoint to look at the mist followed by several nice hours in the tranquility of the Himalayan Zoological Park.

This large sanctuary is quite different to many of the zoos here. The animals have very large enclosures, so much so that you have to be lucky to see some of the animals. There is also a large focus on the breeding of endangered animals. Highlights were seeing a Himalayan Black Bear, several Red Pandas and a Leopard really close.

Next stop, Varanasi, hopefully with a Himalayan helicopter ride thrown in.

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