Sikkim Travel Journal | Cover Story

Pack toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, underwear, and three sets of clothing. A pair of shoes with traction will be important, since Sikkim is very hilly, if not cliff-like. Oops, can't forget a jacket. Some of Sikkim will be freezing. One last bit of advice. Bring diarrhea meds.

Get a guidebook, a good friend, or both. Make sure you inform Mom n' Dad that you're leaving.

Wake up at 3am to get to the 5am bus in Kalanki.

Oh dear. Hurry, rush up and out onto the road. Rush smack dab into a traffic jam at 6:30am. Spend the entire day not moving more than a kilometer. Oh, and I find a use for my diarrhea meds after all.

Spend most of the night in an uncomfortable position, being half-asleep. Starve, starve, starve, as there are no pasals going through the hills, and no time to stop for khaanaaaaaa!

Get to Kakarbhitta. You ARE aware that Nepalis won't really need a passport or anything to get into India, right? A student ID should suffice. Make sure to brush up on your Hindi, as there is a good percentage of Indians who don't speak Nepali at the border…and I can't say much for their English either.

Change money at the bank. Technically, the bank should not charge you for changing NC to IC. The exchange rate is 1.6, so if you have 8,000 Nepali rupees, it becomes 5,000 IC.

From Kakarbhitta, take a long shuttle ride from Siliguri. You can catch almost any bus to almost any place in Sikkim –for a steep price.

The jeep ride isn't that great, but neither are long tempo rides. The scenery was great. Saw people harvesting tea. Are you familiar with the smell of tea plants growing? It's magnificent and subtle. I suggest you open your mouth while you breath from your nose. This will help you appreciate the clean, delicate fragrance.

I caught a bus to Kalimpong, because I was told by many people that I would like it there. Throughout the bus ride, I realized that Sikkim really IS about 80% Nepali. People were speaking it all the time. One person had asked me, "Where are you from?" I didn't pay enough attention, and replied "Me hindi ne bolta." She replied "Thik chha, Nepali bolchhu." I was dumb-founded. Everyone around me spoke Nepali –even if they weren't Nepali. Even the Marwaris spoke Nepali. The only thing I didn't understand: Everyone speaks Nepali and most people are Nepali…kina NC chaldaina? It's still India.

Got to Kalimpong. It was a looooong bus ride, but nice, because of the pitched roads, and the great scenery. So far, everything is on the up and up –because everything seems to be at an incline.

Got to the bus park. Doesn't look like a bus park. Looks like a 7 car parking lot. Guess what was next to the bus park? Daal bhaat stand. Hee hee. Still feels like I'm in Nepal, except that EVERYONE seems to be eating pork, and beef seems to be prevalent. (I notice an absence of buff.)

I don't know about you, but spending two and a half days on a bus tends to tire me out. I quickly found a hotel room (250 IC) and fell dead asleep. Okay, okay…I watched a little TV. Turns out that all the Nepali channels are there, and even Kantipur FM reaches Kalimpong. From what the receptionist told me, it seems that people in Sikkim watch more Nepali movies than people in Nepal! Woke up at 5am. (like usual, right?) –I woke up to prayers and singing. I picked a hotel that was right above a mosque!

Time for a sael roti breakfast…and off to Gangtok by shuttle. (70 IC) Takes a long time to get there too. Arrive at a bus terminal –it's actually an underground parking lot. Time to look for another hotel. Time for more breakfast.

Time to scout out the town, time to look for places to eat, and the local bazaar is calling me.

Sikkimese food. Incredibly tasty –the more pungent (stinky) the food, the yummier it gets! I found out that the local chhurpi is very sharp on the nose, and looks like cottage cheese…it is usually prepared by frying it in ghee. The beef momos (yes, I eat beef when it is available) are DELICIOUS and juicy like you won't believe. Mushrooms are available and plenty. Lots of varieties –I think I counted 15 types while walking through Lal Bazaar. I encountered the usual phing (rice and daal flour mixed to make glass noodles), but they also make this cubed gel (looks like tofu, but transparent) out of the very mung daal mixture. Very vegetarian friendly. The kinema rocks. I asked the sahuni how she makes it. It's first fried, then boiled. It is kept in a sealed container for about a week, so that it ferments and gets very chap-chap (sticky). The variety I liked the most had adhuwa, bamboo shoots, and lots of rato khursani.

It's a new day. It's time to visit Chhangu/Tsomgo Lake. Time to look at the yaks that tip-toe through the snow, and then, it is up to Nathula –the border between Sikkim and China. I'm sooo glad I brought a jacket. It was kind of snowing. I would only recommend this trip to people with no health problems. It is slightly dangerous and the paperwork to go there is slightly dodgy. Not only that, but ekdam mahango chha, hai. (700 IC) and you have to get into the jeep at 7:00 in the morning for a long, snaky ride.

At that elevation, there isn't much air. Don't get excited. Don't run around. Remember to breath through your nose and not your mouth! I also suggest bringing khaani kuraa for the ride up and the ride down. It helps with altitude adjustment…and if you share, it helps with the attitude adjustment of the 12 people crammed into the jeep.

This too, is tiring. Time to take a long nap and even see if I can get up and out. I'm surprised again by the television. I caught myself watching more Nepali channels than I usually do in Kathmandu.

A fresh new day. I want to see something else that Sikkim is famous for. The orchids are fantastic! Over 800 varieties. I found the place that was open year-round, right next to White Hall. For the devout Buddhists, it's time to visit the Enchey Monastery, the Chorten Stupa, and Do Drul. I quickly tire myself out, and drop by the library to rest. Did you know there is a Tibetology place near the park?

Maybe it is the altitude or something. I realized I get tired quickly in Sikkim. Time for yet another nap. Oh. I need to mention this. The water is INCREDIBLE. Straight from the tap. I noticed that some of my pimples went away and my skin texture changed by bathing in the water. My hair also got a little softer.

What else? Time to explore the "scenes" even though it isn't Friday yet. Turns out that Sikkim has almost as many places to go as Nepal! It's quite a feat, considering how everything seems to be on a cliff.

You can turn to the Young Entreprenur section in the next WAVE to find out two of my favorite places in Sikkim. These places are run by people that aren't even 30 yet!

Exploring the night life? Uh, maybe next time. I know that it exists, and is developing at a good pace, but gotta bring more paisa with me as it can get expensive.