Continued from: Breakfast at 14000 feet…
And so duly momoed, Maggied and acclimatized, we begin the second part of the drive towards Gurudongmar lake. Just in case we imagine that the rest of this drive is going to be as easy as it has been so far, our driver warns us to brace ourselves for [...]
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4.30 a.m. and it is bright outside our tiny hotel room in Lachen. At just less than 9000 feet, Lachen feels pleasant; my teeth are already chattering but I choose to ignore that and focus instead on the dozens of families already up and about, children shouting to get on to their jeeps first. You [...]
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Posted in DesiPundit, Published, Stories from Sikkim, tagged Published, in print, Sikkim, North East India, West Sikkim, Pelling, Yuksam, Yangtey, Pemayangtse, Kanchenjunga, Dzongri, Khecopalri lake, New Horizons on October 1, 2009 | 5 Comments »
“Why do you want to go to Yuksam? There is nothing there”. I have lost count of the number of times we hear this in Gangtok. Travel agents, cab drivers, even perfect strangers earnestly advise us against Yuksam. Some of them go on to elaborate, “no sight-seeing”, and suggest we go instead to Pelling [...]
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We are on our way back from North Sikkim to Gangtok when Shelly waves down our cab. As we stop to let her in, she confidently gets in and sits next to the driver, telling him the name of her village. Her school is seven km away from her house and she has already walked [...]
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Posted in Stories from Sikkim, tagged bamboo shoot, chang, Gangtok, homestay, millet beer, North East India, Sikkim, Sikkim homestay, Sikkimese food, Tashi Tagey, The Shire Sikkim on July 27, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I had ranted long ago about the Lonely Planetization of Travel – I had just returned from Hampi and was irritated above all, by the fact that I had come across only “Western” cuisine everywhere… In popular tourist destinations in India, menus are almost always prepared with the foreign visitor in mind – and therefore, [...]
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Posted in DesiPundit, Stories from Sikkim, tagged Changu, Gurudongmar, India, Khecheopalri, Khechopalri, lakes, photoessay, Sikkim, Sikkim lakes, Tsomgo on June 7, 2009 | 9 Comments »
There is something about high altitude lakes – you climb up the mountains roads, gritting your teeth though the hairpin bends and unpaved surfaces and all. And then suddenly from a height, a gleam of water, a patch of brilliant blue, or silvery white speckled with gold, depending on the mood of the sun that [...]
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Posted in DesiPundit, Published, Stories from Sikkim, tagged google search, inprint, Midday, online travel research, Published, spontaneous travel, Sunday Midday, travel research, unplanned travel on June 1, 2009 | 11 Comments »
This piece appeared in yesterday’s Sunday Mid-day as ‘How google almost ruined my holiday’ – I had initially titled the piece ‘Death by google’
Mild disorientation I can live with (and do, all the time), nausea and headache too. Breathing trouble? Ah, not life-threatening. So far, so good. And then comes the bit about [...]
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ten thousand saw I at a glance / tossing their heads in sprightly dance / Buddhist prayer flags…
Everywhere I turn in Sikkim, the prayer flags. Red and yellow and white. Some old and faded, some new and bright. But all of them confident of their place under the Sikkimese sun.
Wikipedia says – Traditionally, prayer flags [...]
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