The End

It’s been more than a month (yea so I am a lazy Slouch) since I climbed on that Indigo flight from Kolkata with Vineet & Panda back to Hyderabad. Today I am back to my mundane activities of sitting on front of my comp at office, cursing all my higher authorities for whatever miserable things go by my way. But yet at times I tend to reflect at that one week of bliss which had in ways made me believe that the world still did have a saner side to it.

When I am not in my Socratian mood, I just tend to think of the serenity that had prevailed then. The sheer fact that we were immobile had been such an amazing feeling. No tie ups, nothing to look forward to except for the snow covered mountain peaks. It was like the perfect retreat for us from our hectic schedule & boy did it work out miracles.

We got to meet new folks & Romesh (he would have definitely wanted it to be written this way) had too been an amazing company. He had just begun as a chaperone but later had become one of the key sources of entertainment. And for that matter of fact even Baichung whom we had just met like a couple of times, had somehow figured in all our conversations with his chinky looks & free flowing hair too.

On a personal front, the three of us bonded pretty well & at the end we had come out as better friends than when we had initially caught hold of our Kolkata bound flight. Vineet was at his relaxed best & as the perfect foil to his usually silent self was the ever chirpy Panda. Had it not been for their antics & histrionics I definitely would have felt like in one of those award winning ART movies (damn I always did like some masala in my movies). Their combination definitely deserved plaudits for making this trip such a bloody memorable one.

And finally of course the cream of the crop should go to Sikkim. The place may have had steep slopes, treacherous roads & no roads at times, but at the end its beauty still leaves you breathless. Be it the magnificent view of Kanchendzonga, the frozen view of Tsomgo, the huge flags hoisted at almost all of Sikkim, the calmness in Yuksam, the many lakes & waterfalls or even the chill in Yumthang, if you are looking for that one shot at some scenic expedition, soul searching or whatever name you want to give it, pack your bags & head over to Sikkim.

As for my road tripping escapades, I still got my snorkel out & scuba diving off the coast of Andaman sure does sound exciting. Till then I got to kick some butt here & try refilling my piggy bank. So bon voyage to all those travelers out there!!!!!