11th April, 2008

I was sure getting a real sore habit of getting up real early these days. Today was no different & the other fact was that it was going to be a long day too. At around 8.30 am the trio of us were all ready & had bid adieu to the Dafla Gang staff & were back on the road. Today would be our last day in Sikkim. Come to think about I sure didn’t have a bloody clue of how fast time had traveled.

Our first halt for the day came in the form of the Pemayangtsi Monastery. The place was huger compared to Bon one we had visited in Kewzing. But the only drawback was that photography was not permitted inside the monastery & that was big loss for us. This was 3 levels of spirituality, serenity & historical scrolls too. On the second floor there was this beautiful manifestation of how heaven would be, and since our cameras weren’t there all we could imprint of it was in our minds (& I am pretty sure I would be forgetting it as I reach Hyderabad thanks to my good ol memory).

Resuming with our journey once again, Ramesh did quite comically point out some of the flowers that we had missed out in Yumthang. The Scorpio again came to halt at the Reshi Hot Springs (also know as Taatopaani in the local lingo). Well but before we could get to see the springs, we had to walk down some real steep steps, cross a creaky suspension bridge & then walk through another narrow path all the way to the banks of the Legship lake. Well once we reached the springs, we saw this small encircled area separated from the lake & that my friends, was were the water was hot.

There were plenty a people who were relaxing in the hot waters of Reshi & more were just flowing in getting out of their clothes in a whim & taking a dip. My personal thoughts were that though the area was pretty, it could be a tad better maintained. The walk back was as arduous as it was earlier, but after some pants & whiffs, we did manage to get back to the Scorpio (Ramesh had conveniently decided to wait back in the vehicle).

At 10.30 am, after days of pure bliss we finally crossed over into the state of West Bengal. Sikkim had been a revelation of all sorts for us & it was disheartening when we exited it. We were headed to Darjeeling & the roads were no different from how it was till now – bumpy, narrow & steep. In fact we even did feel that it was getting steeper with every hair pin curve we took.

Now as you pass through the roads that carry you to Darjeeling, you shall note that the entire road is surrounded by tea valleys. So there were plenty of tea gathering ladies with their head gear on (some of them were even carrying their babies in these head gears & that my friends was one heck of a sight). It had been hardly an hour that we had entered into West Bengal & we were faced with our first road fright throughout the trip. We were climbing up a slope, when Ramesh had just failed to judge the elevation & had to back a little. Well it sure did seem like a small reverse, but during that split second he somehow managed to drag the rear wheel of the Scorpio in the adjacent ditch.

So there we were stuck on an inclined slope with one of our wheels kind of airborne. But to our good luck, there were so many of the local folks & ongoing drivers who stopped by to check on us & even offered help. It was one such help which was offered that later came in the form of a dozen of the nearby tea estate workers & some machine (it was a quite interesting one) that finally managed to get our airborne vehicle back to the grounds.

Later on as we entered the heart of Darjeeling, we were greeted with some amazingly hot babes. But then it was different thing that they were all involved in a student’s rally. Well true to it’s commie blood line, there was this huge & never ending rally of all the schools in Darjeeling (man there were some number of schools there) demanding in the latest fashion of new statehoods in India for a GORKHALAND.

As if this was not enough, there was a sucker of a traffic jam that had us going in rounds & rounds for like an hour. Finally we managed to get a parking spot just opposite to the famed railway station where the Toy Train would roll out. But to our messed up luck (quite contrasting I would say) we arrived like after 2 pm & the railway counters were all closed. So there blew our dreams of taking a ride in the Toy Train. After having our lunch, we found out to our compounding misery, that Sikkim registered vehicles were not permitted to go to the local sightseeing locales.

So off we trotted on foot to the much heralded local bazaar & to our disappointment we came to find that stuff weren’t as cheap as we had presumed it would be. Finally after just purchasing some of the local tea, we decided to head off to Mirik. Honestly after having an overview of Darjeeling, it fell way below our expectations. Other than the babes, Darjeeling sucked big time when compared with Sikkim.

At 6 pm the visibility on the roads had deteriorated due to the thick fog that had popped up. The area was brimming with military personnel considering the fact that it was bordering Nepal. Finally after like checking out with a dozen of the locals we managed to get hold of a decent hotel to rest our butts for the night at the Viraj Hotel. Considering the real long day that we had, exhaustion finally did catch up with all of us & after a quick dinner all of us waiting to hit the bed. Tomorrow would be the last day of our vacation & we sure wanted to go out with a bang!!!