Now I’m in Siliguri
Greetings from Siliguri! you're probably wondering
where in the hell that means i am now - very close to
the bagdogra airport in india. did that help?!
have survived the trek - it was amazing - 60 (?) miles
and 30,000 vertical feet in 5 days - went from very
hot to literally being snowed on at 13,000 feet. it
was quite something. coming back down was something
akin to cross country skiing in hiking boots. not to
mention the dzoes (pronounced zo, zoe! they're a
combinatin of yak and cow with big ass horns) which
frequently came up the trail necessitating leaping
into the 3-4 foot snowbanks lining the trail - it was
a riot!
hiked up to 14,000 feet and saw the sun rise on
kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world
- it was spectacular, although it did mean getting up
at 4am AGAIN - i have seen 3am and 4am way too often
on this trip.
the wedding in darjeeling was amazing (although the
dalai lama did not show up, it was still way cool!
also, plenty of photos of his holiness hanging out in
the norgay living room with various members of the
norgay family scattered about). the costumes and the
music (although at one point in 10,000 maniacs was
playing, kind of disconcerting!)
getting to darjeeling from bhutan was quite a trip -
sheer sheer drop offs from the road - what made it
even more interesting was the accident our bus got in
with a truck - fortunately no one was hurt and we all
stayed on the road! the trip from darjeeling to
sikkim was less eventful, but we all did have to flee
darjeeling under cover of night (try 4am again)
because there were quite a few people who were going
on strike that day & they were planning on
aggressively blocking all of the roads.
howard made it through calcutta and to darjeeling
without incident and he's had a blast as well. all of
his marathon training paid off and the trek was a
total walk in the park (which was kind of annoying for
those of us who are not quite in the shape that he's
in!) and he even walked with the porters one morning
(although he did not wear flip flops, the universal
porter shoe - which no doubt would have slowed him
down somewhat!) - his first trip outside the u.s.
seems to have been quite a success, although
fortunately for him, i've been to most 3rd world asian
countries now and may turn my sights elsewhere!
okay - wanted to drop you all a quick line, but am
finally going to go upstairs to my room and take my
first real bath/shower in 6 days - cannot wait - nor,
i am assuming can those around me...
i fly to delhi & on to home tomorrow - see you all
real soon!
ss