Today I wanted to do very little.  After breakfast, I decided to enquire about the bus to Siliguri.  Essentials like where it left from how long it takes, whether foreigners are OK on it in view of the checkpoint utilised.  Answered varied and but all that was confirmed was that it starts in Lower Pelling […]

Mark and I paid up at the tour company across the road from the hotel at 0900 and hopped into the 4WD.  We had booked a car for the both of us as there seemed to be no other tourists in town.  The town was very quiet indeed and our hotel and many others seemed […]

Above: Leaving Darjeeling, I waited for 1h30 before the 4WD shared taxi had a full load and could depart. The first of four wait-and- rides. I had about 10 hours sleep last night to compensate for the early wake-up yesterday (which was preceded by bad sleep).  I woke after 0700 and got packed up first […]

With a pickup at 0430, I didn’t sleep well.  I had retired around 2100 and had woken around 2330, 0130 before finally waking up before the alarm around 0330. I decided to head down to the roadside a little earlier.  Somehow I had expected it, and the front gate was locked.  Fortunately I was able […]

I woke to a glorious view of Kangchendzonga (8598 m), the 3rdhighest mountain in the world and India’s highest.  It’s in a range with several other very high peaks as well.  Yesterday, I didn’t know it was right outside my window because of the clouds. What a stunning view to sit down to and eat […]

Due to a late night last night, I woke up relatively late at 0730. I rang to get the hot water turned on and after 20 minutes it was just warm enough to have a splash before breakfast.  I popped out to the nearby Sikkim Nationalised Transport terminal to check if the Tourist Information Centre […]

I had a lazy morning after my hotel’s South Indian breakfast.  It was nice to have the internet again.  Having done all my “must dos” yesterday, I did some reading and generally surfing before checking out at 1145 before the 1200 cut-off. It seemed like a perfect plan that my train departed only nearby at […]

Above: Random sign for a restaurant. After a very restful day of doing nearly nothing yesterday, I’m moving on from Cherrapunjee to Guwahati through Shillong.  I had sore calves yesterday from the hike the day before; a little unexpected as I thought I’d get sore quadriceps perhaps.  My knees lasted surprisingly well. After breakfast, I […]