Nepal 39, Gantock India

I slept on and off for fourteen hours and woke with no headache, a bit wobbly but, that may have been the lack of food. I was collected and taken back to the airport for my next flight to Bagdogra. Delhi Airport is so clean and slick, everything runs really smoothly. The shops were mostly British and I even saw Marks and Spencer.

I managed to eat half a bread roll on the flight which was about all I could manage before cramps returned.

Landing in Bagdogra was just like the Terai, which is all of part of the Ganges Basin so it would be. It’s not clean here either.

My Driver Kansar collected me at the airport and welcomed me. Along with a khata scarf (ceremonial scarf) he also gave me hand gel, wet wipes and a large glass bottle of water! Hmm what does he know? We then set off on a 5 hour car ride to Gantock in the Indian state of Sikkim. He speaks Nepali and is quite keen that I speak it too, Yay! However Sikkim Nepali is harsher and has slightly different words! Bum!

So Im pretty much on the same latitude as Kathmandhu here but, its noticeably warmer and the plants are tropical and lush. There seem to be less landslides because I’m guessing, the trees are doing a good job of stabilising the soils. Does is place have its own micro climate? Its also has distinctly Tibetan feel, the buildings although modern and the same quake proof structure as in Nepal, they are different. The people are the same mix of Asian and Oriental appearances. They seem slighly smaller too or maybe I’ve grown. Gantok is modern, on the slopes of one of these steeply jagged Himalayan Foothills and it feels European in main the shopping area, this is probably due to its Colonial history. Then when you look down the alleyways it seems Tibetan. Its also so green, trees and plants everywhere. It’s obviously a tourist destination for Indians and I am the only European I have seen so far. I have become used to being stared at, there is no hostility at all just curiosity.

I have not managed to get a SIM card so Dad cannot track me here (well someone has to stop me wandering into military zones). I’m also finding the free WiFi often does not allow for UK numbers, it simply does not have the UK on thier list! (We are definitely persona non grata). Anyway I’m with a tour company most of the time so it’ll be ok (Linda!)

I needed to get laundry done but, hotel doesn’t offer this, which tells me they don’t have many international travelers. When I ask in town everyone shakes their head….ok so there’s nothing for it I need to buy more nickers. I find a shop that looks and feels like a European store, I understand it and the underwear department has packs of cotton nickers (made in Bangladesh so near enough local). I check the sizes, perfect!…….. Or so I thought until I got back…..the people on average here are smaller than me right? It’s not that these are too big it’s just they must be a completely different shape to me, is their navel really that high do they wear their Nickers up to their boobs! I wish I’d visited M&S at the airport now!