Sikkim Tour

Fond Memories. Very fond…all of them.. Right from the beginning.. We never knew it could turn out to be so memorable…all those roads built on the mountains by BRO connected us to a beautiful civilization… one that dwells on the slopes of Sikkim. Friendly people with eyes like chinks and faces fully flushed with innocence. Waterfalls helter-skelter… a feeling of being on top of the world..where we realize for the first time the magnanimity of nature… where we are all the times aware of a divine presence everywhere…in the dense forests…. The beauty of Sikkim flowed with Tista, sang with the local populace, swung like a proud maid on the roads cut and around the mountains, and finally scattered like snow on the lofty peaks.

We set off from KGP on …day with bags all packed and loaded on our shoulders..of course, Rahul was not carrying the bag, it felt like the bag had against his will mounted his shoulders and was bent on bowing him down… we were lucky, without much wait arrived the train and we hurried off to find seats. .. We were luckier that train departed as soon as it had arrived… because it started the chain of events that prompted - Khush to bahot hoge tum, Halu- remark from Shashvat. Actually, Shashvat and Rahul were about to miss the train but boarded another boggy. Mishra couldn't control nature's small call and yielded to it when he boarded off at Mecheda and went into a long exploration looking for a toilet. Unfortunately, train couldn't wait for him. He came on another train.

We had taken our train from Sealdah and we all had side window seats. I remember Avik and I appreciating the beauty of street-lights and light from car on Calcutta highways. We were peacefully bidding our time when we came to know of Paul da's sutta fiasco. Apparently, he was peacefully smoking his smoke when two policemen thinking that he was only a minor cornered him and started asking for money. I hate to think what would have happened had Arpit and Shashvat not found Paul da missing?

We reached New Japlaiguri early morning. We had initially planned to go to Darjeeling as well but came to know that it was raining there and lost our enthu in general as well. We were looking for a travel agent's office inside the station premises but we were too early to find them open. One of the guys who had been following us said that he could take us to a good travel agent. We had nothing to lose. Shashvat and Arpit took charge. After a series of negotiations about what the tour would include, where we would stay, and how much we would pay we got ready to start. I don't know which vehicle it was but it was something like a Tata Sumo.

Tata Sumo Journey

We shared the car with another group of Bengali tourists who were somewhat older than us. There was a plump Bengali who had once been to Sikkim earlier and was falling head over his heels to introduce his friends to Sikkim. It was I who obliged to sit with this group in the backside of the SUV. Others took their seats in the front and middle row. The Sumo journey to Sikkim was quite beautiful though a bit painful for those seated in the back. I kept trying to take some shots from Arpit's camera which he reminded me worked better in Night mode.