Chomling in the land of Chamling-2

May 2nd:
The train was marginally late at 7.15 AM when we lighted at NJP. It had rained and we were eagerly looking to head off into the hills. A Tavera was waiting outside NJP and we were off towards Gangtok!

Passed through the still sleeping siliguri town, through the army cantonment of Sevoke and we were passing through teak forests with the hills in the foreground. The road to Gangtok lies along the banks of the Teesta, which we crossed on the 'Coronation bridge', which the maps said was just 4 km from Kalimpong. Passed Melli Bazaar on the WB side and finally entered Sikkim through Rangpo.

Breakfast halt was at a charming village at a moderately clean and functional roadside restaurant. We were in Gangtok by 10.45 and went straight to our Hotel: the Superview Himalchuli. And this is hwere we had our first uncomfortable experience of the trip. The hotel, though exotic and at a very nice location , was very badly maintained and quite dirty. Not recommended at all. And within an hour of arrival, we ensured that Yak n Yeti put us up in another hotel. Feeling quite miffed, we left with our luggage, with some shopping at the govt handicraft store, and lunch at hotel ashirwaad on the beautiful MG Marg (more about which later).

Went to the replacement hotel: Leo International to dump the luggage before proceeding to Rumtek. The Leo was a vast improvement on the Superview, and while basic, was very clean, with 24 hour hot water (which we realised was quite something). The food at Leo was was also noteworthy.

The Rumtek Monastry is the seat (in absentia) of the karmapa Lama, the no 3 in the Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy. In the 1990's there was an issue of 2 conflicting lamas, one nominated by the chinese and the second by some bhutanese monastries. In the event, The chinese nominated lama 'escaped' to India, and is currently at Dharamshala. The Govt of India , trying to keep controversy at bay, has not yet allowed him into rumtek (amidst rumours also that he could be a Chinese 'implant' ). And so the serenely beautiful monastery is chock full of ITBP security men.

had wonderful time there, and then returned to spend the evening at MG marg, where we had to have amma's PP foto clicked for the permits to North Sikkim and Tsomgo lake.

The MG marg is Gangtok's high street, and has been recently remodeled. Traffic is forbidden , and thus it is a wide flower laden avenue where tourists and locals enjoy the pleasant evenings. Photos done and submitted to Y &Y, we headed back to the Leo international for some well deserved sleep.

"Chomling in the land of Chamling-1"

This is the first of a series of posts on the family's visit to Sikkim, Darjeeling and Calcutta.The idea of a trip to Darjeeling and Sikkim originated in the last week of march 2009, and all because of a movie CD that dad picked up. 'China Town', a fifties movie starring Shammi Kapoor, has him playing a club singer who moves from Darjeeling to Calcutta for a living. While we watched, we discussed how it would be nice to have a holiday there, and soon the movie was forgotten (we still haven't gotten round to finish viewing it), and planning started in full swing. the 1st week of may was considered ideal as with 5 days of leave, we would get 10 days off.

Lots of research on the Internet and advise from Mohan mama resulted in crystallization of the plan. Tickets were booked in advance, and the services of Yak and Yeti, a Gangtok based travel operator who were highly recommended on the net were secured.

DDay (1st May) arrived bright and clear, and we were off on a Indigo flight to CCU. landing in CU at 2.30 PM, our first sight in the airport was of the passengers who had lined up to board the return flight to BLR, something that we would be doing on the 10th. That was however, a holiday away, and off we went into CCU.

The CCU airport in in dire need of a makeover, and resembles a crowded railway station more than an airport. Taking a prepaid taxi, a weather beaten ambassador that was probably there when dad had visited Calcutta 45 years back, we made our way to Sealdah station.The Sealdah station was where we had to catch our train to NJP , the Kanchan kanya express. As the train was at 7.30 PM, we had some time to kill, and so we checked in our luggage in the cloak room and went to the local Comesum restaurant for our lunch.The heat was getting to us , and we put paid to our plans of doing some sightseeing and went straight to the waiting room (the a/c was thankfully working).

Later in the evening, Bimba and I ventured out of the station and onto Bowbazar (BB ganguly street) that leads from the station. After some area that was covered in immense dirt and squalor, we discovered that Bow bazar was full of jewellers and gold shops. Naturally, this being 1st may, not a shop was open, and the street was quite pleasant to walk on.Finally, we boarded Kanchankanya and at 7.30 PM we were off towards NJP.

P.S. For those wondering why this post is named so, well, one of the many names that we call our daughter is 'Chomling' , and the CM of Sikkim is Pawan Kumar Chamling, hence the name.why we call her Chomling is a topic for another post.