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Other entries in Gangtok

Sikkim

The journey to Sikkim was a humerous one to say the least, not only did we have lots of laughs between the 10 of us who were crammed into the jeep but along the way there were signs on the sides of the road that were really funny...like 'Don't Rally, Enjoy the Valley' and in the middle of nowhere 'sorry for inconvenience'.  The scenery was just like Nepal....very green and mountainous.  We first arrived in Gangtok, it was about 7 in the evening and after we found a place to stay we had a hard time finding a restaurant that was open....shops close early here.  The next day we left Leor, Noa and Crazy Tim and set out early in the morning to the famous Rumtek Monastery...a half hour taxi ride away.  Rumtek Monastery is a most peaceful large gompa with lots of friendly monks....and there was no admission fee or donations asked for.  It was a day off for the monks and I watched some monks playing carrum before meeting a young monk named Karma Nyima.  He and another monk showed Luke and I around and before we left invited us to meet them in the Tibetan Temple in Sarnath where about 800 monks from all over India were to group together to study for a month.  After this we visited Tibetology...a little museum with everything about Tibetan Buddhism and more....apart from a few Buddha statues, it wasnt as interesting as I thought it would be.  We hired a jeep and took off for the 5 hour ride to Pelling....it was dark when we arrived and we soon found a hotel...and shared dinner with some people we met briefly on our travels through Sikkim and Darjeeling. The next day we walked to the second most peaceful sublime monastery that we had visited on our entire journey....the first was yet to come later that day.  Pemayangtse Monastery was a small monastery but as we walked up the steep winding road lined with vertical prayer flags flapping away in the soft wind, we knew we had found somewhere special.  From the edge of the monastery grounds we had clear views of surrounding snowcap peaks....absolutely beautiful.  All the monks were gathered in the main prayer hall chanting and playing their unique instruments.  We sat down outside of the hall on a small group of steps listening meditatively to the vibrant sounds of the monks playing.  After a little while a littel tibetan boy appeared and we had a lot of fun playing and mucking around with him.  We left at about lunchtime and walked for a while around cliffside winding roads overlooking stunning mountain vistas with very few vehicles occasionally passing us by...we felt like we had the place to ourselves.  We passed by little villages and we were heading to a town where we could hire a jeep to Tashiding....we hitched a ride and had lunch at Geyzing...then a couple of hours later we were dropped off at the remote village of Tashiding.  We walked up a steep dirt track for about an hour, passing a few gorgeous and playful kids once again.  We were heading for the famous Tashiding Monastery, located at the top of the mountain high up overlooking the surrounding Himalaya, where the 'Thongwa Rangdol' is....Sikkim's most renerated chorten (which if you believe it, is to absolve all your sins in a mere glance).  It was the most beautiful buddhist site I've ever seen and I spent more than a mere glance....so I think I've absolved all my sins for a few lifetimes.  There were no monks here only a couple of kids who let us stay there for the night and buy some noodles from the, pick some fresh vegies from their garden and cook our food in the kitchen.  In the morning we meditated in the main hall....one of the most peaceful places I've ever sat and meditated.  An amazing place, time permitting I could have easily stayed there for a while longer.  We left the next day and hitched a ride to a village where we got on another jeep to drive back to Siliguri.

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