2 Days in Jaipur

Arrival in the Land of Royals

We arrived in Jaipur from Kolkata overwhelmed by the Durga Pooja festival. As the flight got close to Jaipur, we saw the hills and the dry land terrain. Like the wise say, drive 50km in India in any direction, and the scene will be different. We knew we were going to love it. Once in the city, our first impression was that it was clean and organized. As we had never been to Rajasthan, we decided to see a couple of historic cities during this trip. We planned to spend 2 days in Jaipur, 5 days in Jodhpur and 3 days in Udaipur. This post is about our experience in Jaipur.

Going back in time

Before we left Kolkata, Shruti booked tickets to watch the latest bollywood film at a classic one screen theatre. Raj Mandir is an institution in Jaipur and in the world of multi-screen cinemas, it is thriving. We got there to watch Shandaar, a film starring Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, just in time to grab tickets and drinks.

The film itself was stupid, funny and very stereotypical bollywood. However, the crowd in the cinema as well as the decor made the cinema better. The condition of the seats and the theatre was just brilliant. It seemed to be getting better with age. An amazing experience!

Palaces of the City

No trip to Jaipur would be complete without a trip to the palaces of the city. On our first day, we decided to walk around the old city. We crossed the Ajmeri Gate, which was one of the main gates into the walled city during the kingdom rule.

We then visited the famed Hawa Mahal, the Palace of Wind. It’s famous for being cool even in the heat of summer as the palace has been designed to catch wind from all sides which then pass through and makes it cool. The front-facade of the palace is just amazing – you decide for yourself.

We went all the way to the top window and the spaces get narrow as you rise. Shruti tried to go back in time and spent a couple of minutes staring out of the window as the women in the palace would have done. Apart from keeping the building cool, these windows were the passage for Royal women to watch the day life of commoners go by.

Our next destination was the City Palace which was the main Palace of Kachwaha Rajput Dynasty of Jaipur. Being the main palace, it had images of the old Rajput kings as well as recent ones. In addition, the art in some parts of the palace was just exquisite.

Finally, we visited the famous observatory, Jantar Mantar. It has sundials and other instruments which accurately tell time as well as the location of celestial bodies. Shruti was very keen to learn all about it and we rented the audio guide from the counter. However, we had not paid much attention during our physics class at school and didn’t understand much of the instruments. Like it’s name, Jantar Mantar – which translated to magical instruments, we were just amazed by how advanced the king was in the field of science and left the place a little tired and confused.

Muharram

As we finished from the palaces and were heading back to the hotel, we landed upon the Muharram Procession. The procession included kids with handmade Taziyahs (buildings symbolising battle of Karbala) and banging drums as they passed through the city.

We took lots of pictures of the crowd including some curious kids who wanted us to take a picture of them. The crowd didn’t stop for 1.5 hours and we eventually had to head back only to realise that the old city roads were all shut down due to the number of people on the streets. This reminded us of Kolkata!

Forts of Amer

Amer is the ancient capital of Kachwaha Rajput rulers who later built Jaipur. We reached Amer by an AC City Bus connecting Jaipur and Amer, though we decided to get off halfway to see Jal Mahal. Jal Mahal, palace on water, was a lovely white building in the middle of a lake. Unfortunately, it is not possible to visit the palace and the lake itself. Apparently, it is really dirty and not maintained from the inside.

Once we reached Amer itself, we negotiated with tuk tuk driver to see the forts in the area.

Tip: The tuk tuk drivers provide a cheaper tour option from Amer Fort. They can drive you to Nahargarh fort, wait there for an hour while you look around and then drop you at Jaigarh Fort. There is a down-the-hill pathway from Jaigarh Fort to Amer Fort and the walk takes about 15 mins. This is recommended route, otherwise you would have to walk up the hill to Amer Fort and then to Jaigarh. The tuk tuk driver, though he was with us only for 1.5 hours, charged us Rs. 400, which was about half the cost of jeeps and other hire car tour operators.

Our first stop was Nahargarh, the Tiger fort. The palace is well known as it can be seen on a hill from Jaipur. The palace itself was quite simple, with wall paintings but the view from the top was absolutely amazing.

Our next stop was Jaigarh Fort which sits on top of the hill in Amer. The palace itself was quite large and had faced many battles. The highlight of the fort was the largest wheeled cannon in the world, Jaivana. It really was huge!

The palace had information on the history of the ruling dynasty including the last king, his services to the country and his social gatherings. In addition, the palace had exquisite gardens and a fantastic view of Amer city.

As suggested by the auto driver, we descended down the walkway between Jaigarh Fort and the Amer Palace which was much better than climbing the other way up the hill. Well Puly, Amber Fort, Jaipur The palace itself was packed with tourists and we tried to see as much as possible without running into people. Though it was large, it was not the most beautiful palace. By far the most interesting things in palace was the pond outside the palace, an old machine to pull water and the fact that the bollywood film, Jodha Akbar, had shown similar walkway up the hill, especially the bends in the path.

Chokhi Dhani

Chokhi dhani is a Rajasthani themed village which is a chain around India. Shruti had been to one in Gujarat and was very excited to show me the original Chokhi Dhani in Jaipur.

We booked a package tour to it through our hotel as the Chokhi Dhani is 22 km outside the city centre. Upon arrival, we were given a traditional Rajasthani welcome of Tilak. Once inside, we saw several dances of Rajasthan along with scenes of traditional village life. Oh, I danced as well!

As it was a Sunday night, the place was packed full of people. In one quiet corner, in a little room, there was an old lady cooking over fire. This is the traditional method of cooking and she was coming a millet bread. We decided to take a small piece with ghee and garlic chutney. The taste was out of this world! The English equivalent to describe the feeling was ‘nonna’s cooking’.

While we waited for our timeslot for the dinner, we watched some dances and drank some amazing jaljeera (spicy water). We had booked for a traditional Rajasthani meal and the host sat us down on the ground in an ac dining hall for all you can eat structure.

Our meal consisted of rotis (flat bread of wheat and millet), kadi (spicy yoghurt curry), sabji (gram flour veg curry), daal (lentil curry), baati (fire baked dumplings), churma (sweet cooked flour), khichdi (millet pudding), sangri (khejri vegetable dish), pickle and local lassi. Did I say it was unlimited?

To say that we were full would be an understatement. The irony is that we had stayed hungry almost the entire day to be able to eat this. At the end of the day, we walked around the village a few more times to be able to digest all the food. After a paan, we were done.

Our driver for this trip was a young man whose job it was to take us to the Chowki Dhani and back in 4 hours. However, he somehow felt that we should see all the malls and parks on the way. Unfortunately for him, we don’t like parks and we’ve seen enough malls in big cities to find them boring. We were irritated to say the least but decided against telling him that people come to Rajasthan for its forts, palaces and its culture instead of the new development.

Bizarre Bazaar

Since Jaipur is on the tourist trail, we had a bizzare ritual dealing with rickshaw and auto drivers. Every time we passed by a rickshaw, the conversation would be like this:

Driver: Would you like an auto?
ATs: No.
Driver: Its very cheap. I will show you the bazaar.
ATs: We don’t want to see the bazaar.
Driver: I will take you to good clothes or Rajasthani handicraft.
ATs: Walk away, ignoring.

Summary

Final thoughts

We weren’t in Jaipur for a long time and it was a jam packed time. We saw the traditional highlights of the city and were content with it. Being the capital of Rajasthan, Jaipur is just another big city. In our view, pink city was the highlight along with Amer.

Accommodation

We stayed at Hotel Arya Niwas which was an excellent hotel. It was spacious, clean and the staff were excellent. Though it is a 3 star hotel, we actually felt like we were taken very good care of. Highly recommend the hotel, it is good price as well.

Transport

Within the city itself, we did a lot of walking and using the minibuses. To go to Amer, we used Jaipur city bus – 1 from Sanganeri gate. There are plenty of tourist taxis around as well that can be hired on daily, half a day or just a tourist attraction basis.

2 Days in Jaipur Gallery

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Durga Pooja in Kolkata

Flying into a party

There are several Bollywood films which showcase Durga Pooja in Kolkata. Devdas, Parineeta and Kahani being some of the recent films. Like many festivals in India, it is a religious festival which has come to represent the culture and charm of a city. Flying into Kolkata, we saw large parts of the city lit up with led lights and lamps. We only got more excited as we entered a famous yellow cab of Kolkata. The yellow cars are all Hindustan Motors, Ambassador, the iron tank which was a hangover from the Soviet era. Crowds were out and we couldn’t be happier!

Bit of a let down

Until Kolkata, we had been lucky with hotels. Most had been good with a few exceptions but even the exceptions were ok. First of all, the address given by the hotel was for Park St area. Therefore, we booked our yellow cab for that area prepaid. After getting closer, we realised that the hotel was 2-3 km further and had to pay the taxi driver extra despite prepaying it. Bummer!

Next, as we entered the hotel, there was a smell of cigarette smoke though the signs said ‘No Smoking’. Once we entered the room, however, things for from bad to worse. The bed sheets and the quilt cover were full of dust and hair. We spent the next 2 hours trying to find an alternative hotel room or an airbnb to avoid this. Being Durga Pooja, the hotel rates were high and the airbnb host did not reply in time. Our only choice was to stay in the hotel and get it cleaned first thing next morning.

Empty Streets

Once we got out of the hotel the next morning, we noticed something strange. The streets were almost deserted and one could literally walk in the middle of the road without worrying about traffic. It was somewhat bad for us though as most of the local restaurants weren’t open. We ended up walking to the next suburb and eating buffet at a Chinese Restaurant – Mainland China. This pattern continued throughout our stay in Kolkata. The streets were empty in the day and full at night.

Durga Pooja Fiesta

This was our first time in Kolkata during Durga Pooja and once we stepped out, nothing could prepare us for it. Each neighbourhood collects money to build a grand entrance or a ‘pandaal’ which leads to the idols inside. Some neighbourhoods have been building the pandaals for over a 100 years. The pandal itself has the Goddess Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati and the gods Ganesh and Kartikeya.

However, its the social aspect of the festival on the city which makes it the biggest Hindu festival in India. Neighbourhoods in an area and some big pandaals across the city compete with each other on the best decorations and the biggest crowds. In addition, traditional artists across the city work on the most unique decorations in the pandaal. This competition and the art of the pandaal along with the culture of the city makes millions of people, most locals and some tourists walk on the streets.

The best way to cover Durga Pooja is on foot as cars can get stuck trying to find parking. This walking also helps work up an appetite and the Bengalis love to eat. People can easily cover a couple of suburbs in an area between sunset and 10pm. We know this is true as we ourselves covered the area of a metro station seeing the pandaal, eating and taking photos along the way.

In our experience, we felt that the smaller pandaals inside the lanes had put more effort into the decorations of the entrance. The bigger pandaal had such huge crowds that one never got to enjoy the decorations and the organizers moved people out too quickly to manage the crowds. Some of the pandas we saw had decorations like temple of Khajuraho, tribal-themed pandaal, pandaal with kitchen utensils, pandaal made completely of tissue paper and a pandaal full of dolls.

Other than the pandaal itself, various pandaals had unique idols of durga and the other gods and goddesses. There were idols of different colours, made in the older village style and our favourite, Durga in the sea. The entire pandaal was like underwater cave or a tunnel with a transparent Durga idol which was lit up. This was the only pandaal we had visited where Durga was by herself.

There were also a few pandaal that focused on other deities such as Mahisasur and Durga’s lion. Additionally, we managed to attend the aarti at some of the pandaal as well. While the priest performed the prayers, there are drums played. The beats were just amazing and made Shruti want to dance! Another unique thing we noticed was that the priest actually dances to the beats while performing the prayers! Really lovely sight.

Sightseeing in the City

Since we had the mornings free, we decided to do a bit of sightseeing around the city. We had initially decided to visit the Dakshineshwar Kali temple in the north of Kolkata but in the good ol’ Kolkata style of Durga Pooja, the metro was running between 3pm and 4am. Therefore, we walked from our hotel in Bhawanipore to the Victoria Memorial Gardens and eventually Victoria Memorial.

Victoria Memorial was grand and beautiful but just like Taj Mahal, not the best on a hot sunny day. We got inside as quickly as possible and saw the museum within the building. It was interesting seeing the British history in India and the history of Kolkata itself.

Another important site of Kolkata is the Howrah bridge. In Indian schools, each big city has a monument and the monument for Kolkata is the Howrah bridge. We took the metro to Mahatma Gandhi Road station and walked towards it. The bridge is all metal and the road is actually underneath the bulk of the bridge. The Hoogly river slowly flows underneath it and the sight at night was magnificent.

Kalighat Temple

Other than the Durga Pooja, Kolkata is famous for several temples. We decided to visit the famous Goddess Kali temple, Kalighat. Once inside the temple, we had to line up to get to the idol itself. The line was huge and people kept pushing from all directions. That along with the heat made us irritated when the priests kept adding people to the front of the line for a fee. After the struggle, we eventually reached the idol. Idol was a natural rock formation and we were wowed before the priests and the people behind us pushed us to keep walking.

Sweets of Bengal

A trip to Kolkata would not be complete without eating the Bengali sweets. We had heard of ‘Shondesh’ from the movie Devdas and were keen to try it out. During one of the walking marathons watching pandaal, we came upon a shondesh shop. We asked the guy in Hindi that we wanted to try a few of them and he replied back in Bengali while giving us a few. We don’t know what it was made of, we don’t know how to they make them but gosh they were as good as any drug. Each shondesh was so soft and sweet that we couldn’t stop eating. We actually bought a box of them for the next day. Finally, the next day after finishing the box from the day earlier, we saw another shondesh shop and had more. We will soon look like the God Ganesh with his big tummy!

Summary

Accommodation

We stayed in a bad hotel and we would not recommend anyone to stay there. However, Park St roughly divides the city into 2 parts and most of the sights are within a few metro stops.

Transport

The Kolkata yellow cabs are the ‘auto’ of the city. They take you around for a few kilometres and are very cheap as well as honest. There are cycle and hand-pulled rikshaws as well to for short distances.

Final Thoughts

Although, we have tried to describe the feeling and the flavour of Kolkata Durga Pooja, the reality is that neither Shruti nor I have the writing capacity to explain the festival. In our opinion, the festival is as big as the Carnivale in Brazil or NYE in Sydney. If one gets a chance, try and attend Durga Pooja in Kolkata. It is worth the visit.

Kolkata Gallery

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India’s Northeast

Meghalaya – The Abode of Rains

Meghalaya is a state in India’s Northeast on the border with Bangladesh. It is famous for its rains, tribal culture, rock bands and amazing flora and fauna.

We travelled to Meghalaya in the same tour as mentioned in previous posts. Since our last destination, Darjeeling and Shillong, Capital of Meghalaya, are separated by hundreds of kilometers, train was our best option. We arrived in Guwahati, an Assam city, to meet our driver, who then drove us to Shillong. Meghalaya border is only 18 km from Guwahati while Shillong is 90 km. Getting there by road from Guwahati was the best option.

Umiam Lake

Since we arrived very early in Shillong, we had lots of time before check in. The driver took us to Umiam lake to kill some time. As we neared the lake, we couldn’t believe our eyes. The lake was beautiful beyond belief, the deep blue color against the green hills. It was one of the cleanest and untouched lakes that we have seen in India.

Sightseeing in Shillong

As part of the tour, we did some sightseeing in Shillong. We visited the Don Bosco Cultural Museum where we spent a couple of hours. The museum gave information about the North East Region, it’s geography, it’s people and cultures. The information on the tribes of the North East Region was invaluable and we were thankful for so much information. We were especially glad to have the information about the Khasi Tribe which is predominant in Shillong, Cherapunjee and Mawlynnong areas. Moreover, The view from the roof top gallery was also amazing as it gave the full view of the Shillong valley.

We then proceeded to Wards Lake which was a small and pretty man-made lake. As we bought tickets for entry, we pondered whether we skip this lake as no matter how pretty it was, it couldn’t match the beauty of Umiam Lake. However, we had just ordered our coffee and some snacks at the lake cafe when the heavens opened up. The rain came pouring in as the clouds thundered above. Not listening to our guts meant that we had to wait it out. After 45 mins, we had enough and joined some of the cafe workers who were running out under a picnic umbrella, yes picnic umbrella!

We continued our tour the next day and saw the Elephant Falls and the Shillong Peak. Both of these are must dos in Shillong and you will not be disappointed. The falls are huge and one gets to understand the huge amount of water coming down the hills of Shillong.

The peak is also a magnificent and gives the full view of Shillong city.

Damaged Hills

The rest of our days in Meghalaya involved day trips around the Khasi hills. These hills are old mountains very similar to the Blue Mountains in Sydney. They are small, green and contain rain forests. One of the first things we noticed was the destruction of the hills and hill tops for extracting building material.

While one can understand the need to extract building material, the scale of the destruction was immense. The entire stretch between Shillong, Cherrapunjee and Mawlynnong had damaged hills. We only hope this will change in the future.

Cherrapunjee

Cherrapunjee is a well known town in India for being the wettest place, not just in India but also the world, or at least it used to be. No trip to Meghalaya is complete without a visit to Cherrapunjee. The landscape of the area is so beautiful that while at the top of the hill, it feels like the rolling hills of Scotland or New Zealand while down in the valleys, one could be in Australian rain forests.

One of the most amazing sites in the area was seeing the plains of Bangladesh. When the subcontinent was partitioned, the Garo and Khasi hills went to India while the plains of Slyhet went to East Pakistan which eventually became Bangladesh. All the rivers of Meghalaya drain in Bangladesh so all one can see are lakes and fields. A beautiful sight!

Another beautiful sight in the area was the upturned basket rock, traditionally called Khoh Ramhah. It was a cylindrical shaped black rock in the hills overlooking the Bangladesh plains. There was a waterfall in the vicinity but we decided to climb down to another waterfall in the area.

Finally, we saw more waterfalls and hills in the area. However, the most amazing was the Noakhilikai Falls where the falls dropped into a blue pond. We couldn’t help but thinking that we were close to home in the Blue Mountains.

Root Bridges

The Khasi Tribesmen had been using root bridges for centuries to cross waterfalls. They guide the roots of banyan trees using bamboo but eventually remove them as the roots grow thick over the years. Some of the bridges are 100s years old and can carry the weight of over 50 people.

On the way to Mawlynnong

Mawlynnong is a village in the East Khasi Hills some distance away from Shillong which has been dubbed as Asia’s cleanest village. As part of the tour, we got to visit it and the surrounding villages.

On the way, we stopped at another living root bridge at the Riwai Village. It was the biggest root bridge we had seen and it was almost a 100 years old. Interestingly, the original designers did not get to walk on the bridge itself. While the bridge was full of tourists, the locals were busy washing their clothes on the river. We couldn’t help but think that while the tourists enjoyed themselves on their property, life was as tough for the locals as it was a 100 years ago.

Nowet Village, Meghalaya We decided to walk a little further to the Nowet Lookout. As it happened, the lookout was on the other side of the village and we got to watch the village life go by. There were kids playing, chickens running around the village as well as other animals like dogs and pigs. The houses had traditional thatch roofs with bamboo for walls and support. Modernity had reached the houses as some houses had dish TV and a few houses were made of brick.

We had imagined the lookout to be a concrete platform built by the Government as is common for the area. However, upon getting to the lookout, we realised that it was a village owned lookout made by a handful of people. The lookout was completely natural made of bamboo, tired with natural rope and supported by a tree on the side of the mountain. It probably would not pass a safety test in Australia but it was one of the best lookouts we have seen. The view was also magnificient as the Riwai river came down the hills on its way to Bangladesh.

Mawlynnong itself was a tiny little village atop a hill with a view of the plains. It was certainly clean and beautiful but nothing too interesting to write about. It seems someone had created Mawlynnong as a tourist destination with the surrounding villages as stop off points. We had a traditional lunch in the village before heading back.

Guwahati

We were in Assam for 1.5 days to see the sights of the city. Our first stop was the famous Kamakhya temple. Being Navratri (nine holy days of the Goddess), the temple was full of people and the line to enter the main temple was several hours long. We decided to take the shorter route from which we could see the idol of the Goddess.

Once done with this, we walked around and saw the animal sacrifice in the vicinity. Animal sacrifice is uncommon in temples nowadays but it is a common ritual during Navratri. Though we don’t do it ourselves, it is an accepted part of Shakta and Tribal Cultures in the area. The temple is famous throughout India for its power and healing.

Brahmaputra

Ever since I was little, I had heard about Brahmaputra river. It is the biggest river in India even bigger than the Ganges. There were stories of its might and its mystique as a home to cannibal tribesmen and Hindu tantrik holymen. Therefore, although we could have gone to Kolkata after Shillong, I wanted to see this river and the city.

We got to visit the Umananda Temple which was on an island in the middle of the river. The river though not very fast was constant and its width really was huge.

We had another chance of going to the Brahmaputra on an evening cruise. Boarding the cruise ship, we got to take some nice sunset shots, have a couple of drinks and even danced a little.

This ended our trip in Guwahati as well as the tour of the North East region.

Final Thoughts

Shillong was certainly one of the cleanest places in India that we have been to. There was a traffic problem but overall it was a beautiful city.

Culturally, Shillong was the most different place in India that we visited. The Khasi tribe is completely Christian due to the missionaries from Europe in 18th Century. We never saw any Hindu Temples and most people in the city were tribal. The women would wear a checked or colored cloth around their torso and tied at the shoulder. Eating paan with lime and beatel nut was a common thing in Shillong. Everyone had Red lips from it but unlike the north, no one spat it out.

There was only one problem in Shillong. The internet was very bad in the city. However, this may be due to our operator.

Guwahati was our last stop in the North East. We weren’t expecting beauty like Sikkim or cleanliness like Shillong, though a lot of the highlights were shut.

The tour itself was a major highlight for us. It had taken a couple of months with several tour operators to sort out the details but we finally managed to do it. The tour gave us a little more information on the region and we would definitely be back though may spend more time in Sikkim or further east like Nagaland or Manipur.

Shillong & Guwahati Gallery

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Exploring Sikkim

As part of traveling around India, we made sure we didn’t miss the North East Region. Based on North Indians, India has been split into three parts – North India, which is up to Goa, South India, everything below Goa and the North East part of India, which brings an exotic feel about it.

We initially wanted to travel around the region by ourselves but as we researched we figured we needed guidance in transport, bookings and places we can visit. So we decided to book a tour that covered Gangtok in Sikkim, Darjeeling in West Bengal, Shillong in Meghalaya and Guwahati in Assam. In a series of 3 posts, we will share our experience of discovering the ‘exotic’ North East Region of India.

This post is all about Sikkim, the do’s, don’ts and what you can’t do!

Crossing the border

Yes, getting into another state in India was almost like crossing the border for Manish. We will give you the dirt in a bit. But first, getting to Gangtok, Sikkim’s Capital.

Being a mountainous state, there are no airports. We flew into Bagdogra airport in the neighboring state of West Bengal. The drive to Sikkim was beautiful as we drove around the hills along the Teesta river. The blue of the river contrasted the green of the hills and the light green of the paddy fields making it picture perfect welcome into Sikkim.

So now about the border – Sikkim is a protected state which shares border with China and as I am an Australian Citizen, the Govt. needs to be aware about my presence in their state for my own safety. As such, a foreigner needs to get an ILP (Inner Line Permit) and sign in and out during entry and exit of the state at the border post of Rangpo. It was a strange experience taking a permit for an area within India though I am identified as an Overseas Citizen of India. The experience with the officials was like any other Indian Government Office – slow and tedious, but in the end I got a stamp and entered Sikkim.

TIP: Usually tour operators are aware of this requirement but the drivers may or may not be to alert. If you are non-Indian by citizenship, make sure you stop by Rangpo and get the permit, otherwise it may cause issues while site-seeing. Also, carry photocopy of your passport and Indian Visa otherwise you will be asked to go find one in the middle of new place!

Misty Lake

When we researched into Sikkim, a few places stood out, Gurudongmar Lake, Tsongo Lake, Baba Mandir and Nathula Pass. All these places are up in the mountain range of Himalayas and along the highway to China, which means added border security. Visitors need to get additional permits to visit these places but unfortunately, non-Indians are only allowed up to Tsongo Lake! It was definitely a huge disappointing but we made sure we visit it at least.

Our North East tour operator functions off West Bengal and because Sikkim is so restricted, we got in touch with a local Sikkim tour operator who could help us get permits to Tsongo Lake. But there was a bureaucratic problem – we needed two foreigners to travel together in order to get the permit. For safety reasons, one foreigner and one Indian, which is the case with us, isn’t an ideal match. While we were started to get even more disappointed, our Sikkim tour operator said they will “manage” it. And, trust me, they did!

Tip: When traveling to Sikkim, make sure you book your car and tour package with a local Sikkim operator. Tour operators from other states will have issues arranging visits to places along the border. Additionally, if the car is not registered in Sikkim, they could have unnecessary issues with the police and border personnel.

Thanks to Sikkim Travel Info (Tara, Suman and Tara’s husband), we were able to go up to Tsongo Lake which is around 13,000 feet high up in the mountain. There was a lot of Military presence past the check post and we couldn’t help but salute the soldiers as they live in rough weather all year round.

The lake itself was beautiful beyond belief despite the bad weather, fog, in the area. We enjoyed it nevertheless – we have never been so high up in the mountains before!

Another highlight for us were the yaks. Yaks are known as the wagon of the Himalayas and are one of the cutest animals. We bargained with the yak herders and rode them around the lake. The animals were sure-footed and very calm but it was scary for us nonetheless. We highly recommend riding them – it is nothing like a camel or elephant ride! We talked to the herders about the training and how they live with the yaks. The yaks start being trained from age 1 and work till 18. The best thing was the decorations on their horns and bodies.

Before heading back down to Gangtok, we decided to have lunch at 13,000 feet. We headed to a tiny shop next to the lake and munched on momos and maggi. Delicious and very satisfying! Do try momos and thukpa while you are in Sikkim – these are the traditional dishes from Tibet.

The Weather

It was already around 10 degrees at the lake, and as we left, the rain came in. The driver was an expert at high mountain driving but we freaked out when the clouds rolled in and the visibility dropped to 2 metres. The driver however couldn’t care less and drove at 50 km/hr along winding roads with a bit of honking. We survived!

Tip: Please bring along a jacket at least. Depending on the month of the year and the altitude you are visiting, the weather may range from 20 C to -15 C. Don’t forget to do your research and gear up accordingly.

A small bite of Gangtok

Though we didn’t have many days to explore Gangtok, we visited quite a few places. Gangtok is a well built city over several levels on the mountain. We visited MG road which is the street shopping mall. One could see the mix of cultures of Gangtok with Tibetan, Nepalese and plain Indians living side by side.

The cleanliness of the city and the traffic etiquette in Gangtok was immaculate. The city was a great tourist destination with pubs, casinos, and restaurants as well as well known sights.

In addition, we had a funny experience related to getting beer. On our first night in Gangtok, we decided to get a local beer. Upon wandering out, we noticed everything was closed so we asked a local young man about a bottle shop. He told us that as it was an election day, the usual bottle shops were closed though he was also looking for a beer and we should follow him.

Next thing we knew, we followed him a few metres down a descending alley, waited outside a house and then followed him through a series of doors into an alcohol storage area. The air was musty, lots of wooden shelves with alcohol everywhere and an old local lady constantly reminding us to stay quite. We bought two beers which Shruti kept in her jacket, paid and were about to run out when we saw a policewoman doing her rounds. Somehow we avoided attention and went to the hotel. The taste of the beer: absolutely criminal!

We saw the Gangtok valley from the Hanuman Tok which was the hindu temple of God Hanuman run by the Indian Army. It was awkward seeing an Hindu priest dressed in khaki uniform! We also visited Ganesh Tok – another hindu temple with a great view of the city. Though both these temples were hindu, Tibetan influence to the building and decor was very evident. Everything at the temple was very colourful and prayer flags could be seen everywhere!

Tibetan Buddhist Experience

Padmasambhava or Guru Rinpoche, a famous Mahayana Monk and an extremely important personnel for Tibetan Buddhism, visited Sikkim a long time ago. Since then, Sikkim has been an important centre of Tibetan Buddhism or Vajrayana. And as such, throughout Sikkim, prayer flags flew alongside mountains, roads, waterfalls, houses and shops. Shruti absolutely loved them and, I must say, she managed to get LOADS of photographs.

While we were exploring Sikkim, we visited a few key monasteries. At Enchey Monastery, we saw little monks just initiated in the religion as well as senior monks doing their daily practice. Shruti insisted we buy prayer flags, which we took to a monk to bless. It was a spiritual experience as the monk read Tibetan mantras while throwing rice on the flags.

We also visited Rumtek Monastery which is on a mountain opposite the Gangtok city. This monastery was made by the Karmapa who is second only to His Holiness Dalai Lama. There was a big pooja going on at the time and the monastery was jam packed. We saw monks of all ranks and ordinary Sikkimese chanting mantras and doing meditations.

Lastly, we visited the Tibetology Institute which had art, history and the deities of Buddhism as well as the history of Buddhism in Sikkim. We definitely learned a thing or two there about Buddhism.

Summary

Accommodation

We stayed at the White Conch residency which was a decent budget hotel. There are plenty of hotels options of all budgets and home stays in Sikkim.

Transport

As we were part of a tour, we had a driver available the entire day. However, staying near MG road means you don’t need a driver and there are plenty of local taxis available to take you around the city. Having said that, traveling to the tourist spots is easier done with a pre-booked driver.

Final thoughts

Sikkim was truly exotic to us! The people, the food, the culture, the roads and the geography of the place made every second of our trip astonishing and memorable. The place was unique – something we haven’t seen anywhere in India or even overseas. The mix of Tibetans, Nepalese and Indians added to a wonderful mix of culture.

Neither of us had been to Sikkim before and we are sure we will be visiting again. Occasionally, you meet someone who lives his/her job and is very passionate about what they do. We met Suman, the local tour guide you accompanied us to Tsongo Lake, and he inspired us to come back and further explore other aspects of Sikkim. He was so passionate about everything Sikkim has to offer, from the mountains to food to culture, we definitely felt the urge to visit again. And this time, we will be contacting him to plan an outdoor focused trip to Sikkim that may range from treks to camping. Aaah, can’t wait!

Exploring Sikkim Gallery

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Kanpur

The Motherland

Though Shruti grew up in Mumbai, her family comes from Kanpur area. Kanpur was a British cantonment named Cawnpore and was known as the Manchester of the East due to its mills.

The city is based along the Ganges river and is now most famous for its tanneries.

The Family

Whilst in Kanpur, we visited Shruti’s tauji (paternal uncle) and mamaji’s(maternal uncle) family. They were happy to see Shruti and me after the wedding.

Shruti stayed in her paternal house until she was 3 and this brought alot of memories back. She reminisced the house being completely different but remembered all the nooks and crannies.

Day at the Village

It was Shruti’s wish that we all go to their native village to see the temple and the old house. We were meant to leave really to make it to the village by 11am but running on the Indian Standard Time, we ended up leaving the house by 11am.

Along the way, we went through small and big villages through an unruly part of India. This area was famous for its dacoits and revolutionaries during the British times, the most famous being Chandrashekhar Azad. Despite this, the countryside was incredibly beautiful with rice fields and trees everywhere. As a added bonus, we saw some beautiful migratory birds in the fields. We also saw the traditional thatched roof or ‘kuchcha’ houses which were also beautiful. Ancestral Temple, Kanpur, UP

At Shruti’s ancestral village, we visited some temples and the old ancestral property. It brought us great joy to set the area where Shruti’s great grand father lived with his family. On the other hand, it was sad to see the house in disrepair and people fighting over the property.

First Serious Sickness

Sick Shruti Up until now, we had been avoiding getting sick. However, Shruti started getting a cold on the day in the village. However, the next day, the cold turned into a fever and a Delhi belly. Having a sickness in an Indian family is nothing short of a circus with everyone giving different advice and medicines.

Eventually though, the fever got too high and Shruti had to be taken to a doctor. Other than the diagnosis, this turned into an interrogation of why we are traveling for so long and why the doctor and our family thought it was a bad idea.

In any case, he gave us good advice on how to avoid water borne diseases. In a few days, Shruti recovered and we are thankful to the doctor for it.

Till the Cows Come Home

Having bad Internet connection and a sick wife, there was not much to do in Kanpur. The biggest entertainment was the cows in the area. Since the farmers cannot afford to feed the cows when they give less milk, they let the cows go walkabout all day. Therefore, like a cat, the cows go outside to walk, eat and then come back to the same house from which they left. Though it’s common in the fields, recognising the correct house in the correct street was amazing. As a final act of their skill, the cows moo outside the door at sunset to indicate their arrival.