Sanya and I are in Darjeeling, killing time waiting for our Jeep to Gangtok, Sikkim. We Spent three nights here, and it was absolutely wonderful! This area is much more calm than where we’ve been prior, no one hasseling us, its cleaner, friendlier. Yesterday Sanya and I let ourselves get lost as we wandered in the direction of an old Buddhist monestary, we passed through jungely quiet neighborhoods with incredible views of the himalayas, and eventualy found the monestary. Afterward, we saw someone deepfrying on a beautiful back patio, so we asked if it was a resturant. It wasnt, but they invited us over and gave us fried sweets they were making for Diwali, as well as coffee and potato curry! We stayed for a while and talked, then the 15 year old son walked with us to the Tibetan refugee center, where we said goodbye. The center is a community of orphans and others in need, they make traditional handycrafts and sell them to support their community and the mission of the center, so we bought some nice things and felt happy the money was going to people who needed it.
The day before, we took a long walk through the tea plantations, again with absolutely amazing views in every direction, jungle covered ridges leading up to huge snow cover mountains. We’re really excited about Sikkim, and are looking for ways to rearange our trip to have more time there! Two months in India used to sound like a long time, now it doesn’t feel long enough for anything!
For those of you biting your nails about the election, don’t worry, I managed to submit my early ballot from over here, and I recieved confirmation that it will be counted. So that ought to seal the deal.
Namaste!