The days of Sikkim pictured into my dreams with nice resolution and clarity.So I thought of penning them down before they lose their clarity.Here I described our trip in phases numbering each of them.Read on and visit Sikkim which makes India Incredible.
(1)Falaknuma:
All of us boarded Falaknuma express in the evening of April 26, 2005 at Secunderabad station.In the journey we had stunning experiences with eunuchs.The most interesting and exciting was the recovery of 100/- from the eunuch who snatched it from pondy. We reached Sealdah station the next day.We spent torturous night in the waiting room with out food.Next morning we boarded Kanchenjunga express and reached NewJalPaiguri in the evening.From there we went uphill to Gangtok by Sumo(the only mode of transport in Ghats).Sumo journey comprised of Eric and Aara vomiting all along the way .We reached Gangtok which is 7000ft above sea level and checked into hotel shreyas. This hotel was suggested by the guy who arranged for Sumo.The constraint was the package includes food also.This was the mistake we committed.
(2) Gangtok:
We visited Tashiview point, Hanuman Tok,Cable Car etc locally. In the evening we watched the movie "Kaal" in Denzong cinema palace.The next day we faced running water problem in the hotel.This delayed our plan to Nathula Pass by 2 hours.
(3) Snow:
The first sight of snow thrilled us a lot.Unfortunately we couldn't go to Nathula Pass and stopped at Changu Lake due to landslides.There we played with snow,wrote our names on snow plates and captured them into photos.We had a long discussion with soldiers from Gorkha Batallion.
(4)My Bad Days:
After playing a lot we walked uphill to have chowmein (noodles).Bole,Karteek and some others came up by Yak.In the return journey I had severe stomach ache.Rest of my buddies supported me a lot.Sireesh,Karteek,Aara, and Nalli took me to hospital after reaching Gangtok.Even in that pain the first thought that came to my mind after reaching hospital was, “Wow! The nurse is awesome”.The doctor gave me two injections and some tablets.I was relieved of the pain the next day.
(5) Yumthang:
Next day we started for Yumthang again in a Sumo.Although it is 100 Km from Gangtok the journey took 8-9 hours due to ghat road.We halted at Lachung for the night.Eric and I suffered from fever all through the day and the next day.So we were not even able to get down sumo to have a look at flowers in Yumthang.After lunch luckily I became active and indulged myself in the hobby of teasing sireesh and karteek.
(6)Hassle:
We had an argument with the hotel guy because of water problem.He was responsible for missing Nathula Pass a must see for every one who visits Sikkim.After lots of quarrel which involved even the local police, we shifted to hotel Mandala.In Mandala, Kasak, Sireesh and I stayed in a room.I should not forget Kasak with whom I had lot of conversation all through the tour.He gave me lot of support when I was ill in those gruelling journeys through Ghats,Landslides etc.
(7)Southern Spice:
Pondy and Bole found a good restaurant called Quick Byte.There I ate dosa and felt as strong as super-man.East or West Andhra is the best for an Andhra guy.When ever you go out of AP(south) Southern Spice is THE THING you long for.We visited some more places like Sandruptse,Tea Gardens, Monastries etc., and started down hill to NewJalpaiguri.
(8)White-Water Rafting:
With out this our trip would have been incomplete. It was adventurous in the rapids.The guide was very active and friendly.He electrified the environment by making all of us shout “Yo Baby!” and "Guntalakadi Gula Gula" :-) when ever we were in turbulent rapids.
(9)Salaam Namaste BRO:
We reached safely to NewJalpaiguri.Thank God! Ghat journey came to an end.The roads were built by Border Roads Organisation (BRO). A simple thought that came to me was "It was such a pain just to travel on ghats. How much pain would BRO have been endured for building ghat roads ensuring all the safety norms?"Moreover, whenever there were landslides BRO came to our rescue. This is like that mango story where the tourists enjoyed the efforts of BRO.
(10) Home Sweet Home:
We returned home from Kolkatta again by Falaknuma.In the journey we celebrated farewell to the class of 2005, IIIT Hyderabad.I felt very sad because we were together happy, helping, caring for each other for the entire four years.I don’t know when will we all meet again?At the same time I was happy for reaching home after so many days and so many new experiences.
So Friends ,Shall we go to Sikkim once more because Yeh Dil Maange More!