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| Stunning Khechuperi Lake |
Waking up in one of the most beautiful villages in the country to the sound of roosters crowing, dogs yapping and children playing after a wonderful night's sleep was a memorable experience. It was already 8:00 a.m. and I ventured out to see what it was like. Swirling mist rolled amidst the mighty mountains all around us while the lush green meadows of the village were moist with dew and alive with activity.
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| Massive Seven Egg Mashed Potato Omelet |
The others were up already and sitting around a table outside having a steaming cup of mint tea. In a little while, I joined them and soon the conversation caught on at the point it had left off the previous night. Half an hour later, Baichung brought us breakfast, a mighty seven egg omelette made with mashed potatoes and vegetables. It looked delicious and soon we were all tucking into it, ever-widening smiles on our faces.
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| Paradise on Earth - Khechuperi Village |
Once done with breakfast, people began making their plans to leave. Deciding to make a move on as well, I packed the handful of things that I had and joined Arthur and Hanna who were heading to Yuksom, about ten kilometers away and another former capital of Sikkim. Baichung gave us directions and we said goodbye to everyone before setting out downhill. Ben and Louisa were leaving a little later.
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| Great Company - Arthur and Hanna |
The path down the hill was steep and slippery and we made cautious, slow progress. An hour later we reached a winding stone footpath and our speed improved. As we descended nearly two thousand feet from the lofty village of Khechuperi to the gushing river in the valley below, the vegetation changed as well. The coniferous forests at the top of the hill gradually gave way to semi-tropical jungle at the bottom. Wary of leeches, we crossed the bridge over the raging river and half an hour later, two hours after we had set out, arrived at the main road. Arthur and Hanna were great company and we talked about everything from Coldplay and upcoming bands in the United Kingdom to sleep experiments in World War II, and why a bicycle remained upright when it was pedalled.
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| Mighty Mountain Streams |
We walked about two kilometers on the road before reaching a steep flight of steps to the left that led to Yuksom at the top of the hill. Steeling ourselves for the arduous climb that lay ahead, we began the trek up. Arthur had the biggest rucksack, Hanna a medium one and I the smallest. The climb progressed and as it got harder, I offered Arthur to help carry his rucksack. He replied that he would carry it all the way to the top of the hill even if it took him "all bloody day". Gradually we made it to the top, passing through small villages perched on the hillside. We hit the main road, the one that we had saved at least ten kilometers on by making the climb. The flat bit seemed like such a relief after the leg wrenching climb that we had just left behind us. Children were returning home from school and it was pleasant to note how many of them greeted us with a 'Namaste' and asked us where we were from in broken English. Asking around, I was told that there was no ATM here in Yuksom. This was becoming an area of concern for me as the solitary ATM in Pelling had not been working when I was there and there hadn't been one at Khechuperi either. Running low on money, I had to budget my finances till I reached Geyzing two days later.
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| Majestic Mountains |
We walked through the town until we reached the home stay that had been recommended to us by Mr Sonam. It was a nice place run by a very helpful lady. The dorm rooms were clean and tidy, and cost only Rs.200/per bed, so all three of us decided to crash there. A steaming bath freshened us up, and though we were tempted to climb under our blankets, good sense prevailed and we headed out to find ourselves something to eat. Walking through the town, we came to a nice looking restaurant outside at which a German couple that Arthur and Hanna knew from earlier were already seated. We said hello to them, then went through the menu and ordered a couple of beers and something to eat before guiding the German couple who intended travelling to Nepal after this.
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| Lightest Luggage Ever |
All of a sudden, the clouds burst and there was a downpour out of the blue. We picked up our plates and shifted under a bigger umbrella. We were just thinking about poor Ben and Louisa who had left after us and would have got caught in the rain when they rounded the bend in the road, Ben in a raincoat, and Louisa drenched to the bone. We called out to them and they came and joined us, teeth chattering. Louisa went in and changed into a dry set of clothes while Ben just took off his raincoat. When we asked Ben where the rest of his stuff was, he said he didn't have any. We were aghast. All he carried when he travelled was a tiny plastic bag that carried one toilet bag and his raincoat. This was the lightest I had ever seen anyone travel for any duration of time.
The evening saw a few more beers being downed and the conversation touched so many varied topics such as travel, journalism, movies, music, cycling in South America and Chor Bazaar in India. It was turning out to be a wonderful evening until an extremely drunk police constable came and sat down in the vacant seat next to Louisa, and began talking inappropriately to her. She was very sweet and replied to everything he said, hoping he would go away. He refused to do so and continued to ask her awkward questions in his drunken stupor. Everybody tried to talk nicely to him so that he would leave us. When he still refused to do so, I went and sat next to him and spoke to him in Hindi. This surprised him and he immediately went on the defensive. I asked him about Yuksom and introduced myself as a traveler from Mumbai. Unhappy at my presence in the group, he continued to speak quite aggressively. I told him I was travelling alone and that these were my friends. Ranting some more at me, he finally left us alone. I was just glad that Louisa had been left alone and was embarrassed to see a man in uniform behaving so abhorrently with a lady. I had noted down his name and decided that I must do something to prevent this from happening again.
It was nearly 9 p.m. when we wrapped up and headed back to our guesthouse. Since ours was full, Ben and Louisa checked in to the adjacent one. The three of us chatted for a long time after which I penned my account of the day before turning out the lights and retiring for the night, hoping to get a good night's rest before the long trek the next day.
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