Road to Sikkim : Look Mama I made it

It's just after19:00 (Standard Indian Time) on Saturday 11 July 2015 and I'm in Gangtok. I left Johannesburg ten days ago with a backpack and a vague plan to get to Gangtok. I stopped in four cities /towns before I got here. It hasn't been  an easy journey but here I am ♡

DARJEELING TO GANGTOK

I had stopped at Darjeeling to get a permit to be able to get to Sikkim province where Gangtok is. Sikkim is close to the indo-china border and strict controls exist for foreigners. One gets a 15-day permit that can be renewed three times, effectively giving one a maximum of two months in the area.

Getting the permit

I met two American young men who were also on their way to Gangtok and needing a permit in the hotel. The hotel arranged that we travel together to get the permit. The permit office was a 7 minute walk from the hotel. We got to the office just after 10:00.

The office opens at 10:00; however it was a different story when we got there. We were told to wait for a few minutes for the government official that's responsible for the permit. He arrived just after 10:30 (see, it's the same even in india) and he issued us with a form that he stamped after registering our passport and visa details in a logbook. The form required  that we sign that we will not go to Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan once we are in Sikkim. After signing this form I was even afraid to think #FreeTibet. But I sure want to go to the Kingdom of Bhutan. Bhutanese people are ranked the happiest people on earth.

Armed with a stamped form, we were sent to the Darjeeling district municipality office on the other side of town. It took about  15 minutes to get there. I wondered why the permit application didn't take place in one place. Perhaps it's some segregation of duties control to mitigate the risk if collusion? Our passports were stamped and a permit issued and we were  ready to leave.

Rain! Rain! Go Away!

We decided that we would have lunch before leaving for Gangtok. We went to a beautiful vegetarian restaurant (I haven't had meat since last Thursday by the way) where we had a rice thali with dahl and chickpeas. It was very tasty.

We went to a tea shop to get some tea. One can't be in Darjeeling and not taste their tea and possibly buy some. I, unfortunately, didn't buy any. I still had plans to carry my bag as hand luggage and deplane in Nairobi upon my return. While having tea it started raining. We decided that it was time to head to Gangtok.

We tried looking for a shared jeep to Gangtok and we were told to come back the following day. The last car leaves Darjeeling at around 13:00 and because of the rain it was best not to even get a private jeep. And just like that we had  an extra night  in Darjeeling. It was good for me to just sit there and enjoy the rain.

Windy-windy-windy

The rain bucketed nonstop for the day and still went on in the morning. We checked out of the hotel at 09:00 and went straight to the jeep stand where we bought 5 seats (3 for us and two for the bags and legroom). And off we went!

Darjeeling is about 6 700ft above sea level and Gangtok about 5 200ft. Gangtok is on the Eastern Himalayas as well.  I was happy that we weren't going higher since I got  sick when I got to Darjeeling. We unfortunately had to zigzag downhill then wind around the hill to the top again. The trip felt much better than the one I had taken two days earlier. I was more  relaxed.

Unfortunately the same can't be said for the Indian family of four that we were travelling with. They were heading to Nepal to see a doctor for their youngest daughter. The entire family had motion sickness! I felt so sorry for the dad when he got it. He looked like he was in pain. Luckily they had brought sick bags for the road. They were quite sweet. We exchanged a few words during the stops. They couldn't speak much English but my international sign language helped a lot here. They took a picture with us when we got to Gangtok.

On our way we were met by a landslide - this is expected, given the rainfall. Traffic was backed up for a couple of kilometres while we waited for the police and the roads agency to fix the road. We must've waited there for about 40 minutes. I'm glad that there was help nearby and that no one was injured. It finally made sense why we weren't allowed to travel late in the day from Darjeeling in the event that there's such an incident.

FINALLY IN GANGTOK

The trip took a total of six hours for 112 km... I was happy to finally arrive in Gangtok. I was happy that I set myself a goal to reach this place and I did. There were many times when I wanted to go back home instead of enduring the pain that came with the travel plan.

So why Gangtok?

Honestly, I don't know. True story! I woke up on 24 April 2015 and decided that I will not be going to  San Francisco anymore and I was going to india. I was inspired by the words of the Dalai Lama - once a year go some place you've never been.  I booked a ride to Mumbai with Kenya Airways and left it there. In the middle of June I realised that I had to find some place to go from Mumbai. I thought of heading South to Goa for a few days to rest. That was a solid plan until I read that it was monsoon season. 

Again, one night I woke up and remembered a book I read a long time ago that spoke of Tibet. I knew it wouldn't be easy to get to Tibet so I started reading... Gangtok is known as the Gateway to Tibet. Many Tibetans are said to have passed by here when travelling between India and Tibet. Gangtok is about  54km from the Tibetan border so many people would  rest here overnight before heading to Tibet. This town is as Tibetan that india could get. So I thought to myself... why not! Oh, and my trip to india was inspired by the Dalai Lama! Double Whammy!

Did I mention how proud I am of myself? No? Well I am!

Remember to follow me on instagram @me_l7 for stories behind the pictures and more pictures.

Road To Sikkim

We often say 'Thank God for Travelling Mercies' but do we ever think of what that means? I left Delhi and headed to the Sikkim and never has that phrase been so relevant.

LEAVING DELHI
I had an Air India flight to Bagdogra at 11 am. I left for the airport by car just after 8. I was worried that Delhi traffic would misbehave. I could have taken the metro but Delhi metro at peak hour isn't a lot of fun. I was not in the mood to upset myself  either. The trip was fast and simple. Made it to the airport in just over an hour.

My plane was delayed by a few minutes. When we walked into the cabin it was so hot and had a foul smell. Cabin crew walked up and down with a cabin freshener that didn't seem to work. A few minutes into it the air conditioning started to work but the announcement that came after it was the biggest shocker. I shook my head and smiled. 

"Any passenger carrying human remains? Please press the call button." No one pressed the button. Next thing cabin crew chit chats with a fellow pax and turns out that the body came from Mumbai but was not remove from the cargo. 

We were finally on our way and the two hour flight had quite a bit of weather turbulence. After the (nasty) meal the cabin crew was instructed to sit for weather. The cockpit crew didn't say anything to us. We just had to fasten our seat belts. 

BAGDOGRA TO SILIGURI
After landing I posted a few post cards but it turned out that the post office didn't have enough stamps. I'm still so confused by this right now. I thereafter took a walk to outside the airport precinct and got on a tuk tuk to Siliguri junction so I could take a shared jeep to Darjeeling.

Siliguri is about 12 km from Bagdogra airport. It's on the foot of the Himalayas and has quite a number of tea estates.

SILIGURI TO DARJEELING
The initial plan was to head to Gangtok after landing. I remembered that I needed to get a permit from Darjeeling to be able to visit Sikkim, where Gangtok is. One needs a permit because of the close proximity of Sikkim to an important Chinese border. That's where Tibet is. I really hope that I have no issues getting the permit.

Darjeeling means a place of Thunderbolt.

The jeep ride was interesting. It finally made sense why Indian drivers hoot so much. The road is uphill and winds around the mountain. The road is often too small to have two cars pass comfortably. The driver would then honk his horn to signal to whoever may be on the other side that he's on his way and they mustn't drive.

My fear of heights won't let me be great. My heart was on my throat each time the driver took sharp turns or drove on the shoulder of the road. The views were spectacular! At some point you could see the Everest.

I had altitude sickness when I got to Darjeeling. I couldn't go see sights. I will attempt today before I leave for Gangtok. I feel better today. So yes,  thank God for travel mercies.

Delhightful?

Delhi oh Delhi! Where do I start, beloved? 

I had a spring on my step as I walked from the aircraft to the terminal building.  Mumbai had been awesome and Delhi promised to be great.

After a slight hiccup with my hotel pickup I was on my way to the city from the airport.  I got to my hotel, freshened up and got ready to hit the town. I must have walked for about 500m away from the hotel when it hit me. I was overwhelmed by noise, the humidity, the crowd and the poverty. I went back to my hotel to try and gain composure and try the city again  a little later.

When I got back to the hotel I changed clothes to more comfortable clothing. In all my travels I've never been intimidated by a city like Delhi did. It was strange. I took a walk to a different direction than I did earlier and it didn't work. The people starred at me without flinching. I was the only black person in the area. In fact I hadn't seen black people since I got off the KQ plane. Delhi 2: Me 0. I went back to my hotel and ordered room service and started thinking about going back home. 

I've never had to cut a trip short over how I felt about the city. I always made cities work. But perhaps I hadn't been to a city as different as Delhi. So after my nap I went online and I looked for a club. At 22:00 I dolled up and went to the club. I stayed till 02:00, met a few nice people but still no connection. Zilch. I wanted to go home. Not even  my next destination but home boo.

I woke up on Sunday morning with renewed energy. I wasn't going to go home. I wasn't going to be defeated by a city. Packed my city bag, walked outside the hotel and hailed a tuk tuk (or an auto rickshaw as they call it) and headed to the Red Fort. Two days later I'm still here and I like Delhi. I think by tonight I will love it.

So what the heck did I do wrong? Delhi is no place for perfectionists and preconceived ideas of how things should run. I chose my hotel based on the fact that it was in a 'safe' area. I expected  everything to be as pretty as a picture. And unfortunately a few metres away from the hotel I was met by the realities of india. I don't know why I expected all of this to be tucked away. I expected a Sandton knowing that Alexandra is across the road and when Alex hit sooner than I expected I freaked out. This has had me question the way things are done in South Africa...

GETTING AROUND
Delhi is a very big city of several millions of people. A city this big needs a transport system that will carry it's people to work and back home easily and efficiently.

Rickshaw
These are the guys who ride bicycles to ferry people along short distances. They charge around 20 Rupees (about ZAR 4) for their  effort. As a tourist they will obviously try and milk as much out of you as possible. So play hard.

Auto Rickshaw
These are what we call tuk-tuks. They go longer distances than the rickshaws and obviously more expensive because they are faster. Ask for the driver to put on the metre or agree on a prepaid rate before boarding.

Metro
By far the best invention for this city. Easy to use and very cheap too. A metro ticket costs  a minimum of... wait for it... 10 Rupees, yes you read right,  and goes up depending on the distance. The metro covers a big chunk of city, is air conditioned and on time. Announcements are made in English as well. There's a cart reserved especially for ladies and no men are allowed  in there. Even the other carts have seats reserved for ladies. Nice one Delhi! Because the men in this city are so aggressive.

Uber
In Uber we trust! Well not in Delhi. I've had two unfortunate events that have put me off Uber here. The first one was when I had to walk a few blocks to find my driver because he didn't know where my hotel was. This was the night I went clubbing. I even asked the hotel staff to direct him in Hindu. After a 7 minute conversation the only thing that made sense was to go find him.

The second incident was the worst for me. We got lost in Chattarpur with another driver. After 5 minutes of getting lost he told me to get off the car because he was late for his next appointment. It was 19:00 in an area I didn't know and he left me. Thank God for kind locals.

Below are a few pictures of the city. I won't bore you with details check it out in instagram.

I will post something on Delhi food culture later. It made me fall in love with the city. I explored restaurants that are over a 100 years old that made the most beautiful meals imaginable. Today I've four more to go. Can't wait.

Goodbye , Mumbai

When I decided that I would go to India a few months ago I had no expectations of the country. A few days ago when I left South Africa I hoped to miss my connecting flight to Mumbai from Nairobi. I only  realised when I got to india that I was scared of this new adventure. It feels like 2012 all over again when I left South Africa for East Africa for the first time.

ARRIVING IN MUMBAI
I has a very pleasant flight on Kenya Airways on Thursday. We arrived at around 17:00. Disembarkation was very chaotic. Everyone seemed to be in a hurry to get off the plane. Understandably so, we were about thirty minutes late. Most people probably had connecting flights etc. But it really was chaotic and I just sat on the until the dust settled.

I had a bit of trouble with border control. They wanted my yellow fever certificate and I didn't have it. This was very strange because I prepared a checklist a few days before departure and I don't remember anything about a yellow fever certificate requirement. I stood there while this guy made noise asking everyone. A few minutes later I was allowed in and yes, South Africans do not need yellow fever certificates for india. If you plan to come to india I would recommend that you carry it to make your life easier.

After all this drama I had to make a plan on how I was going to get to the hotel in the Colaba area from the airport. I was very tired since I left home 12 hours ago and I didn't sleep on the plane. The best thing to do was to get a cab to the hotel. I had read horror stories of cabbies taking longer routes to make extra cash so I opted for an uber car. It took forever to get to me and my phone was misbehaving but I finally got ahold of my driver and we headed off to Colaba.

DRIVING IN MUMBAI
I've been to Asia before and I know that traffic is terrible in most Asian cities. I was somewhat prepared for this. However, I wasn't so prepared for the 'chaos' on the roads. I say 'chaos' because it is working well for the locals. My driver drove like a maniac.  He changed lanes by just honking his horn. He drove in between lanes. He drove towards oncoming traffic. My poor heart!

I later learnt that this is how everyone drives in this city. I got tired of reacting  every time I heard someone hoot. It was just normal.

There's the local train to commute between the North and South of Mumbai and the metro for East and South. These are relatively inexpensive. There's also local cabs (black and yellow) that charge a flag fall of 21 Rupees (1 INR = ZAR 0.19). These are everywhere and are available any time. Locals also use the city's red busses to get around. I didn't take one but they are everywhere.

THE CITY
Once settled I knew that I had just about 30 hours to see Mumbai before heading out to Delhi. The city city takes a bit of getting used to but it's beautiful. I posted a few pictures of the city. For stories behind the pictures please see instagram.

I quite enjoyed the local street food and the bars. None of the bars that I went to played any music. I tend to connect better with other people if there's music involved.  It's a very nice way to break the ice. Like in South Africa, the locals quite like their street food and they lay 'tables' on top of their bonnets and  chat among themselves.

The city reminded me so much of Dar es Salaam. There were quite a number of similarities. From architecture to cuisine to the men with roving eyes. Understandably so, given the Indian and Hindi history of the city.

GHANDI
Mahatma Ghandi is well respected in India, at least from what I saw in Mumbai. His face is on all the notes.  There's various monuments erected in his honour. I've learnt a lot more about him and I expect to learn more about him. I will post something on Ghandi towards the end of the trip.

GOODBYE FOR GOOD?
I can't say whether Mumbai is my favourite Indian city yet. I guess I have to try the other ones first. I don't have a strong desire to return to Mumbai any time soon.
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Homosexuality is illegal in India. This follows a decision that was taken a coupleof years ago to decriminalise it. The decriminalisation was due to a loophole in the penal code. India has a very large community of Hijras, the third gender. Hijras receive great protection and recognition from the government and locals. Official government forms make provision for the third gender to be selected as a gender. Locals believe that Hijras have powers to bless or curse people and for that they are well - respected members of the community.

India: Jetting off

I've been battling with blog content lately and this is because I delay my posts and it's harder to recall all the details. I've decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea to write diary posts instead.

It's  Thursday 2 July 2015 just after 3 am. I am probably flying over Zambia heading to Nairobi for to connect to Mumbai. Our flight  was slightly delayed but we managed to have our wheels up by 02:10. I am slightly worried that I will miss my flight to Mumbai. It wouldn't be a bad idea if I did.

The past couple of days I have been missing East Africa. I'd be happiest in Kampala but Nairobi, Dar and anywhere in the Swahili coast will do right now. I even played around the idea of not taking the Nairobi to Joburg leg of the trip and head to Zanzibar instead. My planned return is on 16 July and Eid is likely on the 17th. I've always fantasised about  Eid celebrations at Forodhani Gardens. Friday evenings after prayers are already so beautiful. Imagine how Eid would be.

Back to the flight. I really wouldn't mind missing the flight and getting  on the next flight to Mumbai later today. I would then spend the day in Nairobi. I actually wouldn't mind just walking around the city and have all this food I've been craving. I'd be especially happy with chips mayai  (a dish made of eggs and potato chips) or nyama choma and the nyama must certainly be nyama yambuzi. If u make it to the flight I won't be mad. I will just have Fanta Orange and kenyan chevda, my favourite Kenyan snack.

Earlier today I had dinner with mates of mine. It was really nice to have such a beautiful send off  (I have hijacked it and I am deciding to believe that this was not a catch up session but more a send off. It's strange that as a lone (almost) frequent traveler I still like to have someone send me off.

I'm actually excited AND nervous about India. I will reveal more as I go along. I will write again on the Nairobi to Mumbai leg if I make it to that flight. Cabin crew assured me that they will wait for us. There goes my grand plan!

Till later then. Let me try and nap. Okay.. that might not  happen. We have minor  turbulence all of a sudden.

India: KQ Experience

It's now 13:56 (Mumbai time) and we are about 80 minutes away from touch down. I have a glass of Rupert and Rothschild in hand and a very big smile. I wasn't going to blog but I felt compelled to.

We left Nairobi about 5 hours ago and I had mixed emotions. I somewhat felt like changing  my flight to come back earlier. I don't have a particular reason why. I think it was fear. Fear of the unknown. Remember I said I wouldn't mind missing my flight and go to Mumbai a day later after partying in Nairobi. That didn't happen. I guess that's where  the mixed emotions come from.

NAIROBI CONNECTION
The connection in Nairobi was very easy. We didn't need to go through immigration. We only had to go through security and everything was done. I was worried about my 55 minute connection time but it took me about 20 minutes. In addition, we waited for a plane from West Africa that was delayed.

BOEING 787-8
We flew the Boeing 787Dreamliner on this leg of the journey. I can't decide which aircraft I like between the B787 or the A380. When we took off from Nairobi I swear I had goose bumbs. So beautiful. Didn't even feel that we aren't on the ground anymore. I had a huge smile. I wanted to tell someone. There was no one who looked like they would be interested in my story. Aah well. I love love love their window 'shutters' and mood lighting.

The journey was  very smooth. A few bumps up and down along the way and strange enough nothing that got me worried. I'm waiting for the landing. I will update on the next post.

KQ HOSPITALITY
The one thing that you can always count on is the warmth of the East African people. The KQ cabin crew was amazing. But before I continue about about that I need to mention how awesome their liquor selection is.

The liquor cart was filled  with good goods. Think Absolute Vodka, Bombay Gin, Rupert and Rothschild...  need I continue. And the cabin crew were very generous with those baby bottles of booze. Bless them!

I will be spending two nights in Mumbai before heading to Delhi. The next post will be about my Mumbai experience. Adios