In Gangtok

We are happy to be in Gangtok having been greeted at the Bagdogra Airport by our guide Tenzin and driver Sachin. Tenzin presented us with the traditional Buddhist silk scarves placed around our necks. Gangtok is a great place for us for several reasons. They have turned a main downtown street into a walking mall which is so nice without the cars and motorcycles whizzing past and all the horns honking and exhaust and dust. There are some very good coffee shops and some really good pizza and chocolate. No tourist touts trying to sell us tourist stuff and the people are very nice.

Calcutta seemed to be poverty and filth in our face all the time. We had to wade in some flooded streets in water that was not so appealing. The city spreads what they call bleach - a white powder all down the gutters so that it will prevent mosquitoes from multiplying and hopefully hold down the spread of malaria so when it rains and the water washes the poison down the drains it becomes very wide spread. Calcutta is built in and surrounded by wet lands and swamps so rainwater drainage is a problem and many streets flood. It is very hot and humid this time of year. A hard place for us to be even for the short time we were there, but we were able to visit with a friend we made in Ladakh last year. He has been living in Calcutta for some months now and is studying the sitar with a really good teacher. Catching up and comparing experiences with a fellow American was very good for us.

For some reason tomorrow morning we are leaving our very comfortable guest house in Gangtok for a trek. It is cold here at night, but we will drive to Yuksom where it is below freezing at night and barely 40 in the day. It is raining here daily and snowing up there. From Yuksom we climb for two days up to around 14280ft and then in several more days up to a 16,350 ft pass. It has been snowing up there all this week. We are not at all sure exactly what to expect. We will let you all know when we get back to Gangtok in 10 days from now.

We have now spent two evening with the girls at the Happiness Home here in Gangtok. What a great group of girls and what a good time we have had! We have laughed and had a great time. We are all relaxing with each other now and enjoying each others company. We are so happy to have the opportunity to be a small part of the Happiness Home.

I have to go .. Need to get some sleep and be ready to go in the morning. We will write in about 10 days with an update.