Stayed with a Tibetan family in my last few days in Sikkim, in a small village high up on a ridge above Lake Kecheopalri. Pala is a lama who walked out of Lhasa and spent 30 years with the Dalai Lama. Mrs Pala was tipsy on chang all day!
Mrs Pala is in the photo on the left with the 'next-door' monastery in the background .
Lots of little lamas passed by on their way to lessons each day.
The lake is incredibly serene. It is a holy lake and a meditation centre for Buddhist nuns lies within the lake area.
Had a nice chat with Sangay Dolma who told me there are 8 nuns living in the centre and a further 3 in seclusion deeper in the forest behind.
The next 2 days our ridge was shrouded in mist, so just took some short walks through the forest to neighbouring villages.
And then I left Sikkim 2 days earlier than my permit expiry. Didn't know quite why, but trusting instinct, I came back to Darjeeling in time to check on Friday with the Myanmar consulate re the status of my visa. That's when they asked me to come in Monday - I had been planning to go back to Kolkata in the following week or so but as they are closed for a week from 11 April, their advice was come now to be sure - is there a problem? not sure at this stage, just know that the consul wants to see my passport again!
So have to go sleeper class, no AC is available - in the 2 weeks I've been in Sikkim, Darjeeling has filled up with Indian tourists escaping the heat of Calcutta and everything has to be booked well in advance.
But as these things go, this morning had breakfast with a Canadian man (from Toronto, where else!) in a cafe recommended to both of us by Laura for it's real coffee and yummy porridge. He has a tea importing business and has just taken over a tea store at one of the local heritage hotels. He stayed at the centre in Kalimpong last week and was there when Laura returned. In yet another twist, he tells me he stayed in a heritage hotel in Kalimpong once in the very room that Alexandra David-Neel stayed in! Oh I so love being in India.
No comments:
Post a Comment