India, like a swingers party on Sesame Street, is a place of many colours.  Just when you think you’ve seen behind the clock face, you’re hit between the eyes with another flavour from her bursting population.  Trying to understand her is futile, best to step in and let it flow.  Your preconceptions will of course be challenged; from what it means to be happy and what it is to be ‘clean’, to how progress is gauged and whether you are as sane as you once thought. Take a shot and if it’s your bag, you’ll be hooked for life. 

Our Andaman zen was a distant memory after 48 hours in transit from Port Blair to Siliguri via Kolkata.  Travelling with bikes (our homes) is nerve wrecking so it was no surprise to find a broken axle when we came to re-building the winnebagos.  We learn as we go and touching down on Sunday meant the shops were closed for said part.  Up and early the following day, the axle was bought and our wheels were ready.

From Siliguri we followed the Darjeeling Toy Train, a Unesco listed railway, which meant a gradual climb over 2 days to our first stop of Darjeeling.  Day one caught us a little short, we broke a cardinal rule of cycle touring, and found ourselves peddling for 2 hours after dark. Himalayan roads are, at best, one car wide and in the pitch blackness with edges into the abyss our adventure was back in the fast lane.

Himalayan roads. Skinny & with nice steep edges

Our initial nimble of Himalayas, travelling up through the foothills, absolutely delivered on the mythical energy of this part of the world. It’s very hard to put into words the vastness of the views that greet you at every turn.  The higher we’ve gone, the smaller we’ve felt and the freer we’ve become.

The foothills, delicious!

By the time we met Darjeeling we’d already surpassed the highest point we’ve been on the tour to date.  It’s amazing to see towns and cities built onto the side and over the top of mountains.  You realise how isolated these regions would have been before the birth of the combustion engine.

Darjeeling bazaar. The standard madness of India

Darjeeling mall sits at the top of the city/mountain

After our cooking and camping hiatus in Sri Lanka, Darjeeling was a chance to re-stock the larder and check over our kit.  The hill station was a charming place to get everything back in order and we even managed a trip to the local Zoo. Our concerns over seeing captive animals were appeased both through the enclosures built around the natural forest and it also being home to the worlds foremost breeding compound for the endangered Snow Leopard, Tibetan Wolf and Red Panda. The big cats in particular were mesmerising and we found out that a job feeding the animals was a very prestigious affair.  The Leopards are fed chicken and the tigers beef, and so to it seems are the families of the respective keepers! 

Red Panda cuteness

An angry Bengal Tiger takes on the mighty Horse

Our (first road) on from Darjeeling into Southern Sikkim was via the border crossing at Jorethang.  The joy of a near vertical 7000ft descent quickly vanished on being refused entry due to this particular pass having been closed to tourists a month ago.  It was the first time since leaving we opted for a 4 wheel drive assistant in taking us back up the climb.  A silver lining was spending a night discovering another face to the chilly hill station.  Beers with backpackers in a far more local part of town dissolved the frustration of the red tape tango.

Jeep support

An early start saw us heading to Melli to take on the border to Sikkim once more.  Our descent was no less jaw dropping.  Starting in the misty clouds with 10 metres visibility, slowly rolling through the tea fields of the lower slopes and finally feeling the warmth of the valley which bisects the two states.  The fleeces of Darjeeling were ditched for t-shirts and lycra again as we took on the paper work of border control.

Our misty decent from Darjeeling

From Melli we had a 5500ft climb to Namchi hence decided to stock up on food for a nights camping en route.  Sikkim is well-known amongst cycle tourers for having the steepest roads in the Himalayas and you can bet your grandma we felt the burn.  To ease the pain we took advantage of a flat garden in a beautiful hillside village to pitch our tent.  The generous family couldn’t do enough to make us feel welcome.  Though we turned down their offer of dinner so as to unload the groceries and lighten our panniers for the hairy climbs ahead.

Happy families 🙂

After a poor nights kip I was soon asking myself ‘how steep can a road be’?!  Sikkim was giving fierce slope’ness at 18% plus and my sense of humour was taking a bashing.  When the going gets tough my tongue gets dirty and the expletives came thick and fast.  At times we could all but get off and push. Though every peddle, step, expletive and sweaty armpit is worth it for the treasures that fill your eyes.

Heading further into the mountains from Namchi to Ravangla and onto Pelling the weather was against us.  Visibility was keeping to metres instead of miles and with our border crossing into Nepal taking us South again, we decided to back track early to Darjeeling. As is the way, the morning of our return greeted us with clear skies and our first glimpse of the infamous sawtooth peaks. Standing in the face of such beauty, watching the sunrise over highest point on earth was an awe-inspiring and humbling end to our time in Sikkim.

Himalayan magic

As we ready ourselves to take on the climbs of Nepal a friend of mine, Meg, is also packing up her kit for a 2 month trek with her dog, Oscar, across the old pilgrim trail ‘Chemin du Saint Jacque’.  Whilst planning she asked me what we’d learnt on the road so far.  We can honestly say, sitting in the shadow of the mighty Himalayas with little to our names, firstly, absolutely anything now seems possible (our excuses are the only obstacle) and secondly, there is liberation in our insignificance and fragility in the company of mother nature.  We are both nothing yet a component part of everything and in the words of Mr Lennon, all we need is love.

Go forth and spread your love, however floats your boat 😉

And go hard on the chocs, because it’s Easter and you can!

T&B

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