Roman has been trying to teach me some Nepali. Dog is koocur (?), thank you is danyabad, how are you? is costachia (?), tea is chia, good bye is bye bye or te ta. So Te Ta Sikkim and thank you for a good stay.
I am now in Silaguri and on my way back to Calcutta from where I will move on fairly rapidly to Puri if I can. I am starting on the malaria tablets.
My original plan was to go to Varanasi directly but that would have required more forward planning than I am currentlly inclined to do.
I wil recap my last few days in Namchi in due course. Just to say a big thank you to Roman, particularly, and the guys at Kava, Frets and the Knights Inn in general.
In brief though, yesterday Roman took me to a large Hindu temple sight, 4km above Namchi and then treated me to a farewell fish curry and rice. This morning he popped into the cafe where I was having a breakfast of puri and hot coffee to say a final farewll before going on to his coaching class. We have also talked about a Royal Enfield motor bike tour of North Sikkim, reputedly the most beautiful part of the state, in the coming years.
Today I have taken the 8.30 am shared taxi from Namchi to Silaguri, which arrived safely despite one reverse hill start and a 45 minute wait for a mechanic to come and fix the brakes...
At Silaguri a kind fellow passenger helped me onto my first auto rickshaw of the trip to go buy my ticket at the central railway reservation building (thanks also to the driver) before I was helped across the city road, hand in hand, by antother new acquaintance, Mahesh, who ushered me into a restaurant and, with immense hospitality, then paid for my tea, dahl and rice.
At this moment I am in an upmarket hotel/restaurant drinking coffee and eating pakora (to go with my malaria pill) and making use of their wifi. The waiters here would probably brush my teeth if I let them.
Love to everyone and I'll drop a line from Calcutta probably tomorrow or the day after. D xx
