Well-
LONG strange journey for sure. Where to begin... Currently I am BACK in Darjeeling. But I'll start further back than that. New York was great, catching up with Jojo and Lisa and Adam was a blast. I got my first glance at my new apartment. That's correct. I have a room in Williamsburg. Look Mom and Dad, I've committed to something! I will be moving in the second I'm done traveling in August. I'm very excited. I'll be living an a fantastic neighborhood with two great friends.
After New York I flew to Helsinki where I left the airport and paid 9 dollars for an hour of Internet. It turned out to be a good hour though so... Helsinki. EXPENSIVE. Of course I was there last year and loved it so it's the only reason I popped into town from the airport. After that I moved on to Delhi and waited to catch my flight onward to Bagdogra in the North East (West Bengal) Where I met up with Carrie. We moved on from there quickly to Darjeeling. Darjeeling is a beautiful, fantastic 'hillside station' bustling with Bengali tourists and the occassional white guy/girl in full Indian garb wreecking of Patchouli. It's also famed to have the best view of Mount Kanchenjunga, but was too smogy for us to see. I love it! I fell in love with it right away. We spent three days here milling about and rummaging through the bazars and eatting random stuff. We got our permits to enter Sikkim, a region in the North East between Nepal and Tibet/Buhtan. The reason we need to get permits is that it is considered 'dangerous' because China doesn't believe it's part of India but rather it's own territory (OH Silly China!) The morning we woke to head up to Sikkim I didn't feel so well and began to vomit. I deduced it was the small cone shaped pastry filled with cream that I was eatting and refering to as: 'The Cornicopia of Pleasure' but was now calling 'The Devils Claw.' I decided to get on the way anyway and we took our jeep rides to Pelling. First off, the jeep rides take a little getting used to and aren't the quickest transport (to the western mind.) In India a six person jeep is really a 20 person jeep. At one point 24. Not kidding. Durring one of our rides further into Sikkim Carrie and I shared a jeep wtih 17 people, Two large peices of intricate furniture, and a goat. People force themselves into the van sitting on laps sitting sideways however they fit. And these rides are not short. We're talking sometimes 6 hours with a man who smells like three day old liqour, sour clothes, armpit and tabacco pushed on oneside of you and a woman with a saliva driping kid on her lap with one leg over yours. It's amazing. More on that in a moment, for now back to the moment: I'm sick, I've been vomiting all day and we have three of these jeep rides to go. Luckily I had some 'headache remedy' that Katie had sent me and I held out as best as I could. Three and a half hours later I fell into the bed at our place in Pelling and also into a feverish sleep. I was sick the whole night and woke a few times dripping with sweat, and finally woke the next morning feeling better.
Pelling was dull besides being suprised the morning we left with the most amazing view of Katchanjunga. I was able to sit on the roof and watch the sunrise. It was fantastic.
We moved on from there to Lake Katcheperry (sp?) a quite lake with hikes around it that I did.
After that: Back to Darjeeling.
And here we are!
