November 5, 2014
TASHIDING to PELLING - 48km by taxi
Hotel Garuda, 1400Rs Mountain View Suite (w/o bf)


Hairpins in ShareTaxi to Geyzing
 
As we left for the shared jeep stand, down the small dusty street through tashiding, the guesthouse owner, wearing an orange sash across her sarong, was preparing the small shrine at the gate for prayer. A few bananas and strings of marigolds were carefully arranged. 

....It was a downhill walk to the jeep stand, a big plus for me. At 7am, we planted ourselves on wooden bench in front of a small market at the jeep-stop. We couldn't afford to miss our ride. Low and behold, the sumo jeep showed up at 7:25am. The packs got loaded on top rack and we squeezed in the seat behind the driver with two other ladies. The jeep took off in the opposite direction stopping where people flagged the driver down several times and handed him packages or envelopes for him to hand to people further down his route. 

After 3 km, he turned around and we felt relieved. Fifteen minutes later, we were back where we had started in Tashiding and near the monastery the two ladies next to us got out. Later, we picked up more people and soon we were filled to the brim. The scenery kept me glued to the window. Deep canyons with teal blue rivers rushing through. Bamboo forests and bright red poinsettias adding color to this amazing landscape. 
 
At one point the driver stopped and told us that a jeep had gone over the edge the day before. Everyone stretched their neck to get a glimpse but we didn't spot the wreck deep down, there was nothing to prevent it from ending up deep in the canyon. 

This is some of the steepest hairiest hairpin terrain we've ever experienced. To get anywhere takes time. We covered only 56 km in the 1.5 hours and that was because most of the road was in decent shape. 


Transfer in Geyzing
 
At 9am, we arrived at the Geyzing jeep and taxi stand. We had a choice to wait in a shared jeep until it filled up at 30Rs per person or hire a private taxi. We opted for the latter which set us back 200Rs ($3.25) for the 8 km to Pelling. We were dropped off right in front of Hotel Garuda and soon settled in a lovely spacious view suite. 
 

One Day in Pelling
 
Pelling is a town in west Sikkim at 6200 feet per the sign by our hotel. People come here for the cool views of the worlds 3rd highest mountain. At 28,169' (8,586 m) Kangchenjunga's elevation compares third behind Mount Everest at 29,029' and K2 at 28,251'. The Kangchenjunga includes the main peak (8686m), Yalung Kang at 8505m, south peak at 4889m, central peak at 8476m, and Khamba Chen at 7905 meters.
We ran into Yumi in the lobby. She was on her way out on mission to get her Sikkim Visa extended. Apparently, the son of the king died and the office was closed. Later we noticed her sitting in front of our hotel waiting for a jeep somewhere. Several hours later she was still waiting. She finally gave up  

Our hotel had been undeserved described in the LP as somewhat of a 'ghetto' for backpackers'. We were surprised how nice it is. The room prices start at 400Rs for a non-view single, very reasonable for how nice it is.

We caught just the last spectacular glimpse of Kanchenjunga before it hid behind a curtain of white clouds. We enjoyed a great meal of veg wonton soup and veg egg roll, & banana pancake for Dave at the restaurant.
 
 
......I was in desperate need for some time-out and planted myself in our lovely room and journaled and read while Dave went to book seats on jeep to Siliguri for tomorrow. The only seats available are on 3rd row. Dave went to other travel agents in town looked for better seats. He soon discovered that one guy owned the share taxi monopoly in Pelling and booked 3 seats again for the 5 hour ride so we have some space. 
   
Dave ran in to Sylvain who was on a 4 to 6 hour hike deep into the valley where there is supposed to be a great hiking town with accommodation. This was probably the same town Yumii was hoping to go by bus. Sylvain said Dylan was anxious to get to Darjeeling and was already on his way there. It is fun to run into new friend on the same circuit from time to time. 

  
17th Century Pemayangtse 

Dave marched down to the Buddhist Monastery near town and was a little disappointed.
 
 
For one he could not enter due to the visiting Panchen Lama's puja which packed the main hall shoulder to shoulder with monks, and two, he could not take pictures. The special occasion puja should have been a highlight but after crossing through a 50 car parking area and paying for an entry ticket, the mystic spell eluded him. On his walk back, he found a great bakery and picked up some hot out of the oven apple and cinnamon pastries. Yumm

After sundown it got pretty chilly. We moved down to the dining room and asked if they would stoke a fire in their small fireplace. We enjoyed a cozy dinner of soup and chicken and worked on our computers for a while.


Kangchenjunga Sunrise

From the comfort of our bed, we woke to see the morning sun falling on the Kangchenjunga. We were happy that the weather was clear and the view did not disappoint. Dave got up to open the window for clearer photos. First ascenders were a pair of English mountaineers, George Band and Joe Brown, in 1955.
 

Our shared taxi was due to depart at 7AM and we made our way down to the dining room for a western breakfast. yumm again!