Gangtok

Monday, June 12, 2017

Due to the hard bed, it was difficult to sleep in, but this was our only full day in Sikkim anyway. We got up, looked out the window, and were dismayed to see only fog and many people with umbrellas. It was raining. We did a little research as to what we could see or do, had breakfast in the hotel, and decided on a game plan, rain or shine. We also notified the hotel of our room conditions and they said they would clean. 

By the time we were heading out, we were pleased to discover that the rain had subdued and we were soon without umbrellas. Walking up the streets of Gangtok was a treat. Like everywhere in India, you are surrounded by vibrant colors. Even the clouds were starting to cooperate and we had a little more of a peak at the Himalayas. Distracted by the views and people all around us, there was also the added challenge of not being hit by the many vehicles squeezing past us on the narrow roads.

 Up, up, up we climbed until we reached a lookout point. We looked out at more fog and kept following the street. We knew that a few miles more would take us to a zoo, and since we hadn't done much walking, we enjoyed our little hike. Occasionally the sun would burn up some of the clouds and we would admire breathtaking views of green mountains and little villages perched on the sides.

As we walked along, people in their shops, standing at their windows, or walking along the same road would either watch us apprehensively, smile at us, or ask us where we were going. A school boy walking the other direction stared at us as we passed, then asked us where we were going. We answered and returned the question. Then we kept walking and a few feet further, he asked us where we were from. We had a short conversation with him. Then he said "bye!" A little further on, I turned around and saw him still watching us go. I gave him a wave and kept walking up.

Close to our destination, We passed many flags strung across the side of the road. They lead us to the intersection of the zoo on our right and a Buddhist temple on the left. We walked right and began our tour of the zoo. It is the first zoo in India to design the exhibits with a lot of land and terrain similar to the animal's natural habitat. Although the the animals are contained, hey don't merely sit in cages, therefore there was a sign warning guests hat the animals may not always be in sight. We kept our hopes low by expecting not to see much. 

Once again, we were pleasantly surprised. The first animal on the map was a black bear. We walked up to his exhibit and there we was! He even jumped up a little then walked into his cave. Very exciting for us since we had walked in with low expectations. As we were leaving the exhibit, a few people we walking in. We told them the bear had just gone into his cave. One of the people was an eighteen year old boy from Punjabi. He asked us where we are from. As soon as we said the U.S., his eyes lit up and he got really excited. He told us "Friends" is his favorite show and that he watches all the American shows. He loves American culture. We shook hands and walked to the next exhibit.

At the next exhibit, the same boy and his parents walked up. He told us that after we had left, the bear had walked out, climbed on a post and waived at them! He showed us a video of the bear. After running into him at a few more exhibits, he stuck with us and we talked to our new friend while visiting most of the other exhibits. A few animals I remember are a peacock (India's national bird) who did a dance for us and some pheasants, a red panda, a tiger, barking deer, we didn't see the Siberian wolf, but he was there somewhere, etc. 

A few hours later, we started the walk back home. About half way back, it started to rain. Fortunately, we had our umbrellas and the rain wasn't too bad. It only started to rain harder as soon as we got to our hotel. 

We looked at our room and there were still a few bugs in the bathroom. We told the staff and they asked if we wanted to move into another room. We did, and it was a little better, but not by much. We didn't really want to find another place because it was raining, but we also didn't want to pay full price (not expensive in the USA, but expensive for India and for what we were getting). The owner was only willing to discount a very small amount if we stayed, or she would reimburse us for the second night and we could leave. We chose to leave. Using lonely planet, I called a recommended hotel and they said they had room for us. We collected our bags and walked brought the rain to our new hotel. Fortunately, it wasn't far. 

This hotel was so much better and was even cheaper than our first place! The room was clean, the bed still didn't have a proper mattress, but the pad was much thicker, and we even had a little balcony. 

Because it was pouring outside, we had dinner at the hotel. I had a chow mien dish and Walt had a chicken masala and naan dish. We even made friends with a little puppy named Messy. The owners had recently got her and she was full of puppy energy and ready to play. Walt loved it. 

I was so excited to shower that night, until the water wouldn't get warm. I'm not familiar with their showers, so it either took a really long time to heat up or I didn't do it right. Either way, mine was cold but Walt's was hot.