Political Unrest

Sunday, June 11, 2017

We were up, packed, and ready to go by 7:00am in order to grab a quick continental breakfast before our last tour in Jaipur. Amber Fort, pronounced Ammer Fort, was built in the late 16th century by Maharaja Man Singh. To enter the fort, our tour included an elephant ride. We were so high up! The ride was both fun and sad because we felt bad for the elephants, especially Walt. 

Our guide gave us a tour in double time because we only had one hour to see as much as possible. The fort was impressive and my favorite part was a hall of mirrors. Various sizes of mirrors had been cut and designed to create designs all along the wall and ceiling. As you walked down the hall, the mirrors would catch the sunlight and created a sparkling effect. You could still faintly see the original paintings on a couple walls. There are even a few secret passages that lead to a fortress just above the palace, but unfortunately, those are closed to the public.

W: Emergency! Can't find my wallet! Will not tell Jill as this will only make her make me cry. 

After our quick run through, we were dropped off at the airport. Checking in went quickly and there were only two gates for domestic travel, so we didn't have to go far. Everything went so quickly that we had time to check on the news in Darjeeling and discuss our plans for that night. I was communicating with a different airbnb farm stay in Mirik. It is still in the Darjeeling district, but about an hour from the actual town of Darjeeling. At first we thought it would be ok, but the more Walt read about the situation, we realized the protests were spreading to other towns in the district, such as Mirik, but hey weren't as bad. This still made us hesitant. When it was time to board our plane, we still didn't know. 

We had a layover in Delhi, so we figured we would make some decisions there. The problem with that plan was that we took off half an hour late, leaving us only enough time in Delhi to connect to our next flight. No time to look at the news or contact anyone. So it would be down to the last minute. We would have to decide when landing in Bagdogra. 

There was a problem with that plan too. Bagdogra is a very small airport with no air conditioning and, more importantly for us, no wifi. When I couldn't find a wifi connection, I asked a couple stewardesses if there was wifi. They said they didn't think so but to ask a guy working in one of the offices. I walked over and knocked and was greeted by two young men who ended up being extremely helpful. At first, he told me there was no wifi. So I asked if a place nearby had wifi and he told me of a place but it was too far to walk to. I felt like crying because I had no idea what we would do without being able to tell people if we were coming or not coming. After I explained my situation and seeing that I was distressed, his friend said that he would create a hotspot for me with his phone. I was SO thankful!  

After Walt had joined me (he was originally getting our bags), we decided to book he airbnb in Mirik. Then we asked the guys if things were any better in Darjeeling. They said no and that, if anything, it was getting worse. We were thankful for their honesty. We also asked about Mirik and they were hesitant about going there too. Then we asked about Sikkim (which would be 4.5 hours away, rather than 2-3). They said the Sikkim region is fine, and we had read that a lot of tourists were going there instead of Darjeeling. So made our decision to go there. I did quick research for an airbnb in Gangtok and booked one of the few choices that looked decent. I didn't want to take up too much of his guy's data, and we were all sweating in the heat of the airport, so I felt bad for them having to wait with us. 

W: Not sure what's happening. Still can't find wallet. Jill said she feels unrested and wants to change hotels. Said she is politically unstable and wants to join a gang. Not sure how that will help, but I just nodded. 

At this point, I was currently booked for three different places in the Himalayas. I messaged he first two to let them know our final decision (we had been in contact with them during our decision making), downloaded the Gangtok region on google maps, and looked up directions to our hotel. 

We thanked the men profusely and headed over to the prepaid taxi stand to see about getting a ride to Gangtok. Walt and I were hounded by taxi drivers asking us where we were going and promising cheap fares. But they are often tourists traps and sometimes dishonest (from what I had read) so we kept walking to the stand. Unfortunately, they don't drive to Gangtok, but we could get a taxi to Siliguri and then a jeep from there to Gangtok. So that's what we did. The taxi took us to a jeep station. When Walt asked how much to go to Gangtok, the guy quoted 3,500 rupees. 

"3,500 rupees!!" Walt exclaimed. 

"Ok, 2,500 rupees'" the man replied. 

Then Walt said, "How about 2"

Hesitantly, the man said he would ask the jeep driver. A minute later, he walked over and said, "Ok, he will take you for 2,000." 

Much better. Especially for our own private jeep. I have since learned you can make the journey in a shared jeep for only 200/person, but those are in ten person jeeps, and because we were trying to get a ride so late in the day (it was 5:00 pm at this point), there was no one else to share a jeep with. 

We also just wanted to get up there. 

After our driver purchased a few mangos, and then five minutes into the drive, some coconuts, we were off. And what a ride. These narrow, winding mountain roads carry traffic both ways, which would be fine if people here didn't drive as wild as they do. They are always in a rush to pass each other. Our driver was veering around corners (even in the rain), cutting it close while passing cars, and it only got scarier as the light faded into night. And then he would occasionally answer his phone. Walt and I did a lot of praying on that ride. By God's grace, we made it. 

In contrast to the frightening feeling that we might crash or slide off the side of the cliff at any point, the scenery was a pleasant experience. A variety of lush green trees and bushes provide a blanket for the steep, majestic mountains. A river divided us from a different mountain for almost half the drive and the clouds would sometimes hover near the tops of peaks in the distance. Then add a sunset. I was sad to see it go as our sunset faded into darkness. 

At about 9:00 pm, we were thankful and so glad to have arrived. But our adventure did not stop there. The airbnb hotel we had hurriedly booked was on the main street of town. It is filled with multi-level buildings sandwiched together with stores, restaurants, and other businesses in every nook and cranny of the street. It's called M G Marg. We later learned that M G stands for Mahat magandi. 

In one of these nook and crannies is a small staircase that led us up to a parking lot. Along the back of the building, we saw the entrance to Hotel Zamden. The lobby looked like the pictures, so I knew we had arrived, but the man at the desk, who spoke only a little English, did not have that same knowledge. I showed him the booking on my phone and told him how much we had paid. It was difficult to communicate with him due to the language barrier, but he eventually showed us to a room. It had two separate single beds. I hadn't remembered that from the pictures, but since had arrived so late, I thought maybe that's all they had left. When we went back down to the reception, the guy at the front desk had called the owner and she had told him that the room we booked was a different one. A "better" one. 

So we took our stuff to a bigger room that actually had a double bed. Although, I was glad to have the bigger bed, it was literally a wooden bed with an old thin pad on top. No real mattress. 

It was a very hard bed to sleep on. We also noticed several little gnat or flea type bugs in the bathroom. They were on the walls and in the towels. We decided not to shower and trips to the bathroom were short. At least we had a place to sleep.

We were too tired to try and find new accommodations, but we did go looking for dinner. We ate at a busy restaurant called Masala. It was noisy and I don't want to see what the kitchen looked like, but the food was really good. The garlic naan bread was delicious. 

Tired and hopeful that bugs were only in the bathroom (I used my silk insert for the bed), we went to bed.