We have arrived in Sikkim safe and sound, a little frayed at the edges from a very long and challenging trip. We spent both Saturday and Sunday night in the air, first flying from Boston to London and then from London to Delhi. On the first flight we slept a decent amount, on the second trip not so much! When we arrived in Delhi at 6AM to discover that our flight had been cancelled and we had been rebooked to another airline, our life in India truly began: within the same hour we were fleeced through an excess baggage fee and we didn't have to lift a single finger to carry a bag because every bag was carried for us.
The portion of the trip we thought would be easiest and most straightforward was the car ride up to Gangtok in Sikkim. It started out well enough in an air conditioned minivan with space for all of the luggage with a chance to see the way of life in the towns of West Bengal, but as we got into the mountains the going was difficult to the point where we were stuck in a traffic jam for 2 hours because there had been a landslide ahead of us and they had to remove the dirt before traffic could flow again. There was no alternative route to take, my Inrix Traffic App would have been useless, there is only one way from there to here in northern India. So we had to wait for the road to be cleared.
Our hosts, Pintso, students from the school and the staff at his house had a lovely dinner waiting for us when we arrived and a fire going in the fire pit. Pintso had brought some of the boarding students down from the hostel to join us for dinner so we got to meet some of the students who Corrina will be in class with.
Today we spent the day reading, unpacking (actually I am the only one who truly began to unpack!), watching a movie on the computer, playing with the cat, sleeping, playing cards. We had hoped to go visit the school, but the car that would take us was in the shop. Tomorrow some girls from Grace's class are going to come meet us and show us around the town.
Goodnight for now!
Chris
The portion of the trip we thought would be easiest and most straightforward was the car ride up to Gangtok in Sikkim. It started out well enough in an air conditioned minivan with space for all of the luggage with a chance to see the way of life in the towns of West Bengal, but as we got into the mountains the going was difficult to the point where we were stuck in a traffic jam for 2 hours because there had been a landslide ahead of us and they had to remove the dirt before traffic could flow again. There was no alternative route to take, my Inrix Traffic App would have been useless, there is only one way from there to here in northern India. So we had to wait for the road to be cleared.
Our hosts, Pintso, students from the school and the staff at his house had a lovely dinner waiting for us when we arrived and a fire going in the fire pit. Pintso had brought some of the boarding students down from the hostel to join us for dinner so we got to meet some of the students who Corrina will be in class with.
Today we spent the day reading, unpacking (actually I am the only one who truly began to unpack!), watching a movie on the computer, playing with the cat, sleeping, playing cards. We had hoped to go visit the school, but the car that would take us was in the shop. Tomorrow some girls from Grace's class are going to come meet us and show us around the town.
Goodnight for now!
Chris
Thanks for the awesome post, Chris! Give my love to the girls!
ReplyDeleteThis is so exciting! I am loving reading your posts. I wonder what you are doing right now. xo
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