Descent into the Subcontinent

Whats 3,200 km long and 3,000 km wide and smashed into Asia 40 million years ago? Give up? India!



That in itself it not a very interesting fact. The most surprising thing about India is that they issues me a travel visa. 40 million years of plate tectonics is easy to fathom. Why they would let me into their country will remain a social and scientific mystery for generations to come. Until they are able to rescind their decision (I bet someone gets fired!), we will scurry across the border for a Indian jaunt.



I was once told about this handsome, fearless, adventure seeking youth who had a nail-biting, dizzying horse ride through the hills of Darjeeling. His story, although frightening, compelled me to desire a visit to this magical land of adroit stallions. He lived to tell about this thrill so I trust that no ill will come to us on our sojourn there...



On Sunday, we board a bus headed towards the Nepal-West Bengal (India) border. We will descend from the hills and traverse the Terai, the lowland portion of Nepal, towards the East. At the border will we transfer to a Jeep and head back up into the mountains to Darjeeling (also spelled Darjiling). A few days of cajoling there and perhaps a trip to Sikkim. I had to get a special permit to go there and it is only good until July 15th. I think that we should at least be able to get to Gangtok (the capitol of Sikkim) for at least a night. We will then take a bus from Darjeeling to New Jalpaiguri to hop on a train. We will take an A/C, sleeper train from New Jalpaiguri to Pathankot - about 2,000 km to the East in Himachal Pradesh. On the train we will pass nearby the cities of Patna, Lucknow, and Delhi. We don't really want to stop at any of these cities because it will be in the low 40's Celsius! No thanks! From Pathankot we will take a bus to Dharamshala. Dharamshala is the home of the Tibetan Government-in-exile and the Dalai Lama. It is also the home of Tibetan Childrens Village (TCV) where Namgyal went to school. We'll take a bus back to Delhi and we may have to spend a day or two in the heat until we can catch a bus back to Kathmandu.



You can expect a lot of photo's when we get back. I'll check email where I can but I don't know how often that will be. See you all in a few weeks!