my savior the bain of my existence and landslides too

so i bought this rolling duffel the night before i left... a rash decision with the hopes of saving my bum knee rather than forcing it to bare the weight of a heavy backpack for 3 months. this bag is very heavy in and of itself and i'm frowned upon as the american with too much stuff everywhere i go (my roommate keeps confirming "that's a very bad bag"). it's not only an embarrassment but it's ridiculously lunky and actually causing more problems for my knee everytime i have to lug it up the inevitable 5 flights of stairs to my hostel room. i'm planning a bag burning party after my trek and will have to try to ship everything that doesn't fit into my small backpack home.

sooo, silla and i decided to go on a 2 night tour of yumthang valley. it's considered the switzerland of india.. we spent 2 nights in the quaint hillside town of lachung in a very cozy (but freezing hotel). on our second day we drove thru yumthang valley to the terminus, zero point which is above 15,000 ft and at which point the road just ends and we're surrounded by jagged white pinnacles and the lachung river running thru. there are small canvas shelters where we sipped sugary sweet tibetan milk tea and sadly decline steamed momos as we've already eaten breakfast. there are many indian tourists but we're the only foreign tourists around. on the return we stop for a short hike along the limestone green river, thru a field where yaks graze around a buddhist stupa and the sound of their bells peacefully rings thru the valley, prayer flags blow in the wind and jagged peaks cloaked in mist loom overhead. in the spring the scene must be idealic b/c there are rododendrun bushes everywhere and our guide claims there are 34 varieties and the valley just alights with color. we wind up at a much advertised and highly unappealing hot spring which is basically a tiny cement ditch containing hot spring water enclosed in a dark and dingy hut (luckily my lonely planet guide had prepared me for this) . silla from iceland, the land of beautiful hot springs is very impressed! haha!

anyway, we spend another night in lachung and then depart for gangtok in the a.m. we drive about an hour, me in a zone, happily enjoying the tunes on my ipod watching the countryside flying by and then we stop and the jeep's engine is turned off. this isn't all that unusual so i don't react right away but then i realize the dilemna. there is no longer a road where yesterday there was one. a huge landslide has fallen and blocked our exit. we have nothing to do but wait 5 or so hours for a jeep to come from gangtok at which point we'll climb over the blockage and travel the 4-5 hrs back from there. we spend a good deal of time sitting on the side of the road, walking around, sipping tea, walking around.... the excitement comes when it's time to cross. crowds of people, mostly indian tourists, clamber for their chance and for many it's a very scary experience ( it's clear there are not many trekkers here). many people desperately cling to their husbands, wives, etc as if they were being dropped to their deaths as many men helped by grabbing onto their pants, picking them up and placing them at the next rock. to us, it was a rather comical scene and all very exciting. oh, but i forgot to mention my beast of burden/bain of my existence. the poor guide and driver had to lug the dreadful rolling duffel over the wreckage... it caused all sorts of problems (see the bag being carried by the ends by the two guys... that's the bloody roller from hell) being dropped a couple of times and generally just being a huge cumbersome burden!

jaime, the photo of patrick crossing the landslide is for you!!!!!!!!! haaaaaaa!!

the return back to gangtok was not quite as exciting... in fact it was quite tedious. of course on the other side we were met with more mass chaos and our jeep was filled with people with huge bags of vegetables, stacks of eggs, etc that needed to be sent across before we could go. after hrs we were finally moving but were then met with trucks blocking our path... there's much backing up, going 10 ft forward, backing up, 10 ft forward, and on and on... we arrived back in gangtok after midnight! i received a call at 9:30am. while we're eating breakfast that there's a trek heading out at 11 i can join but i feel rushed and panicky and don't go so will try for another day.

so later on i arrange a trek with another company, to goechela, where i'll be joining 4 americans i think and i leave tomorrow for yuksom. i'm nervous/anxious.... not sure what else to say. so, i'm off tomorrow and won't be in touch for at least 10 days (hopefully).

oh, we found a vegetable, spice and stuff market today which made me change my mind about gangtok which i was finding rather lackluster tho my favorite place for indulging in all kinds of to-die-for northern indian curries, breads and other tasty treats. we wandered thru the maze of vendors and then came upon a row of piping pots of yellow curries that were being stirred and ladeled into small leaf bowls lined with newspaper and then topped with corn, chilies, onions, then came the dried banana chips and other spicy crunchy things on top!! even tho we had already had lunch and soft serve ice cream, we had to try it and it was absolutely phenomenal! wish we had made this find much earlier!! i also noticed a man running around with a steamer of momos that were being served in newspaper which i'd like to go back for!