Darjeeling and Sikkim have greeted us with puffy white clouds and blue skies - a welcome change from the bleakness of Chennai and Calcutta. The air is fresh (when one is not standing by the roadside inhaling vehicle emissions) and invigorating. Where before the suffocating smog excoriated our lungs and collected in our nostrils as black gunk, the cool, sometimes chilly, air in the Indian highlands has all but completely rejuvenated us (when we blow our noses, we still get black gunk though - vehicles everywhere in India have terrible exhaust).

As a prelude to our grand expedition to Gochem La, we spent the day gallivanting around Gangtok, the present capital of Sikkim, in a taxi. A friendly Sikkimmese of Nepali ethnicity, Keyren, drove us up and down mountains and spurs, along winding roads, on sometimes gravelly track, to four monasteries. Through our chats with him we received an education in Sikkimmese history, the socio-political climate and how people in Sikkim live. (See tim's post for commentary from a budding social scientist).

Some other facts:

1. there are three main ethnic groups that comprise the Sikkimese people. The Nepali (approx 40%) , the Bhutanese (approx 30%) and the Tibetans (approx 30%). There are some interesting ethnic conflict dynamics going on between these groups - they don't all that like one another, from what we heard. (though i suppose that in any multi-ethnic society, some tension is bound to exist - racist jokes are everywhere). These tensions have been shaped by regional politics. China annexes Tibet so Tibetan refugees escape to Sikkim. Nepalese and Bhutanese, as neighbouring peoples, have traditionally been living in Sikkim. India lays claim to Sikkim while watching China's every move. Everyone wants a piece of this pristine place in the clouds. There are parallels with Singapore.

2. The roads around Sikkim wind around the highlands. There are many "turnings". Our driver, Keyren, contrasted them with "straight, just tunnel through the mountains" Chinese roads. I'm not sure if he was joking, but he told us that Indian engineers laid out the roads in an interesting way. They start with a case of beer. Take one bottle, walk and drink. When the bottle is empty, make a turning. Repeat until case is gone. Bring another case the next day. This explains why the roads wind so much.

We spend the night in a monastery. This is not something that every tourist gets to do but apparently our helpful tour operators have connections and gave us fake identities as "potential students of Buddhist teachings" as an excuse for us to experience monastic life. It'll be cool. We sleep in the prayer hall, with the pantheon of Buddhist deities watching us as we slumber. Perhaps they'll appear in our dreams.

For the next 9 days, we'll be cut off from civilisation. More blue skies beckon. I do reckon we'll get to see the stars at night.